Middle Market Musings kicks off its fifth season with a true survivor. Steve Tipler is managing director in the Financial Sponsors group at Piper Sandler Companies. He has survived a lifetime of Minnesota winters, a long-tenured friendship with Charlie Gifford, 20 years in the investment banking business and becoming a parent in the 1990s and in the 2020s. He shares all in a wide-ranging discussion. Valuable insights include his thoughts on the Piper Sandler platform as well as the world of sponsor coverage, post-pandemic. Andy and Charlie are rusty (stated politely) after a summer off, but with such low ceilings for competence and engagement, they quickly return to “peak” form.