6 × 6lock Podcast

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6 × 6lock is a short-form podcast designed for senior leaders across private equity, fund administration, treasury, security, and fintech. Each episode features one guest and six tightly moderated, six-minute topics — creating a focused ~36-minute episode that respects time and delivers substance. Why We Built It Private markets leaders have insights worth sharing — but not unlimited time. 6 × 6lock removes the fluff and delivers crisp, thoughtful conversations on what actually matters right now. Conversations We Care About Private markets operations and scaleRisk, fraud, and securityTreasury and capital movementTechnology adoptionLeadership lessonsWhat’s changing (and what isn’t) Who It’s For? PE and credit firm leadersFund administratorsCFOs, COOs, Heads of TreasuryFintech and infrastructure operators serving private markets Why 6lock As the Verified Money Movement platform purpose-built for private equity, 6lock sits at the intersection of identity, security, and trust. This podcast enables conversations that extend our mission by spotlighting leaders who are shaping the future of private market value creation.

  1. 5d ago

    The $25M Deepfake Video Call That Fooled a CFO — And How to Stop It

    A firm called Arup lost $25 million after fraudsters cloned an executive's voice and face on a live video call. On this episode, Mark Cooper, Chief Technology Officer at Sigma Information Group, joins host Mike Langford and co-host David Beisner (COO & Co-Founder, 6lock) to break down how deepfake fraud, QR code phishing, and vendor risk are threatening capital calls and distributions across private equity and venture capital — and what GPs, LPs, and fund administrators can do about it. Topics covered: a four-month email hijacking that nearly rerouted a company's payroll, why your most trusted vendors are often your biggest fraud risk, how QR code phishing defeats two-factor authentication, the new FinCEN AML/CFT rule for private fund advisers (compliance date now 2028), and why security should mean a good employee never gets the chance to make a costly mistake. CHAPTERS 0:00 Introduction 2:33 Meet Mark: CTO vs. CISO, and the Sigma Playbook 12:24 The Deepfake Reality (The Arup $25M Video Call) 17:17 The Call's Coming From Inside the House: Vendor Risk & Business Continuity 32:19 The 2FA Myth 44:25 The Regulators Are Catching Up (FinCEN) 50:57 Removing People From the Fight: Training & Zero Anxiety Check out Mark's band, West Egg: https://westeggmusic.com/

  2. 6d ago

    The Hidden Vulnerability in Every Fund's LP Base with Maria Bradley of Valora Partners

    Most private equity and venture capital firms assume their LPs are sophisticated enough to protect themselves. They're right about the investing acumen — but wrong about the operational risk. On this episode, Maria Bradley, Principal of Strategic Operations and Client Engagement at Valora Partners, joins host Mike Langford and co-host Todd Sorrel to break down the hidden LP vulnerability that fund managers consistently underestimate. Maria spent nearly a decade running treasury, investor relations, and fund operations at Brown Brothers Harriman, Gen II Fund Services, and TMF Group before moving to the advisory side. Topics covered: why retired LPs stopped receiving cybersecurity training and what that means for your next distribution, how a two-factor authenticator tied to an email account becomes worthless the moment that email is hacked, why fund admin callbacks are no longer a reliable control in the age of voice cloning, and why independent valuation and verified money movement are solving the exact same problem. Plus: what Valora is building with its new proprietary platform, and what a prepared firm actually looks like in 2026. CHAPTERS 0:00 Introduction 2:59 From the Operations Floor to the Advisory Side 7:47 What Valora Actually Does and Who It Does It For 11:08 The Regulation Tailwind 17:37 The Hidden LP Vulnerability 28:01 The Platform Moment 39:17 What Prepared Firms Actually Look Like

  3. Sep 24

    The Brown M&M Test: What Van Halen Can Teach Private Markets About Wire Fraud with Chase McWhorter of IREI

