The Great Private Equity Hangover | Protect the Pile Episode 19 w/ Dan Rasmussen

On this episode of Protect the Pile, R. Patrick Kent, John McNamara and Brooks Cutright sit down with Dan Rasmussen, Founder and Managing Partner of Verdad Advisers, for a sharp, skeptical look at private markets, Japan, small caps and the AI boom. Rasmussen explains why private equity may be less of a magic asset class and more like “levered microcaps” with delayed marks, inflated valuations and growing liquidity risks. The group digs into private credit, zombie funds, roll-ups, venture capital, Japan’s corporate governance reforms and why cheap markets getting better can create opportunity. They also debate whether AI’s biggest winners may not be the mega-cap companies spending the most, but smaller businesses that can use the technology to improve margins. It’s a candid, practitioner-level conversation about risk hiding in plain sight.

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