S8 E5 - Dr. Dinakar Golla | A Plastic Surgeon's Take on Investing
Release Date: 04/29/2026
S9E7 - Prath Reddy | Unlocking the Future of Private Credit
Real Returns
In this episode of Real Returns, Andrew sits down with Prath Reddy, co-founder and CEO of Percent, a private credit platform that works as both an asset manager and an electronic trading venue for institutions. Prath shares how he went from raising bonds at UBS to building Percent with a co-founder he met on AngelList, what changed when he became CEO after nearly eight years, and how he protects his time with his family. He and Andrew also get into how AI is changing the way his team builds software. Timestamps: 00:00 - Cold Open: Selling And Buying Discreetly 00:29 - Meet Prath Reddy 00:59 -...
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S9E6 - Stephanie Puryear Helling | Why The Best Teams Build Instead of Fix
Real Returns
In this episode of Real Returns, Andrew sits down with Stephanie Puryear Helling, an international keynote speaker, executive coach, author, and founder of SPH Services. After more than 20 years leading learning and development inside a global multifamily organization, Stephanie explains why the best teams are built on strengths instead of fixes, and how tools like DISC, CliftonStrengths, and The Five Dysfunctions of a Team show leaders what’s really happening inside their companies. She and Andrew also get into employee engagement, where AI fits in, and a new faith-inspired leadership...
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S9E5 - Isaac Carter | Lead the Market, Don't Chase It
Real Returns
In this episode of Real Returns, Andrew sits down with Isaac Carter, CEO of Contollo Consulting, a technology entrepreneur with more than 25 years in data architecture, software, and business transformation. Isaac explains why founders who lead with their own voice stand out in an AI-saturated market, and how free 10-minute interviews with 62 founders at DFW Startup Week doubled as market research. He and Andrew also get into why leading with value beats leading with the ask. Timestamps: 00:00 - Cold Open: Henry Ford Didn't Invent The Car 00:38 - Meet Isaac Carter 01:37 - From Staffing To...
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S9E4 - Vicky Schiff | Private Credit and Loan to Cost Investing
Real Returns
In this episode of Real Returns, Andrew sits down with Vicky Schiff, CEO and founder of Avrio Clean Fund and a serial entrepreneur who has co-founded six firms over three decades in real estate. Vicki breaks down how private credit actually works, from senior loans and stretch senior proceeds to the debt yield math lenders use to protect their basis. She and Andrew also dig into why the recent private credit "exodus" headlines are mostly a corporate credit story, how construction cost overruns and rate hikes have squeezed multifamily borrowers, and how Avrio's PACE financing ties...
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S9E3 - Joe Cardosi | The Four Ps of Specialty Pharmacy
Real Returns
In this episode of Real Returns, Andrew sits down with Joe Cardosi, Founder and CEO of Free Market Health, a healthcare technology company that connects patients to the specialty pharmacies equipped to treat their most complex diagnoses. Joe breaks down why a tiny slice of patients, those on specialty drugs for conditions like cancer or cystic fibrosis, drive the majority of a health plan's total drug spend, and why the system built around them is often too slow and too fragmented to serve the people it exists for. He and Andrew also get into what it actually took to build a fast-growing...
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S9E2 - Kevin Morris | Crowdfunding Capital in the Modern World
Real Returns
In this episode of Real Returns, Andrew sits down with Kevin Morris, founder of Atlas Rd, who has helped raise over $350 million in capital across his own companies and the businesses he now advises. Kevin traces the evolution of equity crowdfunding from a fallback for companies that could not raise anywhere else to a tool blue chip brands are choosing on purpose, and makes the case for why a cap table of 10,000 small investors can be a bigger asset than a single VC check. He and Andrew also get into the work they are doing together on Reiturn, Birgo's platform built to bring real estate...
