Graff says he's not interested in selling out, even at a time when private equity firms like Ronald Burkle's Yucaipa are investing in British jewelers Garrard and Stephen Webster.

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And then what you've got is folks like my grandmother at the mercy of the private insurance system precisely at the time when they are most in need of decent health care.

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This level of hands-on management may be impossible for private equity behemoths like Carlyle and KKR, which own dozens of companies at the same time.

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Having spent time working in the private sector, city government, and FINRA, I like to say that FINRA is often the worst of both worlds rolled into one.

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It could be a brush with history, as with the Colosseum, or face time with celebrities and thought leaders at a place like TED (or at the elegant private gatherings sponsored by many top-tier companies for their best clients).

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