Inside DealMAX: Serendipitous Networking with Karin Kovacic and Jose Gabaldon

In our second episode of our limited series, “Inside DealMAX,” we sit down with Libertas Funding’s Karin Kovacic and Holland & Knight’s Jose Gabaldon to reminisce about surprising ways great connections are made, discuss the M&A landscape today, share best networking tips for the conference, and more.

Read a transcript of the podcast below.

Middle Market Growth: Welcome to the Middle Market Growth Conversations podcast, an ACG production. I’m your host, Katie Maloney. This is the second episode in our Inside DealMAX series, where we’re going behind the scenes with guests involved in ACG’s flagship conference for middle-market M&A taking place April 7th through the 9th in Las Vegas. Throughout the series, we’ll explore M&A trends, what you can expect on the ground at DealMAX, and networking tips from dealmakers and experts who will be there at the Aria when the doors open. Today we’re joined by Libertas Funding’s Karin Kovacic and Holland & Knight’s Jose Gabaldon to discuss the dealmaking environment as we head into 2025, strategies for making connections at the conference, underrated DealMAX opportunities and more. Karin and Jose, welcome to the podcast.

Jose Gabaldon: Thanks for having us.

Karin Kovacic: Thanks for having me.

MMG: So, to set the stage, I was hoping that each of you could briefly tell us a little bit about your current professional roles as well as your roles and involvement with DealMAX. So Karin, you want to take that one first?

KK: Sure. Thank you. So yes, I work at a company called Libertas Funding. We’re a specialty finance firm that focuses on short-term bridge financing, so making investments anywhere from $500,000 to $10 million, and usually the length of time is within 12 months. So a short-term, quick bridge type of financing. I’ve been involved in ACG for a very long time. Katie, you and I have known each other forever but I’m currently sitting as ACG Connecticut’s president, and I’m very excited to be on the main DealMAX committee this year with my amazing co-host, Jose. And we are heading up the M&A partner outreach effort.

MMG: Great. Thank you, Karin. And I want to come back to the M&A partner outreach effort. But first, Jose, I would love to hear a little bit more about your professional role and then your involvement in DealMAX.

JG: Thank you. Well, it’s a pleasure to be on and it’s a pleasure to co-chair the M&A partner outreach with Karin. She’s just a pleasure to work with and a force of nature. So I’ll start there. I am the director of client relations for the private equity practice at Holland & Knight Holland & Knight is a national law firm. We have 34 offices, including offices in Latin America and one in London for asset finance. We’re full service and very strong in private equity and M&A. We play in the middle market. We’re probably ranked within the top five firms in the U.S. according to several league tables like PitchBook, LECG, Bloomberg, in certain regions and sectors we’re number one. We’ve had tremendous growth in the last five years, industry agnostic. Our goal is to provide top premier bespoke legal services, but we have a differentiator where we leverage our network and play as connectors to bring added value to our clients, whether it’s helping them with their deal sourcing efforts or with their capital connection efforts, or just leveraging our network to make meaningful relationships. I’ve been involved with DealMAX for about four to five years now. I’ve attended when it was Intergrowth and now DealMAX. I’ve been with the M&A partner outreach committee for the second year now. I attend most of the deal connect events across the country and particularly sit in Miami. I am one of the founding members of the ACG Miami Network and take part of the of the ACG South Florida chapter as well.

MMG: Great. Yeah, thank you both for that background. And I want to come back to the M&A partner outreach committee. You both mentioned your roles on that. I would love to hear more about that committee’s focus and what kind of activities you are involved with.

JG: Sure. Our goal as M&A partner outreach committee and M&A partners, if you will, also known as service providers, where we are an integral part of the community, not just because we’re helping deals get done but we also serve as connectors. And the idea of this committee is to raise awareness about the value of DealMAX and ACG increase, the involvement of other service providers at the, at the conference, and just, you know, keep fostering the community, share our experiences as, as service providers that take part in with ACG and specifically DealMAX.

MMG: And Karin, anything that you would add to that as co-chair?

KK: No, I think Jose covered it. You know, just trying to make sure that all of the M&A partners are feeling included and kind of part of the ecosystem. You know, I think that as Jose had alluded to, we’re clearly instrumental in helping deals get across the finish line, so making sure that everyone is in the same room and able to network and move those deals forward.

MMG: And we recently on the podcast spoke with Aaron Polack of Lion Equity and ACG CEO Brent Baxter, and they talked about the M&A environment broadly, and a bit about the corporate M&A activity that they’re seeing. I would love to hear both of you talk about what you’re seeing in your corners of the market and just what your observations are around activity or any emerging trends there.

