My guest on the first episode of Private Equity Masters is John Toomey, one of two members of the Executive Management Committee at HarbourVest Partners. For more than thirty years, HarbourVest has invested across all parts of the private equity spectrum - in funds, secondaries, and direct co-invests. Today, it oversees over $75 billion of assets and canvasses the world.    Our conversation discusses the early days of private equity investing, evolution of strategies across primaries, co-invests, and secondaries, international expansion, best practices of managers, the next wave of growth opportunities, and risks in the space.   John has a unique perch at the top of the industry and offers a wonderful perspective to kick off the mini-series. Learn More Subscribe: Apple | Spotify | Google Follow Ted on Twitter at @tseides or LinkedIn Subscribe Monthly Mailing List Read the Transcript

Coach Paul Assaiante is the winningest coach in college sports history. For 30 years until announcing his retirement at the end of this season, Coach led the Trinity College squash program to 17 national championships and 20 finals appearances in the last 25 years, including at one point winning 252 straight matches and 13 straight national titles. In his final season, Trinity’s squash team entered the national championships with the #6 seed and rode an almost fairy tale bookend to Coach’s career to the finals and within a single point of an 18th national title. Paul also coached the USA National Team in squash for 17 years, Trinity’s men’s tennis squad for 24 years, and World Team Tennis with Billie Jean King in its heyday. In 2010, he authored Run to the Roar: Coaching to Overcome Fear, one of my favorite books on sports and leadership. Perhaps what is most fascinating about the soft-spoken Coach is he knew nothing about squash when he got his first coaching job. His true expertise is in managing, motivating, and inspiring a diverse group of players to be the best version of themselves. Our conversation covers Coach Paul’s path and a career’s worth of wisdom about preparation, emotional regulation, managing high performing individuals on a team, diversity, facing fear, learning to win and lose, and applying the lessons to the business world and next generation. For full show notes, visit the episode webpage here.    Learn More  Follow Ted on Twitter at @tseides or LinkedIn  Subscribe to the mailing list  Access Transcript with Premium Membership