enorthstar's podcast: Recent Episodes
Northstar
Consistent with all programs delivered by Northstar, “Private Equity Fast Pitch” podcasts are meaningful, insightful and provide actionable information from leaders in the Private Equity community that will help you connect with the speaker in an efficient way. Each Tuesday, Jeff Henningsen from Lockton will spend time talking with his friends in the private equity community while they share insight into their world. Similar to an introductory meeting, Private Equity and Investment Banking guests will talk about their firms, recent activities, target industries, desired acquisition profile or companies they are prepping for sale, advice to aspiring professionals and their “closing pitch”.
If you would like to be considered for a Private Equity Fast Pitch interview please email jhenningsen@lockton.com
Andy founded Levison & Co., the predecessor of Southfield Capital, in November 2002. Before that, he was the Head of Leveraged Finance at Donaldson, Lufkin & Jenrette (DLJ), where he oversaw banking and origination activities for all of the firm's investment banking products for leveraged companies. In particular, Andy focused on high yield securities, leveraged bank loans, bridge loans, and mezzanine/equity investments. While at DLJ, Andy also served as Co-Chairman of the Credit Committee and as a member of the Management Committee of the Investment Banking Division and the Banking Review Committee. Prior to joining DLJ, he was a Managing Director of the Leveraged Buyout Group at Drexel Burnham Lambert and a Vice President of the Special Finance Group at Manufacturers Hanover Trust.
Andy has served on the boards of over 25 public and private companies related to investments and is currently on the board of directors of Ferrellgas Partners, L.P. (NYSE: FGP), Protos Security, Pacific Landscape Management, Property Management Holdings, TFS, and the Levison/Present Foundation at Mount Sinai Hospital. Andy was also the President of The Red Ribbon Foundation in Greenwich, CT. He earned a B.S. degree in Finance from Babson College.
Carl Jenkins is Managing Director and Group Head of Community Capital Solutions for BMO Financial Group. Using a $3 billion allocation of balance sheet capital, the business unit invests in private funds that support lower middle market companies and community-centric real estate. The business also provides construction loans for multifamily affordable housing. Both equity and debt commitments further the Community Reinvestment Act objectives of BMO in the central and western United States.
Equity investments are primarily limited partnerships in conventional private real estate funds and private equity funds licensed by the U.S. Small Business Administration. Sponsors include private investment managers, for-profit developers, not-for-profit organizations and community development financial institutions.
Additionally, Carl chairs the board of directors for BMO Private Equity (U.S.), Inc., the BMO subsidiary that originates mezzanine debt and equity investments directly to operating companies. He earned his bachelor's degree in architecture from Washington University in St. Louis and holds an MBA from the Kenan-Flagler School of Business at the University of North Carolina. He serves on the board of directors for several organizations, including the Disability Opportunity Fund, Enterprise Community Investment, and the Goodman Theatre of Chicago. Carl also serves on the advisory board of multiple lower middle market private equity and credit funds.
Disclosure: Banking products are subject to approval and are provided in the United States by BMO Bank N.A. Member FDIC
Scott Romanoff, Co-Managing Partner of Franchise Equity Partners, spent 28 years at Goldman Sachs and was a Partner for 12 years. He worked within the Investment Banking Division and the Executive Office based in both New York and London. He headed Corporate Development, and co-headed the Financial Institutions Financing Group, providing advice regarding debt and equity financing as well as risk management. He was Co-Chair of the Significant Acquisitions Oversight Group, and member of the GS Bank Management and Firm-wide Finance Committees. A graduate of New York University.
Anthony Guagliano is a founding Partner at Gallant Capital and is responsible for all aspects of the firm's activities. Prior to founding Gallant in 2018, Anthony was responsible for leading investments at The Gores Group. Prior to joining Gores in 2011, Anthony was a Managing Director with Moelis & Company where he led M&A execution for transactions across various industries including technology, business services, consumer and retail, media, healthcare and biotechnology. Prior to joining Moelis, Anthony was a Vice President at UBS where he led the execution on a variety of assignments, including mergers and acquisitions, equity and debt security underwritings, and other advisory assignments. Anthony also previously worked as the Director of Finance at Nomadix, Inc and was an Analyst at DLJ. Anthony serves on the Board of Directors of all Gallant portfolio companies. Anthony received a B.A. in Business Administration with Honours from the Richard Ivey School of Business at the University of Western Ontario.
Marcos A. Rodriguez
Founder, Chief Executive Officer & Partner
Mr. Rodriguez founded Palladium in 1997 and serves as Chairman and CEO.
Prior to forming Palladium, Mr. Rodriguez was a partner of Joseph Littlejohn & Levy, a buyout firm that he joined in 1989.
Before launching his private equity career, he worked in operations for General Electric Company in the U.S., Mexico and France, and graduated from GE's Manufacturing Management Program.
Mr. Rodriguez has served on the Board of Directors of Palladium portfolio companies ABRA, Castro Cheese, Daniel's Jewelers, Jordan Health Services, Second Nature Brands, Teasdale, Taco Bueno, Trachte, TransForce and Wise Foods, among others. Mr. Rodriguez serves on the Board of Trustees of New York-Presbyterian, the University Hospital of Columbia and Cornell. He also serves on the Boards of the Robert Toigo Foundation and the Alfred E. Smith Foundation.
He earned a B.S. in Mechanical Engineering from Columbia University, an M.B.A. from The Wharton School and an M.A. in International Studies from the Lauder Institute of the University of Pennsylvania.
Tom Shapiro is the President and Founder of GTIS. In addition, Mr. Shapiro is the Chief Investment Officer responsible for overseeing all investment activity and strategy of the firm. Mr. Shapiro is also Chairman of the General Partner's Investment Committee and is a member of the Board of Directors of Brazil Hospitality Group, one of the largest owners and managers of hotels in Brazil.
Mr. Shapiro's experience in the real estate industry began in 1988. Prior to starting GTIS, Mr. Shapiro was a Senior Managing Director at Tishman Speyer and a member of the firm's Investment and Management Committees. Most recently, Mr. Shapiro was responsible for Tishman Speyer's global equity capital markets and dispositions groups. Previously, Mr. Shapiro ran GTS Properties, an acquisitions joint venture between Tishman Speyer and Goldman Sachs.
Mr. Shapiro serves on the Undergraduate Executive Board and the Carol and Lawrence Zicklin Center for Business Ethics Review's Private Sector Advisory Board for The Wharton School, University of Pennsylvania from which Mr. Shapiro received a B.S. and graduated magna cum laude.
ADVICE THAT LASTS DECADES
Every May since 2018, I've released an annual montage focused on advice for college students and young professionals interested in private equity, investment banking, and the investing world
This year's version marks Episode 200 of Private Equity Fast Pitch!
Over the last 12 months I asked founders, CEOs and managing partners from Private Equity firms, Investment Banks and LPs the same question:
What advice would you give to young professionals trying to build a meaningful career in this business?
What makes this episode special is not just the milestone, it's how often the same themes continue to surface...
Different firms
Different backgrounds
Different paths
But the themes are remarkably consistent
⚾️ Find work that gives you energy
⚾️ Build real relationships
⚾️ Do the hard things early
⚾️ Learn from people who are better than you
⚾️ Stay curious
⚾️ Understand that careers are built over decades, not quarters
What stands out after 200 episodes is this...
The foundational elements of long-term success are timeless
And while this episode is designed for young professionals and graduating students, I think the advice applies at every stage of a career
I'm incredibly grateful for all of my guests who have shared their sage advice over the years!
Featured Guests:
Michael Psaros - KPS Capital Partners
https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/private-equity-fast-pitch/id1359329939?i=1000739675082
Omar Jaffrey - Palistar Capital
https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/private-equity-fast-pitch/id1359329939?i=1000758837812
Rob Brown - Lincoln International
https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/private-equity-fast-pitch/id1359329939?i=1000711726279
Tim Meyer - Angeles Equity Partners
https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/private-equity-fast-pitch/id1359329939?i=1000735555551
Chris Rozzell - Cresta Fund Management
https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/private-equity-fast-pitch/id1359329939?i=1000721947245
Parker Weil - TD Securities
https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/private-equity-fast-pitch/id1359329939?i=1000737590933
Sean MacIver - KeyBanc Capital Markets
https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/private-equity-fast-pitch/id1359329939?i=1000728454456
Matthew Sparks - Northleaf Capital Partners
https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/private-equity-fast-pitch/id1359329939?i=1000723925489
Suzanne Yoon - Kinzie Capital Partners
https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/private-equity-fast-pitch/id1359329939?i=1000753377248
Eric Wiklendt - Speyside Equity
https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/private-equity-fast-pitch/id1359329939?i=1000748373295
Michelle Noon - Clearhaven Partners
https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/private-equity-fast-pitch/id1359329939?i=1000733152917
Paul Raphael - Auréa Group
https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/private-equity-fast-pitch/id1359329939?i=1000717775898
Daphne Dufresne - Awani Capital
https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/private-equity-fast-pitch/id1359329939?i=1000756128214
Russ Roenick - Transom Capital Group
https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/private-equity-fast-pitch/id1359329939?i=1000731004463
Neda Vakilian - Actis
https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/private-equity-fast-pitch/id1359329939?i=1000713638680
Sam Gaynor - Altamont Capital Partners
https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/private-equity-fast-pitch/id1359329939?i=1000746205883
Eliot Kerlin - Broadwing Capital
https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/private-equity-fast-pitch/id1359329939?i=1000741835818
Andy Unanue - AUA Private Equity Partners
https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/private-equity-fast-pitch/id1359329939?i=1000750484838
Kristin Johnson - Altamont Capital Partners
https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/private-equity-fast-pitch/id1359329939?i=1000726285319
Scott Sperling - THL Partners
https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/private-equity-fast-pitch/id1359329939?i=1000720142324
THE ADVICE THAT ACTUALLY HOLDS UP
There is no shortage of advice in this industry
Most of it sounds good...
Not all of it lasts
With graduation season here, I wanted to do something a little different on Private Equity Fast Pitch.
These clips come from guests who share a common university. What they don't share is how they got there:
Different paths
Different careers
Different firms
What stood out to me was not where they went. It was how consistent the advice was
⚾️ Play the long game
Careers are built over decades, not quarters
⚾️ Protect your reputation
Your word and how you show up compound over time
⚾️ Do the hard things early
That's where real confidence and capability are built
⚾️ Be intentional
Who you work for and what you learn matters more than title
These are not theories. They are patterns from people who have built across multiple cycles and environments.
The fundamentals are simple.
They're just not easy.
And they don't change.
If you're early in your career or even if you're not, this is a valuable episode to listen too.
Featured Harvard Graduate Guests:
Adam Blumenthal - Blue Wolf Capital Partners
https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/private-equity-fast-pitch/id1359329939?i=1000419683769
Bob Grady - Summit Partners
https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/private-equity-fast-pitch/id1359329939?i=1000466305412
Nik Shah - Cohere Capital
https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/private-equity-fast-pitch/id1359329939?i=1000492548668
Brandon Bethea - Aterian Investment Partners
https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/private-equity-fast-pitch/id1359329939?i=1000512756706
Steve Lebowitz - Brand Velocity Group
https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/private-equity-fast-pitch/id1359329939?i=1000544474759
Alex Western - Terminus Capital Partners
https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/private-equity-fast-pitch/id1359329939?i=1000588352120
Arthur Hollingsworth - Lone Star Investment Advisors
https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/private-equity-fast-pitch/id1359329939?i=1000606603038
Clay Hunter - Broadview Group
https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/private-equity-fast-pitch/id1359329939?i=1000407597189
David Iverson - Iverson Consulting Services
https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/private-equity-fast-pitch/id1359329939?i=1000409078405
Ralph Manning - Coltala Holdings
https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/private-equity-fast-pitch/id1359329939?i=1000434156484
Jerry Johnson - Ariel Alternatives
https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/private-equity-fast-pitch/id1359329939?i=1000455717611
Victor Vescovo - Caladan Capital
https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/private-equity-fast-pitch/id1359329939?i=1000424858176
Brett Hickey - Star Mountain Capital
https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/private-equity-fast-pitch/id1359329939?i=1000467637362
Brad Brennerman - Breck Partners
https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/private-equity-fast-pitch/id1359329939?i=1000490948771
Brent Humphries - AB Private Credit Investors
https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/private-equity-fast-pitch/id1359329939?i=1000506913145
Dr. Chris Kersey - Havencrest Capital Management
https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/private-equity-fast-pitch/id1359329939?i=1000531859885
Scott Kolbrenner - GISI
https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/private-equity-fast-pitch/id1359329939?i=1000533229587
Doug McCormick - Oridian Capital Partners
https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/private-equity-fast-pitch/id1359329939?i=1000575024701
Tom O'Rourke - BayPine
https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/private-equity-fast-pitch/id1359329939?i=1000590284296
Mark Sotir - Equity Group Investments
https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/private-equity-fast-pitch/id1359329939?i=1000618757742
Pardis Nasseri - Palm Tree
https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/private-equity-fast-pitch/id1359329939?i=1000630324818
Devon Kirk - Portage Capital Solutions
https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/private-equity-fast-pitch/id1359329939?i=1000658066071
Bogdan Gogulan - NewSpace Capital
https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/private-equity-fast-pitch/id1359329939?i=1000681019854
Erik Brooks - Ethos Capital
https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/private-equity-fast-pitch/id1359329939?i=1000684256262
Ignacio Jayanti is the Chief Executive Officer of Corsair and serves as Chairman of the Buyouts Investment Committee and as a member of the Infrastructure Investment Committee. He joined Corsair in 1993 when the first Corsair fund was launched and is based in New York. Ignacio is a director of Corsair portfolio companies IDnow and ZEDRA.
Prior to spinning off Corsair as an independent business from J.P. Morgan Chase & Co. in 2006, Ignacio played a key role as a senior member of the investment team of the predecessor Corsair funds and also was responsible for managing the operations of the Corsair business from 1994 onwards. From 1994 to 1999, Ignacio was also a senior member of the Investment Banking Department of J.P. Morgan, where he headed the Emerging Markets Financial Institutions group. Prior to J.P. Morgan, Ignacio worked at Credit Suisse First Boston in the Financial Institutions group both in New York and London. His investment banking experience includes complex advisory assignments in the United States, Europe, Asia and Latin America.
Ignacio holds both a B.A. and an M.A. in Economics from Queens' College, Cambridge University. He is a Fellow of the inaugural class of the Finance Leaders Fellowship Program and a member of the Aspen Global Leadership Network. Ignacio is also a member of the Board of Trustees of the Hotchkiss School, a member of the RAND Global and Emerging Risks Advisory Board, and a member of the International Advisory Board of British American Business.
Omar Jaffrey has been involved in technology, media and telecommunications ("TMT") investments, mergers and acquisitions, strategic partnerships, public and private capital raises, restructuring and bankruptcies for over 30 years.
Mr. Jaffrey founded Palistar Capital (formerly, Melody Investment Advisers, "Palistar") in 2019 as a specialist digital infrastructure investor as his go-forward investment platform and created Symphony Wireless, an affiliated easements origination platform ("Symphony"). The team successfully raised a $2 billion dedicated digital infrastructure fund at the end of 2021, has built out a specialist team with deep investment and operating expertise and has invested in a number of macro tower investments including Harmoni Towers, Parallel Infrastructure, CTI Towers, and an easements and tower portfolio originated by Symphony.
Prior to Palistar, Mr. Jaffrey co-founded Melody Capital Partners ("Melody") in 2012 where he was also a Managing Partner. The team at Melody raised two fund families – a Structured Credit platform with $1 billion assets under management ("AUM") and a digital infrastructure platform with $700 million AUM ("Melody Wireless Infrastructure"). Mr. Jaffrey crafted the strategy, built Melody Wireless Infrastructure as its CEO and successfully exited Melody Wireless Infrastructure in 2021. Melody is now actively harvesting its remaining investments and is no longer making new investments or fundraising.
Prior to Melody, Mr. Jaffrey was a Managing Director of UBS Investment Bank, most recently serving as Americas Co-head of the Special Situations Group. Mr. Jaffrey was an advisor to some of the leading telecommunications and technology companies globally covering over 50 global clients in the TMT space for their strategic and financing needs. Mr. Jaffrey also helped build UBS's Telecommunications Media and Technology Investment Banking practice and was Global Head of Satellite Investment Banking while specializing in the convergence of TMT sectors between 2003 and 2009. Prior to joining UBS, Mr. Jaffrey was a Managing Director at Merrill Lynch where he built the Global Satellite Investment Banking practice. In the early 1990s, Mr. Jaffrey helped build Bear Stearns' Investment Bank in Asia, and was a founding member of Bear Stearns' Telecommunications sector Investment Banking practice.
Mr. Jaffrey holds a BS magna cum laude in Electrical Engineering from Columbia University and an MBA from Stanford University, and is a member of Tau Beta Pi and Eta Kappa Nu honor societies.
Daphne Dufresne is the Founder and Managing Partner of Awani Capital. She leads the firm's strategic direction, investment decisions, and value creation initiatives across the portfolio. With over 25 years of private equity experience, Daphne has a long-standing track record of building scalable businesses in the business and industrial services sectors. She plays an active role in all phases of the investment process—from deal sourcing and thesis development to portfolio company growth and exit strategy.
Before founding Awani, Daphne was a Managing Partner at GenNx360, a $2.2 billion middle-market private equity firm based in New York. She served on the investment, valuation, and exit committees, and led direct investments in GenServe, Precision Aviation Group, Aero 3, and Whitsons Culinary Group, completing 31 add-on acquisitions across these platforms.
Daphne was also a founding Managing Director at RLJ Equity Partners. Earlier in her career, she also held senior roles at Parish Capital Advisors, Weston Presidio, and the Bank of Scotland's Structured Finance group, and began her career at Accenture.
Daphne is on the board of directors of NYSE (UNFI) where she chairs the Compensation Committee.
Daphne earned a B.S. in Engineering from the University of Pennsylvania and an M.B.A. from Harvard Business School.
In recognition of International Women's Month, I'm releasing a montage of advice from some of the most accomplished women in our industry.
These remarkable leaders have navigated one of the most demanding and historically male-dominated corners of business and have done it with conviction, resilience, and extraordinary leadership.
If you're a young professional, a student considering this industry, or a leader developing the next generation of talent, this episode is worth your time.
Sunaina Sinha - Global Head, Private Capital Advisory, and Senior Managing Director, Raymond James
https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/private-equity-fast-pitch/id1359329939?i=1000667167867
Shannon Zoller - Founder, Tephra Advisors
https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/private-equity-fast-pitch/id1359329939?i=1000552841977
Neha Markle - Managing Director, Morgan Stanley
https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/private-equity-fast-pitch/id1359329939?i=1000633494095
Caroline Stevens - Investor, MPK Equity Partners
https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/private-equity-fast-pitch/id1359329939?i=1000597747344
Chrisanne Corbett - Managing Director, KPMG
https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/private-equity-fast-pitch/id1359329939?i=1000432826264
Deborah Smith - Co-Founder and CEO, The CenterCap Group
https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/private-equity-fast-pitch/id1359329939?i=1000557619821
Devon Kirk - General Partner, Portage Capital Solutions
https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/private-equity-fast-pitch/id1359329939?i=1000658066071
Franny Jones - Partner, Investor Relations, The Sterling Group
https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/private-equity-fast-pitch/id1359329939?i=1000452341799
Gina Luna - Partner, GP Capital
https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/private-equity-fast-pitch/id1359329939?i=1000555838972
Gretchen Perkins - Partner(Origination), Avance Investment Management
https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/private-equity-fast-pitch/id1359329939?i=1000453890941
Kristin Johnson - Managing Director, Altamont Capital Partners
https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/private-equity-fast-pitch/id1359329939?i=1000726285319
Lauren Moohalland - Waypoint Ridge Capital
https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/private-equity-fast-pitch/id1359329939?i=1000468986627
Lucy Heintz - Partner, Head of Energy Infrastructure, Actis
https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/private-equity-fast-pitch/id1359329939?i=1000701104377
Michelle Noon - Founder and Managing Partner, Clearhaven Partners
https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/private-equity-fast-pitch/id1359329939?i=1000733152917
Neda Vakilian - Partner, Actis
https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/private-equity-fast-pitch/id1359329939?i=1000713638680
Suzanne Yoon is the Founder and Managing Partner of Kinzie Capital Partners, a Chicago-
based private equity firm redefining the lower middle market. With over 25 years of
experience, Suzanne founded Kinzie on the conviction that sustainable value is unlocked
by integrating people and operational innovation with technology.
Under her leadership, Kinzie specializes in founder transitions across the manufacturing,
business services, and consumer sectors. Suzanne and her team move beyond traditional
oversight to serve as hands-on partners, utilizing tech-driven efficiencies to scale
established businesses while honoring their heritage.
A recognized industry trailblazer, Suzanne has been honored by The Wall Street Journal as a
Top Female Deal Maker and by Mergers & Acquisitions as a leading voice in Mid-Market
M&A. Beyond the firm, she serves on the board of NYSE-listed ADT and the Chicago Bears
Women's Advisory Board. An avid outdoorswoman and proud University of Iowa alumna,
Suzanne enjoys golfing and fishing with her husband and three children.
Andy Unanue is the founder and Managing Partner of AUA Private Equity Partners, an operationally-focused, lower middle market investment firm with expertise in supporting and growing family-owned and demographic-driven businesses. Andy is a member of AUA Private Equity's Investment Committee, and under his leadership, AUA has deployed over $800 million of capital to date.
AUA's business model is driven by Andy's own family background – he is a member of the Unanue family, which owns and runs Goya Foods, the largest producer of Spanish- and Latin-American foods in the United States. Andy's grandfather, Prudencio, founded the company in 1936, and Andy's father, Joe, was a legendary CEO of the company himself. Andy was a leader of Goya for many years, ultimately serving as its Chief Operating Officer before founding AUA.
Andy currently serves on the boards of Tropical Cheese Industries and Westminster Pet Products, and previously served on the board of Goya Foods. Additionally, he serves on several not-for-profit boards including his family's charitable foundation, The C&J Unanue Foundation. Andy is a member of the University of Miami's Dean's Advisory Committee, the New America Alliance and is on the Columbia University Medical Center's Board of Advisors.
Andy received his M.B.A from the Thunderbird School of Global Management and his B.B.A. from the University of Miami.
Eric Wiklendt is a Managing Director at Speyside Equity, where he is responsible for sourcing, executing, managing, and exiting investments. Eric has previously held senior leadership and operational roles, and he currently serves on the Boards of several portfolio companies.
Before joining Speyside Equity, Eric was President & CEO of Kelix Heat Transfer Systems. Prior to that, he held leadership roles at Eaton and Hilti Corporation, where he oversaw M&A activities, established a manufacturing plant in Mexico, managed a large marketing team, and directed industrial sales operations.
A graduate of the University of Notre Dame, Eric obtained his MBA from the Wharton School at the University of Pennsylvania.
Sam Gaynor is a Managing Director at Altamont Capital Partners where he oversees their Financial Services practice. Sam evaluates and underwrites deals in the insurance, asset / wealth management, and specialty finance sectors, working closely with management teams to help maximize the value of their businesses. In particular, Sam has overseen Altamont's efforts to incubate new Financial Services businesses, having launched eight new companies over the last decade.
Throughout 2025, I sat down with CEOs, founders, investors, and leaders across the private equity ecosystem. In every conversation, I asked a question that I have asked since the very first episode of Private Equity Fast Pitch:
What's the quote, motto, or what drives you?
The answers were telling as there were no slogans or catchy buzzwords.
What stood out was a shared seriousness about how success is built over time. Intention. Discipline. Mentorship. Compassion. Consistency. A deep respect for people and for the responsibility that comes with leadership.
These are not quotes for social media.
They are reference points for leadership.
I'm incredibly grateful for these guests time and our impactful conversations. And grateful to be able to bring these voices to the private equity community.
The Ninth Annual Quotes and Mottos montage features perspectives from our 2025 guests:
Erik Brooks – Founder & Managing Partner, Ethos Capital Action over analysis. Grit, discipline, and winning the next 30 minutes.
https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/private-equity-fast-pitch/id1359329939?i=1000684256262
Jeff Aiello – Co-Founder & Managing Partner, Agellus Capital Execution over perfection. Momentum guided by principles.
https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/private-equity-fast-pitch/id1359329939?i=1000687186161
Russ Roenick – Founder & Managing Partner, Transom Capital Group Decisiveness and self-awareness. Knowing your limits and acting accordingly.
https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/private-equity-fast-pitch/id1359329939?i=1000731004463
Michelle Noon – Founder & Managing Partner, Clearhaven Partners Growth through discomfort. Progress comes from moving through challenge.
https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/private-equity-fast-pitch/id1359329939?i=1000733152917
Andrew Weinberg – Founder, CEO & Co-Chair, Brightstar Capital Partners Carpe Diem. Presence, gratitude, and intention, rooted in family.
https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/private-equity-fast-pitch/id1359329939?i=1000696604131
Paul Raphael – Founder & Partner, Aurea Quality and mentorship. Trusting people to figure it out.
https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/private-equity-fast-pitch/id1359329939?i=1000717775898
Parker Weil – Global Co-Head of Investment Banking, TD Securities Long-term thinking. Reputation, relationships, and consistency.
https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/private-equity-fast-pitch/id1359329939?i=1000737590933
Lucy Heintz – Partner, Actis Empathy and perspective. Understanding how others see the world.
https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/private-equity-fast-pitch/id1359329939?i=1000701104377
Chris Rozzell – Managing Partner, Cresta Fund Management Clarity over comfort. Discipline over drama. Truth over ego.
https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/private-equity-fast-pitch/id1359329939?i=1000721947245
Tim Meyer – Co-Founder & Managing Partner, Angeles Equity Partners Focus and simplification. Eliminate noise to intensify impact.
https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/private-equity-fast-pitch/id1359329939?i=1000735555551
Neda Vakilian – Partner, Actis Sharp thinking and grounded execution. Trust and responsibility as leadership.
https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/private-equity-fast-pitch/id1359329939?i=1000713638680
Robert Brown – CEO, Lincoln International Hustle and presence. Showing up and doing the blocking and tackling.
https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/private-equity-fast-pitch/id1359329939?i=1000711726279
Kristin Johnson – Managing Director, Altamont Capital Partners Service and humility. Leading by asking, "What can I do to help?"
https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/private-equity-fast-pitch/id1359329939?i=1000726285319
Sean MacIver – Managing Director, KeyBanc Capital Markets Adaptability. Knowing when the familiar tool no longer fits.
https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/private-equity-fast-pitch/id1359329939?i=1000728454456
John Diggins – Partner, Platinum Equity Risk and growth. Understanding that not taking risk can be the biggest risk.
https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/private-equity-fast-pitch/id1359329939?i=1000706853889
Matthew Sparks – Managing Director, Northleaf Capital Proactivity. Skating to where the puck is going, not where it's been.
https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/private-equity-fast-pitch/id1359329939?i=1000723925489
Eliot Kerlin – Partner & Managing Partner, Broadwing Capital Presence and forward thinking. Focused on what comes next.
https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/private-equity-fast-pitch/id1359329939?i=1000741835818
Scott Sperling – Co-CEO, THL The ripple effect. Small actions compounding into meaningful impact.
https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/private-equity-fast-pitch/id1359329939?i=1000720142324
Michael Psaros – Co-Founder & Co-Managing Partner, KPS Capital Partners Time, gratitude, and legacy. Using success in service of something larger.
https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/private-equity-fast-pitch/id1359329939?i=1000739675082
Eliot serves as Managing Partner of Broadwing Capital, which he co-founded after 20 years of operational private equity experience. He is responsible for overall direction of the firm and ensuring Broadwing achieves its investment objectives in a manner consistent with the firm's mission and core values. He originates and leads investment opportunities, partners with management post-acquisition to achieve transformative results, and serves as primary contact at the firm for investors. Eliot has been a private equity investor since 2000, and has significant expertise in mergers and acquisitions, corporate strategy, performance improvement, and realizations through sales, public offerings and dividend recapitalizations.