KK: Sure. So, I think one of the things about being at Libertas, which has been really fun over the past two years is that we are a little bit of a tangent from the core ACG ecosystem. We’re providing a specialty finance product, but it isn’t directly only related to acquisitions or mergers. It can be used for any sort of growth or opportunistic type of situation. And so we’ve been really busy, especially ramping up for the holidays, helping these companies have enough working capital to get through the holiday season and through the end of the year. So we have been very fortunate and had a unbelievable 2024 and have a pretty strong pipeline into 2025.

MMG: Great. And then Jose, what about you? What are you seeing in the market?

JG: Very similar to Karin. Again, we’re industry agnostic, so we’re all over the place, which is a good thing. So we see deals in a lot of industries and sectors. For us, 2024 has been a great year. We’ve had a significant uptick in the amount of deals that we’ve done. I think we’re on target to closing around 650 deals this year, over probably close to $50, $55 billion worth of aggregate value in deals. One of the things very similar to ’23, a lot of add-ons, deals are taking [longer] to close. We’ve been seeing a lot of the sponsors reach out to us as I think they’ve reached out to other service providers as alternative to sourcing efforts because of things that we’re seeing. We’ve particularly seen a lot of activity in the healthcare space, despite the headwinds. Probably a third of what we do is in healthcare. We are the largest healthcare practice in the country with over 400 healthcare attorneys, both on the transactional and the regulatory side, but then followed by industrials and manufacturing, IT, consumer, discretionary and staples are creeping up. And the rest, we’ve heard and seen that there’s a lot of expectation for 2025, a lot of optimism in regards to the dealmaking community. And there’s a lot of pent-up demand and dry powder, so we’re expecting to see more activity next year, more good news.

MMG: Can you talk about what you each come to DealMAX for? I think everyone comes for different reasons with the commonality that everyone is looking to network and build connections, but can you say more about when you head to Las Vegas next April, what you’ll be looking to achieve and what some of those goals are?

KK: Sure. I think that it’s a combination of reconnecting with old contacts, meeting new contacts, being able to spend time with people like Jose that have become friends over the years of going to these types of events. And also trying to spend time doing other things that are outside of the conference. I think one of the things about DealMAX that is so exciting and unique is that you are provided an opportunity over a few days to do things like golf or pickleball or hikes or coffee outside by the pool or some unique experiences that you don’t necessarily get at other conferences. I feel like changing the environment sometimes makes the meeting or the networking a little bit less formal, which can help build more personal connections.

MMG: I spoke with Tony Hill, the 2025 DealMAX chair from Trivest, and one thing that he said that I thought was really interesting was that one benefit that he sees at DealMAX is not just connecting with folks who live in other markets, but actually people who maybe even live in your own city. Because when you’re trying to make meetings in a day-to-day professional life, you have your work obligations, you have for your family life and being in a different city, it might actually be easier to meet with someone who is in your local market. So I’m curious if you found that to be true.

JG: A hundred percent.

KK: Absolutely.

JG: And you’re able to, obviously, coordinate the meetings, then at times there’s impromptu dinners or drinks or whatnot, and you’re able to deepen the relationship. So that’s a hundred percent right. You [take] for granted that you have your next-door neighbor, but you never see them because I can see them any time I want. Right?

KK: Or the other obligations that you have outside of work when you’re home, right? Whether you’re going home to your family or you’re going to other activities, you know, or other things that you have, other obligations. When you are on the road and you know that you’re going to be at DealMAX from 8:00 AM until 10:00 PM or what have you, I feel like you’re in a different mindset sometimes that it can be much more efficient.

MMG: And, you know, one thing that I’ve heard over the years is there is this belief in some corners that it’s hard to get meetings at DealMAX as an M&A partner or service provider—that the private equity firms only want to meet with investment bankers, for example. But we’ve looked at the data and it really doesn’t back that up. I think something like 33% of meetings at last year’s conference involved accountants, attorneys, consultants, and other advisors. So I’m curious like what you’ve seen on the ground and how you feel about that and whether it is in fact a misconception.

JG: In our experience, particularly Holland and Knight’s, we have a really robust process around the participation with DealMAX, sifting and going through the list, doing personal outreaches as well to reconnect. So we’ve had good success and it’s knowing how to use the tools and to how to gauge the right interest from the sponsors and the investment bankers to meet with you. So it depends on how you play the invite game. I could say that for us has been extremely successful. We get a lot of meetings and have gotten a lot of meetings in the past, but I’ll go to my first Intergrowth and that was more of an exploratory  attendance and we had trouble getting meetings because we didn’t know how it works. It’s about experience and knowing how to navigate the scheduling tool, how to navigate social media using LinkedIn to get the word that you’re attending and also curating your message so you get the right interest from whoever you want to meet.