    What does a legendary rock band's backstage rider have to do with wire fraud in private equity? More than you'd think — and Chase McWhorter, Managing Director Americas at Institutional Real Estate, Inc. (IREI), makes the connection in a way you won't forget. In this episode, Chase joins Mike Langford and Todd Sorrel to unpack what the famous Van Halen no brown M&Ms story can teach PE and real estate fund managers about operational alpha, LP trust, and protecting capital at the point of distribution. Chase sits at the center of the institutional real estate universe. As the person overseeing IREI's Americas platform — spanning publications, events, data, and market intelligence — he has a 30,000-foot view of what separates the firms that raise a fund in eight months from the ones that struggle for years. And his answer might surprise you: it's not performance. Performance, Chase says, is hygiene. It's expected. The firms winning LP capital today are the ones doing everything else well — the reporting, the transparency, the governance, the operational infrastructure. The ones who can't get their investor reports out on time aren't just annoying their LPs. They're raising a much bigger question: if I can't trust you to deliver a report, how am I supposed to trust you to wire my money? In this episode, you'll learn: Why the top four or five managers raised more than 70% of all LP capital last year — and what they have in common beyond strong returnsThe "manila folder moment" — the story of an LP who showed up to an IREI editorial board meeting with printed reports from every manager he works with and spent two weeks manually reformatting them for his CIOWhat "operational alpha" actually means in today's market, and why 2023–2025 is the era where asset managers finally get the recognition they've always deservedThe Real Estate Data Initiative (REDI) and the growing push to standardize reporting across the institutional real estate industryHow the Van Halen brown M&M test applies directly to wire fraud risk — and why it's the first thing Chase thought of when he encountered 6lock$20.6 billion in private markets wire fraud in 2025 — and why only 12% of it ever gets reported About Chase McWhorter Chase McWhorter, CRE® is Managing Director Americas at Institutional Real Estate, Inc. (IREI), the market intelligence firm for the real assets universe. IREI has served the institutional investment community since 1987 through its publications, events, and data platforms — with a strict policy of editorial independence and no advertiser influence. Chase has been with IREI for nine years and oversees its Americas real estate platform. Chapters 00:00 — Introduction02:53 — How Chase McWhorter Got Here12:24 — The Blackstone Effect22:13 — The Spreadsheet Problem30:52 — Operational Alpha44:47 — The Brown M&M Test51:04 — The $20 Billion Problem Connect Chase McWhorter on LinkedIn: linkedin.com/in/chase-mcwhorterIREI: irei.com6lock: 6lock.comQuestions or guest ideas? Email us at podcast@6lock.com or find Mike at @MikeLangford everywhere on the internet.

  4. Aug 31

    16 Years as an LP: The Fundraising Truth First-Time GPs Need to Hear

    Before Brian Bank ever set foot inside a law firm, he spent 16 years as an institutional limited partner — committing capital to funds, sitting on LPACs, and reviewing more than a thousand fund pitches. Today he's the head of Strategy and Client Relations for the Investment Funds Group at Kirkland & Ellis, the highest revenue-generating law firm in the world. That combination is rare. And in this conversation, he holds nothing back. Brian joined 6lock CEO Todd Sorrel and Mike Langford to cover the full arc of what it takes to launch and grow a private equity fund, including: The rookie mistakes that kill first-time fund managers before they ever reach a first close (including the non-compete clause trap no one talks about)What LPs are actually thinking when you walk in to pitch — and why your deck is probably too longWhy showing up in person still matters — the Alaska Permanent Fund / Juneau testContinuation funds and why they now account for roughly 25% of all private equity liquidityThe retail and wealth channel opening up to private markets — and the cautionary tale that comes with it Chapters: 3:55 He Sat Through 1,000+ LP Pitches — Now He Helps GPs Launch Their Funds 24:10 The Firm That's Seen More Fund Launches Than Anyone Alive 31:55 Rookie Mistakes: What Many First-Time GPs Overlook 40:20 What Makes LPs Say Yes? 50:27 The $30 Trillion Wealth Channel Is Opening to Private Markets — Are You Ready?​

