If this was useful, the letter goes further: one short insider note each week on what I'm seeing in live deals right now. It's free, it's two minutes, and replies come straight to me. Join at thejmichael.com/letter.
What if the most important part of any deal is the one that never makes the headline?
Carolyn Vallejo is senior editor at the Association for Corporate Growth and host of its Middle Market Growth podcast. She reached M&A the long way, through music journalism, the arts, and fintech, and she brings a reporter's instinct to an industry obsessed with numbers.
With J. Michael Fischer Jr., she makes the case that dealmaking is about people, not transactions, and that the real story usually lives behind the headline. They get into the human side of private equity, employee ownership that quietly changes lives, the cautiously optimistic mood of the middle market, and why better questions and closer listening win.
If you only read the number, you miss the deal. This is the reporter's view most dealmakers never get. Listen now.
Timestamped Highlights
[00:02:51] – Fake newspapers before she could even spell, and a lifelong pull toward the story
[00:05:17] – Day two on the job in London, interviewing a famous pop punk band and shaking the whole time
[00:07:23] – From interviewing rock stars to covering the middle market, and how that leap happened
[00:08:21] – The journalism training that lets you become an expert in almost anything
[00:10:06] – The surprising thing she found inside finance that kept her hooked
[00:10:45] – The one question a professor taught her that changed how she reads every story
[00:13:14] – How she turns a trillion-dollar defense budget into a conversation anyone can follow
[00:15:03] – The ownership program that quietly changes employees’ lives after a sale
[00:17:06] – The quiet rise of family offices, and why sellers should care
[00:19:03] – The two words for the middle market mood, and the data behind them
[00:23:39] – The simple question that gets a nervous guest to finally open up
[00:30:03] – The small moment in school she only later understood changed everything
Mentioned Resources
About the Guest
Carolyn Vallejo is the senior editor at the Association for Corporate Growth (ACG) and the host of its Middle Market Growth podcast. A journalist and editor with more than 15 years of experience, she specializes in long-form feature and profile writing across business, finance, music, arts, and culture. A graduate of Boston University's College of Communication, she started in music journalism, including a London internship with Big Cheese Magazine, before moving into fintech and then the world of mergers and acquisitions. At ACG, she manages the organization's thought leadership platform, acginsights.org, and leads its M&A coverage and interviews.
🔗 LinkedIn | Website
Important Links
Going Beyond the Deal is an original podcast brought to you by J. Michael Fischer Jr. Production and editing by Podcast Your Brand.