KK: I think that that’s a really important point. I think the scheduling software and the scheduling tool is key. And each year you at ACG do a better job of opening it up early, making sure that it’s super user-friendly, giving everybody the access around the same time. And, you know, I used to joke around that it was Springsteen tickets that I felt like I was going on for, but now I’m going to change that to Taylor Swift tickets. I feel like I’m like going on trying to, you know, log on the minute that the scheduler opens to try to make sure that I’m reaching out to everyone that I want to talk to and sending a note and not just hitting you know, request a meeting, but kind of saying like, “Hey, Katie, it’s been a while. Would love to reconnect,” or, “Hey, Jose, you know, let’s grab this.” And then kind of leaving the door open for Jose to say, “Hey, Karin, it would be great to grab a drink, but during the day I need to focus on this particular segment of the attendees” or what have you. And I think that the earlier you do that, as Jose said, the preparation leading up to this is key.

MMG: And I guess in a similar vein, can each of you kind of speak to some of your tips for networking and for facilitating high-value conversations and connections? What are some of the things that have worked well for you both at DealMAX, Intergrowth, and then maybe just ACG more generally?

KK: I think to continue that preparation theme is doing your homework, who are you meeting with? Are you able to kind of go on LinkedIn or go on the website and check if that person has people in common with you or a common school or a common interest or a common past role or something that you can try to make them feel that you did some research before meeting them? Even something like, “Oh, hey Jose, I know you’re in Miami, what part of Miami?” Like it doesn’t have to be something super, super deep. I think that just even alluding to the fact that I know something before I walk into the conversation, make somebody feel comfortable and like, oh, wow, that’s pretty nice that she took the time to know this before spending our 15 or 20 minutes together.

MMG: That’s great advice. Yeah. Adding a personal touch and showing that you are invested, it was not just a blast. Jose, anything that you’d add to that? Any tips or strategies that have worked well for you?

JG: Yeah, I share with what Karin expressed. I think it’s also about authenticity and not being so transactional. You’re there to build a community. It’s about having the right pitch and not seeming so transactional. So coming into the meeting, trying to bear gifts, whether those are other introductions or deals or understanding what I can do to help or what we can do to help who we’re meeting with, that’s key. And that goes a long way. In terms of preparation as well, I think because this is a community, it’s about leveraging your partners on a regular basis. You’re probably building a referral network, so doing your homework as well as who is attending and kind of sharing mutual targets, what do I want to achieve? And in that way, you amplify your efforts by the community and you’re helping out your peers or your collaborators, and they’ll help you in return. So I felt that ACG, not just DealMAX, but all ACG chapters are just building that community. So I would obviously tap into your local chapter, see who’s going from your local chapter and game plan. That’s also a good strategy.

KK: And feel free to reach out to your chapter leadership to help.

MMG: Great suggestion. And I think it goes to people who are successful at the event are not treating it as a just a one-off, like you’ve both alluded to. It’s building these deeper relationships; it’s tapping into a community and that all really builds on itself as opposed to just a purely transactional connection. So you’ve both been coming to DealMAX and, and previous to that Intergrowth—can you talk about a relationship that you’ve built through the conference and how that came about?

KK: Sure. So I’ll not mention names to spare this person, but there was a Vegas Intergrowth that we were at. And for some reason we were really smart and didn’t stay out too late the night before and were in the gym very early, 6, 6:30 AM and we were trying to navigate. The gyms in Las Vegas are not very big. You know, as you can imagine, people are probably out doing other things. But we were trying to navigate weights and kind of moving around each other and he dropped a weight and it was almost on my foot. And we had kind of made a joke about him trying to really hurt me with the weight so the only way that he could make up for that was to send me every deal from now until the end of time. And so, we’ve created quite a fun kind of rapport. He does send me deals. He did not hurt me with the weight. But, you know, certainly a fun way to kind of start the morning and be able to have a laugh with someone in the gym.

MMG: I love that. That’s a great example too of, you know, not all of the connections come out of DealMAX necessarily through the pre-scheduled meetings or the research; do that piece, but also leave time for a chance encounter and a near-death experience in the gym.

KK: Exactly. Exactly.

