Craig H. Misrach

Managing Director, CEO

Craig H. Misrach is an 18+ year business executive with C-level executive operating, finance, and accounting experience. Craig founded Poppy Capital as way to help both peer entrepreneurs and business owners complete a sale of their own business and also lead, operate, and grow another new business to success and growth.

From 2006-2016, was the Founding Chairman & CEO of Freedom Meditech, a multi-product diabetes medical device company. As CEO, Mr. Misrach secured $15M in private capital, obtained FDA clearance (the first in the world for a non-invasive diabetes detection instrument), established global manufacturing operations, launched product in the US and Europe, and generated over $45M in enterprise value during his 8+ year tenure as CEO. The company completed a cross-border M&A sale of assets to Sinocare, LTD (China) in November 2016.

Mr. Misrach is an active Certified Public Accountant (C.P.A.) in the State of California and serves on the Board of Directors of several private companies (DME Innovations, Aculief) and the Jewish Community Foundation of San Diego (non-profit/endowment). Mr. Misrach has a B.S. in Accounting and Finance from Indiana University and a MBA in General Management from The University of Virginia Darden School of Business.

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In 2016 and 2017, Mr. Misrach served as an Investment Advisor at AB Bernstein ($530B in AUM) where he advised and prepared C-level executives and closely held business owners for M&A liquidity events and also deal sourced for several of the firm’s private equity/debt funds (each ~$1B to $3B in AUM) where investments ranged from ~$50M to ~$200M per transaction.

Mr. Misrach began his career at Deloitte from 1999 to 2002 where he was a Senior Accountant and audited several middle-market companies (private and public). From 2002-2004 Mr. Misrach was the Controller of Silvergate Bank & Capital Corporation (his client at Deloitte) where he was the primary liaison to executive management for the accounting and finance responsibilities of ~$500M in assets for the company.

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The Operand Group

Managing Director

Carlos Saez

Carlos is Co-Founder and Managing Director of The Operand Group. He is responsible for overall management and administration of the Firm’s investing activities in Search Funds. In his role, Carlos is also a Board Member at L.A.W. Publications and E-Card Systems. Prior to his current role, Carlos had 16 years of proprietary investment and operations experience in the equity derivatives industry. Carlos was Chief Investment Officer for Spot Trading in Chicago from 2009-2015, managing all Trading, Equity Research, Financial Engineering and front-office software development activities. Prior to this experience, Carlos executed various trading roles successfully, and in so doing gained valuable process, technology, and management skills that he is eager to share with young entrepreneurs. When not investing in searchers, Carlos is actively involved as a Director for the Barrington Area Community Foundation and a Founding Board Member of INCubatorEdu. Carlos received his undergraduate degree in Civil Engineering from The Georgia Institute of Technology and his MBA from the University of Chicago Booth.

Co-Founder, Partner

Michael Miles

Michael Miles is a veteran of search fund investments since 2009. He has served as a board member and trusted advisor for many search fund-backed enterprises, including successful outcomes with Innflux and Workplace Answers. In 2014, Michael co-founded The Operand Group a fund that invests exclusively in search funds.

Michael also has 25+ years of experience building, growing and operating recruiting businesses. In 1988, Michael founded SeatonCorp, a leading provider of recruiting, vendor-on-premise staffing and end-to-end supplier management solutions for strategic users of contingent labor. In 2014, Michael and his investor group sold SeatonCorp to True Blue (NYSE: TBI). Under Michael’s leadership, SeatonCorp grew from a staff of two to one of Crain’s “Largest Privately Held Companies” in Chicago, with more than 2,500 employees. SeatonCorp achieved consistent, organic growth resulting in a 20%+ compounded annual growth rate over a 25-year period, earning more than $700 million in revenue during 2014. Michael has been recognized with several awards including: the Staffing Industry Analysts’ Peter Yessne Workforce Innovator Award, a finalist in the Ernst & Young Entrepreneur Of The Year® program, and is listed on The Staffing 100 (the 100 most influential people in the staffing industry). In 2012, Michael founded INCubatoredu (non-profit), a national program teaching high school students how to start a business. Michael is a Board member at Caravel, RIVS, EmployBridge, Insertech and Penn Foster. He is a member of the Economic Club of Chicago and earned a Bachelor of Science in Finance from Arizona State University.

Endurance Search Partners

Managing Partner

Richard Augustyn

Rich is an entrepreneur in the truest sense – he sees opportunities, builds businesses that fill needs, and creates lasting growth. In 1987, he founded NIP Group, a national leader in insurance brokering and risk management. He quickly saw a need to improve the HR model for small businesses, and founded Extensis Group. Since being in business for two decades, Extensis Group has become a national leader in HR solutions for small and mid-sized businesses. He is CEO of both companies.

True to his life-long entrepreneurial spirit, he now enjoys partnering with and mentoring search fund entrepreneurs. As an active search fund investor, he works closely with searchers at every stage to find, buy and build successful companies. He is well known for his availability, engagement level and is sought after for his practical business advice.