Prior to founding Broadwing in 2022, Eliot was a Managing Partner of Insight Equity, a private equity firm with $1.4 billion under management. During his 17 years at Insight, Eliot led numerous investments and exits, working with management teams to create significant value across pre-fund investments, three equity funds and one mezzanine vehicle. He was responsible for all stages of the investment process, collaborating closely with management to identify and implement strategic and tactical improvement opportunities. Eliot served as Director and Chairman of multiple portfolio company boards, acted as Chief Restructuring Officer at a portfolio company during the great recession, and led acquisitions and greenfield expansion efforts throughout the United States and in seven countries.
Before joining Insight, Eliot acted as turnaround manager for Bay State Paper Company. Earlier in his career, Eliot worked for three years at Jupiter Partners, a New York-based private equity fund focused on domestic manufacturing, distribution and services companies. Previously, Eliot worked as an investment banker in Merrill Lynch's Global Communications Group advising public and private companies on corporate mergers, public offerings and bond offerings.
Eliot enjoys investing in the lives of his three sons and daughter and his local community. He co-founded and serves as Chairman of Casa Del Lago, an outreach to the Bachman Lake community in Dallas. In addition, Eliot previously served as a long-time board member of the Prison Entrepreneurship Program and other non-profit boards, Director and Chairman of a school board, English as a Second Language teacher, Assistant Scoutmaster, and coach of multiple soccer teams. Eliot co-founded a national impact angel network that invests in young companies and provides advice to their founders. Active in professional circles as well, Eliot was the Chairman of the DFW Private Equity Forum and Director – Private Equity with the DFW Association for Corporate Growth. Originally from Ft. Worth, Eliot roots for the Aggies, enjoys the outdoors, took up tennis to protect his knees from soccer injuries, and can play tunes on several stringed instruments. He lives in Dallas with his wife and their four children.
Eliot holds an M.B.A. with distinction from Harvard Business School, and a B.B.A. in Finance with honors from Texas A&M University.
Michael Psaros is a Co-Founder and Co-Managing Partner of KPS Capital Partners, LP ("KPS") and a member of its Investment and Management Committees. KPS is a leading global private equity firm with approximately $19.4B (as of 6/30/25) of assets under management focused on making controlling equity investments in global manufacturing and industrial companies across an array of industries. KPS generates investment returns by structurally improving the strategic position, competitiveness and profitability of its portfolio companies. The KPS Funds' portfolio companies generate aggregate annual revenues of approximately $21.6B and operate 211 manufacturing facilities in 21 countries (as of 6/30/25 pro forma for recent acquisitions and exits).
Mr. Psaros currently serves on the Board of Directors of 14 KPS portfolio companies and as Chairman of six. He previously served on the Board of 35 former KPS portfolio companies. Prior to joining its predecessor in 1991 and co-founding KPS in 1997, he was an investment banker with Bear Stearns & Co., Inc.
He received a B.S.B.A. in Finance from Georgetown University and attended Sophia University in Tokyo, Japan.
The Psaros Center for Financial Markets and Policy at Georgetown University, named for and endowed by the Psaros family in 2022, provides non-partisan, unbiased expertise to guide policy and practice. The Center leverages the strength of Georgetown's McDonough School of Business, distinguished faculty and leadership in finance and public policy to convene leaders across the private sector, global capital markets, legislators and regulators to solve problems for the common good.
Mr. Psaros served on Georgetown University's Board of Directors and currently serves as Vice Chairman of the Executive Board of Advisors at McDonough School of Business. Mr. Psaros received an honorary Doctor of Humane Letters, Honorus Causa, from Georgetown University in May 2025. Mr. Psaros created "The Michael and Robin Psaros Endowed Chair in Business Administration" at Georgetown University's McDonough School of Business in 2013 and "The Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew Endowed Orthodox Chaplaincy, Endowed by the Michael Psaros Family" in 2021.
Mr. Psaros is the Vice Chairman of the St. Nicholas Greek Orthodox Church and National Shrine at Ground Zero in New York City. He currently serves on the Executive Committee of the Greek Orthodox Archdiocese of America and is an Archon of the Ecumenical Patriarchate and serves on its National Council. He serves on the Board of Trustees of The Leadership 100 Endowment and the Executive Board of The Hellenic Initiative. Mr. Psaros was honored by the Hellenic Republic (Greece), the International Foundation for Greece and the Hellenic Post for his exceptional business achievements and philanthropy. The Hellenic Post placed Mr. Psaros on a limited-edition postage stamp now in circulation throughout Greece.
Michael Psaros, Commencement Speech, Georgetown University:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?app=desktop&v=5U-9gVrfXto
Parker Weil is Executive Managing Director, Co-Head of Global Corporate and
Investment Banking Coverage at TD Securities (TDS), and sits on the CIB Executive
Management Committee. He is responsible for overseeing the business' global
strategy, managing key relationships, and leading high-profile transactions to drive
business growth and market expansion.
Prior to this, Parker was the Co-Head of the Financial Sponsors Group which manages
the firm's relationships with Private Equity firms, Family Offices, and Independent
Sponsors. He has over 30 years of experience providing M&A advice and capital
raising services to companies in the manufacturing, energy & power, and business
services industries. Prior to TD Cowen, Parker served as Managing Director and head
of the Industrials and Natural Resources investment banking group for Stifel Financial
Corp. He previously held roles at Bank of America Merrill Lynch and Salomon Brothers.
Parker currently serves on the Board of Directors of 180 Degree Capital Corp. He has
also served on Clean Energy Fuels and on the Board of Trustees of the Ridgewood
Lacrosse Association.
Parker holds a BA in Economics from the University of Pennsylvania and an MBA from
the Kellogg Graduate School of Management at Northwestern University.
Tim is a co-founder and Managing Partner at Angeles Equity Partners. Tim is responsible for overseeing all aspects of the firm's investment activities.
Prior to co-founding Angeles Equity Partners in 2014, Tim co-led the Industrials vertical at The Gores Group with Jordan Katz. Tim was responsible for leading due diligence efforts, driving operational transformation and providing portfolio company oversight. During his tenure at Gores, Tim served as the Chairman and/or Chief Executive Officer of numerous portfolio companies, and was a member of both the Management and Investment Committees. Prior to Gores, Tim spent two years at Gateway, where he was responsible for the revenue and margin performance of Services, Software, and Enterprise Products in the Professional Business Unit. Prior to Gateway, Tim spent more than five years at Bain & Company, where he led numerous strategy, M&A and operational improvement engagements for corporate and private equity clients. Before that, Tim served in various sales leadership and transformation positions at AT&T and began his career with IBM.
Tim received a B.A. in Finance from Texas A&M University and an M.B.A. with a concentration in Entrepreneurial Finance from The Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania.
Michelle is the Founder and Managing Partner of Clearhaven Partners, which she founded in 2019 to build a private equity firm grounded in focus and shared values. She sets the firm's strategy and direction and chairs Clearhaven's Investment Committee. Under her leadership, Clearhaven manages more than $1 billion in AUM across multiple funds, investing in growth-oriented software and technology businesses. Michelle is responsible for firm leadership, investment origination, execution, and portfolio management.
Prior to founding Clearhaven, Michelle was a member of the investment teams at Thoma Bravo and Riverside Partners; at Riverside she served as a General Partner and member of the Investment Committee. She began her career in investment banking at Morgan Stanley. Michelle holds an MBA, with distinction, from Harvard Business School and a BBA, magna cum laude, from the University of Notre Dame. She also studied at l'Université Catholique de l'Ouest in Angers, France, and taught at Erakommertzkolledz in Tallinn, Estonia. Michelle has been recognized by The Wall Street Journalas one of private equity's most influential women and by Buyouts as one of ten "Rock Stars of Private Equity's Future." She serves on the Advisory Board of 51 Vets.
Michelle lives in the Greater Boston area with her husband, two children, and their golden retriever. Michelle is a Christian, a music lover, and a proud alumna of the St. Charles, Illinois state champion dance team (go Saints!). She's also a novice fly fisher, having recently discovered an unexpected passion for the sport.
As a Co-Founder and Managing Partner, Russ brings an entrepreneurial spirit and a wealth of financial and operational expertise to Transom. He thrives on solving complex problems, and has earned a reputation as a responsive, proactive leader, investor, and business-builder. Russ manages Transom day-to-day, plays an active role in new investment evaluation & execution and with portfolio companies, and is a member of the investment committee.
Prior to forming Transom, Russ was a Junior Partner at McKinsey & Company, where he focused on operational transformations across several industries and worked in the firm’s Private Equity Practice. Prior to McKinsey, Russ was a product developer at Microsoft and an investment banker at Credit Suisse First Boston, where he executed corporate finance transactions for technology companies.
Russ graduated with honors from the University of Pennsylvania’s Wharton School of Business and holds an M.B.A. from the Kellogg School of Management at Northwestern University. Russ is an active member of the Young Presidents’ Organization, Santa Monica Bay Chapter.
Episode 183 of the Private Equity Fast Pitch features Sean MacIver, Managing Director with KeyBanc Capital Markets. He has over 15 years of experience advising both private equity and corporate clientele across the debt capital markets. Sean currently spends most of his time working collaboratively with his industry partners within the Industrial & Business Services, Building Products, and Aerospace & Defense sub-verticals, but also has industry agnostic coverage of KeyCorp’s Colorado and Southern California Commercial Banking markets.
Sean has led and executed over 250 unique financings over his career, raising well north of $100BN in capital for both middle market and large corporate clients. For Sean it isn’t just about executing transactions—it’s about forging longstanding trusted partnerships that will endure the test of time (and various market conditions for that matter).
Sean is a graduate of the Richard T. Farmer School of Business at Miami University of Ohio and earned his MBA at Kenan-Flagler Business School at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.
Outside of the office (or airport) you will find Sean spending time his with family (Sarah, Charlie, Teddy + Stevie), working on his sub-par golf game, or headlining at CORUS45, a Cleveland-based high-intensity pilates studio.
The opinions expressed by the KeyBanc Capital Markets speaker are not necessarily those of KeyBanc Capital Markets, or any of its affiliates. Any opinions expressed are provided for informational purposes only, does not constitute research, legal, regulatory, tax, accounting, or investment advice, and should not be regarded as a recommendation or a solicitation.
Kristin Johnson
Managing Director, Business Development
Kristin Johnson is a Managing Director of ACP, where she leads the firm’s Business Development efforts. Prior to ACP, Kristin was a Principal in the fundraising group at TPG Capital, where she helped raise capital for the firm and manage investor relations. Previously, Kristin was a Managing Director in Morgan Stanley’s corporate finance department, focused on working with private equity clients, for 10 years. Kristin began her career as a Consultant at Booz Allen & Hamilton, focused on marketing-intensive clients. Kristin received an M.B.A. from Stanford Graduate School of Business and a B.A. in Math and Economics from Pomona College.
Matthew Sparks, Managing Director, is a senior leader on the private equity team at Northleaf Capital Partners. Matthew leads the firm’s North American secondaries strategy and also plays a key role in managing its Canadian fund investment portfolio.
With more than 15 years at Northleaf, he brings deep expertise in evaluating complex deals, building trusted GP relationships, and navigating the fast-evolving secondaries market.
He’s been recognized as a Next Gen Leader by Secondaries Investor and awarded the Emerging Leader Award by The Private Capital Markets Association of Canada as “One to Watch” — a reflection of his thoughtful approach to investing and long-term perspective in a dynamic market.
Before joining Northleaf, Matthew started his career at Monitor Group, where he worked across industries on strategy, M&A, and integration. He holds an H.B.A. with distinction from the Ivey Business School and is a member of Northleaf’s Private Equity Investment Committee.
Disclaimer: The discussion in this podcast is for informational purposes and should not be relied on as investment advice or an offer to sell or a solicitation for an offer to buy any securities. Any opinions expressed are those of the speaker and are subject to change. Any discussion of past performance is provided for informational purposes only, is not track record information and should not be relied upon as a guarantee of future performance. Any information regarding the performance of prior companies was discussed in order to illustrate the experience of the partners of the firm and does not reflect the private equity fund management experience of the partners. It should not be assumed that investments made by Cresta will be comparable in quality or performance to the prior companies.
About Chris Rozzell: Chris Rozzell brings 23 years of investing and operating experience across the infrastructure sector. He co-founded Cresta in 2016 and leads the firm’s transaction sourcing, execution, portfolio management, and overall operations.
Mr. Rozzell currently serves on the boards of LF Bioenergy, Lapis Carbon Solutions, and Braya Renewable Fuels. Before Cresta, he was Chief Executive Officer of Wildcat Midstream Holdings, a middle market energy midstream investment platform. Previously, he served as Executive Vice President and Chief Commercial Officer of Regency Energy Partners, where he directed commercial project development, acquisitions, gas supply, marketing, scheduling, and gas control.
Earlier in his career, Mr. Rozzell held leadership roles in strategic planning, development, and enterprise risk at TXU Corp., and began his career in the Investment Banking Division of Bear, Stearns & Co. Inc. He holds a B.B.A. in Finance from Southern Methodist University.
Scott is Co-Chief Executive Officer and a co-chair of the firm’s Management committee.
Scott’s current and prior directorships include Thermo Fisher Scientific Corp., Agiliti, the Madison Square Garden Company, Experian, Warner Music Group, Houghton Mifflin Co., Fisher Scientific, Univision Communications, Inc., iHeartMedia, Inc., Front Line Management, The Learning Company, PriCellular Corp., ProcureNet, ProSiebenSat.1, Wyndham Hotels, Federal Street Acquisition Corp. and several other private companies.
Prior to joining Thomas H. Lee Partners, Scott was, for more than a decade, managing partner of the affiliate of Harvard Management Company that managed all alternative asset classes for Harvard University’s endowment fund. Before that he was a Senior Consultant with the Boston Consulting Group.
Scott is involved with a number of charitable and non-profit organizations. He is Chairman of MassGeneralBrigham, the Parent of the Harvard teaching hospitals, Massachusetts General Hospital and Brigham & Women’s Hospital as well as a number of leading specialty and community hospitals and physicians practice groups. He is Chairman Emeritus of the CitiCenter for Performing Arts and Wang Theater. He is also a member of each of the Harvard Business School Board of Dean’s Advisors, the Harvard University Committee on University Resources and the Harvard Business School’s Rock Center for Entrepreneurship.
Paul Raphael
Paul is an established investment professional with extensive M&A and financing experience. He was Executive Vice Chairman at UBS from 2018 to 2021. He joined UBS in 2010 initially as Head of Global Emerging Markets and later served as UBS’ Head of Wealth Management for Europe, Middle East, Africa and Latin America where he managed $450 billion of client assets and over 3,000 employees across four continents.
Before joining UBS in 2010, he spent six years at Credit Suisse, including three years in Hong Kong as Head of Investment Banking for the Asia Pacific region. Prior to this, Paul spent 10 years with Merrill Lynch in London and Paris and eight years at Salomon Brothers in New York in various M&A and capital markets roles.
Paul is a member of the advisory board of LIFE where he was founding chairman and a member of the Special Advisory Council of International Crisis Group. He has a degree in economics from the University of Maryland and an MSC in management from MIT Sloan School of Management.
Neda Vakilian, Partner, Investor Solutions Group at Actis
Neda is a partner of the firm having joined Actis in January 2022 where she was responsible for the coordination and management of strategic investor initiatives, fundraising project management, and product development.
In March 2023, Neda was promoted to Global Head of Actis’ Investor Solutions Group.
Neda has around 20 years of industry experience, working across private capital markets, business development, and fundraising.
Before joining Actis, she was Co-Head of Capital Solutions and Investor Relations for Amber Infrastructure. In this role, she was responsible for sales, client servicing, and product development, and was an investment committee member and board director on strategies.
Prior to this, Neda worked at Macquarie Capital and the Green Investment Bank (now the Green Investment Group) where she was a leading member of the team responsible for raising what was, at the time, the largest renewables fund in Europe.
She began her career as a solicitor, working at Clifford Chance and SJ Berwin.
Disclaimer
Risk management seeks to mitigate risk but does not eliminate risk and does not protect against losses.
The statements referenced herein regarding the impact of the United States political office on decarbonisation efforts or the market are as of June 2025 and represent the views of Actis which is not research and should not be treated as research. Historic market trends are not reliable indicators of actual future market behaviour or future performance of any particular investment which may differ materially and should not be relied upon as such. Moreover, there is no assurance historical trends will continue.
As Lincoln’s Chief Executive Officer and a key driver of the firm’s growth from its beginnings, Rob has been instrumental in building its global footprint and a highly desirable culture that prioritizes attracting, retaining and engaging top talent at all levels. As a connected leader within the firm, Rob works closely with Lincoln’s investment banking professionals to help them achieve success. He continues to focus on building long-term relationships with clients and prospects, achieving optimal results through his thoughtful, interpersonal and collaborative approach.
Rob has nearly 30 years of experience advising leading private equity groups, privately owned businesses and large public companies on divestitures, acquisitions and other strategic initiatives. Rob helped start Lincoln’s industrials and consumer practices and led the firm’s business services practice for more than a decade. Accordingly, Rob has a deep understanding of how to best position companies for sale, drive competitive processes and negotiate to successful closings.
As a recognized advisor and thought leader in the investment banking industry, Rob is a frequent guest on WBBM’s Noon Business Hour in Chicago and a speaker and author on mergers and acquisitions-related topics. Rob sits on the board of UNICEF USA and the Dean’s Business Council for the Gies School of Business at the University of Illinois. He is also President of the Board of Regents at Saint Ignatius College Prep in Chicago.
Prior to Lincoln, Rob worked at Price Waterhouse. His diverse experiences include management positions in Price Waterhouse’s investment banking subsidiary and the Transaction Services group.
Rob earned a Master of Business Administration from Columbia University Graduate School of Business and a Bachelor of Science from the University of Illinois. Rob is a certified public accountant (inactive).
Advice to College Students Montage — Episode Overview
For this special segment, we compiled standout moments from our guests’ responses to one of our favorite questions: “What advice would you give to college students or young professionals just starting out?”
This recurring question has become a listener favorite on the podcast, and in this episode, we’re bringing those insights together into a powerful montage. From timeless career wisdom to honest reflections on failure and resilience, each soundbite delivers real-world guidance for the next generation of leaders.
Featured Guests: This montage includes advice from top executives, investors, and entrepreneurs featured in past episodes, including:
- Sunaina Sinha, Raymond James
- Brad Armstrong, Lovell Minnick Partners
- Greg Belinfanti, One Equity Partners
- Adam Feinstein, Vesey Street Capital Partners
- Devon Kirk, Portage
- Steve Young, HGGC
- Jack Purcell, Ridgemont Equity Partners
- Steve Gord, Hidden River Strategic Capital
- Paul Swaney, Swaney Capital Group
- Mark Strauch, Alpine Investors
- Jeff Jenkins, Bernhard Capital Partners
- Patrick Maciariello, Compass Diversified
- Bogdan Gogulan, NewSpace Capital
- Erik Brooks, Ethos Capital
- Jeff Aiello, Agellus Capital
- Marshall Adkins, Raymond James
- Andrew Weinberg, Brightstar Capital Partners
- Lucy Heintz, Actis
- John Diggins, Platinum Equity
Purpose: This episode aims to inspire college students, recent graduates, and young professionals with tactical advice and encouragement straight from the industry’s top minds. It’s also a great resource to share with interns, mentees, or students exploring careers in finance, investing, or business leadership.
Let us know if you'd like a custom graphic, suggested caption, or LinkedIn blurb to go with it.
John Diggins is responsible for senior level business development activities focused on identifying new acquisition opportunities and has been involved in sourcing many multi-billion dollar deals during his time at Platinum.
Mr. Diggins joined Platinum Equity in 1996. Prior to joining Platinum, he was the co-founder of Ventec Systems with Platinum Equity Chairman and CEO Tom Gores. Mr. Gores brought Mr. Diggins to Platinum Equity to drive deal sourcing and help shape the firm in its early days of growth. In this capacity Mr. Diggins served as CEO at Platinum Equity portfolio companies Pilot Software and Foresight Software.
Mr. Diggins holds a B.S. in Business Administration from the University of New Mexico
As graduation season kicks off, many students and young professionals are stepping into an exciting new chapter — one filled with opportunity, growth, and a few unknowns.
To mark this milestone, we’ve curated a special montage episode featuring timeless advice from nine distinguished Wharton alumni. These leaders have successfully navigated the path from campus to boardroom, and they’re sharing candid insights on mindset, momentum, and making your mark in Private Equity and Investment Banking.
In this episode, you’ll hear from:
- Dave Tayeh – Investcorp
- Marc Leder – Sun Capital Partners
- Neha Markle – Morgan Stanley
- Bob Frost – Lazard
- Jeff Collins – Cloverlay
- Jeff Aiello – Agellus
- Michael Butler – Cascadia Capital
- Jack Purcell – Ridgemont Equity Partners
- Barry Freeman – Lincoln International
Whether you’re just graduating or mentoring the next generation of finance leaders, this episode delivers practical, powerful advice that’s well worth the listen.
We’re excited to share a special episode of the Branch Out Podcast featuring Jeff Henningsen! Jeff has always been curious, creative, and committed to his goals—traits that have fueled his success across a variety of industries.
Jeff’s entrepreneurial journey began early, mowing lawns as a student to earn extra cash. That side hustle eventually grew into a full-fledged business, which he sold at just 22 years old. From there, he moved into the world of private equity and ultimately became the President of Lockton Companies in Texas, a role he’s held for the past 26 years.
In addition to his leadership role, Jeff is also the host of the Private Equity Fast Pitch podcast.
In this conversation, originally recorded on Branch Out, Jeff shares the mindset shifts and habits that have helped him thrive—both professionally and personally.
Key Points From This Episode:
- The key factor that separates “idea men” from successful entrepreneurs.
- Why Jeff is so passionate about the value of coaching.
- What inspired Jeff to launch his podcast—and the surprising outcomes it’s led to.
- The importance of committing to your goals.
- Why Jeff thinks of himself as a (figurative) orchestra conductor.
- How being an introvert can actually be a strength.
- Why doing beats dreaming every time.
Whether you're launching a new venture or looking to lead with more purpose, Jeff’s story is full of insights and inspiration.
The description of Actis' process in evaluating investments reflects the opinions of Actis and of the typical investment process (or intended investment process) as of March 2025, but this investment process can vary for particular investments and is subject to change at Actis' discretion and without prior notice. References to 'mitigating risk' does not guarantee against risk and does not protect against losses. General discussions contained in this document regarding the Indian or South East Asian market or market conditions represent the view of either the source cited or Actis. Such information is not research and should not be treated as research. Moreover, there is no assurance historical trends will continue. The information referenced herein is as of March 2025, unless otherwise indicated, is subject to change.
Powerhouse Women in Private Equity & Investment Banking
Our Female Quotes & Montage spotlights an extraordinary lineup of women who are shaping the future of private equity and investment banking. From driving strategic investments to leading top firms, these industry trailblazers embody leadership, innovation, and impact.
Featuring insights from Sunaina Sinha of Raymond James, Neha Markle of Morgan Stanley, Deborah Smith of The CenterCap Group, Blythe Jack of TSG Consumer, Franny Jones of The Sterling Group, Meahgan O’Grady of Palladium Equity Partners, Shannon Zoller of Tephra Advisors, Julia Karol of Watermill Group, Gretchen Perkins of Avance Investment Management, Gina Luna of GP Capital Partners, Caroline Stevens of MPK Equity Partners, Devon Kirk of Portage Capital Solutions, Tammie Miller of TKO Miller, Chrisanne Corbett of KPMG, Lauren Mulholland of Middle Ground, and Suzanne Yoon of Kinzie Capital Partners.
Their voices inspire the next generation and reinforce the power of women in finance.
Andrew Weinberg is Founder and CEO of Brightstar Capital Partners. Andrew serves as Chair of Brightstar’s Investment Committee.
Prior to founding Brightstar, Andrew was a Partner at Lindsay Goldberg, a New York-based private equity firm. Andrew served on the Boards of 13 portfolio companies during his tenure at Lindsay Goldberg. In addition, from 2008-2011 Andrew served as Chief Operating Officer and Chief Strategy Officer of Likewize.
Prior to joining Lindsay Goldberg, Andrew worked at Goldman Sachs in their Principal Investment Area (PIA). Andrew started his career at Morgan Stanley in mergers and acquisitions and leveraged finance.
Andrew received his MBA from Stanford GSB and an AB from Dartmouth College with a double major in History and Economics. Andrew serves as a trustee of the PGA of America REACH Foundation. Andrew is a member of the Young Presidents Organization (YPO). He is a former member of the World Economic Forum who served on the Global Future Council on Investing and the Stewardship Board of the Forum’s Platform on Shaping the Future of Investing. Andrew has appeared on multiple panels at Milken Institute and FII conferences.
Marshall Adkins joined Raymond James in 1995 and serves as the head of the firm’s Energy Investment Banking practice. Prior to this role, Mr. Adkins served as the director of Energy Research and focused on oilfield services and products. Prior to Raymond James, he spent 10 years in the oilfield services industry as a project manager, corporate financial analyst, sales manager, and engineer. He holds a B.S. degree in petroleum engineering and an MBA from the University of Texas at Austin.
Jeff co-founded Agellus Capital in 2024 after spending 13 years in the private equity industry. Prior to Agellus, Jeff was a Managing Director at Thompson Street Capital Partners. Prior to Thompson Street, Jeff was a Senior Associate at Audax Private Equity. Prior to Audax, Jeff served as a Captain in the U.S. Air Force. Jeff holds a BS in Aeronautical Engineering from the U.S. Air Force Academy, an MS in Mechanical Engineering from the University of Dayton, and an MBA from Wharton. He lives in St. Louis with his wife, son, and daughter.