MMG: Jose, what about you? What’s a relationship that stemmed from DealMAX for you?

JG: Yeah. Well, obviously a ton of relationships through the traditional methods and the networkers, the Top Golfs, the bourbon tastings, cigars, but one particular one, and I’ll also spare names. I met a really nice person at the shoeshine stand. I never go to the shoeshine and I had one of those rare moments in life where you have a small space of time that you  don’t have to meet anyone or not running around from one meeting room to the other. And while I was there I met a really nice gentleman. We struck up a conversation. And nowadays it’s one of my best referral sources for the firm. That’s the magic of DealMAX.

MMG: So in case you’re inspiring listeners to come get their shoeshine, everyone should get there early just in case we have a flood of folks looking to make their next relationship at the shoeshine stand. So our last segment, we’re calling it a lightning round. Feel free to take more time. It doesn’t have to be that speedy, but I’m just going to run through like a handful of questions looking for kind of a snappy response to each, just whatever comes to mind first. So the first one, easy one: When and where was your first DealMAX?

KK: 2008 in Orlando.

MMG: Okay. Jose?

JG: For me, it’s always been Vegas in 2022.

MMG: Okay. Favorite DealMAX memory.

JG: Nothing comes to mind right now. They’re all good memories.

MMG: Karin, what about you?

KK: So, I got the chance to interview Elizabeth Cutler of SoulCycle in 2019. I love spin, you know, so now kind of between Peloton and SoulCycle and things, but to be able to interview her as a huge fan of SoulCycle and then also from an M&A perspective, it was a really special memory.

MMG: I remember that too. That was a great presentation. Her story is incredible and you did a fantastic job moderating. That was a fun one. What’s one opportunity at DealMAX that you would say is underrated or that maybe people don’t take enough advantage of?

JG: The shoeshine could be one.

KK: But more than that, I think it’s kind of leaving some space open for that, right? Like, don’t over schedule yourself. I think everyone’s like, oh my God, I have to have 50 meetings in three days. And it’s like, but the thing in the gym wouldn’t have happened, or the thing on the shoeshine wouldn’t have happened, you know? So I think that sometimes you tend to maybe over schedule sometimes. So maybe leave a little space for that. Leave a little space for the unexpected.

MMG: Great suggestion. What is your record for steps taken at DealMAX or your best estimate? Karin, I have a feeling you might have been tracking this.

KK: Yeah, and it is close to 20,000. Truth be told, I was not staying on site that year. So, you know, walking to and from the Aria was definitely added in my step count. But yeah, probably 20,000.

MMG: Wow. Jose, what about you? Do you have an estimate?

JG: Yeah, I had written down north of 18,000.

KK: We were walking together a lot, Jose.

JG: Yeah, that was a year that I did not register on time and I was at the Cosmo. So it takes a long time.

MMG: So if you want to cut down on your steps at the event, register early, get into the Aria so that you can avoid the commuting times. Okay. Favorite thing to do while you’re in Las Vegas?

JG: DealMAX itself. There’s just everything, everything fun is in DealMAX, every year there’s a surprise, a new activity. I love that. I just love networking. I think I feed off the energy of people and meeting a new person and helping them out and seeing how we can work together.

MMG: Sounds like you’re in the right place because with 3,000 people, plus there’s plenty of opportunities for networking. Karin, what about you? Favorite thing to do in Las Vegas?

KK: Oh my gosh. I mean, there’s so many restaurants and so many great shows, and I think that if you can try to kind of tie those two things together, try going and seeing some of the shows with a group of people from the conference or going to try a new restaurant if you get a group of foodies. And one year we did Rao’s which was a really cool experience, but there were 12 of us that couldn’t wait and were super excited to try that. I think that combining, as we said a little bit before, some of those personal interests and then trying to make a connection with the people from the conference around those personal interests, you know, it tends to really just help solidify the relationship. I’m going to Cirque du Soleil just in case anybody wants to come.

MMG: Ooh. Okay. What are each of your best travel hacks when you are flying for business?

KK: Oh, geez, this is a tough one. I mean, just having chargers really easily accessible, right, the portable chargers and not just the cords, because I think that having those fully charged travel banks, you never know where you’re going to find an outlet. I get made fun of because I have the little sparkly glitter ones that I can pop on the bottom of my phone. So it’s not hard to pick me out of a crowd.

JG: It’s bedazzled?

KK: It is. It’s bedazzled. It’s a good stocking stuffer!

MMG: ‘Tis the season. Jose, what’s your best travel hack?