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S9E1 - Jay Parsons | What the Data Actually Says about Rental Housing
Real Returns
In this episode of Real Returns, Andrew sits down with Jay Parsons, a rental housing economist, advisor, and podcaster who helps investors and other stakeholders make sense of what's actually happening in apartments and single-family rentals. Jay pulls back the curtain on the data behind today's multifamily market, from where institutional capital is and isn't looking, to why the national affordability conversation gets the real story wrong. He and Andrew also get into migration patterns within a single metro, the flight to quality reshaping renter demand, and where the next decade of returns...
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S8E9 - Season 8 Recap
Real Returns
In the Season 8 finale, Andrew and Dan look back on an incredible season of guests. Four years in, the hosts reflect on what makes this podcast meaningful: the honest, humanizing stories of entrepreneurs who aren't afraid to talk about what it really takes to find success. Greg Furer: Solving the "Cheesecake Factory problem" in financial planning, and why simplicity and trust matter more than the size of the inheritance. Adam Taki: Why tax lien investing isn't what you think, and how an overlooked niche turns non-performing assets into performing ones. Patrick Colletti: What it means to...
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S8E8 - Afif Ghannoum | Building Trust in the World of Supplements
Real Returns
In this episode of Real Returns, Andrew sits down with Afif Ghannoum, founder and CEO of CPG Radar, a platform that uses big data and AI to help consumer brands accelerate innovation in the supplement space. Afif pulls back the curtain on how the supplement industry actually works, from the brands getting it right to the ones cutting dangerous corners, and explains why the data behind what you put in your body matters more than most people realize. He and Andrew also dig into the 85/15 principle, the hidden challenge of AI hallucinations in CPG data, and where the science on ingredients like...
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S8E7 - Hisham Albahar | Logistics and Geopolitics in the Middle East
Real Returns
In this episode of Real Returns, Andrew sits down with Hisham Albahar, CEO of three logistics companies operating in the UAE and GCC region. Hisham shares a candid firsthand account of running a logistics business in the middle of an active conflict, how supply chain disruption rippled across an entire region, and why he believes scale and consolidation are the keys to modernizing a fragmented, century-old industry. He and Andrew also discover they're running nearly identical playbooks toward the same billion-dollar goal! Timestamps: 00:00 - Intro: Real Returns Season 8 01:07 - Meet Hisham...
info_outlineIn this episode of Real Returns, hosts Andrew Reichert and Dan Croce sit down with Dr. Dinakar Golla, a Pittsburgh-based plastic surgeon, entrepreneur, and venture investor. Dinakar shares how a pivotal mentor in medical school redirected his career, how he transitioned from practicing medicine to building a diversified investment portfolio, and why he believes aligning incentives is the key to fixing American healthcare.
Timestamps:
00:00 Opening segment
00:40 Welcome back; NFL Draft in Pittsburgh
00:57 Meet Dr. Dinakar Golla
01:48 Growing up in Pittsburgh
02:22 The plan to become a cardiac surgeon
03:36 A mentor changes everything
04:32 His mentor passes two days after matching
05:11 Mentorship reflections from Andrew and Dan
06:52 Leaving the university to build his own practice
08:33 The thrill of building from scratch
09:25 Transition from success to significance
10:04 Getting into alternative investing
11:38 Investment philosophy and LP lessons
13:38 Healthcare technology and the impact opportunity
14:13 America's most expensive healthcare system
14:45 Rewarding outcomes, not usage
16:11 Patients must own their care
17:05 Andrew's cancer story; misaligned incentives
17:46 The dialysis example
19:21 Next five years; venture and legacy
20:48 Launching a Pittsburgh healthcare venture fund
21:34 Involving his kids in investing
22:09 Dan and Andrew's closing takeaways
23:21 Where to connect with Dr. Golla
23:37 Outro
"I think the key to [fixing healthcare] is that it has to be value-based. If it's getting to be 20% of GDP and we're just not getting really good outcomes, that's a bad thing." — Dr. Dinakar Golla
Connect with Dr. Golla:
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/dinakar-golla-27b2151b
Website: gollaplasticsurgery.com
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