Rich serves on the board of Housing Wire, KGHP, PEC Safety, Sage Data Security, FIMC and World Wide Security.

Partner

Larry Dunn

Larry is an accomplished financial professional with over 30 years’ of diverse experience. He has generated substantial value in high growth environments by delivering solutions in a wide array of areas, including organizational strategy, corporate development, financial reporting, cost reduction, cash flow and working capital management, and process improvement. In addition to his role at Endurance, he is the CFO of NIP Group. Prior to joining NIP Group, he was Managing Director at Ally Financial and a Director of M&A and divisional CFO at AIG. He began his career at KPMG. Larry graduated from Pace University eanring a BBA in Accounting with highest honors. Larry is also a Certified Public Accountant.

Larry, similar to Rich, enjoys working closely with searchers at every stage supporting their goals to build a great company while becoming a highly successful CEO. He is committed to lend his expertise to, and generously collaborates with, all members of the search fund community.

Larry serves on the board of Housing Wire and World Wide Security.

The Cambria Group

Managing Director

Lew Davies

Lew Davies founded The Cambria Group in 1996 and is its Managing Principal. He is an experienced private equity investor, having previously been a Principal in the leveraged buyout groups of both Brentwood Associates and The Fremont Group. He also served in both operating and finance roles with Bechtel Group and Chevron Corporation. Mr. Davies brings experience in all stages of the private equity process, identifying and sourcing opportunities, arranging financing for transactions, building management teams at both the functional and executive levels, assisting with portfolio company acquisition and divestiture programs, and exiting investments. He currently serves on seven corporate boards, as well as serving on the Board of Overseers of the Hoover Institution and the Advisory Council of the Stanford University Graduate School of Business; previously, he served as a National Trustee of the Boys & Girls Clubs of America and a Trustee of the Monterey Bay Aquarium. Lew holds a Bachelor’s degree in Industrial Engineering, with distinction, from Stanford University. He also received an MBA from Stanford University’s Graduate School of Business, where he was an Arjay Miller Scholar.

Managing Director

René Lajous

Mr. Lajous is a Principal with The Cambria Group, working in the firm’s Dallas office. He participates in all aspects of Cambria’s activities, focusing equally on originating and evaluating investment opportunities, negotiating and arranging financing for transactions, and providing oversight for the firm’s portfolio companies. He has experience both as a member of and observer to the boards of directors of several private companies.

Prior to joining Cambria, Mr. Lajous was a consultant at The Boston Consulting Group, a boutique management consulting firm, working in Dallas, Texas and Buenos Aires, Argentina. At BCG, he advised clients in the transportation, energy and telecommunications industries on a variety of issues ranging from strategy and operations to merger and acquisition activity and due diligence.

Earlier, Mr. Lajous focused on logistics and operations in the consumer packaged goods industries, working for Procter & Gamble in Canada and Mexico, as well as Pillsbury in Canada. He also draws on broad experience developed leading projects in inventory control and supply chain management for these companies.

Mr. Lajous earned a Bachelor of Applied Science in Industrial Engineering from the University of Toronto, earning the W.S. Wilson Medal for academic excellence. He subsequently received an MBA from the University of Pennsylvania’s Wharton School.

M20, Incorporated

Managing Director

MK O’Connell

M2O, Inc. is a family investment office that invests primarily in service-based businesses, especially those with modest capital intensity. The firm actively seeks established, profitable companies with recurring revenues, predictable cash flows and sustainable competitive positions in (preferably) growing industries. Recent events have shifted the firm’s focus to also include distressed assets, especially in commercial real estate and corporate debt.

Aspect Investors

Managing Director

Andrew Love

Aspect Investors is led by Andy Love. As a student of the search fund model, as a searcher/CEO of one of the most successful search funds to date, and as a search fund investor-advisor, Andy has spent most of his career and the last two decades in the search fund arena. In that time, he has invested in over 50 search funds and has advised dozens more.

Andy founded Aspect Investors in mid-2012, initially as a vehicle for personally investing in search funds and their operating companies. In 2016, he expanded the team to include Brad Buser and B.A. Cullum. In mid-2017, Aspect began investing outside capital under a traditional fund structure to expand upon the investment thesis and platform that Andy had built.

Prior to Aspect, Andy was CEO and Co-Founder of his search fund’s operating company, Behavioral Health Group (BHG), an outpatient substance abuse treatment company. Under his leadership from 2006-2012, BHG grew from infancy into one of the largest providers of opioid addiction treatment services in the U.S. BHG was a three-time winner of the Inc. 500|5000 award (2010, 2011, 2012), where the company was ranked the 18th fastest growing private healthcare company in the U.S. (2010), and the Dallas 100 award (2009, 2010, 2011). From 2004 to 2006, Andy was Co-Founder and Managing Principal of VantageCap Partners (VCP), the search fund that launched BHG.