JG: Let’s see. Packing light. That’s always good because then sometimes we get good, kind of like giveaways that you take home for the kids. But fly early. I tell you when I’m flying for business, I try to take the first flight out, not just because I’m a morning person, but that flight never gets canceled.

KK: I agree with that one. And then also ladies, flats, flats and flats.

JG: Well, for gentlemen, [they’re] now starting to use more elegant sneakers. I like that because you are walking a lot, so if you’re wearing nice moccasins or whatnot.

KK: So, I don’t know if you saw this last year, but Christy Dancause, who is our ACG Northeast, CEO, had sneakers, Nike sneakers that had an ACG logo on the back with the green swoosh. And I was like, oh, man, you just really took this to a whole new level.

MMG: Yes. And I think they were like custom designed, right?

KK: They were genius. They were amazing. It’ll be fun to see, but we might have to ask Christy how many of us can run around in ACG sneakers this year, because that was awesome.

MMG: Get a whole group in the ACG Nikes going to Cirque de Soleil and really just spread the brand.

KK: I love it.

MMG: Okay, so sticking with the flight theme, if you could pick anyone in the world to sit next to you on the plane ride to Las Vegas for DealMAX, who would it be and what would you talk to them about?

JG: Probably someone like Winston Churchill.

MMG: Ooh, okay. That’s a good one. That’s a really good one.

JG: I’ve always been a fan and obviously he’s one of the biggest figures in history, but I admire him because he was always persistent, and it was not only to learn in life that he achieved the dream of being prime minister, but he was just tenacious. And it reminds me of something that my dad always used to say, which is persist, resist, and never desist. So I kind of identify and would like to kind of see what got him through the tough moments in life and how he persevered to get where he was. And also how he dealt with his own personal tribulations and his imperfections. That’s why he was who he was.

MMG: Oh, that’s a great choice. Okay, Karin, no pressure.

KK: Yeah, well, it’s so different. If it was anyone in the world, probably my dad who passed away five or six years ago, just to spend time there and if you’re going to do a celebrity or a business icon, whether it’s Steve Jobs or, how did you think of this? How did you come up with, I mean, literally changing the world and the confidence that, that you have to have and the persistence and the never giving up despite all of the critics. And I think that we hear that all the time, right? You hear about kind of, you know, having the confidence, having the consistency to be able to achieve these amazing things. But saying that and having it and living that day in and day out, as you are really creating a revolution of sorts would be kind of fascinating to hear the inner workings of that.

JG: I want to change my answer now. I also want to sit next to my dad that passed. I hadn’t thought of that. He’s my number one hero, though.

MMG: And then I guess for the very last question: For someone on the fence about attending DealMAX next April, what would you tell them?

JG: Don’t think about it. Just do it.

KK: Yeah. I mean, look, it can be a really overwhelming, daunting event, right? It’s a lot of days, it’s a big expense, it’s a big emotional investment. Right? It’s a marathon. It’s not a sprint. You know, but to be able to have all of these amazing people in one place and, and basically have their undivided attention for three days, you’re not going to find any other time throughout the year that this is going to happen. And if you do the prep work that we’ve been talking about to get you in the best possible place for when you walk in the door, a lot of the heavy lift is already done, and then it’s the fun part. And then it’s going to be the follow-up after, which is another huge and key and crucial part of solidifying the relationships that you’re building. You know, but the onsite part of it, as you know, as Jose said, it’s really fun. I mean, it’s, I don’t know, kind of like the prom of PE, right? Like, you kind of have to be there.

MMG: I love that. We need to adopt that in our marketing. The prom of PE.

JG: You’ll be the prom queen.

MMG: Jose, anything you’d add to that?

JG: I think that’s right. Obviously if you’re in private equity and M&A particularly in the middle market, this is the conference, this is the promised land, if you will. You will come out with a deal. You will come out with a new client. Obviously, you have to do the work, as Karin said. But all roads lead to Rome and DealMAX is Rome.

MMG: Great. Well, Jose and Karin, thank you so much for joining us on the podcast. And we can’t wait to see you in Las Vegas. So to anyone listening, if you’d like to join us at DealMAX, you can register at dealmax.org. Our early bird rate will end on January 21st, so be sure to register now to take advantage of that discounted pricing. And we look forward to seeing you there.

This transcript was prepared by a transcription service. This version may not be in its final form and may be updated.

The Middle Market Growth Conversations podcast is produced by the Association for Corporate Growth. To hear more interviews with middle-market influencers, subscribe to the Middle Market Growth Conversations podcast on Apple Podcasts, Spotify and Soundcloud.