  5. Aug 24

    The Cybersecurity Wake-Up Call Private Markets Can't Afford to Ignore with Ray Mitchell, CISO of Sigma Information Group

    Ray Mitchell has seen it all from the front lines. As CISO of Sigma Information Group, he gets the calls nobody wants to make — companies that just got hit with ransomware, funds that wired money to a fraudster, executives whose email was silently compromised for months before anyone noticed. In this episode, Ray joins host Mike Langford and 6lock CEO Todd Sorrel for a conversation that's equal parts eye-opening and practical. Ray breaks down exactly how attacks happen — from the 800-pound gorilla nobody wants to deal with (email) to double extortion ransomware to AI-powered voice cloning that can fool every single person in your office. He also shares what firms are still getting catastrophically wrong, the two security measures that stop 99% of account takeovers, and why your most vulnerable link might not be inside your firm at all. In this episode: Why bad actors go to work every day with a suitcase — and have performance reviewsThe sales meeting where Sigma's prospect got hacked in real time, mid-pitchEmail is still the 800-pound gorilla — and most firms are running payments straight through itPhishing-resistant MFA and trusted device enrollment: the two things that actually workHow Ray's team used an AI voice agent to trick client employees — and what it revealedThe pizza place hack: why attackers always go after the weaker linkDouble extortion ransomware, whether to pay, and what to have in place before it happens"Data is the new oil" — and what that means for how you use AI in your business today Chapters: 05:26 - A CISO's Origin Story 14:01 - The Front Lines of Cybersecurity 18:34 - Email - The 800-Pound Gorilla 25:37 - AI as a Double-Edged Sword 35:00 - Practical Defense / Weak Links 36:46 - Data as the New Oil

  6. Jul 30

    The M&A Advisor Who Knows When It's Time to Exit - Robert Koven of JEGI LEONIS

    If you're a founder, a GP, or a portfolio company CEO, this is the episode you didn't know you needed. Robert Koven has helped hundreds of companies navigate one of the hardest decisions in business — when to exit, who to sell to, and how to find the right partner. He's doing it at exactly the moment AI is rewriting the rulebook on valuations. Robert is Co-CEO and Managing Director of JEGI LEONIS, one of the country's leading middle-market technology M&A advisory firms. He built Leonis Partners from scratch after stints at JPMorgan, Lehman Brothers, and Lazard Frères — then merged it with the 37-year-old powerhouse JEGI CLARITY to form one of the most respected M&A shops in the game. He's been named M&A Investment Banker of the Year three consecutive years running. In this episode, host Mike Langford and 6lock CEO Todd Sorrel — who personally hired Robert to sell his last company — sit down for an honest, unscripted conversation about what private markets really look like from the deal table. Chapters 00:00 Teaser — The Party Analogy 02:22 Segment 1: The Man Who Sold Todd's Company 10:50 Segment 2: From the Big Banks to Building Something 18:28 Segment 3: How Deals Actually Get Done 33:12 Segment 4: Reading the Market — AI and Crypto 49:53 Segment 5: Knowing When It's Time to Exit 59:06 Segment 6: Finding the Right Partner

