▶ The Carry Brief · Podcast
The week in private equity, in six minutes
Every Sunday, the Brief reads out the throughline across the private equity podcasts that matter, what it signals for deals and capital. Written by West Barnwell, read by an AI voice. The listen-on-a-walk companion to the written edition.
Episodes
Every Brief
Sunday, October 18, 2026 · 6:31
Deal models fail the moment they meet operational reality.
Why PE operators are secret-shopping targets, stripping out financial engineering, and cutting out bankers.
Sunday, October 11, 2026 · 6:00
The AI infra trade cracks, the 5-year hold dies
Plus: Why Invesco refuses to lend on data centers, and how AI code generation is breaking the software diligence playbook.
Sunday, October 4, 2026 · 6:36
The $3.5T balance sheet trap and why software PE paused
AI models are breaking legacy SaaS moats, leaving buyout funds sitting on uncalled capital.
Sunday, September 27, 2026 · 6:54
Mega-funds kill the 10-bagger
Why $1B+ buyout funds can't produce 10x returns, and the mathematical death of LP fund selection.
Sunday, September 13, 2026 · 6:10
Peak-cycle hangovers, generalist traps & retail capacity
Why 8% preferred hurdles are destroying management alignment, plus the structural ceiling on private equity scaling.
Sunday, September 6, 2026 · 6:19
The Carry: The 100-Day Plan Is Dead
Why general partners are moving value creation to the pre-close window, plus putting AI on the IC.
Sunday, August 30, 2026 · 6:17
The death of the automatic 5-year exit
Plus: Advent's AI investment committee observer, and why the 10-year venture fund is structurally broken.
Sunday, August 23, 2026 · 6:57
Add-ons lose their premium, the 10-year fund cracks
Plus why AI is killing rote legal diligence and a reality check on majority buyout board governance.
Sunday, August 16, 2026 · 6:19
The integration premium, HALO assets, and AI's firm taste
Why buyers are refusing cobbled-together add-ons, the flight to hard assets, and how AI codifies fund culture.
Sunday, August 9, 2026 · 6:26
Forcing AI adoption through comp, and cross-border M&A traps
Why standard buy-and-build playbooks fail in emerging markets, and how top allocators compete on mindshare rather than check size.
Sunday, August 2, 2026 · 5:51
Banker incentives, split industrial rents, and fund-size creep
Why AI is bifurcating industrial rents, the penalty for scaling fund sizes, and the exact reason 90% of M&A deals fail.
Sunday, July 26, 2026 · 6:09
The 12-Year Unicorn & The Death of Gut-Driven Sales
Plus: Why 90% of M&A fails, and how proactive founders use raw transparency to win deals.
Sunday, July 19, 2026 · 6:48
The software valuation gap, walking away post-LOI, and AI's second-order plays
Public buyers are beating private equity by manufacturing their own effective multiples.
Sunday, July 12, 2026 · 6:01
Weaponizing deal structure, the safe asset illusion, and AI models
Plus: Why the "widest moat" strategy actually stunts growth, and how venture investors limit adverse selection.