The $600M Bet on Independent Sponsors
Grant Kornman co-founded NCK Capital as an independent sponsor in 2013, then moved to the capital side with Align Collaborate in 2023. Align now manages $600m+ across 2 dedicated funds and writes $10-40m equity checks into sponsor-led LMM deals. Grant has watched the independent sponsor market evolve from both sides.


More recent episodes

"We're Not Operators": Bridging Capital & Management
Edwin Burke and Chris Eichmann of Pillsman Partners discuss their deal-by-deal PE model, PowerVac acquisition, and why 11 sellers rolled equity for a bigger second bite.

7x Organic EBITDA Growth After Liberating Employees
Rise Run Capital's Corbin Cook and Alex Swanston discuss their independent sponsor success: 5 platforms, $50m+ EBITDA, and a 7x exit in 4 years.

The Applied AI Engineer: A New PE Weapon
Chris Breaux shares how he left $500m investment banking to build Emberline, an independent sponsor focused on government, defense, and vertical tech with AI-driven growth.