Erik has spent his entire career in the investment industry and prior to founding Ethos was a Managing Partner leading Abry Partners. During his 20-year tenure at Abry he originated, supervised, and sold companies in information services, digital infrastructure, enterprise systems, healthcare IT, financial services and media, representing an aggregate enterprise value of approximately $11 billion. Additionally, as a Managing Partner at Abry Partners, he served on investment committees, and oversaw recruiting of all investment professionals, research, and information technology. He also managed relationships with limited partners, headed its Heritage Fund and was a key partner in raising $17 billion across 15 funds. Prior to joining Abry Partners, Erik was an investment professional at New Century Holdings, the Baupost Group, and Apax Partners.
In addition to Erik’s professional activities he serves on the Board of Advisors of the International Council of the Belfer Center for Science and International Affairs at Harvard University, and the Advisory Board of Think:Kids at Massachusetts General Hospital. As an active alumni advisor for Harvard Business School and Brown University, he spends time with students helping them think about life after academia and how their contributions can make a difference in the world. Previously he served on the boards of the Citi Performing Arts Center in Boston and the Shorenstein Center on Media, Politics and Public Policy at Harvard University, and the President’s Advisory Council on Internships at Brown University.
We are excited to present a montage of quotes and mottos from prior guests that have inspired them throughout the years in both their careers and personal lives.
As we begin a new year, we hope this special episode sets the stage and provides you with a new mindset for conquering the challenges & opportunities that lie ahead.
Bogdan Gogulan has 20 years of experience in finance, product and business development. Before initiating NewSpace Capital, he had accumulated a unique combination of cross-border experience in communication, security and defense industries. He served as VP of international operations and business development for AT Communication (Switzerland), Defendec (Baltics) and Katmerciler (Turkey), managing breakthrough projects for security and defense agencies in the Middle East and Central Asia. For years, he managed alignment and cooperation with UN agencies (BOMCA/UNDP, BOMNAF, UNODC, UNHCR, IOM) and security organizations (NATO, OSCE, ISAF). Prior to that, Bogdan worked for American Express (USA, UK) and Deutsche Bank (UK). As global sales development Program Manager and Head of Industry Analytics at American Express he was responsible for global partnerships development with top tier clients. Since 2010, Bogdan has been actively involved with UN Alliance of Civilization’s (UNAOC) participating as an OYW Ambassador in the UN Sustainable Development Goals’ initiative.
Bogdan holds a BSc in Financial Economics from University of Essex and graduated from Abingdon & Whitney College. He is a co-founder and CEO of NewSpace Capital GP S.A.
Pat Maciariello is Chief Operating Officer of Compass Group and a member of Compass Diversified’s Investment Committee, which is responsible for evaluating all of the organization’s investment opportunities. In this role, he manages Compass’s investment teams and is responsible for financial and strategic oversight of its subsidiaries. Pat is currently a director and the Chairman of BOA and Lugano Diamonds. He is also a director of 5.11, Inc., ErgoBaby, Altor Solutions, and the Sterno Group. Pat joined Compass Diversified in 2005. Before that, he was with Bain & Company and Deutsche Banc Alex Brown. Pat is a graduate of the University of Notre Dame and Columbia Business School.
He lives in San Juan Capistrano, CA with his wife, his two daughters, and their dog and cat, Rocky and Adrian. In his free time. he loves horse racing, fantasy football, hiking and doing escape rooms with his family. When he was younger (and fitter) he was an avid runner and completed eight marathons.
Jeff Jenkins is a Founder and Partner of BCP. He serves as a member of the Investment Committee, serves on the Portfolio Committee and is involved in all areas of the firm’s investment activities.
Prior to founding BCP, Jeff spent ten years working for The Shaw Group where he served many vital positions. During his tenure at Shaw, Jeff served as Chief Operating Officer of Shaw Environmental and Infrastructure, where he was responsible for operations and business development. Prior to this role, he served as President of the Commercial, State, and Local group within the Environmental and Infrastructure division. Before moving into his operating roles, Jeff served as Vice President of the Office of the Chairman where he led overall corporate development and placed a special emphasis on mergers and acquisitions, joint ventures and business development efforts. Prior to joining Shaw, Jeff was a Corporate and Securities Attorney at Vinson & Elkins LLP where his practice focused primarily on mergers and acquisitions, private equity and venture capital, and public securities work in a broad range of industries.
Jeff received his B.A. from Louisiana State University and his J.D. from Louisiana State University after attending law school at the University of Texas.
Mark is a founding partner and President of Alpine. Mark also co-founded ASG, the firm’s vertical SaaS platform. He has been involved as board member in over 25 past and present Alpine investments. Prior to Alpine, Mark has served in several CEO roles for venture and PE-backed businesses and has over 30 years of experience as an investor and operator. Mark received his MBA from the Kellogg School of Management at Northwestern University and his Bachelors of Science in Industrial Engineering from Lehigh University, where he graduated with honors and served as a four-year letter winner and captain of the baseball team.
Paul W. Swaney III is the founder of Swaney Group Capital, a private equity firm focused on revitalizing and scaling industrial companies in the lower middle market. He applies a hands-on approach to value creation, emphasizing efficiency, process optimization, and growth initiatives. His career began with service in the US Navy, followed by key operations roles at ConocoPhillips, Amazon, and Total Oil, where he refined his expertise in performance improvement. He transitioned to management consulting at McKinsey and then spent seven years as an operating partner at Partners Group, contributing to operational transformations and serving on the investment committee. In 2022, he founded Swaney Group Capital, leveraging his extensive experience to build and grow industrial businesses.
Jack Purcell, Managing Partner – Jack is a Managing Partner and member of the Management and Investment Committees at Ridgemont Equity Partners. He is primarily responsible for general management of the firm and additionally focuses on the group’s investment activity in the Business & Tech-enabled Services and Industrial Growth sectors, serving on the boards of a number of Ridgemont’s portfolio companies. Jack joined Banc of America Capital Investors, the in-house private equity arm of Bank of America and predecessor partnership to Ridgemont, in 2002 and led investments across a variety of industry sectors including industrials, business services, and healthcare. He worked in various other roles throughout his BACI tenure. Jack earned his M.B.A. from The Wharton School at the University of Pennsylvania with a concentration in Finance and a B.A. in Economics from Davidson College.
Steve Gord, Partner, Hidden River Strategic Capital
Steve Gord has over 25 years of experience in the small company investment business. He is one of the co-founders of Hidden River Strategic Capital, a Radnor, PA-based SBIC fund that invests structured junior capital into owner-operator run small businesses. From 2008-2020, Steve was a co-founder and general partner in the first two funds at SBIC Boathouse Capital. Earlier in his career, Steve spent five years at BDC American Capital Strategies investing in junior capital transactions, in the consumer investment banking group at Robertson Stephens, in the M&A and private equity practices at Compass Partners and in the investment banking group at Furman Selz.
Steve obtained a BA in economics from Dartmouth and an MBA from Tuck.
Steve Young a Partner, the Chairman and Co-founder of HGGC
Steve is a Partner, the Chairman and Co-founder of HGGC. Steve is a member of HGGC’s Management Committee, Investment Committee and Valuation Committee. He serves as Chairman of the Board of three HGGC portfolio companies: IDERA, Integrity and AutoAlert. Prior to their sales, he also served as a member of the Board of Directors for the firm’s exited investments in hybris Software, Dealer-FX, Serena Software and Sunquest Information Systems.
Prior to the inception of HGGC, Steve's professional football career spanned more than fifteen years in the NFL, primarily with the San Francisco 49ers, where he received numerous accolades, including Most Valuable Player of Super Bowl XXIX, Sports Illustrated and Sporting News' Player of the Year from 1992 - 1994 and the NFL's Most Valuable Player for 1992 and 1994. In 2005, Steve was inducted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame, the first left-handed quarterback to be so honored. When he retired, Steve was the highest-rated quarterback in NFL history and has the distinction of being the only signal caller in league annals to win four consecutive NFL passing titles.
Steve founded and chairs the Forever Young Foundation which is actively involved in children's charities worldwide and is currently the broadcast host as well as the former International Spokesperson for the Children's Miracle Network, which has raised over one billion dollars world-wide to benefit children's hospitals.
Sunaina Sinha Haldea is the Global Head of the Private Capital Advisory group. Prior to joining Raymond James, she was the founder and Managing Partner of Cebile Capital, a placement agent and secondaries advisor, which was acquired by Raymond James, a Fortune 500 and NYSE-listed company, in May 2021. Under her leadership, Cebile Capital quickly became one of the leading advisors to private funds sponsors globally. In her tenure, Sunaina has executed fundraises for leading private equity funds and completed over a hundred secondaries transactions for GPs and LPs alike, including multifarious complex liquidity solutions. Ms. Sinha Haldea was named one of the 50 Most Influential People in Private Equity by Dow Jones Private Equity News for consecutive years in 2022 and 2023. Ms. Sinha Haldea is also a prolific angel investor and Non-Executive Director. She served as Chairman of the Board of Mindful Chef (now Nestle), and Chairman of the Board of Barrecore (now United Fitness Brands). She currently serves on the Boards of SFC Energy AG, listed on the Stoxx, and Grana LLC. Ms. Sinha Haldea has also been a Guest Lecturer at Stanford University serves on the boards of the Stanford Institution for Economic Policy Research and the Stanford LEAD Council. She has written and published case studies for the Stanford Technology Ventures Program in the Stanford School of Engineering. Ms. Sinha Haldea is a regular contributor on the financial markets and private equity on CNBC, Bloomberg, BBC and is often quoted in the media on market insights and private capital advisory. She has won numerous awards and accolades for entrepreneurship and leadership. Sunaina is passionate about diversity and inclusion in the workplace. She often credits meditation as the key to her success and has shared her personal and professional journey on podcasts. Ms. Sinha Haldea obtained a BS in Management Science and Engineering and an MS in Chemical Engineering, both from Stanford University where she was also a Mayfield Fellow. She has an MBA from Harvard Business School. In her spare time, Ms. Sinha Haldea is a keen wine enthusiast, having qualified as a Certified Sommelier from the Court of Masters Sommeliers.
In this special episode of Northstar’s Private Equity Fast Pitch, we shine the spotlight on our usual host, Jeff Henningsen, as he steps out from behind the microphone to become the guest of honor. Join Greg and Charlie as they delve into the fascinating life and career of Jeff, President and CEO of Lockton Companies – Texas Series. From his early days as a starting quarterback at the University of Missouri—where he once tackled the legendary Brian Bosworth—to his rise as a dynamic entrepreneur and influential leader in insurance and M&A, Jeff’s journey is a testament to his versatility and drive. Known for his engaging storytelling and leadership prowess, Jeff maintains his composure through a lively discussion, even as they touch on the legendary “lost” first taping attempt of this episode.
This conversation offers a rare glimpse into Jeff’s life, exploring his beginnings in Maryville, Missouri, his philosophy on kindness, and the origins of Northstar. Discover how Jeff transitioned from mowing lawns and selling a lawn care business to becoming a prominent figure in private equity and M&A. Tune in for an engaging and insightful chat that reveals the mindset behind Jeff’s success and the principles that guide him.
During his tenure at OEP, Mr. Belinfanti has worked on a number of investments in the healthcare and business services industries and has led many of OEP’s healthcare transactions. Mr. Belinfanti is a member of the Board of Directors of AdaptHealth, Alorica, Ernest Health, Infucare RX, Montgomery Transport, and Prime Time Healthcare and has previously been a member of the Board of Directors of Apollo Health Street, ArthroCare, Celltrion Healthcare, EGS, OneLink, PS Logistics, Prodigy, Simplura Health Group, ResultsCX and Systagenix.
Mr. Belinfanti is a member of the Board of Directors of the Local Initiatives Support Corporation (LISC) and is a Board Member of the New York City Housing Authority (NYCHA). Prior to joining OEP, Mr. Belinfanti served as a Vice President in the Investment Banking division of Lehman Brothers, specializing in Global Healthcare. Mr. Belinfanti received his B.A. in Politics from New York University and his J.D. from Harvard Law School.
Adam Feinstein is the Managing Partner of Vesey Street Capital Partners. Mr. Feinstein has 30 years of investment experience exclusively in the healthcare services sector. Prior to founding Vesey Street Capital Partners in 2014, he was a Managing Director on Wall Street and a healthcare industry executive. He held the position of Senior Vice President of Corporate Development, Strategic Investments, and Office of the Chief Executive Officer at LabCorp. Before his tenure at LabCorp, he spent 14 years as the Managing Director in Equity Research at Lehman Brothers/Barclays Capital. Mr. Feinstein is the Chairman of VSCP’s investment committee. He is also actively involved in working with portfolio company executives and sourcing new investment opportunities. At the same time, he oversees all of the firm’s investment activities and employees.
Mr. Feinstein’s footprint in the industry is notable, as he is currently the Lead Director of AirSculpt Technologies (NASDAQ: AIRS), ScribeAmerica, Safecor Health, GastroMD, Inceptua, and PathGroup. Previously, Adam served on the board of QualityMetric, Imedex, and Surgery Partners (NASDAQ: SGRY).
From his extensive experience at Lehman Brothers and LabCorp, Mr. Feinstein has cultivated invaluable relationships within the industry. He achieved the top ranking in the Institutional Investor All-America Research Survey for the Health Care Facilities category for 8 consecutive years. Adam is a CFA charter holder with a B.S. in Business from the Smith School at the University of Maryland. Additionally, he was a member of the Inaugural Class of Nashville’s Healthcare Council Fellows program.
Brad is a Partner of LMP and a member of its Investment Committee. He joined the firm in 2009. Prior to LMP, Brad was part of the Financial Institutions Group at Bank of America Merrill Lynch, where he focused on M&A and capital raising transactions for the firm’s investment banking clients. Previously, Brad was an Assistant Vice President in Bank of America’s Finance Group. Brad began his career in a strategic advisory group within Wachovia Corporation.
Brad is currently a member of the Boards of Directors of ACU-Serve, Omni Healthcare Financial, Pathstone, S&S Health, SRS Acquiom and STP Investment Services, and previously served on the boards of Commercial Credit Inc., First Allied Holdings Inc. and LSQ Funding.
Brad received an M.B.A. with a concentration in Finance and Accounting from the Kellogg School of Management at Northwestern University and a Bachelor of Science in Business Administration from the Kenan-Flagler Business School at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.
Devon Kirk is Co-Head & Partner, Portage Capital Solutions at Portage and joined the firm in 2022. Devon is responsible for co-leading growth equity, structured equity and special situations investments in financial technology and financial services companies globally, as well as driving the fund’s overall strategy. She is based in Toronto, Canada.
Prior to Portage, Devon spent over ten years at CPP Investments, a C$539 billion fund as of March 31, 2022. She was most recently Managing Director & Head of Capital Solutions, overseeing financials, special situations and esoteric investments, and a member of the Global Leadership Team. Previously, Devon was a Managing Director in the Direct Private Equity team, where she focused on the financials and TMT sectors. While at CPP Investments, Devon was on the Board of Wilton Re, a Board Observer for Altice USA and served on various firm investment committees.
Prior to joining CPP Investments, Devon was in Corporate / M&A at Linklaters LLP, a London-based multinational law firm, and started her career in M&A at BMO Harris Nesbitt in Chicago.
Devon received a Bachelor of Commerce degree, with Great Distinction, from McGill University and a Juris Doctorate from Harvard Law School. She is also a CFA Charterholder and Chair of the Bishop Strachan School.
Today's special episode isn't just about giving advice. It offers valuable insights into life's journey, including the highs and lows, shared by top professionals in private equity and investment banking. We've put together a video showcasing college photos of our speakers, linking their past experiences to the present. Join us as we explore their paths and discover what it takes to fulfill your dreams.
Featured guests:
- Chris Sznewajs, Pacific Avenue Capital
- Marc J. Leder, Sun Capital Partners
- Neha Markle, Morgan Stanley
- Michael Bego, Kline Hill Partners
- Christiaan van der Kam, Schroders Capital
- Mark Sotir, Equity Group Investments
- Jeff Collins, Cloverlay
- Chris Burbach, Fundamental Income
- Rami Cassis, Parabellum Investments
- Christopher Merrill, Harrison Street
- Ross Jones, Berkshire Partners
- Jeffrey Stevenson, VSS Capital Partners
- Pardis Nasseri, Palm Tree LLC
- Michael Butler, Cascadia Capital
- Drew Maloney, American Investment Council
- Ben Fraser, Aspen Funds
- Anthony Maniscalco, Investcorp
- John Garcia - Solyco Capital
- John Block - Unity Partners
- Jesse Serventi - Renovus Capital
- Nate Wasson - Halbar Partners
- Scott Reed, HighVista Strategies
- Gregory Bondick - Windjammer Capital
- Jeffrey Miehe - Windjammer Capital
Jeff is a Managing Principal at Windjammer Capital, where he co-leads the firm’s Management and Investment Committees. Together with the other Managing Principals, Jeff is responsible for the overall strategic direction of the firm and management of the investment staff, diligence/operating protocols, the partnerships, and administrative functions. Jeff received his BS in Industrial Engineering from Stanford University.
Jeff joined Windjammer in 2007 and has significant experience in private equity investing and mergers & acquisitions with over 30 years of experience in working solely with niche-oriented, middle-market companies. Prior to Windjammer, Jeff was a principal at an industrial-oriented private equity, where he was also a member of the firm's investment committee and was a principal at a Los Angeles-based M&A boutique firm where he provided strategic and M&A advice to middle-market entrepreneurial companies. He currently serves on the boards of AXH, Paragon Energy Solutions, IPS Group, Compex Legal Services, Vital Records Control, Mission Critical Electronics and Flinn Scientific; previously, he served on the boards of JWC Environmental, Infinite RF Holdings, and BBB Industries on behalf of Windjammer.
Greg is a Managing Principal at Windjammer Capital, where he co-leads the firm’s Management and Investment Committees. Greg has over 30 years investment experience including 24 years of private equity investing since joining Windjammer in 2000 to help establish the firm’s East Coast presence. In conjunction with Windjammer’s other Managing Principal, he is responsible for the overall strategic direction of the firm and management of the investment staff, diligence/operating protocols, the partnerships, and administrative functions. He currently serves on the boards of BioXCell, Radix Wire & Cable, Fecon, Hilco Vision, TRG, Component Hardware Group and Propel Health; he previously served on the boards of Hermetics Solutions Group, Parts Town, Heritage Food Service Group, Advanced Instruments, Protective Industries (“Caplugs”), S.T. Specialty Foods, Rotex Holdings and Maxcess International. Prior to joining Windjammer, Greg was with Prudential Capital's Corporate Finance Group in Dallas, Texas, where he was responsible for originating, structuring and managing private debt and equity investments in companies located in the Southwest United States. At Prudential, Greg was involved in transactions aggregating approximately $2 billion spanning a variety of industries. Greg received his BBA from The University of Texas at Austin and has earned the Chartered Financial Analyst designation.
Scott is a Partner at HighVista Strategies where he co-leads the firm’s Private Equity strategy and is a member of the Private Equity Investment Committee. He joined HighVista in 2023 as part of its acquisition the former FLAG Capital Management business from abrdn. Prior to joining FLAG in 2007, Scott was a Principal at Portico Capital LLC, and a Senior Associate at J.H. Whitney & Co. Previously, he worked at Goldman, Sachs & Co. and Morgan Stanley Dean Witter & Co. Scott received a BA from Colby College and an MBA from the Amos Tuck School at Dartmouth College.
Nate Wasson is Co-Founder and Chief Investment Officer of HalBar Partners. Based in Chicago, Nate leads strategic fund initiatives related to the research and development of HalBar Partners’ investment theses. He is responsible for investment management, impact strategy, and leadership of the firm. He also serves as a Co-founder and principal member of Alvearia* and Founding member of the Angel/VC group Keiretsu Forum Chicago. Nate’s prior experience includes consulting with JPMorgan, Principal and Managing Director for Bank of Montreal’s US Private Bank, developer of Capital Group’s Midwest family office practice, and Senior Managing Director with Silicon Valley Bank. During his tenure developing investment platforms, strategies and office practice, he served as a subject matter expert in private equity, secondaries, impact investment potential and portfolio construction. Nate holds an undergraduate degree from Valparaiso University and an MBA from the Yale School of Management with a concentration in asset management, where he studied under Nobel Laureate Robert Schiller, David Swensen, and AJ Wasserman.
Jesse Serventi is a founding partner of Renovus Capital Partners. Founded in 2010, Renovus is a lower middle-market private equity firm specializing in the Knowledge and Talent industries. From its base in the Philadelphia area, Renovus manages over $1.5 billion of assets across its several sector focused funds. Mr. Serventi is actively involved in all areas of the firm, including strategy, investing, value creation, talent development, and limited partner relationships. Prior to co-founding Renovus, Mr. Serventi was an investment professional at Leeds Equity Partners and Citigroup Private Equity. Mr. Serventi graduated summa cum laude from Bucknell University with a B.A. in economics.
John Block is the Co-Founder and CEO Unity Partners, a Dallas-based private equity firm that partners investors and operators to build better together.
John Garcia
Strategy, Driving Engagement Deliverables
John’s diverse experience includes leading as an Executive and Entrepreneur in multiple start-ups, small and midmarket companies, and Fortune 500 businesses across energy, tech, life science, food & beverage, and transportation/logistics industries. He has extensive experience in IP licensing, corporate strategy, marketing, private equity, M&A, technology R&D, manufacturing, sales, operations, and board leadership. John currently leads Solyco as managing director and several companies as a strategy executive through management consulting engagements and others as a board member, investor, managing partner, and/or shareholder.
John has been a keynote speaker on affecting strategy for Fortune 500 companies, Universities, and various leadership groups.
John is a community contributor and leader through Gen Next Global Membership, participation in a symposium on energy and technology through the MIT alumni association, appointment as a Charter School Board Member by the State of Michigan, Advisory Board Member for the School of Engineering and Computer Science at Oakland University, selected as L.B.P. Elite 40 under 40, Big Brother in BBBS for over 10 years, and Leadership Detroit Graduate, among others.
Anthony Maniscalco
Managing Partner & Business Head at ISCG
Anthony Maniscalco is the Managing Partner and Head of Investcorp’ s Strategic Capital Group (SCG), based in New York. SCG is focused on providing strategic and financing solutions to mid-sized private market GPs including the acquisition of minority equity interests. SCG currently manages $1.25 bn of AUM and has completed eleven minority investments across buyout, structured capital, private credit, real estate and infrastructure. Anthony is on SCG's investment team and Chairperson of its investment committee. Anthony's primary responsibilities include overall business management, sourcing new investment opportunities, managing select GP relationships and overseeing portfolio construction.
Prior to his current role, Mr. Maniscalco was a Managing Director and Co-Head of Credit Suisse’ Anteil Capital Partners. Prior to this, he was Managing Director of the Hedge Fund Solutions business at The Blackstone Group. At Blackstone, he was a founding member, key person and on the investment committee of Blackstone Strategic Capital Holdings, a USD 3.5 billion private, permanent capital vehicle focused on acquiring minority interests in alternative asset management GPs.
Prior to Blackstone, Mr. Maniscalco was Head of Alternative Asset Management Banking at Barclays (and its predecessor Lehman Brothers) within its Financial Institutions Group. In this role, Anthony was at the forefront of advising GPs on selling minority stakes to other GP staking platforms. Prior to this role, Mr. Maniscalco was head of the Media and Telecom vertical within Lehman Brothers' Leveraged Finance Group. In this role, Anthony covered mid and large cap private equity firms financing buyouts across the globe.
Early in his career, he worked at Bank of America and its predecessor Continental Bank in Chicago, focused on high yield, mezzanine, syndicated bank loans, and interim financing products.
Anthony holds a B.S. from Indiana University and an M.B.A. from the University of Chicago.
Investcorp's perspectives can be found in their insights document available at the following link: Investcorp Insights
Ben is the Chief Investment Officer at Aspen Funds, where he combines his analytical nature with a passion for delivering outstanding client service and strong returns through out-of-the- box investments.
Prior to joining Aspen, Ben served as a Commercial Lender at First Business Bank, one of the top SBA lenders in the nation. There, he specialized in government-backed loan originations, specifically SBA and USDA loans. Before that, he worked as a Commercial Credit Underwriter for Crossfirst Bank, where he personally underwrote over $125MM in C&I and CRE loans across various industries.
Ben also has experience working in the asset management industry, having served as a key member of the team at Tortoise Capital Advisors. At Tortoise, he helped grow institutional managed accounts from ~$3BN AUM to ~$7BN AUM.
Ben holds an MBA from Azusa Pacific University and a Bachelor of Science in Finance from the University of Kansas, where he graduated magna cum laude.
Ben is the co-host of the “Invest like a Billionare” podcast where he joins his father, Bob and Aspen co-founder Jim Maffuccio, to dive into the world of alternative investments and speak with successful investors.
The trio also discusses economic trends, including megatrends such as inflation, energy prices and deglobalization. Their goal is to empower others looking to explore less volatile investment opportunities improving their portfolio’s performance and enabling them to become more financially secure.
In this highly anticipated annual episode of Northstar's Private Equity Fast Pitch, we bring together the industry's top leaders from the past year. Join us as we delve into the personal mantras and driving forces that fuel these prominent figures in the Private Equity and Invesment Banking arena.
Guest Speakers:
· [04:22] Jeff Armbrister, Hamilton Lane
· [06:47] Caroline Stevens, MPK Equity Partners
· [08:54] Stephen Vaccaro, Hirtle, Callaghan & Co
· [10:21] Ganesh Rao, Thomas H. Lee Partners
· [11:55] Jeff Eaton, Eaton Partners
· [13:58] Arthur Hollingsworth, Texas Private Equity
· [14:52] Dave Tayeh, Investcorp
· [16:46] Brian McGee, New Water Capital
· [18:52] Marc J. Leder, Sun Capital Partners
· [20:06] Christiaan van der Kam, Schroders Capital
· [21:39] Mark Sotir, Equity Group Investments
· [22:53] Jeff Collins, Cloverlay
· [24:19] Chris Burbach, Fundamental Income
· [26:27] Rami Cassis, Parabellum Investments
· [27:12] Christopher Merrill, Harrison Street
· [28:26] Ross Jones, Berkshire Partners
· [32:49] Jeffrey Stevenson, VSS Capital Partners
· [35:15] Pardis Nasseri, Palm Tree LLC
· [37:33] Michael Butler, Cascadia Capital
· [40:01] Neha Champaneria Markle, Morgan Stanley
· [41:40] Michael Bego, Kline Hill Partners
· [43:03] Drew Maloney, American Investment Council (AIC)
· [45:19] Chris Sznewajs, Pacific Avenue Capital Partners
These top professionals will share their favorite quotes and mottos, offering insights into what motivates and drives them on a daily basis. Get ready for a captivating journey into the minds of these industry leaders
Tune in to gain valuable insights and inspiration from these influential voices shaping the Private Equity landscape. Discover the mantras that power success in this dynamic industry.