Prior to VCP, Andy was a founding team member of Broadband Venture Partners (BVP), a Dallas-based growth equity investment firm specializing in enterprise application software, telecom software/services, and managed service provider business models (ASP/SaaS/MSP). At BVP, he worked extensively with Telecom Technologies Inc., acquired by Sonus Networks Inc. (SONS); VeriCenter, Inc., acquired by SunGard Data Systems Inc.; and other BVP portfolio companies. Earlier in his career, Andy was an Associate Consultant with Bain & Company.

Andy is a recipient of the Ernst & Young Entrepreneur of the Year Award, Southwest Region (2011), and is a member of Young Presidents’ Organization (YPO). He has served as Co-President of the Dallas Chapter of the Stanford GSB Alumni Association, as a Board Member of the University of Texas Silver Spurs Alumni Association, and as an advisor and board member to community- and faith-based organizations.

Andy holds a BA in Plan II Honors, magna cum laude, from The University of Texas at Austin, where he graduated with Phi Beta Kappa honors and departmental distinction. He also holds an MBA from the Stanford Graduate School of Business and an MA from the Stanford University Graduate School of Education.

He and his wife, Ann Marie, and their seven children reside in Dallas.

Bradford Brown Capital Partners

Managing Director

Brad Brown

Brad Brown is the managing director of Bradford Brown Capital Partners (BBCP), a private investment partnership that invests in search funds and profitable small-cap companies. He has over fifteen years experience in small-cap growth investing, and has acquired over 50 operating companies across different industries. Brad is on the board of five private growth buy-outs: Blue Sky Network, ISI Telemanagement, Attainia, CloudX, and D2C Brands.

Mr. Brown is also a Senior Partner Emeritus of McKinsey & Company, where he advised senior executives on their most important business technology issues. He was a senior member of the Digital Technology practice, and the global leader of the Big Data practice, and worked with clients to implement strategies around digital, automation, analytics, cloud, and agile. He was central to the build-out of the McKinsey Analytics Nerve platform, Data Cloud, and also worked in Fintech, InsurTech and the Global Insurance Technology practice.

Mr. Brown is a graduate of Dartmouth College, receiving his bachelor of arts degree, cum laude. He received an M.S.E.E. in Computer Sciences from the University of Pennsylvania, and an M.B.A., with distinction, from the Wharton School. He is a season ticket holder of the New England Patriots.

Archipelago Ventures

Founder, Principal

Tomas Bergstrand

Tomas Bergstrand is the founder of Archipelago Ventures, LLC a Boston-based private investment firm established in 2008. Archipelago Ventures serve as a vehicle for diversifying assets into privately held investments. Since its founding, Archipelago has made investments in search funds, search fund acquisitions and in select startup ventures in the United States and in Europe.

Prior to Archipelago Ventures, Mr. Bergstrand owned and managed a custom boat building business based in Massachusetts. He also served as chief financial officer at institutional brokerage Enskilda Securities, Inc in New York City and held operational positions for the Swedish banking group SEB in Singapore and the United States. Mr. Bergstrand holds a Master’s degree in Finance from the School of International and Public Affairs at Columbia University and a Bachelor’s degree from Bryant University in Rhode Island.

TPE Boulder

Managing Director

Craig T. Jones

Craig Jones is a 33 year veteran of the venture capital and private equity industries and currently runs the private equity firm TPE Boulder. He has invested extensively in software businesses, leading investments in over 60 companies.

He is Chairman of the Board of technology companies CloudXPartners and InnoCentive and a member of the Board of Directors of Blue Sky Networks and TransXSystems. He is also a member of Board of Directors of eStudySite and National Research Institute.

Mr. Jones’ extensive private equity career includes Managing Partner of TPE Boulder since 2010. He was previously Managing Partner of Ticonderoga Capital and Managing Director at Dillon, Read & Co and head of its venture capital partnerships, Vice President at Advent International, Associate at Centennial Ventures and a consultant with Bain & Co. He is a graduate Magna Cum Laude of Harvard Law School.

Mr. Jones has participated as a member of the Board of Directors of the National Venture Capital Association, and has founded a charter elementary school. He lives in Boulder, Colorado with his wife and kids.

Managing Director, Housatonic Partners

Joe Neihaus

Joe joined Housatonic Partners in 2001 and has been involved in numerous investments in a variety of industries since then.

Joe was a Managing Director at Hellman & Friedman before joining Housatonic. During his twelve-year career at Hellman & Friedman, he was involved in several of the firm’s recurring services, media and communications investments. Earlier in his career, Joe was employed in the Merchant Banking and Mergers and Acquisitions departments at Morgan Stanley & Co.

Joe is a Director of Accurate Monitoring, Calo Programs, Circle Graphics, Efficient Forms, FIMC, ResponseLink, School Family Media, and ZircoDATA.