  7. Jul 9

    Tax Planning, QSBS, & Keeping More of What You've Built with John Mark Prewitt

    What does it actually mean to put planning first — before compliance, before tax prep, before anything else? John Mark Prewitt, CPA and Founder and Managing Member of Cohesion, joins Mike Langford and Todd Sorrel for a conversation that every founder, operator, and private markets leader needs to hear. John Mark built Cohesion around a simple but rare idea: that the most valuable thing an accounting and advisory firm can do for its clients is plan first — and let compliance follow. In this episode he breaks down what that looks like in practice, why most firms aren't doing it, and what's sitting on the table for the clients who haven't had a real planning partner yet. In this episode: Why estate tax is the tax most founders aren't planning for — and why John Mark calls it "not your problem, but your responsibility"The major changes to QSBS and Section 1202 under the One Big Beautiful Bill Act — including the increase from $10M to $15M exclusion per original issuer and the new partial exemptions at the 3 and 4 year hold marksHow to make smart multi-year tax plans when the code keeps changingThe most common (and costly) mistakes John Mark finds when a new client comes in after years of going it alone — including Section 461 loss limits, net investment income tax, and balance sheet blind spotsThe story behind building Cohesion — and why culture and empathy are at the center of everything the firm doesWhy trust is the foundation of every client relationship, and how AI-enabled fraud is raising the stakes for everyone moving money Connect with John Mark Prewitt and Cohesion: John Mark Prewitt on LinkedInCohesion — cohesionco.com Questions or guest suggestions? Reach us at podcast@6lock.com CHAPTERS 0:00 - Welcome & The Moose Story 7:38 - What "Planning First" Actually Means 14:12 - The Estate Tax Wake-Up Call 20:30 - QSBS & Section 1202 Explained 24:24 - Planning When the Tax Code Keeps Moving 32:50 - The Most Common (and Costly) DIY Mistakes 36:47 - Building Cohesion & Why Trust Is Everything

  8. Jun 30

    The Banker's Inside View on Wire Fraud, Identity, and Building Two Banks from Scratch

    What happens when a $64 million wire is ready to go out the door and you can't verify the account it's going to? Jeff Wilkinson has lived that moment — not once, but repeatedly — as the founder and CEO of two community banks he built from scratch and grew past $1 billion in assets each. Jeff just closed the sale of Keystone Bank to Third Coast Bank in January 2026. Days before this recording, he sat in a Federal Reserve banker roundtable and told the room something that should concern every private equity firm, fund administrator, and CFO moving large amounts of money: the big banks have deliberately architected their systems to push fraud liability downstream — to community banks, to businesses, and ultimately to you. And the callback procedure everyone relies on? Voice cloning just killed it. This is one of the most candid conversations we've had on this show. Jeff holds nothing back. In this episode: — Why the big banks won't pick up the phone when you need to validate a recipient account — The $64M wire story that illustrates exactly what's broken — How fraud is up 33% year over year — and why only 12% of it gets reported — Why "your voice is your password" went from innovation to liability in two years — What Jeff told the Federal Reserve about 6lock — How hiring for fit (not for need) made Keystone more profitable faster than Pioneer — What Jeff would do differently if he started a bank today Chapters 00:00 Cold Open 01:00 Introduction 02:48 The Build, The Sale, and Doing It Twice 06:39 Community Banking vs. The Big Banks 19:04 Talent: Hire for Fit, Not for Need 27:44 The Banker's Inside View: Wire Fraud Is a Feature, Not a Bug 44:23 Identity Is the Answer 51:27 If You Were Starting a Bank Today Connect with Jeff Wilkinson LinkedIn | Keystone Bank | Third Coast Bank | Banking on Community Podcast Questions or guest suggestions: podcast@6lock.com

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6 × 6lock is a short-form podcast designed for senior leaders across private equity, fund administration, treasury, security, and fintech. Each episode features one guest and six tightly moderated, six-minute topics — creating a focused ~36-minute episode that respects time and delivers substance. Why We Built It Private markets leaders have insights worth sharing — but not unlimited time. 6 × 6lock removes the fluff and delivers crisp, thoughtful conversations on what actually matters right now. Conversations We Care About Private markets operations and scaleRisk, fraud, and securityTreasury and capital movementTechnology adoptionLeadership lessonsWhat’s changing (and what isn’t) Who It’s For? PE and credit firm leadersFund administratorsCFOs, COOs, Heads of TreasuryFintech and infrastructure operators serving private markets Why 6lock As the Verified Money Movement platform purpose-built for private equity, 6lock sits at the intersection of identity, security, and trust. This podcast enables conversations that extend our mission by spotlighting leaders who are shaping the future of private market value creation.

Information

  • Creator
    6lock
  • Years Active
    2026
  • Episodes
    16
  • Rating
    Clean
  • Copyright
    © 6lock
  • Show Website
    6 × 6lock Podcast