Chris Sznewajs is the Managing Partner, Founder and Investment Committee Member of Pacific Avenue Capital Partners. Mr. Sznewajs is responsible for overseeing all aspects of the firm’s investment activities along with chairing the Boards of the active portfolio companies.
Prior to founding Pacific in 2018, Mr. Sznewajs served as a Principal with The Gores Group where he focused on investing in special situations and corporate carve-outs in the industrials sector. Mr. Sznewajs also was a Manager at Bain & Company in the restructuring and turnaround practice. Mr. Sznewajs graduated from Indiana University with a degree in Finance and Accounting. He has an MBA from Northwestern University’s Kellogg School of Management and is also a Certified Public Accountant (CPA).
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sey5_87-XWY
Drew Maloney is President and Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of the American Investment Council (AIC), an advocacy and resource organization that represents the private equity and private credit industry. Maloney first joined the AIC in 2018 and has since played a critical role helping private equity and private credit tell its powerful story about creating jobs, growing businesses and strengthening millions of Americans’ retirement savings. During that time, he has educated policymakers, the media and the general public about the industry’s importance to the American economy and to American workers, testifying before Congress about the benefits of private equity and launching a sustained education campaign to highlight the industry’s role supporting the economic recovery from COVID-19. Under Maloney’s leadership, the AIC has almost doubled its membership and revenue.
Maloney is recognized as a leading government affairs expert, with more than 25 years of experience in both the public and the private sectors. Prior to joining AIC, Maloneyserved as the Assistant Secretary of the Treasury for Legislative Affairs, as a corporate officer and Vice President of Government and External Affairs for the Hess Corporation, and as CEO of prominent bipartisan government affairs firm Ogilvy Government Relations. Maloney began his career working on Capitol Hill and later advised several presidential campaigns and transition teams.
Michael A. Bego is the Founder and Managing Partner of Kline Hill Partners, which he founded in 2015. Mr. Bego sits on the Investment Committee of all of the Kline Hill Partners funds and is a board member of organizations including the American Investment Council and the Greenwich YMCA. From 2005 through 2015, Mr. Bego was a partner at secondary firm Willowridge Partners, where he was instrumental in developing a focused strategy around small-deal secondary transactions. Mr. Bego was a consultant at McKinsey & Co. until 2005, conducted a turnaround at Vincent Longo in 2003, was in venture capital at LGP from 2000 to 2003, and ran projects and sold enterprise software at Numetrix (now part of Oracle) from 1993 through 1998. Mr. Bego founded and runs "THE Secondary Day" since 2006, an annual, collegial event that each year brings together executives across the secondary industry. Mr. Bego received a Bachelor of Science in Engineering from Cornell University in 1993 and an MBA (Beta Gamma Sigma) from Columbia University Business School in 2000.
Neha Champaneria Markle
Head of Morgan Stanley Private Equity Solutions
Neha Champaneria Markle is a Managing Director and the Head of Morgan Stanley Private Equity Solutions. Prior to joining the firm, Neha served on the investment teams at Apax Partners and Pomona Capital. She also served on the management team for Springboard Enterprises, Inc., a non-profit organization focused on improving female entrepreneurs’ access to venture capital. Neha started her career as part of the financial analyst program at Morgan Stanley. Neha received a B.S. magna cum laude in economics from the University of Pennsylvania and an M.B.A. with honors from the Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania.
Michael Butler is the Co-founder and Chairman of Cascadia Capital, one of the most active independent investment banks in the country. He has deep capital raising and M&A expertise having been involved in hundreds of transactions worth over $5 billion throughout his career on Wall Street and at Cascadia Capital. For over twenty years, the firm has strived to deliver the best outcomes for its clients by providing entrepreneurs, family-owned businesses and private equity firms with trusted merger and acquisition advice, capital raising and strategic advisory services.
Pardis Nasseri
CEO & President, Palm Tree LLC
Pardis Nasseri is a driven entrepreneur and the architect of Palm Tree, the modern M&A advisor. The firm integrates investment banking, strategic finance, and transaction support services for private equity sponsors, business owners, and management teams. Over the course of his career, Pardis has been personally involved in successful M&A transactions with an aggregate value of over $30 billion.
Pardis began his career in M&A with the transaction services practice of PwC, as an investment banker with Jefferies, and an investor with Platinum Equity. He founded Palm Tree in 2010 and grew the firm from its roots as a boutique M&A consultancy to a nationwide enterprise offering a suite of integrated financial services. The firm became a registered member of FINRA in 2020 and is led today by a team of accomplished managing directors who execute on engagements worldwide.
The Los Angeles Times has recognized Pardis as a visionary leader who prepares organizations for next-level growth, and The Los Angeles Business Journal has recognized Pardis among the most influential private equity advisors in the nation. Pardis is an active member of the Young Presidents Organization, where he serves on the board of its Santa Barbara chapter. He is a recurring guest lecturer at the UCLA Anderson School of Management, has served as a panelist at M&A and entrepreneurship events, and has moderated panels at the annual ACG business conference.
Pardis graduated from the University of California Santa Barbara with a double major in Business Economics and Philosophy and is currently attending the Owner/President Management Program at Harvard Business School. He and his wife, Dr. Sherry Nasseri, reside in Montecito, California with their two children.
Jeffrey Stevenson is the Managing Partner of VSS and has overall responsibility for the management of the firm and each of its funds. Mr. Stevenson joined VSS in 1982, shortly after its formation, and founded its private equity business in 1987. Mr. Stevenson is the Chairman of the investment committee and has served on the boards of over 31 portfolio companies and currently serves as a member of the board of the following VSS portfolio companies: Center for Rheumatology, Ambulatory Management Solutions, Ascent Behavioral Health, BRC Healthcare, Specialty1 Partners, Pacesetter Health, Coretelligent, ITN Networks, MetSchools, Southern Theatres LLC.
Previously, he served as a director of Advanstar, Brandshop, Cambium Learning, Canon Communications, Cast & Crew, De Telefoongids, Mediatel, Ebiquity, Hanley Wood, ITE Group, Pepcom, Tax Credit Co., TMP Worldwide, and Yellow Book USA, among others. Mr. Stevenson serves as a member of the finance committee for the not-for profit organization, Fraxa Research Foundation. He is also involved with the following organizations: YPO/WPO, SBIA Board of Governors and Lincoln Center Leadership Committee. He previously served on the board of Dojan TV Holdings, and as the former Chairman of the Board of Directors of Vencerx Therapeutics. Mr. Stevenson holds a BA from Rutgers College.
Ross is a Managing Director at Berkshire Partners in Boston. He began his career in private equity over 35 years ago. Ross joined Berkshire Partners in 1993 and became a Managing Director of the firm in 2000. During his tenure, Ross has represented the firm’s interests on a wide range of portfolio company boards, including: Advanced Drainage Systems, Asurion, Bare Escentuals, Carter’s, Inc., CrossFit, Melissa & Doug, Torres Unidas, and Tower Development Corporation. Prior to Berkshire Partners, Ross worked at a start-up merchant bank, at Bain & Co. and in the Investment Banking Division of Morgan Stanley & Co. He earned a BA from Dartmouth College and an MBA from Stanford University’s Graduate School of Business.
Ross enjoys travel adventures with his family, exploring the great outdoors, and a variety of sports including biking, golf, tennis, and skiing. He is engaged in several non-profit organizations including The Imago Dei Fund, which he cofounded with his wife, Emily, in 2010, Seed a Stanford GSB-led initiative that is working to end the cycle of global poverty, and the Dartmouth College President’s Leadership Council. Ross and Emily raised their three now grown children in Needham, Massachusetts, where they currently reside.
Mr. Merrill is the Co-Founder, Chairman and CEO of Harrison Street, a real assets investment management firm he co-founded in 2005 that has completed over $65 billion in transactional volume and as of 2Q 2023 has nearly $56 billion in AUM.
Mr. Merrill is currently the largest individual shareholder and serves as Chairman of the Board and the Investment and Executive Committees of the Firm. The Firm was a first mover and innovator of a focused investment strategy around the Education, Healthcare, Life Sciences and Storage segments of the real estate market (launching nine closed-end funds as well as industry leading open-end funds). Over 590 investors ($29 billion since inception) participate in Harrison Street funds including U.S., European and Asian pension funds, corporate plans, insurance companies, endowments, foundations and family offices. The Firm is headquartered in Chicago with offices in Berlin, London, Luxembourg, Madrid, New York, Tokyo, Toronto, San Francisco and Washington DC.
Prior to co-founding Harrison Street, Mr. Merrill was a partner, owner and Managing Director of a large U.S. Pension Fund Advisory firm where he developed the firm’s presence in Europe, creating the first ever real estate funds exclusively targeting the markets of Central Europe. This initial fund was one of the Top 10 performing global funds during vintage years 1996-2000 as noted by Preqin.
Throughout his career, Mr. Merrill has been awarded numerous distinctions from leading publications and institutions, most recently being recognized as PERE’s Industry Figure of the Year: Global for the year 2022. Mr. Merrill is a member of YPO, Economic Club of Chicago, and Chicago Commonwealth Club. He serves on the board of the Pension Real Estate Association (“PREA”), Rush University Medical Board (Facilities Committee), University of Wisconsin Graaskamp Center for Real Estate, TCU Center for Real Estate, Roanoke College, the real estate advisory boards of Gore Creek and Kinship Capital, The First Tee of Greater Chicago, Salisbury School, and Chicago Botanic Garden (Financial Committee). He is also an active angel investor in many early-stage companies. Mr. Merrill earned his MBA from the CASS School of Business in London, England.
Rami Cassis is an international investor, operations expert, and founder of Parabellum Investments. Rami founded Parabellum Investments, his family office and private equity firm, in 2012. His investments include automation firm Parseq, serialisation specialist Advanco, fintech company ieDigital and digital transformation experts MajorKey.
Rami usually acquires a controlling interest in businesses, where he provides CEOs and decision-makers with the tools, expertise, and strategies to drive organic growth – a pragmatic business philosophy taken from an extensive career in operations.
Rami has held a number of executive positions with corporations, including Operations Director, Chairman, CEO, and COO.
Prior to this, Rami worked in line management with Atos, where he was Managing Director of BPO/ITO for the firm in the UK. He also had a brief consulting career with KPMG, as well as a 10 year career at Schlumberger, starting as an operating engineer before holding a succession of management roles.
Rami holds two degrees – one in Aerospace Engineering and the other in Pure and Applied Mathematics – both gained at the University of New South Wales in Sydney, Australia.
In his personal life, Rami is a professional kickboxer and has fought in 13 competitive bouts. He has chalked up six wins and one draw as an amateur; and four wins, one draw, and one loss as a pro. He has a black belt, 1st Dan and trains at least three times a week.
He is also passionate about music production
Chris Burbach is a Co-Founder, Partner and the Chief Executive Officer of Fundamental Income. Chris is a member of the Board and jointly leads the Company’s Investment Committee.
Before founding Fundamental Income, Chris served as Executive Vice President of Underwriting for STORE Capital Corporation (NYSE: STOR) for seven years. In that role, he led the underwriting of approximately $12 billion in net lease investments, including over $7.5 billion in closed transactions. Chris also served as both a member and chairman of STORE’s Investment Committee. In addition to his investment and management responsibilities, Chris co-led numerous aspects of STORE’s capital markets activities, including corporate capital strategy, corporate credit ratings, the issuance of $725 million in investment grade corporate unsecured notes, and the issuance of over $2 billion in asset-backed notes, including A+ and AAA-rated notes.
Before joining STORE, Chris spent six years at Spirit Finance Corporation, where he served as the Vice President of Investment Management responsible for managing the company’s $3.5 billion real estate investment portfolio, in addition to managing the underwriting group. He also previously served as CEO of VM Management, Inc., an owner and manager of private charter schools, and as a consultant for Navigant Consulting working with construction and government industry groups. Chris earned his B.S. in Finance from Santa Clara University and his M.B.A. from Arizona State University. Chris is also a CFA® charterholder.
Jeff serves as Managing Partner of Cloverlay and is a member of the Firm’s Investment Committee and Board of Directors. Prior to founding Cloverlay, Jeff was a Managing Director with Morgan Stanley Alternative Investment Partners (AIP), a division of Morgan Stanley’s institutional asset management business. While at AIP, Jeff was a member of the Executive and Business Committees and served on AIP’s Private Markets Investment Committee as a Portfolio Manager responsible for leading primary fund, co-investment and secondary transactions focused on special situations globally and North American buyouts. Prior to AIP, Jeff advised and traded equity options and futures with U.S. hedge funds in Morgan Stanley’s Equity Derivatives Group in New York. Prior to Morgan Stanley, Jeff was on the investment team at Petra Capital Partners, where he was responsible for screening, researching, structuring and monitoring private equity investments in health care and information services companies. Prior to Petra Capital, Jeff was an investment banker at Robertson Stephens, where he executed a variety of public and private equity, debt and convertible offerings along with mergers and acquisitions in financial services, health care, and business services.
As president of EGI, Mark oversees all aspects of the business. He focuses on maximizing and sustaining the value of the firm’s investment portfolio and applies his 20+ years of board and CEO experience inside and outside the organization by actively engaging with the investment team and portfolio companies to improve business strategies and operating capabilities.
In addition, Mark is the chair of the Chai Trust Company, LLC (Chai) investment committee as well as the executive vice president of Chai, which serves as the corporate trustee for the Zell family trusts. He also serves as board chair for Ardent Health Services, East Coast Warehouse & Distribution, Lanter Delivery Systems, Paper Transport, and an agricultural equipment dealer.
Mark joined EGI in 2006 as a managing director and has held temporary in-house assignments within EGI portfolio companies to accelerate and increase the effectiveness of turnarounds, including stints at Tribune Interactive and Exterran Holdings, Inc. Prior to joining EGI, Mark was the chief executive officer of Sunburst Technology Corporation and on the company’s board of directors. He also served as the president of Budget Group, Inc. (Budget Rent A Car and Ryder Truck Rental) and was on the company’s board. Earlier in his career, Mark worked at The Coca-Cola Company in senior brand management and sales roles.
Mark holds an MBA from Harvard Business School and a BA from Amherst College.
Head of Secondary Investments Private Equity
Responsibilities at Schroders Capital
Christiaan van der Kam is the head of Schroders Capital’s secondary investment program, responsible for all secondary investment activities globally.
Background
Prior to joining Schroders Capital in 2020, Christiaan spent more than 12 years at Unigestion, where he co-lead the global secondary investment program and was responsible for all secondary investments in North America and Asia. Prior to that, he worked at New Amsterdam Capital, a hedge fund based in London, where he provided financial and advisory services to companies. Christiaan started his private equity career at ATP Private Equity from 2001–2006. ATP is the largest pension fund in Denmark and one of the largest private equity
investors globally.
Education
Christiaan holds a Bachelor of Science in International Business and a Master degree in Applied Economics and Finance from Copenhagen Business School, Denmark.
Marc J. Leder, Co-Founder and Co-Chief Executive Officer of Sun Capital Advisors, Inc., has been engaged in leveraged buyouts, investment banking, and business operations for more than 30 years. In addition, Mr. Leder is a member of the Sun Capital Executive Committee which oversees and manages the overall strategy of the firm. Mr. Leder received a Bachelor of Science in Economics from the Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania. Mr. Leder is a Member of the International Counsel for the Museum Berggruen in Berlin and also sits on the Board of the Institute of Contemporary Arts at the University of Pennsylvania.
Today's special episode isn’t simply "advice". It provides deep insight into life’s journey, successes, and failures from top private equity and investment banking professionals. We’ve compiled a video of college photos from our speakers to connect the past with the present. To explore the journey and look at what it takes to achieve your dreams.
Want to listen to a particular guest, see below:
Kurt Haras - Cowen (5:20)
Jay Jester - Plexus Capital (7:45)
Charlie Gifford - New Heritage (12:04)
John Huhn - Compass Group (17:58)
Doug McCormick - HCI Equity Partners (20:11)
Ken Firtel - Transom Capital (24:30)
Brandon Knapp - Evercap Advisors (36:18)
Jim Mahoney - Huron Capital (40:49)
Julia Buthman - Prudential Private Capital (44:44)
Connor Mitchell - Solomon Partners (48:13)
Vikram Agrawal - American Resilience Partners (51:28)
Paul Hobby - Genesis Park (54:51)
Alex Western - Terminus Capital Partners (58:47)
Tom O’Rouke - Baypine (1:05:00)
Jeffrey Armbrister - Hamilton Lane (1:07:49)
Caroline Stevens - MPK Equity Partners (1:14:36)
Stephen Vaccaro - Hirtle, Callaghan, & Co (1:16:59)
Ganesh Rao - Thomas H. Lee Partners (1:21:13)
Jeff Eaton - Eaton Partners (1:22:51)
Arthur Hollingsworth - Lone Star Investment Advisors (1:26:01)
Dave Tayeh - Investcorp (1:27:55)
Brian McGee - New Water Capital (1:31:35)
Brian McGee is a Co-Founder and Managing Partner at New Water Capital with over 20 years of private equity and investment banking experience. Before joining New Water, Brian was a senior member of the Transaction team at Sun Capital Partners, where he most recently served as a Principal. Prior to joining Sun Capital in 2007, Brian was a Senior Associate at Chanin Capital Partners, a boutique investment bank focused on debt restructurings, special situations and bankruptcy advisory. Brian began his finance career with Banc of America Securities Investment Banking as an Analyst in the Industrials Group. Brian earned a BA in both Economics and Political Science from Davidson College.
David Tayeh joined the Firm in 1999 as a Partner in the Private Equity team. From 2003 to 2005, David served as the Chief Financial Officer of Jostens, Inc., a former Investcorp portfolio company. Prior to Investcorp, David was a Vice President with DLJ.
In 2015, David rejoined Investcorp as the Head of North American Private Equity from CVC Capital Partners where he was a Partner from 2011. David is a member of Investcorp’s Operating Committee, Investment Committee and the Financial & Risk Management Committee.
He currently serves on the board of directors of AlixPartners, CrossCountry Consulting, Fortune International, Health Plus Management, ICR, KSI Auto Parts, RESA Power, Revature, Roadsafe, Sunrise Produce, Alex Lee, and Arab-American Family Support Center.
David holds a BA degree in Politics, Economics, Rhetoric and Law from the University of Chicago and an MBA from the Wharton School of Business at the University of Pennsylvania
Mr. Hollingsworth is Managing Partner of five private equity funds with over $350 million under management. He has 30 years of experience in private equity investing and investment banking with the funds mentioned above, Paine Webber Incorporated (now UBS), and First Boston Corporation (now Credit Suisse). He served on the North Texas Super Bowl XLV Host Committee, was Chairman of VisitDallas, was Chairman of the North Dallas Chamber of Commerce, and also has served as the Vice Chairman of the Dallas Area Rapid Transit Authority. Mr. Hollingsworth currently serves on the boards of Continental Electronics Corporation, Dallas Committee on Foreign Relations, Frac Tank Rentals LLC (Managing Member), Oil Works, Inc. (Chairman), Trinity Forge, Inc. (Chairman), Mall Area Redevelopment Board, Safety Storage, Inc., and Yellow Checker Cab Company of Dallas/Fort Worth, Inc. He is a former board member of the City of Dallas Reinvestment Zone Board, the City of Dallas Privatization Technical Subcommittee, the LBJ Executive Board, which developed the construction plan for IH 635 Freeway, and the University of Texas Southwestern University Hospitals and Clinics Board of Visitors. Mr. Hollingsworth was a Director and largest shareholder of Accessbancorp which was successfully sold in 2022 to Texas Regional Bank. A Harvard College Scholar, Arthur Hollingsworth earned an undergraduate degree in Economics from Harvard University and has served as Chairman of the Harvard Club of Dallas. He received Harvard's Albert H. Gordon '23 Award. He is an inductee in the Harvard Varsity Club Hall of Fame for his role as Co-Captain of the National Championship 1985 Harvard Rowing Team, as referenced in Devin Mahony's book, The Challenge. (Chicago: Contemporary Books, 1989. Print.) In January 2009, the Dallas Business Journal awarded Mr. Hollingsworth with the Community Impact Dealmaker of the Year award. Mr. Hollingsworth was honored as the 2014 Human Relations Award recipient by the Interdenominational Ministerial Alliance. A direct descendant of Alexander Hamilton, Mr. Hollingsworth serves as President of the Alexander Hamilton Scholars Board of Directors (www.hamiltonscholars.org). Mr. Hollingsworth's daughter is currently a senior at Harvard College and Co-Captain of the Harvard Cheerleading Team.
Jeff Eaton is the Global Co-Head of Eaton Partners, a leading global private capital markets and fund advisory and placement firm. Eaton Partners has raised over $130 billion for over 175 funds, including over $41 billion raised for energy and real asset funds.
In addition to overseeing the firm, Jeff sits on the Investment Committees for the North America, EMEA, and APAC private funds groups as well as for the General Partner Advisory and Directs (GPAD) group. Based out of our Houston office, Jeff also manages our energy and real asset businesses. Jeff has more than 23 years of experience in the investment and financial services industry. Jeff is serving on the Board of Advisors at Duke Innovation & Entrepreneurship. Jeff also is on the Board of Advisors at 51 Vets. Prior to joining Eaton Partners, he was a Director at Constellation Energy Commodities Group leading principal transactions for their natural gas structuring and trading division
Jeff graduated with honors from Duke University with degrees in Economics and History, and received his MBA from Duke's Fuqua School of Business. He holds Series 7, 63, 57, 79 and 24 licenses and is also licensed with the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) in Europe.
As Head of the Financial Technology & Services vertical and member of the firm’s Management Committee, Ganesh manages a large and diverse portfolio and works closely with the Strategic Resource Group to drive growth for the firm’s portfolio companies. He also contributes thought leadership to THL’s Identified Sector Opportunity (ISO) platform and fosters a thriving culture through mentorship and professional development. Ganesh is a Director of 11 businesses, including CARET, Dun & Bradstreet, AmeriLife Group and a board observer of Guaranteed Rate. His prior investments include Comdata, Optimal Blue, Nielsen, MoneyGram International, ServiceLink Holdings, Ten-X Commercial, Sedgwick, FIS and Ariel Re. Before joining the THL team, Ganesh worked at Morgan Stanley. In his spare time, he enjoys cheering on the Pittsburgh Steelers and traveling to explore new cultures and cuisines.
Stephen is a Managing Director and Head of Private Equity. In his role, he focuses on forming long-term partnerships with leading private equity managers, including buyouts, growth equity and venture. Stephen serves on the Investment Committee, which is directly responsible for the firm’s asset allocation strategies and the selection of investment managers for client portfolios. Stephen has over 15 years of industry experience, most recently at the University of Pennsylvania’s Office of Investments, where he focused for eight years on growing the private equity investment program for the University’s $13 billion endowment and $2 billion pension fund. As a senior team member, Stephen played an active role in investment committee discussions across public equity, private equity, real assets, and absolute return strategies. Prior to joining Penn, Stephen was a Senior Associate at Princeton University’s endowment. At Princeton, he worked in private investments across buyouts, venture capital, natural resources, and real estate. Before Princeton, Stephen was a Principal with the Boston Consulting Group (BCG), where he led a wide range of projects in the firm’s Corporate Finance, Technology & Telecom, and Healthcare practice areas. Stephen began his career in telecommunications software for Nortel Networks. Stephen holds a B.A. from Vanderbilt University and an M.B.A. from Yale University. He is a CFA® charterholder. In addition, he is an Investment Committee member for a global non-profit.
Caroline Stevens, an Investor with MPK Equity Partners based in Dallas, Texas. Caroline is a franchise expert, having been a part of 14 franchisor investments across the home services, health, beauty and wellness, and family entertainment spaces. Prior to working in private equity, Caroline was a management consultant with the Boston Consulting Group. She shares how the strategic toolkit acquired while at BCG helps her in her investing career.
Caroline currently serves on the board of the Human Trafficking Institute, an organization working to stop human trafficking at its source around the globe. She formerly served on the advisory board of the Canfield Business Honors Program at The University of Texas at Austin – her alma matter.
While a Texan through-and-through, Caroline and her husband, Logan, are avid travelers. Caroline visited her 30th country, Egypt, in 2022.
Caroline prioritizes and enjoys time with family and friends, traveling, playing tennis and watching the Longhorns or Cowboys on a fall Sunday.
Jeffrey Armbrister, Managing Director, Head of Direct Equity Investments
Jeff is a Managing Director and the Global Head of Direct Equity Investments where he is responsible for direction and oversight of the firm’s direct equity investment platform.
Jeff has over 20 years of private equity and public market investing experience, and has served on the board of directors of several portfolio companies and non-profit organizations. Prior to joining Hamilton Lane in 2018, Jeff was a Managing Director at Versa Capital Management, where he focused on making control-oriented, special situations, debt and equity investments in middle market companies across a variety of industries. While at Versa, Jeff participated in all major investment functions and his responsibilities included origination, underwriting, transaction execution and portfolio company development. Prior to joining Versa in 2003, Jeff was an Equity Research analyst at Oppenheimer + Close. He has also held private equity, venture capital, corporate development and investment banking positions at Berwind Financial Group, Redleaf Group, ICG Commerce and Wheat First Butcher Singer, respectively. Jeff received a B.A. in Economics from the University of Virginia
We are excited to present a montage of quotes and mottos from prior guests that have inspired them throughout the years in both their careers and personal lives.
As we begin a new year, we hope this special episode sets the stage and provides you with a new mindset for conquering the challenges & opportunities that lie ahead.
We are excited to present a montage of quotes and mottos from prior guests that have inspired them throughout the years in both their careers and personal lives.
As we begin a new year, we hope this special episode sets the stage and provides you with a new mindset for conquering the challenges & opportunities that lie ahead
Tom O’Rourke is a Partner at BayPine. Previously, he was a Principal at Bain Capital, which he joined in 2008 and where he was a member of the North American Private Equity team. Most recently, he worked in the Consumer and Business Services verticals, where he was a member of the senior leadership team and evaluated and executed investments across a broad spectrum of industries, including auto services, consumer health, retail, and travel & leisure.
Prior to that, he worked in the Healthcare vertical, spanning opportunities across the healthcare ecosystem. Mr. O’Rourke began his career at Goldman Sachs as an analyst in the Private Equity Group covering a variety of industries across primary, secondary, and direct investments.
Mr. O’Rourke serves on the Boards of Penn Foster and Mavis. He holds an AB from Princeton University and an MBA from Harvard Business School.
Alex Western is the Founder and Managing Director of Terminus Capital Partners (“TCP”), an Atlanta-based private equity firm focused on majority recapitalizations of $10-$50m business software companies who want a growth-oriented and operationally-oriented partner to reach their potential. Previously, Alex was a managing director at Trilogy, a hold-co. of more than 100 enterprise software companies. Before Trilogy, Alex was an investment analyst at GMT Capital, a $5B value-oriented hedge fund. Alex began his career as a consultant at McKinsey & Company and as a private equity associate at Audax Group. Alex received his AB from Harvard College and his MBA from Harvard Business School. He lives in Atlanta, GA with his wife and two daughters.
