A podcast dedicated to the people and ideas of the Middle Market, hosted by Andy Greenberg and Charlie Gifford.
Michael Butler, Cascadia Capital
Michael Butler is Chairman and CEO of Cascadia Capital, the independent investment bank that has completed more than 550 deals since Michael co-founded it in 1999. Discussion begins with early stops in Michael’s journey – childhood and college in Washington state, then moving cross country to try his luck in Manhattan, a first job at Morgan Stanley and then business school at Wharton. This episode stands out, though, as a world-class case study on how a CEO thinks about building, capitalizing, and differentiating his firm. Michael charts Cascadia’s evolution to highly particularized vertical specialization and to representing private equity as well as non-institutional sellers. Atlas Capital’s strategic investment in late 2022 and the firm’s move from Seattle to Austin are more recent highlights of a large independent investment bank on the rise.
Episode 70
Hall without Oates or Oates Without Hall??
Andy left solo at ACG’s DealMAX conference while Charlie attends to a vague personal obligation. PE lawyer par excellence Bruce Fenton steps in as co-host for two discussions close to home. First, Bruce interviews Andy and Graeme Frazier—recipients of ACG’s Legends Award at this year’s conference—about their successful stewardship and sale of GF Data. Then, Charlie’s New Heritage Capital colleague Greg Katz joins to discuss the current positioning of NHC as a non-control investor. Bruce tests Andy and Greg on their knowledge of the absent Mr. Gifford. A niche offering within a niche offering! The MMM team grateful as always to ACG for hosting and facilitating the podcast.
Graeme Frazier and Andy discuss GF Data and receiving the ACG Legend Award
New Heritage Capital’s Greg Katz fills the “yawning” void left by Charlie Gifford’s absence

For the past 15 years, I’ve been an investment banker and a publisher of M&A data. This combination has afforded access to a lot of information on deals. But information alone is not insight. The tagline for this podcast is “people and ideas of the middle market.” Each time out, we ask our guests to share a fresh perspective, to reflect on issues beyond what is on their schedule for the day, and to be good sports with two guys who—as my kids say, “think they are funny.” We hope you find these interviews worth your time.

I’ve worked in the Middle Market for more than twenty years. Over that time I have met some extraordinary people, each with a unique story to tell. While we all know that the world doesn’t need another podcast, Andy and I are hopeful that you’ll enjoy listening and learning about each individual profiled. Half business, half human interest, half insightful, half irreverent. Yes, that’s lots of halves to cover. And aiming to do so in around 30 minutes of time. We hope you will give it a listen, and let us know what you think.