Learning to See Your Blind Spots with Joshua Cascade

Denise talks to Joshua Cascade, a former private equity investor with over 25 years of industry experience. Cascade has led or co-led leveraged buyout transactions representing over $2 billion in aggregate acquisition value. These days you’ll find him back on campus, educating the next generation of MBA candidates at the Yale School of Management and undergraduate business students at the University of Michigan’s Ross School of Business. 

Having rubbed elbows with thousands of founders and CEOs in 48 states, he’s proud to have learned so much from such a diverse group of people. His experience—and his mistakes—along the way have taught him the importance of knowing what your blind spots are. When he was starting out, his answer to overcoming adversity was to put his head down and work harder. Now he asks himself, “Am I being too risk averse? Am I making this decision out of fear?” 

Cascade is happy to be back in his home state of Michigan, and happy to be teaching for both Yale and his alma mater, University of Michigan. The wisdom he would offer his younger self is the same he offers his students. Slow down. Embrace the “I don’t know.” Apart from crediting his wife as the real secret to his confidence, he stresses having an open mind and humility. Learn before you leap. 

Cascade is super impressed by his students’ curiosity and intelligence. The next generation is incredibly data savvy and their ability to gather better information faster will undoubtedly be a game changer. 

Not surprisingly his favorite Detroit moments are sports related. With the city’s sports teams getting better and better, much like the revival of the city itself, he believes when one of those teams wins a championship again, the party will take to Detroit’s downtown streets like never before. 

Both Denise and he agree, that is something to look forward to. 

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Joshua Cascade is a former private equity investor with over 25 years of industry experience, most recently as a Managing Partner at Wellspring Capital. Prior to Wellspring, Cascade was a member of the investment team at Odyssey Investment Partners. He began his career at The Blackstone Group in 1994, after earning an undergraduate bachelor’s degree in business administration at the University of Michigan. Since 2018, Cascade has been teaching a private equity course to MBA candidates at the Yale School of Management and undergraduate business students at the University of Michigan’s Ross School of Business. He resides in Michigan with his wife and daughters. 

Denise Ilitch, an owner of Ilitch Family Companies and President of Ilitch Enterprises, has been a part of Detroit’s business and philanthropic community for over 40 years.  As a mother, lawyer, entrepreneur, devoted community servant and tireless advocate for women and children, she learned early, from her father, that everyone is worthy of contributing to the world.  Her passion for affordable, accessible, quality education stems from her own experience as a first-generation student, earning a bachelor’s degree from the University of Michigan, where she currently serves on the Board of Regents, and a law degree from the University of Detroit Law School. 

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