Paul is a founding partner of Genesis Park and GP Capital. He has extensive M&A experience, decades of diverse public company board service, and proven management ability. Mr. Hobby’s sector expertise ranges from network infrastructure to downstream energy (both renewable and traditional gas fired) to media and telecom. His executive roles over time include Columbine JDS Systems, which became the world’s largest provider of back-office media software, CEO of Alpheus Communications, which built out the largest alternative fiber optic network in Texas, and CEO of Texas Monthly, expanding the print media brand to include podcasts, social media, a national alliance with Creative Artists Agency, and syndicating content through new channels that include Apple News, Flipboard, Pocket, Random House, Google News, Audm and Trip Advisor.
Paul has served as the Chairman of the Texas Ethics Commission, the Greater Houston Partnership, the Houston Branch of the Federal Reserve Bank of Dallas, the Texas General Services Commission and the Texas Business Hall of Fame. Paul holds a BA in History from the University of Virginia and a JD from the University of Texas Law School.
Paul serves on the Management and Investment Committee of GP Capital.
Vikram Agrawal is a mission-driven, operationally-focused investment and management professional who believes that everyone deserves an opportunity to be successful, however they define success.
Vikram is currently collaborating with Texan businessman and environmentalist Trammell S. Crow with a dual mandate focused on leading investments and catalyzing impact in environmental sustainability and resilience. He is the Co-Founder and CEO of American Resilience Partners (a Texas-based, entrepreneurial private investment firm) and supports the international non-profit EarthX as the Director of EarthxCapital (EarthX's team that has a mission to help raise awareness, educate, convene, and catalyze impact related to sustainability investment and business innovation).
Vikram has 15 years of investment and management experience across several industry sectors in the United States and the emerging markets (Latin America & the Caribbean and Europe, Middle East, & Africa) through his prior roles with Citigroup (a global investment bank), International Finance Corporation (private sector arm of the World Bank Group focused on sustainable development), Patriarch Partners (a multi-billion dollar turnaround-focused private investment firm dedicated to saving American jobs by saving iconic American companies), and Prophet Equity (a middle-market private equity firm that makes control investments in strategically viable & underperforming companies).
Vikram received his MBA from Yale School of Management, where he was a recipient of the Award for Excellence in Ethics and Leadership. He received his Bachelor of Science from Georgetown University’s School of Foreign Service, where he studied International Political Economy, and is currently a member of the Board of Governors for the Georgetown University Alumni Association.
Connor joined Solomon after 11 years at FocalPoint Partners, where he was a Managing Director in their Business Services practice. During his tenure, he co-founded and expanded FocalPoint’s Chicago office.
Over the course of his 15-year career, Connor has advised clients across the most active Human Capital and Professional Services sub-sectors, including Professional Staffing, Healthcare Staffing, Consulting and Business Process Outsourcing. Select recent transactions include:
- The sale of 8020 Consulting to ShoreView Industries
- The Planet Group’s (a portfolio company of Odyssey Investment Partners) acquisition of Strive Consulting
- The sale of The Planet Group to Odyssey Investment Partners
- The sale of ADI Strategies to Huron Consulting (Nasdaq: HURN)
- The sale of Rightpoint Consulting to Stella Point Capital
- The sale of The Planet Group to MidOcean Partners
- The Recapitalization of Amerit Fleet Solutions by Elm Park Capital (aka Atalaya Capital Management) and Seacoast Capital
- The sale of BrandRep to Millpond Equity Partners
- The sale of Heartland Automotive, a portfolio company of Sun Capital Partners, to Wynnchurch Capital
- The sale of Easy Ice to Freeman Spogli
Julia Buthman is the Managing Director of Prudential Private Capital’s Dallas Corporate Finance office. She oversees the private placement and junior capital activity in a six-state region of the Southwestern US. Prior to this role, Julia served as Senior Vice President in Prudential Private Capital responsible for the Minneapolis office-based territory. Julia joined PPC in 2000. Prior to joining PPC, Julia was with Bank of Montreal for approximately 15 years in a variety of roles. Her most recent role at BMO was serving as a Managing Director in the Food Group, with a specialization in Food Retail/Wholesale and Foodservice.
Julia currently serves as a Director on multiple portfolio companies, as well as Volunteers of America, Texas chapter. Previously, Julia served on the board of the North Texas Food Bank, The First Tee of Dallas and is a former chairperson for Dallas-based Executive Women’s Roundtable.
Julia received a BS in Psychology from Oklahoma State University and an MBA from the University of Houston’s Bauer College of Business.
Jim is the Managing Partner of Huron Capital. In addition to sourcing, evaluating, executing and managing investments, Jim is responsible for setting strategy and managing the operations of the firm. Jim is a member of the firm’s Investment Committee and the Huron Capital Board of Directors.
His experience includes mergers and acquisitions, equity and debt financings and restructurings for middle market businesses across a variety of industries. Prior to joining Huron Capital in 2007, Jim was with Conway MacKenzie, Inc., a boutique firm focused on restructurings and special situations. Prior to Conway, Jim was an investment banker with Robert W. Baird & Co. Although his experience covers a range of industries, he is focused primarily on niche segments within the business services space, including facility, infrastructure, and utility services.
B.A. in Economics and Political Science from Villanova University; M.B.A. from The University of Chicago Booth School of Business with concentrations in Finance and Accounting.
Brandon has successfully completed numerous middle-market merger and acquisition and recapitalization transactions in the software, technology-enabled business services, industrial services, and distribution industries.
Prior to Evercap, Brandon was a Managing Director at an M&A-focused investment banking firm with a 30+ year history where he led buy-side engagements for private equity firms and strategic acquirers.
Brandon earned a B.B.A. in Finance from Texas A&M University, where he graduated magna cum laude. He holds the Series 7, 63, and 79 licenses. Additionally, Brandon enjoys tennis and is an advisor to the Northwestern Ohio Christian Youth Camp.
Ken Firtel is a Co-founder and Managing Partner of Transom Capital Group. Prior to Transom, Mr. Firtelwas an investment professional at Platinum Equity and was responsible for evaluating, structuring, and negotiating transactions and transitioning and overseeing operations of portfolio companies.
Before joining Platinum, Mr. Firtel was an associate in the Transactions Department of O’Melveny & Myers, where he specialized in mergers and acquisitions, investor and company-side private equity, venture capital and debt financing, joint ventures, and general representation of middle-market companies.
Mr. Firtel holds a Bachelor of Arts in Economics from Yale University; a Master of Science, Industrial Relations-Diploma in Business Studies from the London School of Economics; and a Juris Doctor from the USC Gould School of Law. He played Varsity soccer at Yale and published an article in the Southern California Law Review.
He serves on the board of Angel City Sports, an organization focused on providing athletic and other opportunities for children and adults with physical disabilities, and on the board of LA Breakers FC, a youth soccer club located in West Los Angeles.
When he’s not at work, Mr. Firtel enjoys spending time with his wife and three children (one boy and two girls) and is an avid fly fisherman, especially in Sun Valley, Idaho.
Doug McCormick is a Managing Partner and Co-Founder of HCI Equity Partners, a lower middle market private equity firm focused on partnering with family and founder owned manufacturing, service and distribution companies. Doug has been an active investor in numerous markets to include aerospace, defense, distribution, food services, packaging, manufacturing, outsourced business services, transportation and logistics. He currently serves on the board of AmercareRoyal, Echelon Supply & Service and Pacific Defense and serves as board chair for Consolidated Hospitality Supplies, MSI Express, SDS Rx and Tech24.
Doug actively supports the veteran community as the Chairman of Team Red, White and Blue. He is also a member of the board of trustees and Chair of the investment committee for the National Endowment for Financial Education (NEFE); a board member of The Heritage Group, founding member of Capital For Children, and a 2011 Henry Crown Fellow.
Doug is the author of Family Inc. and uses this content to empower others with financial literacy skills, with an emphasis on the veteran community. His work and recommendations regarding investing and personal finance topics have been cited or featured by leading media outlets such as The Wall Street Journal, The NY Times, USA Today, CNBC, PBS, NPR, TIME, Investor’s Business Daily, Fast Company, The Larry Kudlow Show, Huffington Post, Motley Fool, The Art of Manliness and others.
Before founding HCI Equity, Doug was a Managing Partner at Thayer Hidden Creek and Thayer Capital and worked in the Investment Banking Division of Morgan Stanley & Co. He also served as a Captain in the U.S. Army’s 25th Infantry Division. Doug received his Master of Business Administration from Harvard Business School and his Bachelor of Science in Economics from the U.S. Military Academy at West Point, where he served as First Captain of the Corps of Cadets and Captain of the Army Wrestling team.
John Huhn brings a 30-year track record of success in private equity, entrepreneurism and strategic consulting to his leadership of Compass Group. Over the course of his career, he has been involved in more than 75 transactions representing over $3 billion in enterprise value.
Prior to founding Compass Group, John launched and led HBM Holdings, a family office focused on diversifying its core holdings. Earlier in his career, he served as Senior Vice President of Strategy & Corporate Development for Aegion (NASDAQ: AEGN), where he was responsible for corporate strategy, mergers & acquisitions, joint-ventures and strategic alliances. His earlier experience also includes serving as Managing Principal of an international consulting firm, where he provided strategic and organizational consulting to Global 1000 customers.
John is a graduate of the University of Illinois, where he received degrees in Engineering and Business Administration.
Charles K. Gifford, Jr., Senior Partner
Charlie co-founded New Heritage Capital in 2006 and has been investing private equity in founder-owned, lower middle market business es for 23 years. He focuses his efforts on generating proprietary investment opportunities, developing and maintaining intermediary relationships and providing capital markets expertise in the areas of transaction pricing and structuring. Prior to joining Heritage, Charlie spent two years at a start up sports venture. His previous experience also includes two years at Smith Barney in Boston and New York.
Charlie earned a Masters in Management degree from the J.L. Kellogg Graduate School of Business and received his Bachelor of Arts degree from Denison University.
Jay is a Partner at Plexus Capital. Jay is a member of the senior leadership team and works alongside the other team members to chart the strategy and vision for Plexus. In addition, Jay interacts with investors, assists with sourcing new investment opportunities, and helps oversee the portfolio.
Jay is a graduate of the University of North Carolina where he earned a Bachelor of Arts in English and Interdisciplinary Studies. After UNC, Jay was an investment banking analyst with Bowles Hollowell Conner & Company in Charlotte, NC. After BHC, Jay spent eight years as a Partner at Florida Capital Partners, in Tampa where he helped to lead the firm and to build the firm’s business development engine.
In January of 2000, Jay joined Audax Group. During his 19 years with the Audax, he served as senior member of the leadership team of Audax Group and Audax Private Equity. Jay focused on deal sourcing and business development, but also served on the investment committee and played an active role in charting the strategy and direction of the firm, contributing to recruiting, training, investor relations, professional development, financing and portfolio operations.
Jay is an active member of several M&A and business networking organizations, including YPO and ACG.
Jay is originally from Greensboro, North Carolina. Jay and his wife live in Raleigh.
Kurt Haras is a Managing Director, Mergers and Acquisitions at Cowen. Mr. Haras has over 20 years of investment banking experience advising clients on mergers and acquisitions, private placements, public offerings, corporate restructurings and business valuations. His transaction experience includes representing private companies, private equity firms and public companies in domestic and international transactions involving a number of industries, such as business services, consumer products, environmental services, distribution, industrial manufacturing and technology.
Prior to joining Cowen, Mr. Haras was a founding member and Partner at Quarton International. Prior to Quarton, he spent nine years at W. Y. Campbell & Company. He also held positions at Oppenheimer & Co. and PricewaterhouseCoopers LLP.
Mr. Haras has a B.A. in Accounting from Michigan State University and an M.B.A. from the University of Michigan. He is also a certified public accountant (inactive).
For our 100th episode, we've created a montage of our past podcast guests providing their advice to recent graduates and young professionals in Investment banking and private equity.
We encourage you as a listener to contribute your advice to young professionals on Jeff Henningsens LinkedIn post.
Chris Cathcart is a Managing Partner and currently serves on the Management and Investment Committees of The Halifax Group. Chris joined Halifax in 2007 and leads business development for the firm. He is responsible for origination, evaluation and recommendation of investment opportunities and management of the firm’s network of investment sources. Chris has more than 20 years of experience leading and advising small businesses. Chris received an MBA from The Kellogg School of Management at Northwestern University with a concentration in finance, accounting and entrepreneurship and graduated cum laude from Wake Forest University. Chris is a long suffering Wake Forest sports fan. When not lamenting the current on-field performance of his beloved Demon Deacons, he serves on the board of deacons at his church, enjoys spending time with his young family and endures distance running.
Chris Cathcart is a Managing Partner and currently serves on the Management and Investment Committees of The Halifax Group. Chris joined Halifax in 2007 and leads business development for the firm. He is responsible for origination, evaluation and recommendation of investment opportunities and management of the firm’s network of investment sources. Chris has more than 20 years of experience leading and advising small businesses. Chris received an MBA from The Kellogg School of Management at Northwestern University with a concentration in finance, accounting and entrepreneurship and graduated cum laude from Wake Forest University. Chris is a long suffering Wake Forest sports fan. When not lamenting the current on-field performance of his beloved Demon Deacons, he serves on the board of deacons at his church, enjoys spending time with his young family and endures distance running.
Leon is a Partner at Palladium Equity Partners and it is part of the firm’s Management Committee. Palladium is the oldest minority-owned private equity buyout firm in the industry with over $3 billion of assets under management.
Leon joined Palladium in 2007 and Brujis is responsible for originations and underwriting as well as helping lead the firm’s business services practice. Prior to joining Palladium, Leon worked in the mergers and acquisitions group at Lehman Brothers.
Leon is an graduate from The George Washington University where he obtained a B.S. and M.S in Engineering.
Husband to a wonderful woman, father to three great kids. He is originally from Argentina.
Deborah Smith is Co-Founder and CEO of The CenterCap Group, LLC and heads the firm’s Strategic Capital and M&A and Execution efforts. Prior to forming The CenterCap Group, LLC, Ms. Smith was Co-Head of M&A and a Senior Managing Director with CB Richard Ellis Investors (CB Richard Ellis's $40 billion AUM investment management business). She joined CBREI in July 2007 to co-head the build out of the firm's M&A efforts and led the firm’s negotiation and acquisition of a majority interest in Wood Partners (one of the largest multifamily developers in the United States) in 2008. From 1998-2007, Ms. Smith worked on mergers and acquisitions with Lehman Brothers, Wachovia Securities and Morgan Stanley. Ms. Smith has been involved in more than $100 billion of mergers, acquisitions and restructuring transactions. Ms. Smith has a Bachelor of Economics, with honors, and a Bachelor of Law, with honors, from the University of Sydney.
Gina is a founding partner of GP Capital. Gina founded Luna Strategies in 2016, where she counseled companies and their leaders on complex strategic issues and growth initiatives. She also serves on the board of public and privately held companies. Prior to founding Luna Strategies, Gina held senior executive roles with JPMorgan Chase during her 22-year career at the company. Most recently, she served as Chairman of the Houston Market and Managing Director of Chase Commercial Banking. Gina is a member of the board of the Federal Reserve Bank of Dallas. Houston Branch, and St. Luke's Health System. She also serves as a trustee of The Texas A&M Foundation. The Welch Foundation. The Welch Institute for Advance Materials and Baylor College of Medicine. She was elected chairman of the Greater Houston Partnership in 2015 and continues to serve on the board and executive committee. She was the founding chairman of Houston Exponential and serves as a senior advisor to HX Venture Fund. Gina is a summa cum laude graduate of Texas A&M University with a Bachelor of Business Administration Degree in Finance and management. Gina serves on the Management and Investment Committee of GP Capital.
Matt Moran is a Managing Principal & Head of Business Development at Inverness Graham. Matt joined Inverness in 2010, where he leads and manages the firm's business development efforts. His responsibilities include sourcing and evaluating new platform investment opportunities and providing transaction and post-transaction support for Inverness Graham's portfolio companies. Matt also serves as a Board Member for two of Inverness Graham's investments - Syntrio Inc. and Lighthouse Services.
Before joining Inverness, Matt was an Analyst at Laurel Capital Partners, where he made growth equity investments in lower middle-market manufacturing, technology & services companies.
Matt received a B.A. from Villanova University in 2008.
Shannon Zoller has nearly two decades of experience in the financial services industry, having started her career as a financial services lawyer. Ms. Zoller is currently the Founder and a Managing Partner of Tephra Advisors, a private capital fund advisory business, and is a Board member of WAVE (Women Association of Venture & Equity). After her legal career, she entered private equity joining middle-market private equity fund manager Sterling Partners in Chicago in 2005. In 2008 she became an Executive Director in the Private Funds Group at UBS, at that time one of the largest private capital funds advisory businesses in the industry and part of UBS’s global investment banking business. After UBS, Ms. Zoller was a founding team member and Managing Director of the Private Funds Group at GCA Savvian, a publicly traded independent global investment bank that was acquired by Houlihan Lokey. Ms. Zoller has a BA from University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign where she was a scholarship athlete and a JD from Chicago-Kent College of Law.
Episode 93 of the Private Equity Fast Pitch features Jeff Parks, CEO of Stack Capital Group Inc. (TSX:STCK). Jeff co-founded the company, which successfully completed its IPO in June 2021. Stack’s mission is to ‘democratize’ access into growth & late-stage pre-ipo businesses, giving all investors, regardless of size, the opportunity to participate in the future growth of a portfolio of innovative and disruptive private companies. In addition, Stack’s public listing provides a valuable liquidity option for shareholders, eliminating what has typically been a ‘barrier to entry’ into this attractive asset class. Stack shareholders have the freedom and flexibility to buy & sell shares whenever required. Jeff has over a decade of investment industry and portfolio management experience, having successfully co-managed three North American Hedge Fund mandates. He specializes in identifying companies in their infancy and has actively worked alongside management teams to help drive growth. Jeff is a Chartered Financial Analyst (CFA), and a graduate of the Richard Ivey School of Business at Western University in Ontario, Canada. Recently married to his beautiful wife Robyn, and master to his dog Hudson, Jeff can typically be found on the golf course, ski hill, or traveling abroad when trying to relax.
Emanuel Citron is a Managing Partner at Volery. He serves on five of Volery’s firm committees, including as co-chair of the Investment Committee, and a member of the firm’s Operations, Finance, Valuation and Compliance Committees. Previously, he was a Principal at Stone Point Capital (2005-2017). He has extensive financial services focused private equity experience, including on investments in financial services businesses totaling more than $3 billion. Prior to joining Stone Point, Emanuel was the CEO of a privately-held internet business and an Analyst at Beacon Group (1998-2000). Emanuel holds a B.S. (magna cum laude) from the University of Pennsylvania and an M.B.A. (Palmer Scholar) from the Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania.
Mr. Costabile joined the firm in 2000 and is the Global Head of PineBridge Investments’ Private Funds Group. Mr. Costabile sits on the Management Committee for PineBridge Investments. Mr. Costabile’s private equity investing and valuation experience date back to 1990. Previously, from 1997 to 2000, Mr. Costabile was a Vice President at Credit Suisse First Boston (CSFB) in the Private Funds Group. Prior to that, he was the Senior Investment Officer of Alternative Investments for the Commonwealth of Massachusetts and the Assistant Director of Venture Capital for the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania. In both positions, Mr. Costabile focused on private equity fund investments. He received both a BSBA and an MBA from Duquesne University. He is also a CFA charterholder, holds the Series 7, 63 and 24 licenses and serves as Chairman of the Investment Committee for Duquesne University’s endowment.
We are excited to present a montage of quotes and mottos from prior guests that have inspired them throughout the years in both their careers and personal lives.
As we begin a new year, we hope this special episode sets the stage and provides you with a new mind set for conquering the challenges & opportunities that lie ahead.
Steve is a Founding Partner and the Managing Partner of BVP. Steve combines financial expertise with a disruptive approach to value-add strategies in private equity. Previously, Steve was a Co-Founder and a Managing Partner of a lower-middle market private equity fund focused on the consumer sectors.
Steve was previously a corporate lawyer at Kirkland and Ellis, and Cahill Gordon & Reindel. Steve received his BA in East Asian Studies with honors from Harvard College in 1992 and his JD from Harvard Law School in 1995. He was the New York State High School Chess Champion in 1988.
Steve is married to his wife, Gretchen, and has three boys, Andrew, Joshua and Matthew. In addition to spending time with his family, Steve is passionate about traveling, classic rock music, Disney and the Buffalo Bills.
Meahgan is well known in the Middle Market M&A community for her knowledge of and views on investing trends, creative and effective deal sourcing techniques, macro-market perspectives and best-practices in which private equity firms can bridge the gap between “Main St. and Wall St.”
Meahgan is the Chairwoman of the Association of Corporate Growth’s “Women of Leadership” committee, was named one of McGuire Woods’ “Women to Know in Private Equity” and has been a featured speaker at multiple professional association conferences as well as “Women in Business” focused events.
Meahgan is a Director of Business Development for Palladium Equity Partners where her primary focus is on new investment generation and intermediary, founder, executive and corporate relationship management across North America and Europe. Furthermore, Meahgan assists portfolio companies with add-on acquisition strategy development and the sourcing of tuck-in opportunities.
She received her Master’s in Business Administration from Duke, The Fuqua School of Business and her B.B.A. from William and Mary’s Mason School of Business.
Mr. Parisi helps family and independent businesses sell or recapitalize their companies’ capital structure, realize a liquidity event, transfer ownership to next generation, or combine with a larger partner to accelerate growth.
Prior to joining Carl Marks Advisors, Mr. Parisi was a Managing Partner of FPG Advisory where he focused on all aspects of sourcing and executing deals, including structuring, due diligence, financing, and post-transaction integration throughout North America and internationally.
Previously, he was a senior investment banker at Jefferies & Company where he was instrumental in building the General Industries Group into one of the firm’s largest and most profitable units. He maintained a broad industry specialization, working closely with companies in the basic materials, chemicals and capital goods sectors.
Earlier, Mr. Parisi was a Vice President with KeyBanc Capital Markets, focusing on middle-market consumer companies, including Food & Beverage and Retail. Before his investment banking career, Mr. Parisi worked in the private equity division of The Blackstone Group, one of the world’s largest private equity firms. He began his career with Ernst & Young.
Mr. Parisi earned a BS in Accounting from the University of Scranton and an MBA from The Kellogg School of Management at Northwestern University. He is a FINRA Registered Representative and a Certified Public Accountant.
Our host Jeff Henningsen, president of Lockton companies in Houston and the Podfather of private equity, is speaking on the female committee panel for Wave (Women's Association of Venture & Equity Wave allows the panelists to discuss three main topics: One - how Diversity, Equity and Inclusion has changed in corporate America and what the future looks like for female executives, Two - advice on beginning your career: including what can be done to revamp your application in the job market and the underlying difference between female and male job applicants, and Three - feeling the fear, but doing it anyway. We hope you enjoy this extraordinary episode.
Dominique Mielle is a Wall Street veteran with a comprehensive knowledge of corporate finance, capital markets, and the bankruptcy process. She was a partner and senior portfolio manager at Canyon Capital, a $25 billion hedge fund, where she worked from 1998 to 2018. In 2017, she was named one of the “50 Leading Women in Hedge Funds” by the Hedge Fund Journal and E&Y. After retiring in 2018 she started writing. Her book, Damsel in Distressed: My life in the golden age of hedge funds, was released on September 7, 2021. She is a Forbes contributor on hedge funds, distressed investing and women in finance.
One of the only senior women in the hedge fund business, she played key roles in complicated bankruptcies, serving as a leading creditors’ committee member for Puerto Rico, and as a restructuring committee member for U.S. airlines in the wake of the September 11 attacks. She was a director of the board and the audit committee chair for PG&E during its fifteen-month bankruptcy process and emergence, and now serves on several corporate boards: Digicel Group, ReadyCap, Tiptree, Osiris Acquisition and Studio City.
Kevin McAllister has extensive private equity experience, including opportunity origination, execution, negotiation, and portfolio company support. Prior to founding Access in 2013, Kevin was at Sterling Partners where he was a member of its investment committee and led the Business Services practice (~$2 billion of AUM). While at Sterling Partners, Kevin led the sourcing, underwriting, and management of Livingston International, FPG and MOSAID Technologies. Prior to joining Sterling in 2008, Kevin was in the Buyout Group at American Capital. Kevin has also held roles in strategic consulting at Accenture and A.T. Kearney and in business development at a NYSE-listed acquisitive holding company. Kevin holds an MBA from the University of Chicago, Graduate School of Business (Dean's List) and a BA in Economics from Dickinson College.
Jeff Hooke is a senior finance lecturer at the Johns Hopkins Carey School of Business. Earlier, he was a managing director at Focus, LLC, an investment bank serving middle market companies. He served as Vice President of Research at the Committee on Economic Development. Previously, Hooke operated his own consulting firm, was a director of Emerging Markets Partnership (a $5 billion private equity fund), a principal investment officer of the World Bank Group, and an investment banker with Lehman Brothers and Schroder Wertheim, respectively, two prominent securities firms based in New York.
In addition to " The Myth of Private Equity," Hooke is the author of four other books: Security Analysis on Wall Street (1998, 2nd edition 2013), M&A: A Practical Guide to Doing the Deal (1996, 2nd edition 2015), The Dinosaur Among Us: The World Bank and Its Path to Extinction, and The Emerging Markets (2001). He has co-authored several peer-reviewed academic papers in finance and has written many position papers for non-profit think tanks. He holds an MBA from the Wharton School and a BS from the University of Pennsylvania.
Besides Hopkins, Mr. Hooke has taught at several universities and the New York Institute of Finance. He lectures on finance topics at industry forums around the world, including the CFA societies of New York, Philadelphia, Atlanta, Baltimore, Washington, London, Paris, Moscow, Munich, Istanbul, Copenhagen, Beijing, and Bangkok.
Jeff Henningsen, recently nicknamed the podfather of private equity podcasts will be speaking with Scott Kolbrenner, a managing director at Houlihan Lokey. Scott co-heads Houlihans Industrial Services practice with a focus on engineering services.
He was recognized by Investment Dealers’ Digest as a recipient of its “Forty Under Forty” award and in 2020, as a contestant on Wheel of Fortune became the highest paid male contender in the history of the show. Scott generously donated the entirety of his $145,000 prize money to Uplift Family Services and Los Angeles Regional Food Bank.
Today they’ll be discussing Scott’s 20 years of experience in Investment Banking, the current trends in infrastructure, and his insights on powerful and impactful leadership.
Christopher W. Kersey serves as the Founding Managing Partner of Havencrest Capital Management, and prior to founding Havencrest, Dr. Kersey served as a Managing Member and Partner of Camden Partners Holdings, LLC.
From 2011 to 2017, Dr. Kersey served as the Chairman of the Board of Johns Hopkins Medicine International. During that time, Dr. Kersey helped spearhead John Hopkins Medicine International's growth from an emerging pioneer to the established leader in global collaborative health care partnerships by engineering innovative private sector - public sector partnerships with blue-chip institutions such as Saudi Aramco in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, HCL Healthcare in India and Pacifico Salud in Peru.
In 2010, Dr. Kersey was elected to the boards of trustees of Johns Hopkins Medicine and the iconic Johns Hopkins Hospital, U.S. News & World Report's #1 ranked hospital in the United States for 21 consecutive years.
Dr. Kersey also serves on the boards of directors of the Johns Hopkins Hospital Endowment Fund and Johns Hopkins Aramco Healthcare (JHAH) — a joint venture based in Saudi Arabia and one of the world's largest population health management initiatives. Dr. Kersey is also a member of the Johns Hopkins Medicine Compensation Committee, the Johns Hopkins Medicine Patient Safety and Quality Committee and the Johns Hopkins Hospital Credentials Committee.
In 2017, Dr. Kersey was elected to the board of trustees of the GuideStone Funds, the largest Christian mutual fund in the world with more than $12 billion in assets under management, where he serves on the Investment Management Committee and the Nominating and Governance Committee.
Dr. Kersey earned his Bachelor of Arts (B.A.) degree from Stanford University, his Doctor of Medicine (M.D.) degree from the Emory University School of Medicine and his Master of Business Administration (M.B.A.) from Harvard Business School.
Marc S. Cooper is Chief Executive Officer of PJ SOLOMON, a position he has held since 2016. He was previously Vice Chairman from 2013 to 2016 and joined the firm in 1999 as a Partner and Managing Director.
Marc S. Cooper is Chief Executive Officer of PJ SOLOMON, a leading financial advisory firm with a legacy as one of the first independent investment banks.
In 2016, Mr. Cooper led the transaction in which Natixis, the international corporate and investment banking, asset management, insurance and financial services arm of Groupe BPCE, made a strategic investment in PJ SOLOMON. The partnership with Natixis provides PJ SOLOMON clients with global advisory services and proprietary access to financing capabilities throughout Europe, Asia Pacific, the Middle East and the Americas.
Under Mr. Cooper’s leadership, PJ SOLOMON has significantly expanded and diversified sector coverage and today serves clients across a broad range of industries including Consumer Retail; Financial Sponsors; FinTech; Grocery, Pharmacy & Restaurants; Healthcare; Infrastructure, Power & Renewables; and Technology, Media & Telecommunications.
As the former head of PJ SOLOMON’s Consumer Retail Group, Mr. Cooper has advised a long roster of high-profile retailers and brands. Over the past three decades, Mr. Cooper has advised on hundreds of transactions globally, including mergers, acquisitions, divestitures, recapitalizations and restructurings, financings and shareholder activism.
Mr. Cooper serves on the boards of the Partnership for New York City and Fedcap, a non-profit dedicated to creating opportunities for people with barriers to economic well-being. He is also a Trustee of The Committee for Economic Development of The Conference Board.
Prior to joining PJ SOLOMON, Mr. Cooper co-founded and served as Vice Chairman of Barington Capital Group where he oversaw its investment banking operations. He began his career in investment banking at Kidder Peabody.
Mr. Cooper holds an MBA, magna cum laude, and a BS from New York University.
Mr. Lovette is the founder of Third Coast Capital Advisors and manages the daily activities of the firm with responsibility for originating, advising on, and executing merger and acquisition transactions for clients across a variety of industries. Prior to forming Third Coast Capital Advisors, Mr. Lovette was a Managing Director in the Middle Market M&A group at Banc of America Securities LLC where he led a national effort focused on M&A transactions with values under $150 million. Prior to his tenure at Bank of America, Mr. Lovette was a Managing Director in the M&A/Corporate Finance group at LaSalle Bank and ABN AMRO. In total, Mr. Lovette has over 25 years of experience working with private and public companies on merger and acquisition transactions. His diverse M&A experience includes acquisitions, private company sales, corporate divestitures, portfolio company sales of private equity groups and sales of public companies across numerous industries. Mr. Lovette holds a Bachelor of Arts degree in Finance from Indiana University and a Master of Business Administration degree from DePaul University.
This episode features the valuable advice Private Equity & Investment Banking Professionals have given for young professionals and recent college graduates.
Episode 77 features Laird Koldyke, a founding partner of Winona Capital Management which is a Chicago based private investment firm focused on growth investments in branded consumer companies. Winona Capital manages investments on behalf of high net worth families, institutions and individuals.
Mr. Koldyke has served on the boards of numerous consumer companies including Chipotle Mexican Grill (Chairman) , Einstein’s Bagels (Founding Investor), Wild Oats Markets, Fat Brain Toys, Petsense, Kjus Apparel, Fusion Academy, and the Laird Norton Company, Mr. Koldyke is currently a director of CYMI, Inc., Monica Vinader, PLC; Rodd and Gunn, LLC , Indie Lee, LLC, Ancora Beauty and the Desire Company.
Mr. Koldyke holds a bachelor’s degree in history from Northwestern University (1983) and a Masters in Management (MM) from the Kellogg Graduate School of Management (1989).
He previously served on the Board of Trustees of the San Miguel Schools; a Chicago based schools initiative serving crime ridden city neighborhoods; is a former trustee of Northwestern University and is a founding member of the Springboard Foundation, a venture philanthropy group based in Chicago.
He is a board member of Naturally Chicago, the Chicago Lakeshore Improvement Committee and also serves as the ranking Commissioner of the Chicago Park District.
Mr. Koldyke resides in Chicago with his wife Deirdre, they have four grown children.
After rooting each and every summer for as long as he can remember, Laird was ecstatic when the Chicago Cubs broke the curse in 2016. He roots on.
Glenn Jacobson is a Partner of Trilantic North America. Glenn is also a member of the Investment Committee of Fund VI North America and TEP II North America. His primary focus is on investments in the energy and energy transition sectors. Glenn is a member of Trilantic North America’s ESG committee which helps to develop and implement the firm’s ESG policies. Glenn joined Trilantic North America in 2009 at its inception, prior to which he was a Principal at Lehman Brothers Merchant Banking (LBMB). Glenn is currently a director of Intersect Power, Powin Energy, SemaConnect, DJR Energy and TRP Energy. He was previously a director of Indigo Natural Resources, M5 Midstream and MacLean Power Systems, among several others. Prior to joining LBMB in 2005, Glenn worked in Lehman Brothers’ Global Natural Resources investment banking practice in New York where he focused on M&A and capital markets transactions in the energy sector. Glenn holds a B.A., cum laude, in Economics from Dartmouth College.
Today we speak to the authors of The Caesars Palace Coup: How a Billionaire Brawl Over the Famous Casino Exposed the Power and Greed of Wall Street
https://tinyurl.com/caesarsbook
This is where Oceans 11 meets Chapter 11
It was the most brutal corporate restructuring in Wall Street history. The 2015 bankruptcy brawl for the storied casino giant, Caesars Entertainment, pitted brilliant and ruthless private equity legends against the world's most relentless hedge fund wizards.
In the tradition of Barbarians at the Gate and The Big Short comes the riveting, multi-dimensional poker game between private equity firms and distressed debt hedge funds that played out from the Vegas Strip to Manhattan boardrooms to Chicago courthouses and even, for a moment, the halls of the United States Congress. On one side: Apollo Global Management and TPG Capital. On the other: the likes of Elliott Management, Oaktree Capital, and Appaloosa Management.
The Caesars bankruptcy put a twist on the old-fashioned casino heist. Through a $27 billion leveraged buyout and a dizzying string of financial engineering transactions, Apollo and TPG—in the midst of the post-Great Recession slump—had seemingly snatched every prime asset of the company from creditors, with the notable exception of Caesars Palace. But Caesars’ hedge fund lenders and bondholders had scooped up the company’s paper for nickels and dimes. And with their own armies of lawyers and bankers, they were ready to do everything necessary to take back what they believed was theirs—if they could just stop their own infighting.
These modern financiers now dominate the scene in Corporate America as their fight-to-the-death mentality continues to shock workers, politicians, and broader society—and even each other.
In The Caesars Palace Coup, financial journalists Max Frumes and Sujeet Indap illuminate the brutal tactics of distressed debt mavens—vultures, as they are condemned—in the sale and purchase of even the biggest companies in the world with billions of dollars hanging in the balance.
Sujeet Indap is the U.S. editor of the Lex Column at the Financial Times, where he contributes stories across the paper. He has written extensively on the intersection of corporate finance and corporate law. Indap was previously an investment banker before he joined the Financial Times in 2013. He is a graduate of Pomona College and the Wharton School at the University of Pennsylvania. Indap lives in Manhattan, NY, with his wife.
Max Frumes leads a news team at Fitch Solutions covering corporate debt and restructuring. He previously was the founding editor of a leading publication covering corporate bankruptcy, and before that reported for S&P’s Leveraged Commentary & Data and The Deal. Frumes received his undergraduate degree from the University of California, Berkeley, and an MSJ from Northwestern’s Medill School of Journalism. He lives in Brooklyn with his wife and daughter.
Craige L. Stout serves as Chief Executive Officer of Stout, a 600-person global investment bank and advisory firm founded in 1991. With 23 offices around the world, Stout focuses on corporate finance, transaction advisory, valuation advisory, and dispute consulting. Having worked on over 1,000 projects, his experience is broad and diverse in the fields of investment banking, litigation consulting, and valuation advisory.
Prior to founding the firm, Craig was with Price Waterhouse in it’s Valuable Services Group.
Mr. Stout is a recipient of the Crain’s 40 under 40 award and Ernst & Young’s 2002 Entrepreneur for the Year Award.
Craige and his wife, Molly, have been married for20 years and have three children (Carson (19),Sim on (17),and Estelle (14)). After living in the Chicago area for 18 years (and Detroit for 10 before that), they moves to Dallas in June 2019.
Mr. Stout has served or is serving on numerous non-profit boards, including: YPO Gold-Dallas Maverick Chapter, YPO Gold-Chicago Chapter (Past Chapter Chair), YPO -Chicago Chapter (Past Chapter Chair), the Financial and Estate Planning Council of Metropolitan Detroit, Inc. (Past President); Museum of Science and Industry – President’s Council; the Eli Broad College of Business at Michigan State University; Respiratory Health association of Metropolitan Chicago; Junior Achievement of Chicago; Perspective Charter Schools.
Craige has served or is serving on several for-profit boards, including Stout; Solstice Consulting, LLC; Kirco Seniors Housing Fund, LP; Flow stone Partners; and BxC Partners.
Episode 73 features Brandon Bethea, a Co-Founder and Partner of Aterian Investment Partners who serves on the Investment Committee. Mr. Bethea has been a private equity investor since 2000. Prior to Aterian, he was a Principal with Insight Equity, an investment professional with Freeman Spogli & Co and began his career with Salomon Smith Barney’s investment banking division.
Since 2015, Mr. Bethea has also served on the Endowment Committee of Christ Church in Pelham, New York. Mr. Bethea received his AB from Harvard University where he was a member of the Varsity Men’s Tennis Team. Mr. Bethea also earned an MBA from the Kellogg School of Management at Northwestern University. Brandon originally hails from Oklahoma and in another life would aspire to be the Sooners’ Offensive Coordinator.
Mike McGill is a Managing Director, Strategic Capital at Cowen and was a co-Founder of MHT Partners.
Prior to founding MHT, he spent five years at Donaldson, Lufkin & Jenrette and CS First Boston where he managed the execution of M&A advisory and corporate finance transactions for middle-market companies. Prior to joining DLJ, he was at Lehman Brothers where he focused on M&A advisory.
He is an active member of the Maverick Gold chapter of the Young Presidents Organization (YPO) and in 2019 was named Investment Banker of the Year by D CEO Magazine.
Mike earned an MBA, with distinction, from the Kellogg Graduate School of Management at Northwestern University and graduated from Southern Methodist University with a BBA in Finance and Real Estate.
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Episode 71 features Marshall Adkins, a Managing Director and Head of Energy Investment Banking at Raymond James.
Marshall gives us great insight into what to expect in the energy markets for next few years, as well as the leading indicators that suggest the energy space will be an attractive place to focus your attention.
Marshall Adkins joined Raymond James in 1995 and serves as the head of the firm’s Energy Investment Banking practice. Prior to this role, Mr. Adkins served as the director of Energy Research for 25 years and focused on oilfield services and products. Prior to Raymond James, he spent 10 years in the oilfield services industry as a project manager, financial analyst and engineer. He holds a B.S. degree in petroleum engineering and an MBA from the University of Texas at Austin.
Episode 70 features Brent Humphries with Alliance Bernstein. Brent joined AB in 2014 as a founding member and President of AB Private Credit Investors, where he has primary responsibility for overseeing all aspects of the business, including chairing the investment committee, fundraising, investor relations, investment originations, structuring and underwriting, as well as ongoing portfolio management and compliance. He previously held the same position with Barclays Private Credit Partners.
Prior to joining Barclays, Humphries served as group head, generalist financial sponsor coverage for Goldman Sachs Specialty Lending Group, and later led its structured private equity initiative. Before that, he served as a partner and managing director of the Texas Growth Fund, a middle market private equity firm. Humphries previously worked in leveraged finance with NationsBank and J.P. Morgan, and as a financial analyst with Exxon.
He holds a BBA in finance with an emphasis in accounting from the University of Oklahoma and an MBA from Harvard Business School. Location: Austin
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Kick-Off 2021 with quotes, mottos and mentorship advice from past Private Equity Fast Pitch guests.
Episode 68 of Northstar's Private Equity Fast Pitch features Jerry L. Johnson with EnPro Industries Inc.
Jerry joined the EnPro Industries as their Senior Vice President of Strategy, Corporate Development, and Investor Relations.
Jerry has held leadership roles in finance and consulting for more than 25 years. He has extensive experience in acquisitions and was a founding member and Partner of the private equity firm RLJ Equity Partners for the last thirteen years.
He is a member of the New York Economic Club, Young President's Organization, The University of Tennessee’s Investment Advisory Council and the College of Engineering's Board of Advisors, and a life member of the Council on Foreign Relations. Mr. Johnson’s career also includes experience as a White House Fellow, merchant banker with Donaldson, Lufkin, & Jenrette, and as a management consultant with McKinsey & Company.
Todd Ofenloch is a Managing Director in the Boston office of H.I.G. Capital. Since joining the firm in 2009, he has been responsible for evaluating and executing new investment opportunities, as well as working with certain existing portfolio companies.
Todd has over 15 years of experience investing in middle market private equity transactions and has worked on investments in a broad range of industries, including building products, business services, enterprise software, food and consumer products, hospitality and travel services, and media and marketing services.
He currently serves on the boards of several H.I.G. portfolio companies.
Prior to H.I.G., Todd was an investment professional at Parthenon Capital Partners, GTCR, and The Halifax Group. He began his career as an investment banker at Lazard Frères, specializing in mergers & acquisitions advisory services.
Todd graduated with Bronze Tablet honors from the University of Illinois with a B.S. in Accountancy (CPA) and received an M.B.A. with honors from Columbia Business School.
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Mr. Hurlbert is a seasoned entrepreneur – with a thirty-year track record of building successful businesses with strong leadership teams. Mr. Hurlbert was named Ernst & Young Entrepreneur of The Year® in 2009 in the Houston and Gulf Coast Area and inducted into the Ernst & Young Entrepreneur of The Year® Hall of Fame that same year. He was also a founding member of the Young Presidents Organization – Gulf Coast Region.
Mr. Hurlbert is currently a Managing Partner and Co-Founder at BrightMark Partners, a growth equity and management firm dedicated to providing capital and resources to venture, growth phase, and middle market businesses.
Mr. Hurlbert served as the President, CEO and Chairman of the Board of Houston based TAS Energy from December of 2001 to April of 2020. TAS is leading provider of high efficiency and modular cooling and energy systems for the data center, commercial, industrial and power generation markets. TAS was sold to publicly traded Comfort Systems (FIX) on April 1st of 2020. Under Mr. Hurlbert’s leadership, TAS grew from a “start-up” to a global leader in efficiency/capacity offerings to the industrial, power generation and HVAC industries, renewable energy – including building over 300MW of geothermal plants worldwide, and data center products and services. When TAS was sold to FIX, the company had over 750 employees worldwide and delivered over 2,000 modules to 33 countries globally.
Mr. Hurlbert is the Chairman of the Board at Clearas Water Recovery. Clearas utilizes patented, sustainable and proprietary technology to solve high nutrient wastewater challenges in the municipal and industrial water markets. In doing so, Clearas produces a valuable “bio waste” that can be sold into multiple vertical markets. Currently Clearas Water Recovery bio-waste is a sustainable substitute for hyrdro-carbon based products – i.e. it is being used to make foam for Addidas tennis shoes.
Mr. Hurlbert sits on the Board of Prostar Geocorp, a company pioneering geospatial intelligence technology in the energy infrastructure and transportation markets. Prostar utilizes a SaaS based business model and has multiple patents and is transforming the way large utilities, construction companies, and states departments of transportation track underground assets and utilities (i.e. natural gas pipelines).
Mr. Hurlbert sits on the Board of ATR SmartProcedures, a company pioneering digital transformation in the industrial industry by providing a SaaS based offering to take “paper based” operational, safety, environmental, and maintenance procedures and putting them in the cloud so they are easily accessible by plant employees. ATR has an impressive customer including Exxon, Chevron, Koch, and Commanche Peak.
Mr. Hurlbert served from 2012 to 2018 on the Board of Directors at Loenbro, Inc., a diversified energy services and construction company with more than 900 employees. At Loenbro, Mr. Hurlbert provided leadership direction and oversight for the organic and inorganic growth plan, capital partnerships, risk management, organizational development, marketing and business development, as well as general and administrative oversight. Mr. Hurlbert helped Loenbro founders monetize the business in 2018 with a large New York private equity firm.
Prior to joining TAS in 2001, Mr. Hurlbert served as the President and General Manager of a Pratt & Whitney Power Systems business unit, P2 Energy.
Prior to P2 Energy, Mr. Hurlbert served as President and CEO of the PIC Energy Group. While at PIC, Mr. Hurlbert initiated and closed a joint venture with PWPS, which lead to the formation of P2. This transaction was valued at over $150 million to PIC, which at the time had roughly $25 million in revenue. Mr. Hurlbert left PIC to lead the P2 entity.
Mr. Hurlbert is currently the Co-Founder and Co-CEO of Local Bounti, a company pioneering sustainable
indoor agriculture.
Prior to joining PIC as the CEO, Mr. Hurlbert was named General Manager of Global Sales for General Electric’s Contractual Services business (GECS). Mr. Hurlbert was integral in building GECS from a “start- up” to over $7 Billion in backlog in just 24 months. GECS was known for pioneering the LTSA product line (long term service agreements) for GE’s gas turbine technology. LTSA’s became an industry wide standard. Mr. Hurlbert lead the team that developed out the product line, and built the global sales team from the ground up, starting with approximately 15 people and ended with over 150 when he left. When Mr. Hurlbert left GECS, the business had just closed $1 Billion in backlog in the prior quarter. A trend that continued after he left. GECS would go on to become one of the biggest success stories in the history of GE, and GE Power systems. While at GE, Mr. Hurlbert completed GE’s esteemed four-week MDC program at Crotonville.
Prior to GE, Mr. Hurlbert held the position of Director of International Business Development for Stewart & Stevenson (S&S), the world’s largest third-party operator of Power Plants. S&S Power division was purchased by GE.
Mr. Hurlbert joined the energy industry in 1990 in a position with North American Energy Services (NAES) a leading operations and maintenance company where he led sales in Latin America.
Prior to NAES Mr. Hurlbert served as a Valuation Manager in the Mergers and Acquisitions Group for the Geneva Companies. Mr. Hurlbert successfully valued over 75 middle market businesses, company valuations ranged between $20 and $150 million.
Prior to joining Geneva, Mr. Hurlbert was hired off the San Diego State University campus to work for the Ford Motor company in their esteemed “financial management” program. Mr. Hurlbert worked in Ford’s “Aerospace” division and was a financial analyst in Ford’s advanced “Star Wars” program.
Mr. Hurlbert has a Bachelor of Science (BS) degree from San Diego State and a Master of Business Administration (MBA) from the California State University – Long Beach.
Mr. Hurlbert is the past President and Chairman of the Turbine Inlet Cooling Association.
Mr. Hurlbert loves spending time with his wife and three daughters, Ellie, Kate, and Bella. He is also a competitive golfer, having won the 2010 Montana Mid–Amateur and the 2020 Montana Senior Amateur tournaments and other top regional and national golf events. Mr. Hurlbert has competed in 3 USGA events.
Episode 64 of the Private Equity Fast Pitch features Nik Shah, the co-founder and managing partner of Cohere Capital.
Prior to co-founding Cohere Capital with Daniel, Nik was a Managing Director at H.I.G. Capital / H.I.G. Growth Partners where he focused on private equity investments in high-growth, entrepreneur-owned companies in the business services, technology, media, and Internet sectors. In his 12 years at H.I.G., he has served on the board of over 10 past and current H.I.G. portfolio companies.
Prior to joining H.I.G., Nik was with Landmark Growth Capital Partners in Boston, Massachusetts, a private equity firm focused on buyouts and growth equity investments in business services, manufacturing, and consumer companies. At Landmark, he was responsible for deal sourcing, due diligence, and assisting management as a board director and observer of several portfolio companies.
Earlier in his career, Nik was at AH Ventures and Adams, Harkness & Hill in Boston.
Nik received his Bachelor of Arts degree in biochemistry with honors from Harvard University and an M.B.A. from the Tuck School of Business at Dartmouth.
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Episode 63 features Brad Brenneman with Breck Partners.
Prior to founding Breck, Brad was a partner at Wingate Partners for 16 years, where he served as Co-Managing Partner and was Chairman of Nekoosa Coated Products, Dunn Paper, and Sunrise Oilfield Supply, as lead board member for Industrial Container Services, and as a board member of S&N Communications and Binswanger Glass.
Prior to joining Wingate, Brad was an executive with Entergy Wholesale Operations where he led project teams in acquiring and developing power generation assets. He joined Entergy from Lufkin Industries where he served as an Officer. In addition to his leadership roles in operations and finance, Brad developed and implemented Lufkin’s strategic planning process and coordinated the successful acquisition of companies in the U.S. and Europe to help implement the strategic plan. Previously, he was a consultant with Bain & Company where he advised clients on strategy and corporate turnarounds.
Brad holds a Bachelor of Business Administration in Accounting, summa cum laude, from Kansas State University and a Master of Business Administration from the Harvard Business School. He currently serves as an Elder at Preston Trail Community Church and is a Trustee of Legacy Christian Academy. Brad is married to Leanne and they are the grateful parents of Abigail (21), Jonathan (19) and Matt (17). 000000F4 000000F4 00004BBB 00004BBB 0006C21A 0006C21A 00007E29 00007E29 0006BFA7 0006BFA7
Today we are excited to present a montage of college graduates advice from past Fast Pitch guests. Today’s college graduates find themselves in an unprecedented and challenging environment because of the COVID 19 national lock down.
To address this national challenge, we’ve compiled the best advice to college graduates from top private equity professionals. we will hear how they overcame challenges in their past and tangible advice they would offer to young graduates in an unfamiliar environment.
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Julia Karol is President and COO of Watermill Group. She is responsible for overall firm operations and helping Watermill portfolio companies develop and implement their strategies. Previously, as a Watermill Principal, Julia helped guide the day-to-day operations of the firm, directed the firm’s investor relations and managed fundraising initiatives for acquisitions.
Prior to joining Watermill, Julia worked at Jumpstart, a national nonprofit organization. While at Jumpstart, she managed Boston-area fundraising, coordinated communication and marketing efforts, cultivated partnerships, developed alumni relations programming, and oversaw staff recruitment efforts.
Julia currently serves as a Partner with Social Venture Partners Boston, a venture philanthropy organization which connects Boston’s most promising nonprofits with the money and minds to fuel their success. Julia has served as a Mentor for Endeavor, a global high-impact entrepreneurship movement and that promotes economic growth and job creation. She also serves as a member for the Budget and Administration Committee for Combined Jewish Philanthropies. Previously, Julia founded and served as board chair for the Young Nonprofit Professionals Network in Boston. Julia is a member of ACG Boston and the Young Presidents Organization (YPO) and has been named as one of the Most Influential Women in Mid-Market M&A by Mergers and Acquisitions Magazine for three consecutive years. In 2019, Julia received the Women of Influence Award from ACG Boston and was named one of Boston Business Journal’s 40 Under 40 honorees. In 2017, Julia was named an Emerging Leader by the M&A Advisor.
EDUCATION:
She received a M.A. in Education Policy, Organization and Leadership from Stanford University, completed the Owners, Presidents, Managers program at Harvard Business School, and the Summer Institute for Entrepreneurship at the Stanford Graduate School of Business, and earned a B.A. from Tufts University.
COMPANY OVERVIEW
With over $10 billion in assets under management, The Riverside Company is one of the largest and oldest global private equity firms. Riverside makes control and non-control investments in companies with enterprise values under $400 million. Since its founding in 1988, Riverside has invested in more than 650 transactions and currently has a portfolio that includes more than 90 companies worldwide. The firms’ specializations include healthcare, education and training, manufacturing, tech-enabled business services, software, consumer, and franchising.
PROFESSIONAL EXPERIENCE
Robert Landis is a Founding Partner, Origination in the New York office of The Riverside Company, a private equity firm investing in premier companies at the smaller end of the middle market. Robert joined Riverside in 2002 and has over 42 years of commercial and investment banking experience gained at Deutsche Banc Alex Brown (18 years) and its predecessors, and at Citibank/ Chemical Bank.. At The Riverside Company he works with a team of 17 professionals who coordinate origination and structuring opportunities for Riverside's investment portfolios across 9 diversified funds globally.
At Deutsche, he developed industry expertise in the consumer, industrial, transportation, and telecommunications sectors and in his last position (1987-2002) he created and led the Aerospace and Defense Group in North America. Robert previously headed the firm's North American corporate finance group as it transitioned to an investment bank in the mid 1990's. At Citibank, he was Vice President of the Multi-National Group. Prior to that, Robert was a Major (ret.) in the U.S. Army, serving 6 years active duty and 14 years active reserve with the 42nd Infantry Division, NYARNG.
PROFESSIONAL AFFILIATIONS
Association for Corporate Growth, NY Chapter Board Member
EDUCATION
Mr. Landis holds a BS from the University of Colorado and an MBA in International Management from the American Graduate School of International Management.
Personal: Married with two children: Matthew and Moshe: wife Norma formerly of Colombia , language translator at NU Langonne
- Matthew :Notre Dame Lacrosse: 2x NCAA lacrosse defenseman of the year ( Schmeisser Award), Tewaarton Finalist ( similar to Heisman Trophy) and professional lacrosse player: 2 years Major League Lacrosse ( PLL) and one year Professional League Lacrosse ( PLL) , currently as of 2020, Ensign, U.S. Navy
- Moshe Landis: currently living in Israel, formerly member of the IDF Special Forces unit Sayeret Yahalom
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Many of you listened to Episode 57 which addressed the importance of a plan, urgency and actions necessary to begin and implement a turnaround for a company facing challenging issues. Our guest, Jeff Sands, shared his own journey in the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina and his work assisting companies with turnarounds. At the time we recorded Episode 57 we had no idea just how significant the coming days would be in terms of the consequences of Covid -19.
For those that have not listened to Episode 57 it is well worth the time as it provides a road map for dealing with the challenging times we are all facing.
The economic circumstances associated with Covid-19 have impacted individuals, families, businesses, schools, colleges and universities, local, state and federal governments in ways never before experienced. The impact is far beyond anything anticipated or contemplated by today’s contingency or crisis plans.
The results are something that we will all have to work to overcome in the coming days, months and years. As optimists, we will all help our communities, businesses and people rise from the moment and return to a more normal way of life.
Our guests today share a unique background, perspective and experience in assisting companies with the impact of crisis, restructuring and bankruptcy. While insurance may not be the first thing we think of in times of crisis, on this episode you will hear the implications and considerations apply across a spectrum of businesses.
Insurance is more necessary than most think to position a company for recovery. We have three guests today… Devin Beresheim who is the Global Leader of Lockton Financial Services which includes Lockton’s Corporate Restructuring Team. Allison Witt, an energy expert within LFS and the co-leader of CRT and Tim Kelly who is a Senior Advisor to Lockton Financial Services and the Corporate Restructuring Team.
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Being heavily involved in the Food & Beverage Industry, John has valuable insights on how the current COVID-19 lockdowns have effected businesses and what they are doing to combat the impacts. John is a senior advisor to middle-market companies on sell-side and buy-side merger & acquisition transactions, corporate divestitures, management buyouts, recapitalizations and other corporate finance matters. John's primary responsibilities at Arlington include leading deal execution and business development. Prior to Arlington, John worked as a financial analyst for AmSouth Capital Markets, now Regions Capital Markets (NYSE: RF). At AmSouth, John specialized in corporate syndicated senior debt, leveraged finance, private placements, interest rate derivatives, taxable and tax-exempt bond issuances and other capital markets solutions for the bank's commercial clients. Representative clients during his time at AmSouth include many notable public and private companies from $100 million to $3 billion in revenue. John graduated Magna Cum Laude from Lipscomb University in 2001 with a B.A. degree in Political Science, where he was chosen to attend the U.S. Air Force Academy Assembly as the top Political Science student in his class. In addition, John was a four-year letterman on Lipscomb's NCAA Division-I golf team, where he was an academic All-American. He also earned a Masters degree, with distinction, in Management, Economics and International Relations from the University of St. Andrews, Scotland, where he was a Ransome Scholar. At St. Andrews, John led a team of fellow students in winning the university's venture based business plan competition. An avid amateur golfer, John is a Member of Fenwick Brands Advisory Board and Investment Committee, Former President of Glenwood Autism & Behavioral Health's Junior Board and an active member of Birmingham's Monday Morning Quarterback Club. 000000E5 000000D9 00003BF8 0000384F 0019CDEB 0019CDEB 00007EA7 00007A17 00014449 00014449
Jeff grew up in working in his family's manufacturing business and returned as an adult to help grow, fix, grow again, fix again and eventually exit that business.Since then he has specialized in corporate turnarounds; fighting to save businesses, jobs, fortunes and the communities they support. 3-times Jeff has been awarded of one of the Turnaround Management Association's prestigious Turnaround of the Year Awards for each of the following businesses; Vermont Aerospace (2017), Canadian Kraft Paper (2018) and Union Metal Industries (2019). Since 2002, he has transformed dozens of businesses in dozens of industries with a reputation for taking on the most dire situations. In addition to corporate turnarounds, Jeff is known widely for his ability to attain top dollar in the sale of distressed businesses, maximizing going concern value while saving jobs, revitalizing the local economy and providing a dignified exit to the debtors. Jeff recently authored Corporate Turnaround Artistry, Fix Any Business in 100 Days which will be published by J. Wiley & Sons in 2020. Jeff married his college sweetheart and they enjoy their free time skiing, biking and shuttling their 3 children around to sporting events. For more information, here are a few links: http://dorsetpartners.com/we-wrote-the-book/ www.DorsetPartners.com www.AIAC.com Corporate Turnaround Artistry Book 0000011E 0000011E 00003B2B 00003B2B 0002A524 0002A524 00007ED6 00007ED6 000281D6 000281D6
Lauren is a Partner at MiddleGround where she is responsible for transaction sourcing and management of the Investment Team with John Stewart. Prior to founding MiddleGround, Lauren spent more than ten years executing transactions as an investment banker and private equity investor. She started her career in investment banking as part of the Financial Institutions Group at Banc of America Securities and then moved to Macquarie Capital to help launch a private capital markets platform. She subsequently spent 6 years at Monomoy Capital, where she was a Director on the transaction team and served on the Board of Directors for three portfolio companies. Lauren received a Bachelor of Science in Business Administration from the Kenan-Flagler Business School at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill (go Tarheels!) as well as an MBA with Honors from Columbia Business School (go whatever Columbia's mascot is!). While Lauren is now a certified New Yorker, her native Iowa roots are easily identifiable thanks to her love of corn. She and her husband, Brian, are the proud parents of two girls, Maddie and Cece. Lauren likes to spend her spare time golfing, is the worst FIFA 2019 soccer player on the Investment Team and is currently the tallest member of the firm. 000000DE 000000DE 000028E3 000028E3 000FD93E 000FD93E 00007C5F 0000790E 00010292 00010292
Brett Hickey is the Founder & CEO of Star Mountain Capital, LLC, a $1+ billion AUM specialized U.S. lower middle-market investment firm. Star Mountain employs a data-driven approach to provide value-added debt and equity capital to established small and medium-sized companies leveraging its large market expertise, scale-driven resources, and longstanding relationships.
With approximately 30 full-time people and over 25 operating partners and advisors, Star Mountain brings proven large market expertise to help business owners maximize value. Star Mountain’s team and partners include former senior executives from GSO / Blackstone, Goldman Sachs, Merrill Lynch, Credit Suisse, and Citigroup. Star Mountain provides flexible capital solutions including debt and equity for business owners and has a strategic primary and secondary fund business through which it invests in over 250 U.S. private businesses. This secondary business provides early liquidity to investors in U.S. lower middle-market credit and equity funds.
Star Mountain’s in-house technology team has built proprietary systems to support its data-driven approach to maximize value for investors and business owners alike. Star Mountain is a trademarked brand, including “Investing in the Growth Engine of America ®” and Star Mountain’s distinctive “Collaborative Ecosystem ®” includes hosting and participating in 100+ events per year. Star Mountain’s Charitable Foundation supports career development form women, veterans, and athletes as well as health & wellness initiatives including cancer research.
Prior to becoming a principal investor starting in the early 2000s, Mr. Hickey was an Investment Banker at Salomon Smith Barney / Citigroup Global Markets in New York City where he covered global Asset Managers and Financial Institutions. In that role, he analyzed asset managers and asset classes, ultimately working on over $20 billion in completed strategic acquisitions and capital raises.
Mr. Hickey’s board memberships include member and former Chairman of Networks for the NYC Chapter of the Young Presidents’ Organization (YPO), Global Board of Harvard Alumni Entrepreneurs, and Global Board of Help for Children (HFC).
Mr. Hickey received a Bachelor of Commerce with Distinction from McGill University (Finance Major and Accounting Concentration) and is an alumnus from Harvard Business School’s Owner/President Management executive leadership program. He is a frequent guest lecturer on industry panels and at academic institutions. Mr. Hickey is also a former Canadian national gold medalist and North American medalist in speed skating.
Mr. Hickey is married with two children and lives in New York.
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Bob Grady, is a seasoned private equity executive with over two decades of experience. Prior to joining Gryphon, he spent five years as General Partner and Managing Director of the Cheyenne Capital Fund, a $500 million private equity fund that achieved top-decile performance among similar vintage private equity fund-of-funds. Over the same time period, Mr. Grady was Chairman, as a non-paid volunteer, of the New Jersey State Investment Council, which oversees the state’s $78 billion pension plan. During his tenure as Chairman, the fund significantly outperformed its expected rate of return and its policy benchmarks, achieving over $35 billion in investment gains and income over four fiscal years. From 2000-2009, Mr. Grady was a Partner, Managing Director, and Global Head of Venture & Growth Capital at The Carlyle Group. In addition to sitting on Carlyle’s Management Committee, he was the fund head for Carlyle Venture Partners, a growth capital partnership with $1.5 billion under management in three funds, while also sitting on numerous Carlyle investment committees and portfolio company boards of directors. While at Carlyle, he was a Director of the National Venture Capital Association (NVCA), where he also served as Chairman. Before his tenure at Carlyle, Mr. Grady spent seven years at Robertson Stephens & Co., including as a Partner and Managing Director who served on the firm’s Management Committee. Earlier in his career, from 1989-1993, Mr. Grady served in the White House as a senior policy advisor to President George H.W. Bush. He held a number of key roles, among them Deputy Assistant to the President, Executive Associate Director of the Office of Management & Budget (OMB), and OMB Associate Director for Natural Resources, Energy and Science. Mr. Grady also served on the faculty of the Stanford Graduate School of Business from 1993-2004 as a Lecturer in Public Management, teaching courses on environmental policy, regulatory policy, and investing in highly regulated industries. Mr. Grady holds an A.B. from Harvard College and an M.B.A. from the Stanford Graduate School of Business. He has been a Director of numerous private and public companies and non-profit organizations. He is currently a Director of Maxim Integrated Products (Nasdaq: “MXIM” and Stifel Financial Corporation (NYSE: “SF”), as well as a member of the Council on Foreign Relations. 00000422 00000421 0003004C 0003004C 0003E4F0 0003E4F0 00007F9B 00007F41 0001E5EB 00008A43
Marshall Adkins joined Raymond James in 1995 and serves as the head of the firm’s Energy Investment Banking practice.
Marshall Adkins joined Raymond James in 1995 and serves as the head of the firm’s Energy Investment Banking practice.
Prior to this role, Mr. Adkins served as the director of Energy Research and focused on oilfield services and products. Prior to Raymond James, he spent 10 years in the oilfield services industry as a project manager, corporate financial analyst, sales manager, and engineer.
He holds a B.S. degree in petroleum engineering and an MBA from the University of Texas at Austin.
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Joe Linnen is a Partner of The Jordan Company. He is also a member of the firm's Executive Committee.
Joe joined TJC in 1993. He focuses all of his time on sourcing, originating and evaluating transactions on behalf of TJC.
He serves on the board of directors of Worldwide Clinical Trials and CFS Brands.
Joe is Chairman Emeritus of the La Lumiere School Board of Trustees and he was Co-Chairman of its Courageous Vision Capital Campaign. Joe was a founding Director of the Oz Park Baseball Association in Chicago.
Joe holds a BS degree in Business Administration with concentration in Finance from the University of Notre Dame.
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Episode 51 of the Private Equity Fast Pitch features the quotes and mottos of past podcast guests that inspire them in their daily life.
Vescovo grew up in Dallas, Texas, where he graduated from St. Mark's School of Texas. He earned a bachelor's degree in Economics and Political Science from Stanford University, a master's degree in Defense and Arms Control Studies (Political Science) from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, and an MBA from Harvard Business School where he was a Baker scholar.
In December 2018, he became the first person to reach the deepest point of the Atlantic Ocean, piloting DSV Limiting Factor, a reported US$50 million submarine system (Triton 36000/2) - including its support ship the DSSV Pressure Drop and its three ultra-deep-sea robotic landers - 8,375 m (27,477 ft) below the ocean surface to the base of the Puerto Rico Trench. On February 3, 2019, he became the first person to reach the bottom of the Southern Ocean, in the southern portion of the South Sandwich Trench. As of March 2019, he was continuing to lead the Five Deeps Expedition, whose objective is to thoroughly map and visit the bottom of all five of the world's oceans by the end of September 2019.
In April 2019, Vescovo descended nearly 11 km (6.8 mi) to the deepest place in the ocean - the Challenger Deep in Pacific Ocean's Mariana Trench. On his first descent, he piloted the DSV Limiting Factor to a depth of 10,928 m (35,853 ft), a world record by 16 m (52 ft). Diving for a second time on May 1 he became the first person to dive the Challenger Deep twice, finding "at least three new species of marine animals" and "some sort of plastic waste." Among the underwater creatures Vescovo encountered was a snailfish at 26,250 feet and a spoon worm at nearly 23,000 feet, which was the deepest level that the species had ever been encountered.
On 7 May 2019, Vescovo and Alan Jamieson made the first human-occupied deep submersible dive to the bottom of the Sirena Deep, about 128 miles northeast from Challenger Deep. The time spent there was 176 minutes; among the samples they retrieved was a piece of mantle rock from the western slope of the Mariana Trench.
He completed the Five Deeps Expedition on 24 August 2019 when he reached 5,550 m at the bottom of the Molloy Deep in the Arctic ocean. He was the first human to reach this location.\
In 2019, Victor Vescovo was recognized by Guinness World Records as the person who has covered the greatest vertical distance without leaving Earth's surface. As part of achieving the Explorers Grand Slam (Last Degree), Vescovo climbed Mt. Everest (8,848 metres (29,029 ft)) on 24 May 2010, Earth's highest point. Almost nine years later he dove to the bottom of the Challenger Deep in the Mariana Trench (−10,924 metres (−35,840 ft)), Earth's lowest point, in the deep submersible Limiting Factor on 29 April 2019, for a total vertical distance of 19,772 metres (64,869 ft).
Vescovo completed the Explorers Grand Slam (Last Degree) by climbing the highest peak on each of the seven continents, and skied the Last Degree of Latitude at both the North and South Poles. Uniquely, with the successful completion of his Five Deeps Expedition, Vescovo has also dived the deepest point in each of the five world's oceans.
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Mr. Crawford is a Co-founder and President of Coltala Holdings. He has over 15 years of experience in investing, asset management and building operating teams. As a Managing Director of Avesta Holdings, Mr. Crawford led business development activities; identified capital and acquisitions, special situation opportunities and managed key investor relationships. Mr. Crawford helped build Avesta's business to include over 320 employees and $1billion in assets and $100 million in revenue. Mr. Crawford was a Vice President at Goldman Sachs where he spent seven years as an advisor to numerous CEOs, institutions and private company owners. Mr. Crawford joined Goldman Sachs from the private equity firm Advantage Capital Partners (ACP), a national lower, middle-market, private equity firm. Prior to joining ACP, he served as a Peace Corps volunteer in the Dominican Republic where, at 23 years of age, he founded a four-member coffee cooperative and grew it to include more than 200 coffee farmers with access to global markets. Mr. Crawford is a trustee of the New World Symphony in Miami Beach, Florida; a trustee on the Business School Council at The Freeman School of Business at Tulane University in New Orleans, Louisiana; and a Term Member of the Council on Foreign Relations. As a U.S. Naval Intelligence Officer, Mr. Crawford served with Special Operations Command South in Latin America. From 2012-2013, he was deployed to Afghanistan as the Tribal and Political Adviser for SEAL Teams Two and Four as part of a Special Operations Task Force. He was awarded the Bronze Star for his service. Education * MBA, MIT Sloan School of Management
(MIT Sloan Leadership Fellow)
* MA, GMBA Tulane University, Latin America Studies / Finance
(Morton Aldrich Fellow / FLAS Fellow / Cowen Scholar)
* BA, Texas Christian University / English Literature
Listen to Edwards Ted Talk: https://youtu.be/gl4n6b5Lu-8
www.enothstar.com
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Dave Carvajal is a builder of billion dollar businesses. As CEO of Dave Partners, Dave is a sought out advisor and consultant to Board of Directors, venture firms, CEO entrepreneurs and leadership teams of some of the most exciting growth companies in the technology space that are making the world better.
Dave built HotJobs to 650 employees, $125M in revenues, IPO and $1.2B market capitalization as co-founder. The HotJobs team experienced a second exit with the acquisition by Yahoo! in February of 2002. He built TheLadders to 400 employees and $85M in revenues.
Graduate of executive education and leadership programs at The Wharton School, Columbia Business School, and The Harvard Business School. Bachelor’s degree from Clemson University. Husband to a great woman, father to identical twin boys, and master to Clover the wonder dog. He is an Ironman athlete, who speaks French and Spanish.
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Mr. Johnson joined RLJ Equity Partners from American Capital, a publicly traded alternative asset management company with more than $20 billion of assets under management. Prior to joining American Capital, Mr. Johnson was a Vice President in the Financial Sponsors and Private Equity Group at Bank of America. He also served as a White House Fellow and Special Assistant to the Secretary of Defense. Mr. Johnson began his career with Donaldson, Lufkin & Jenrette, and prior to that, he was with McKinsey & Company. Mr. Johnson received his B.S. from the University of Tennessee and his M.B.A. from the Harvard Business School.
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Episode 46 features Gretchen Perkins with Huron Capital. Gretchen is responsible for managing Huron’s business development and investment sourcing activities and is also involved in investor relations. These activities include outreach to deal professionals such as business brokers, investment banks, attorneys, accountants and consultants, and outreach to potential limited partners.
Gretchen has over 30 years’ experience in the finance and business development sectors serving a variety of capital market participants. Prior to joining Huron, Gretchen led the acquisition sourcing efforts at Long Point Capital, a middle market private equity fund. Gretchen also served as Vice President – Business Development for IRN, Inc., a market research firm, and has held senior business development positions at Fleet Capital Corporation and GE Capital Corporation, where she originated and structured senior debt packages for buyouts of middle-market companies.
Gretchen has received numerous awards over her career including Mergers & Acquisitions Magazine Dealmaker of the Year (2015), Private Equity Analyst’s 2017 Women to Watch, multiple year nominations to Mergers & Acquisitions Magazine List of Most Influential Women, and Crain’s Detroit Business Most Influential Women 2016, among others.
Franny Jones, Managing Director, joined Sterling in 2010 to lead the firm’s fundraising and investor relations efforts. Franny brings experience from the Private Wealth Management Groups of Morgan Stanley and Lehman Brothers in New York, where she was responsible for fundraising, asset allocation, manager selection and investor relations for family offices and foundations. Franny received a B.A. in Art History from Princeton University.
Colt has 29 years of investment banking and corporate finance experience. Throughout his career, Colt has completed approximately 200 merger and acquisition transactions helping entrepreneurs obtain liquidity via the sale of their business to either a strategic buyer or to a private equity firm. In addition, he has completed numerous merger and acquisition advisory assignments helping business owners expand their business by acquiring other companies and, in many cases, has also raised the capital required to complete the acquisition via the private placement of both equity and debt. He has deep transactional experience advising the owners of manufacturing, distribution, service and software businesses in the industrial and energy sectors of the economy. He has also worked extensively in other sectors such as aerospace, business services and consumer. Colt serves on the board of, and is a past-president of, the Association for Corporate Growth (Houston Chapter). Additionally, he is a former board member of the Hicks, Muse, Tate & Furst Center for Private Equity Finance at The University of Texas at Austin. 00000127 00000126 000045BC 000045BC 000E64E5 000E64E5 00007F02 00007F02 0029C197 0029C197
I am excited to share Episode 43 of the Private Equity podcast with you detailing some of my favorite motivational quotes and life motto's from past podcast guests. Looking back on the year, I've celebrated momentous occasions with my family including my 30th wedding anniversary, my oldest son's wedding, my second son's engagement and much more. These are the moments that make all of the hard work, goal setting, sacrifices, and focus worth it! I hope you enjoy this special episode featuring: David Namking, Kinzie Capital Kirk Fleischer, Investcorp David Walker, EBSCO Industries Matti Antilla, Grain & Barrel Moses Kagan, Adaptive Realty Ralph Manning, Coltala Holdings Chrisanne Corbett, KPMG Erik Rudolph, Farlie Turner Steve King, Alaris Royalty Brian Hegi, Crossplane Capital Sven Kins, Cook M&A Hunter Carpenter, RedBird Capital Suzanne Yoon, Kinzie Capital 0000024E 0000024C 000199CC 000199CC 000281F0 000281F0 000080C1 000080DE 00012C4E 00012C4E
Episode 42 of the Private Equity Fast Pitch Podcast features Robert Frost, the Chief Executive Officer of Lazard Middle Market who has nearly two decades of investment banking experience. Mr. Frost also serves as Co-Head of the Industrials group and has represented companies in a wide range of industrial sectors, including chemicals, automotive, building products, capital equipment, and engineered components.
Representative transactions include advisingPrior to joining Lazard Middle Market in 2008, Mr. Frost spent nine years in the Mergers & Acquisitions practice of Piper Jaffray & Co. Prior to his career in investment banking, he spent seven years in public accounting with Deloitte & Touche LLP.
Mr. Frost also serves on the Alumni Executive Board of The Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania.
Mr. Frost graduated from the University of Nebraska with a Bachelor’s Degree in Accounting and received a Master of Business Administration degree from the Wharton School of Business at the University of Pennsylvania. He is also a Certified Public
Accountant.0000012A 00000129 00004309 000041EB 00005CDB 00005CDB 00007F6E 00007DD6 00008FFA 0000B849
David Namkung is a Co-Founder and Partner of Operations at Kinzie Capital Partners, where he leads technology implementations and is responsible for assisting in the execution of value creation initiatives for Kinzie's portfolio companies. In addition, he oversees Kinzie's internal technology initiatives and supports various operational matters. Episode 41 features David Namkung, a Founder and Managing Partner of Clarity Partners, a high growth management and technology consulting firm, where he shares responsibility for day-to-day operations, business development and service delivery. David's strong background as an entrepreneur and over 25 years of experience in financial services, technology consulting, systems implementation, human capital management and operations helps drive value for Kinzie's portfolio companies. Prior to Clarity Partners, David was a Partner at Vector Strategic Services, where he successfully managed the development of enterprise systems for both Accenture and Deloitte & Touche. Before Vector, he was an options market-maker for Gargoyle Strategic Investments and served as a Senior Consultant at Accenture. David graduated with honors from Carnegie Mellon University with a B.S. in Industrial Management and in Economics. David is a member of the Board of Directors for the Asian American Action Fund of Greater Chicago, Hanul Family Alliance, where he served as the President, and The Council of Korean Americans. In 2017, he was featured by Chicago United in their Business Leaders of Color publication. David is an avid golfer, hockey player and former professional blackjack player. 00000768 00000764 00022524 00022524 000778C1 000778C1 0000830F 0000830F 000F9DA7 000F9DA7
Episode 40 of the Private Equity Fast Pitch Podcast features Kirk Fleischer who joined Investcorp in 2016 to focus on deal sourcing and business development.
Prior to joining Investcorp, Kirk worked for seven years as an EVP of Strategy and Corporate Development at BeavEx Inc. Prior to that, he spent 12 years in investment banking at Jefferies, Lehman Brothers and Oppenheimer, and also spent 5 years in corporate development at Dun & Bradstreet.
Kirk holds a BA in History from Middlebury College and an MBA in Finance from the Johnson Graduate School of Business at Cornell University.
Episode 39 features David Walker with EBSCO Industries. David is a graduate of Auburn University where he earned a B.S. in Accounting. He started his career as a CPA with Ernst and Young and later worked for PJ America as VP and Corporate Controller until joining EBSCO Industries in 2000. David has served EBSCO in a variety of capacities over the past 19 years and currently serves as its President and CEO. EBSCO is a global company with businesses in a range of industries including Information Services, Outdoor Products, Real Estate, Manufacturing and Distribution, and Business Services. EBSCO is consistently ranked in the top 3 of Alabama based privately held firms. David is active in community affairs and currently serves on the boards of Auburn University, Harbert College of Business, Junior Achievement, City of Vestavia Hills, Mayor Financial Advisory Committee, The Distribution Point, and McKinney Capital. David is an outdoor enthusiast, avid reader, and enjoys travel with his wife, Lindy, and their three children. 000006ED 000006E7 0000D417 0000D417 000F2B0F 000F2B0F 0000811B 000080F1 00135B82 0005C9D6
For this episode, we’ve created a montage of our past podcast guests providing their advice to recent graduates interested in investing banking or private equity.
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In 2012, Anttila founded Grain & Barrel Spirits, a West Palm Beach-based beverage alcohol company. At home in the Southeast with production and sales partners around the world, Grain & Barrel Spirits is an innovative, emerging company with wholly owned brands including Dixie Southern Vodkawhich Anttila created from scratchand which won of a 2019 “Rising Star” Growth Brands Award from the Beverage Dynamics magazine;pre-Prohibition favorite Chicken Cock Whiskey, which Anttila resurrected; and Endless Summer Rum.
Last year Grain & Barrel launched Dixie WildflowerHoney in partnership with the Savannah Bee Companyand its Charleston-based non-profit, The Bee Cause, which installs observation hives worldwide with the mission to develop future stewards of the planet. On a personal note, Anttila is a board member of Piper’s Angels, a foundation which has raised hundreds of thousands of dollars for the cystic fibrosis community. Their annual Father’s Day event, Crossing for a Cure, is an 80-mile open-sea paddle board crossing from the Bahamas to Florida; in 2018, Anttila made the crossing solo in 16 hours, and he is looking forward to this year’s event.
Anttila’s career began in 2001, as an analyst for J.P. Morgan Chase & Co. Four years later, he found himselfin São Paulo, Brazil where he founded Cabana Cachaça, which by 2011 was named one of the top 50 spirits in the world by Wine Enthusiast magazine.From 2015 onward, Anttila straddled the finance and CPG industries, marrying the two through his investment company North End Commerce which holds Anttila’s companiesGrain & Barrel Spirits, licensing company Cloudbreak Brands, and food and snack focused Intercoastal Brands.
Anttila attended Amherst College and lives in West Palm Beach, Florida, with his wife and two daughters. In his spare time he enjoys golf and paddle boarding, and is currently brushing up on Finnish, a language he spoke nearly fluently as a child.
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Moses Kagan is the co-founder and head of Adaptive Realty, a Los Angeles multifamily development and property management group. Since 2008, he has overseen the repositioning of more than 75 properties in Los Angeles and grown Adaptive from zero to $100MM in AUM. He began his career in mergers and acquisitions at LongAcre Partners in London (since acquired by Jefferies). Moses received a B.A. magna cum laude from Princeton University and an M.A. from The London School of Economics, and is licensed as a real estate broker in California. 0000019F 0000019E 0000B1BB 0000B1BB 000AE2A2 000AE2A2 000084EC 000084DB 000E5DDB 000E5DDB
Episode 35 features Ralph Manning, the Co-founder and Chief Executive Officer of Coltala Holdings. As a private investor, and more recently a founding partner of Progress Equity Partners, Ltd, he has been active in acquiring majority control of operating companies since 2003 - typically from founder entrepreneurs and owner operators. He has over 20 years of direct investment experience, has served in executive and board roles in numerous companies, and for over 15 years has been an active investor in the private equity market. Previously, he was an associate at RSTW Partners, a private equity firm providing mezzanine and equity capital to lower-middle-market and middle-market companies throughout the United States.
Mr. Manning’s current focus is on manufacturing and business services. Within these industry sectors Coltala is interested in investment opportunities in the medical device manufacturing, aerospace, test & measurement equipment, material handling equipment and home services segments. Coltala is currently executing a buy and build strategy in the HVAC industry via its platform company Trudela. Information on Trudela can be found at www.trudela.com
Ralph earned an OPM from Harvard Business School, a BBA from Texas Christian University and holds the CFA designation. He is active in YPO and is the current Chapter Chair of the Fort Worth Chapter.
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Chrisanne, Managing Director for KPMG CF LLC, leads the Diversified Industrials Team, and co-leads the Private Equity Coverage Team. She is based in the Chicago office. Chrisanne has more than 20 years of experience leading mergers and acquisitions (M&A) transactions for clients in the diversified industrials sector, specializing in high-growth end markets such as Test & Measurement, HVAC, Flow Control and Building Products. She has worked on numerous transactions for Fortune 500, private equity and leading private company clients and has advised on numerous cross-border transactions. Prior to joining KPMG Corporate Finance, Chrisanne was an associate at Mitsubishi Bank in their middle market financing group. Prior to that she was an analyst in the leveraged buyouts group at JP Morgan. Chrisanne earned a Masters of Business Administration from the University of Chicago Booth School of Business and a Bachelor of Business Administration from the University of Notre Dame. 000001AC 000001AB 00003783 00003711 000106A7 000106A7 00007DF8 00008013 00011A0A 00011ED6
Erik Rudolph is a Managing Director at Farlie Turner and leads its Oil & Gas Services Practice as well as its Industrial Services Practices. In addition, Mr. Rudolph is co-head of Farlie Turner's Consumer Practice. Mr. Rudolph has advised a wide range of companies ranging from pure play oilfield services companies to industrial MRO companies to food & beverage companies on the consumer side.
Prior to joining Farlie Turner, Mr. Rudolph was a co-founder and Managing Director of Aquetong Capital Advisors, a boutique investment bank focused on advising founders and owners of middle-market companies on their liquidity options.
Mr. Rudolph started his investment banking career at Goldsmith Agio Helms, now Lazard Middle market, where he served as a Director in their New York office.
Mr. Rudolph started his professional career as an attorney practicing corporate and sports law for 8 years before moving over to investment banking. He received his B.A. in Political Science from New York University and his JD from the Benjamin N. Cardozo School of Law.
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Steve is the President and CEO of Alaris Royalty Corp. and has served in that role since he co-founded the company in 2004. Prior to creating Alaris, he spent 12 years in the investment banking industry as a Senior Officer in both Toronto and Calgary, giving capital markets and merger and acquisition advice to corporate clients in both public and private company startups. He is a qualified Chartered Financial Analyst (CFA) and was an Ernst & Young 2013 Prairies Entrepreneur of the Year finalist. Present day, he sits on the panel of judges at the event. Steve is involved in every facet of the investment process at Alaris and is an integral part of the relationships that are created with each of the companies partners. Steve hails from a family of entrepreneurs and has built Alaris around a strong belief in driven private business owners. In his spare time, Steve is an avid sports fan, player and coach. In 2014 he became majority owner of the Cardiff Devils, a Welsh team in the British Elite Ice Hockey League. Steve's main focus remains to be his wife, Kim, and their three busy kids. 00000342 0000033E 000054AF 000054AF 000ADFAC 000ADFAC 00007DAB 00007DB0 00134F0F 00134F29
As a co-founder and partner of Crossplane Capital, Brian is responsible for sourcing and closing transactions with significant cash and profitability improvement opportunities and overseeing the lifecycle of the portfolio.
Prior to founding Crossplane Capital, Brian was a managing director with Prophet Equity. During his 10 years there, Brian was responsible for sourcing and managing acquisitions with significant value creation upside. He served on the boards of directors of Acton Mobile, Hatch Stamping Company, Groff Tractor and Equipment, Total Plastics, Derby Fabricating and Cummings Signs.
Brian began his career as an operations improvement consultant with AlixPartners and AT Kearney. During his seven-year career as a consultant, Brian’s work primarily focused on optimizing global supply chains, reducing manufacturing complexity, improving product profitability, and reducing direct material costs within industrial companies. These included Tier I automotive manufacturing, automotive aftermarket, food distribution, food manufacturing, electronics manufacturing and consumer packaged goods.
Brian graduated cum laude with a BA in Economics from Vanderbilt University and an MBA from The University of Texas, where he received the Dean’s Award for Academic Excellence.
Outside of work, Brian enjoys cheering on his three kids during their extracurricular activities and traveling the United States supporting his wife’s passion for running marathons. While he was raised in Dallas, he is proud of his West Texas family roots. Brian is a board member and former chairman of Interfaith Family Services, serves on the advisory board for the HMTF Center for Private Equity Finance at The University of Texas, and serves on the board of directors for Southern Methodist University’s Undergraduate Career Center. He is an eternal optimist about the success Vanderbilt University’s football team will have each season. Ping pong is his best sport.
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Episode 30 features Sven Kins, a managing director with Cook M&A in Chicago where he is responsible for executing acquisition strategies, both platform and add-on opportunities as well as CEO Visions projects.
Leveraging his 17 years of experience, Sven leads the firm’s FocusFirst® initiatives and overall growth strategy. He serves as a valuable guide to Cook M&A’s clients on how best to execute their acquisition strategies, while advising business owners of their M&A options via the opportunities Cook M&A presents to them.
Sven earned a BA from Michigan State University and is an avid Spartan. Sven and his wife have three children and live in Chicago. He enjoys spending time with his family, playing and watching sports, travel and golf. He is also fluent in Latvian.
Episode 29 features past Private Equity Fast Pitch speakers discussing their favorite quotes and mottos they utilize in their daily lives and businesses.
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Scott is a Senior Vice President with FEG Investment Advisors where he is responsible for sourcing, conducting due diligence, and monitoring private equity investment opportunities. Prior to joining FEG, Scott was a Senior Investment Analyst with Fort Washington Capital Partners, a private equity fund-of-funds manager and wholly-owned subsidiary of The Western & Southern Life Insurance Company. In this capacity, Scott was responsible for conducting due diligence and research on private equity and venture capital funds. Scott began his career as a Fixed Income Analyst with Bear, Stearns & Co. Scott received his MBA from the Indiana University Kelley School of Business and a BA in Economics from Cornell University. At Cornell, Scott was a member of the men's varsity swimming and diving team. He is a member of the CAIA Association. v0000007F 0000007F 00002DB2 00002D4C 00010900 00010900 00007E55 00007F2E 000108E5 000108E5
Victor is a Managing Partner and Co-Founder of Insight Equity. The firm has over $1B of equity capital under management and his current, primary responsibility is overseeing four of Insight's current portfolio firms as their Chairman as well as leading Insight's transaction efforts in aerospace, defense, machining, and technology. Before co-founding Insight Equity, Victor led product development at Military Advantage, a venture-backed Internet company sold to Monster Worldwide in 2004. Prior to that, he was a senior manager at Bain & Company where he focused on merger integration and operational improvement cases. In the early nineties, Victor worked in the mergers & acquisitions department of Lehman Brothers where he was responsible for company due diligence and transaction execution, as well as working overseas in the Middle East advising the Saudi government on business investments. Victor received his MBA from the Harvard Business School where he was named a Baker Scholar for graduating in the top 5% of his class. He has also received a Master's Degree from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and earned a double major BA in economics and political science from Stanford University. Victor currently serves as the Chairman of the Board of Micross Components, MB Precision Investment Holdings, Dustex Holdings, and VirTex Investment Holdings. He also serves on the Board of the general partner of Emerge Energy Services LP, Versatile Processing Group Holdings, Plasman Group, Panolam, and Riverbend Foods. Additionally, Victor served 20 years in the U.S. Navy Reserve, retiring in 2014 as a Commander (O-5). In 2017, Victor became the 12th American to complete the "Explorer's Grand Slam" which requires climbing the highest peak on all seven of the world's continents including Mt. Everest, and skiing at least 100 kilometers to both the North and South Poles. He is also an instrument-rated, multi-engine jet and helicopter pilot. 00000326 00000323 0001C55E 0001C55E 000F3305 000F3305 0000853D 00008531 0005D4C1 0005D4C1
Cleveland has over a decade of leadership experience in the food and beverage and consumer investment banking market, previously as a founding member of Harris Williams & Co.'s Minneapolis office along with its global food and beverage and consumer investment banking practices. Most recently, Cleveland established the food, beverage and agriculture practice for Zachary Scott, with additional leadership responsibilities in the broader consumer market. Cleveland earlier worked in Piper Jaffray & Co.'s investment banking group. He received an MBA from The McCombs School of Business at the University of Texas at Austin and a bachelor's degree in finance from Santa Clara University.
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Tripp Davis is a Partner with 7Mile Advisors with over 15 years of investment banking and advisory experience. Tripp joined 7 Mile Advisors from Hyde Park Capital Partners, where he served as head of the Business Services, Technology and Communications group while advising companies in a variety of industries on M&A and capital raising assignments. Previously, Tripp served as Vice President at DecisionPoint International and began his career with Livingston & Associates. Outside of work, he enjoys spending time with his wife and three children, adventure racing, hunting and skiing. BS Biology - Hampden-Sydney College; Post graduate studies - Florida State University.
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Episode 24 features Drew Spitzer, a managing director with Harris Williams.
Prior to joining Harris Williams, Drew worked in the General Industrial Group at Banc of America Securities and in the Investment Banking Group at Goldman Sachs.
Today they will be discussing the Energy, Power & Infrastructure section of Harris Williams and the current trends and volatility within the industry. They will also discuss how Harris Williams is adapting around the cycles and driving new business opportunities. Finally. Drew will give his insight on what differentiates applicants and interviewees interested in Investment Banking.
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Dr. Alice Mann with Blue Wolf Capital is an Operating Partner. The Blue Wolf Capital Funds are a family of private funds which focus on transformational investments in middle market companies.
For over 20 years, Dr. Mann has advised senior executives to build high-performing leadership teams, develop winning talent strategies, and design organizations that achieve outstanding performance results. As the human capital leader, Dr. Mann drives Blue Wolf’s human capital due diligence and works directly with the leadership of Blue Wolf’s portfolio companies to develop their talent strategies and capabilities to deliver on their value creation plans. Dr. Mann sits on Blue Wolf’s ESG committee.
Dr. Mann was named Blue Wolf Operating Partner in 2018. Prior to joining Blue Wolf, Dr. Mann was the founder and CEO of Mann Advisors from 2005 to 2018. She has assessed and redesigned scores of organizations, from high growth start-ups to global Fortune 500 companies, across all major industries and sectors. Dr. Mann has evaluated and developed executive leaders and their teams at all stages of growth to achieve their strategic priorities.
From 2007 to 2018, Dr. Mann was a Senior Consulting affiliate of Kates Kesler Organization Consulting, a preeminent organization design firm based in New York City. More recently, she was also a Leadership Coaching affiliate of Agile Synthesis, a leadership development firm that works with high-growth start-ups. Previously, Dr. Mann was a vice president at JPMorgan Chase Bank, where from 1999 to 2005 she led large-scale change and restructuring initiatives during several global bank mergers between Chase Bank, JP Morgan, Bank One and Hambrecht and Quist.
Dr. Mann has taught a graduate course in leadership at Columbia University. Her book, Future First, was published by Routledge in May 2018 and is a practical guide for future-thinking leaders based on findings from interviews with over 50 business leaders. She is a senior contributor to Forbes.com.
Dr. Mann holds a B.A. in History from Reed College and a Ph.D. and M.A. in Social and Organizational Psychology from Columbia University. Additionally, she earned a two-year Organizational Dynamics certification from the William Alanson White Institute. At JPMorgan Chase, Dr. Mann received Six Sigma Black Belt training.
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Mr. Blumenthal was the founding partner of Blue Wolf Capital in 2005. Currently, he serves on the board of directors of four Blue Wolf portfolio companies: Finch Paper Holdings, Twin Rivers Paper Company, Elara Caring, and StateServ Holdings. Elara is the fourth largest home health and hospice company in the U.S., with over 60,000 patients in fifteen states, while StateServ is the leading provider of durable medical equipment to hospice patients in the US.
Blue Wolf is a middle market private equity firm with investments in health care, forest and building products, energy services, and infrastructure services. Leading by experience, and with a commitment to excellence, Blue Wolf transforms companies strategically, operationally and collaboratively. Blue Wolf manages challenging situations and complex relationships between business, customers, employees, unions, and regulators to build value for stakeholders. Blue Wolf has over $1.2 billion in assets under management and has substantial liquidity through its current $540 million investment fund, Blue Wolf Capital Fund IV, L.P.
From 1989 to 2002, Mr. Blumenthal built and managed American Capital Ltd., a publicly-traded buyout and mezzanine fund (NASDAQ: ACAS). Mr. Blumenthal played a central role in building it from a start-up into a publicly-traded buyout and mezzanine fund with a portfolio of over $1 billion invested in sixty-three middle market companies by the time he left in 2002.
Mr. Blumenthal served as First Deputy Comptroller and Chief Financial Officer for New York City Comptroller William C. Thompson, Jr. from 2002 - 2005. In this capacity, he oversaw the capital markets activities of the Comptroller's office, including managing the assets of the New York City Retirement Systems.
Mr. Blumenthal received a B.A., magna cum laude, from Harvard College, and a M.B.A. from the Yale School of Management. From 2004 to 2007, he served on the Yale SOM's Board of Advisors, and is currently a member of the Advisory Board for Yale's International Center for Finance. In 2009, he was named a Donaldson Fellow at the Yale SOM. From 2011 through 2017, Mr. Blumenthal was a Trustee, and Chair of the Investment Committee, of the UAW Retiree Medical Benefits Trust, a $60 billion fund that pays retiree health benefits for over 700,000 UAW employees of Ford, Chrysler and General Motors. He has also been a trustee of, and Chairman of the Investment Committee of, the Nathan Cummings Foundation and the Community Service Society of New York.
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Episode 21 of the Private Equity Fast Pitch features David Felts, a Managing Director of TM Capital Corp., headquartered in Atlanta, Georgia. David’s expertise encompasses a range of transaction types and spans industry verticals including textiles, building products, consumer / retail and industrial services. He is highly regarded as an architect of portfolio company divestitures for many well respected middle market private equity firms and is a frequent panel speaker at middle market M&A industry conferences.
Prior to joining TM, David was a Managing Director at Brookwood Associates, where for over a decade he focused primarily on middle market M&A advisory. Previously, he was a founding partner at Equity Capital Partners and a Director at Prudential Securities Investment Banking, where he spearheaded the growth of Prudential’s successful Consumer / Industrials Industry Practice Group.
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Episode 20 features Ted Kramer, the President and CEO of Hammond Kennedy Whitney. Ted joined HKW in 2001 and has led the sourcing activities of the firm since 2002. In 2014, Ted’s role shifted as he was appointed President of HKW. In August of 2015, Ted assumed the position of President & CEO of HKW. Ted works on sourcing new investment opportunities for HKW, as well as running the day-to-day operations of the firm.
Prior to HKW, Ted was an Investment Manager at White River Venture Partners, a venture capital fund based in Indianapolis. Ted also worked for Arthur Andersen, LLP in the business consulting group. Prior to his business career, Ted played professional hockey across North America. Ted earned his MBA from the Indiana University Kelley School of Business and his undergraduate degree from the University of Michigan.
Ted and his wife Lynn live in Carmel with their daughter and son. Ted enjoys hitting the links when he is able to get out of the office.
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Episode 19 features Glenn Oken, a Managing Director with Mangrove Equity.
Glenn's primary focus at Mangrove is originating deal opportunities and qualifying acquisition candidates.
He also assists Mangrove portfolio companies with corporate development issues and is a member of Mangrove's Investment Committee. Prior to co-founding Mangrove, Glenn was the most tenured partner at Florida Capital Partners. Between Mangrove and FCP, Glenn has helped to build two of the most experienced and successful lower middle market private equity funds in the nation.
Over the past 28 years as a private equity partner, Glenn is well known for his candid and effective "win/win" partnering with company owners, managers, and their advisors.
Glenn is a firm believer in the power of internal operating partners in private equity, to bring more than just the commodity of cash to portfolio partners. Glenn worked in the southeastern headquarters of L.F. Rothschild and at NCNB National Bank early in his career, and holds a B.A. from the University of Virginia.
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Drew Quartapella is a founder and Managing Director of BlackArch. He has over 20 years of middle-market mergers and acquisitions advisory experience as both an advisor and a principal and has advised on transactions with an aggregate value in excess of $5 billion.
Mr. Quartapella is co-head of BlackArch’s Energy, Distribution and Consumer practices. He also has transaction experience in the fields of Infrastructure & Construction; Distribution & Supply Chain Management, Food, Beverage & Agribusiness; Consumer & Retail; Industrial Growth & Diversified Manufacturing; and Applied Technology & Digital Media.
Mr. Quartapella founded Edgeview Partners in 2001; Edgeview Partners was a leading independent middle-market investment bank until its sale to The CIT Group in 2007. Mr. Quartapella served as a Managing Director of Edgeview and the Head of M&A at The CIT Group.
Mr. Quartapella started his career in the Houston office of Arthur Andersen & Co. as an advisor in its enterprise practice. During business school, he served as an associate in the investment banking division at Goldman, Sachs & Co. in New York. Mr. Quartapella was instrumental in the formation of W-H Energy Services a Houston-based energy services firm. He served as chief financial officer of W-H, supporting the company's growth through internal expansion and numerous acquisitions.
Mr. Quartapella participates in many philanthropic endeavors in the Charlotte area at the board level and as an active volunteer.
A native of Houston, Mr. Quartapella earned a bachelor of science degree in finance from the University of Houston, where he received the Jesse H. Jones Academic Scholarship. He holds a master's degree in business administration from the J.L. Kellogg Graduate School of Management at Northwestern University.
Mr. Quartapella lives in Charlotte with his wife and two children.
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Episode 17 features Tammie Miller a Managing Director, with TKO Miller with over 20 years of investment banking experience with an extensive background in healthcare, business process outsourcing, manufacturing, industrial services and food ingredients. Prior to forming TKO Miller, Tammie was a Managing Director at Grace Matthews where she was responsible for managing transactions in a variety of industries. Tammie particularly enjoyed working with family and founder owned businesses. Tammie's operating background developed when she acquired 8 companies to create Innovative Resource Group as part of Cobalt Corporation (Formerly Blue Cross Blue Shield of Wisconsin) She served as Senior Vice President of Operations at Innovative Resource Group (now APS Healthcare), where she oversaw 400 employees and was responsible for $50 million in revenues. Tammie's prior investment banking experience includes positions at Alex. Brown & Sons, First National Bank of Chicago, Kidder Peabody, and Lehman Brothers. Tammie is a Chartered Financial Analyst and holds a B.A., with High Honors, in Latin American Studies, as well as an M.B.A. with an emphasis in finance, both from The University of Chicago. 00000105 00000106 00002A6B 00002A6B 0013E0AC 0013E0AC 00007D73 000079ED 0000265E 0000265E
Paul Murphy with Sentinel is a Partner who joined in 2000. Over the past two decades, he has established himself as a successful lower middle market private equity investor. Before joining Sentinel Capital Partners, Mr. Murphy spent three years as a Director at Dilmun Investments, the U.S. private equity affiliate of Bahrain International Bank. While at Dilmun, he focused on originating, structuring, and executing private equity investments in lower middle market companies.
Prior to Dilmun, Mr. Murphy was a Vice President in the Financial Buyers Group at NationsBanc Capital Markets, where he focused on providing debt and equity financing for leveraged buyouts and recapitalizations. Previously, he spent two years as an Associate in the Merchant Banking Group of Chase Manhattan Bank where he focused on private equity and subordinated debt investments in lower middle market companies. Mr. Murphy holds an MBA from Georgetown University and a BS from the United States Military Academy at West Point. Mr. Murphy served in the U.S. Army for five years as an Artillery officer in a Light Infantry Division, where he attained the rank of captain.
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Episode 15 features Barry Freeman, a Managing Director and Co-Head of Lincoln International’s Healthcare Group, focusing on healthcare services in the global market. Barry manages key client relationships, deal teams, and is active in marketing the services of Lincoln International to private owners, private equity firms and corporations.
Today they will be discussing the Healthcare Industry and how Technology has been shaping recent growth. They will also cover recent trends within the industry and how Lincoln has positioned themselves in relation to competitors.
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Jeri Harman with Avante Mezzanine is the Founder & CEO. With over $465 million of capital under management, Avante makes unitranche and subordinated debt and minority equity investments to finance buyouts, minority recaps, acquisitions and growth. Avante invests $5 – 25 million in established lower middle market companies generating at least $3 million EBITDA. Ms. Harman has over 30 years of financing experience, involving well over $1 billion in aggregate transactions.
In 2016 and 2017, she was and named one of the Most Influential Women in Middle Market M&A. In March 2017, she was recognized as one of 15 Trailblazers by Buyouts Magazine.
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Episode 13 features Chad Sweet, Co-Founder and CEO of the Chertoff Group. Before joining the private sector, Chad served as the Chief of Staff of the Department of Homeland Security. With over a decade of investment banking experience, Chad has been involved in more than 40 successful sell- and buy-side M&A and capital formation engagements.
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Episode 12 features Scott MacLaren who joined Sterling in 2014 from The Boston Consulting Group where he focused on operational improvement initiatives for industrial and energy companies. Prior to entering the private sector, Scott was a Ranger qualified officer in the United States Army where he led a scout platoon during the troop surge in Iraq, and later served as a company commander in charge of 120 personnel.
Scott's first investment at Sterling was American Bath Group, a turnaround effort and industry consolidation in the bathware manufacturing industry. Scott embedded with the company for a year, using his experience leading teams and driving operational change to completely transform the company's transportation and logistics program, as well as executing four strategic acquisitions. Scott received a B.S. in Economics from the United States Military Academy at West Point and an MBA from the Wharton School.
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Episode 11 features Hunter Carpenter from RedBird Capital. Hunter, a former 4 year letterman of Ole Miss basketball, previously worked 8 years at The Stephens Group out of Arkansas before joining a Redbird Capital as a Partner.
Today they’ll be discussing RedBirds background and differentiation within the industry, some guidance he’d offer young students as they decide on a career path and finally, how he approaches entrepreneurs before establishing a partnership.
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Episode 10 focuses on advice to recent graduates who are interested in Private Equity and Investment Banking from 9 of the most influential professionals within the industry.
Speakers include, Kurt Haras with Quarton, Jay Jester with Audax, Charlie Gifford with New Heritage, David Iverson with Lazard, Blythe Jack with TSG Consumer, Clay Hunter with The Stephens Group, Jeff Sangalis with ORIX, Dave Althoff with Duff & Phelps and Suzanne Yoon with Kenzie Capital.
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Episode 9 features Suzanne Yoon, the Founder and Managing Partner of Kinzie Capital Partners. Suzanne oversees the firm’s investments and operational activities. Her philosophy of combining operational excellence with technological innovation separates Kinzie from other capital providers and insures impactful and sustained growth for investors.
Prior to founding Kinzie, Suzanne was a Managing Director at Versa Capital Management, LLC, a leading special situations-focused private equity firm, where she led transaction development throughout North America and originated and executed debt and equity investments. In 2013, she received the “40 Under 40 Dealmakers Award” from The M&A Advisor for her work.
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Episode 8 of the Private Equity Fast Pitch features Dave Althoff with Duff and Phelps out of Chicago.
In 2014, Dave was named one of the Top 50 M&A Investment Bankers by the Global M&A Network and has more than 20 years of experience in mergers and acquisitions, private placement and financial restructuring.
David’s recent experience includes advising a building products company on its $240 million sale to a strategic buyer and a $190 million sale to a manufacturing company to a private equity group. He also recently advised on a $150 million capital raise to affect the spin-out of a unit of a publicly traded company.
In this episode, they will be discussing his approach within the market, some advice he’d offer both Business Development professionals and young graduates in Private Equity as well as some valuable insights from his years of experience in the industry.
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Episode 7 features Blythe Jack with TSG Consumer out of San Francisco California. Blythe has spent over 10 years at Rosewood Capital and, most recently, served as CEO of a high-growth consumer products company. She has sourced and structured investments in industries such as health & beauty, apparel, specialty retail, restaurant, and consumer products.
They’ll be discussing TSG’s strategies within the Consumer Food & Beverage industry, some of TSGs success stories and the strengths of hiring women within the private equity space.
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Episode 6 features David Iverson a Managing Director and Food & Agriculture Group Head at Lazard Middle Market.
Today they’ll be discussing Lazard’s specialized vertical of consumer food & beverage, the current shifting trends within the industry and how branding differentiates their products.
We invite you to listen to Dave's view on current industry dynamics, the evolution of our middle market food & agriculture practice and Lazard's differentiating factors.
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Episode 5 features Charlie Gifford, a senior partner and co-founder of New Heritage Capital. Based in Boston, Massachusetts, New Heritage Capital focuses primarily on Business Services, Manufacturing and Healthcare Services with the average Investment Size ranging from fifteen to forty million dollars.
Today they’ll be discussing how Private IPOs give founders more incentive equity and greater control, how New Hertiage Capital’s typical partnership with firms differs from their competition, and the specific characteristics they look for in recent graduates.
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Jeff Sangalis has been in the Private Equity and Mezzanine world for over 30 years now. Most notably, he was with RSTW, which was the largest Mezzanine Capital firm in the US. In 2012 Jeff brought his wealth of connections and investing experience to the Orix Corporation to set up Orix Mezzanine and Private Equity. He quickly gained a reputation as a leading investor in “Independent Sponsor” deals, with 24 of their 32 portfolio companies falling within this category.
Today they will be discussing the many branches of Orix and their approach within the industry, In addition, they will cover what differentiates independent sponsors and what young professionals can expect when they join Private Equity,
Our host, Jeff Henningsen, President of Lockton companies in Houston, will be speaking with Clay Hunter, a St. Louis native and Harvard grad, who began his career in Investment Banking before transitioning to traditional Private Equity 15 years ago, and then several years ago joining the Stephens group, a Little Rock-based family office with over 8 decades of successful investments and partnerships with a wide range of companies and management teams. Their approach is a simple and straightforward idea: partner with exceptional management and provide the resources needed to achieve their strategic vision in order to build long-term value.
Today, Jeff Henningsen will be speaking with Jay Jester who has been with Audax Group for over 18 years. As a Managing Director for the over 2 Billion dollar Private equity fund, Jay has been focused on building strategic assets out of small pieces. As of March 2018, Audax has invested in one hundred and thirteen platform companies and more than six hundred and fifty six add-on acquisitions for that portfolio.