Investors & Operators

Mark Gartner rejoined ClearLight in 2014 to lead the deal sourcing function for the firm and has over 10 years of experience helping private equity funds find and close on investment opportunities. Before rejoining ClearLight, Mark led deal sourcing for American Infrastructure Funds, a $1.5 billion private investment firm focused on investments in the energy, infrastructure and real property sectors.Mark previously served as an Associate and Senior Associate with ClearLight where he was a founding member of the firm’s Investment Development Group and also assisted with transaction due diligence, execution and portfolio company governance. Before ClearLight, Mark executed sell-side M&A transactions as an Analyst in Houlihan Lokey’s Basic Industrial Group.Mark graduated with a BA in Economics and a Minor in Spanish from Duke University.

Guy Snodgrass is the CEO of Defense Analytics, a national security and foreign policy strategic advisory firm specializing in strategy development, government policy, and technology adoption. Recognized as an influential national security and foreign policy expert, Guy recently published his first book, Holding the Line, to incredibly positive reviews. Guy appears as a commentator on CNN, FOX, and multiple international outlets; an opinion contributor to Washington Post, USA Today, and other national security outlets; and a prominent commentator to publications such as Politico, the New York Times, the Washington Post, and Bloomberg. A career Navy F/A-18 fighter pilot, Commander Snodgrass led combat missions in support of forces on the ground in the Middle East. Subsequently selected as a TOPGUN Instructor, he served as the U.S. Navy and Marine Corps expert in air-to-air combat and tactics development.During his 20 years as a fighter pilot, Guy logged more than 2,784 total flight hours, 2,390 F/A-18 flight hours, 719 aircraft carrier landings, and was presented with the Defense Superior Service Award at retirement. Mr. Snodgrass is a member of the U.S. Naval Institute’s Board of Directors, a member of the Council on Competitiveness, and a 2019 graduate of MIT’s Seminar XXI national security and foreign policy program.

Edward Crawford is a mission-focused entrepreneur, public servant, conscious capitalist and Investor. He is the Co-Founder and President of Coltala Holdings – a purpose-driven holding company and a voice in the Conscious Capitalism and Kaizen movements. As a business owner, he is responsible for a diversified group of global companies. As a Peace Corps Volunteer in the Dominican Republic, he founded and grew “CoopCafeSur” – a coffee cooperative to more than 200 coffee farmers. As a US Naval Intelligence Officer, he served with Special Operations Command South in Latin America and later served as Tribal and Political Adviser for SEAL Teams Two & Four, Operation Enduring Freedom, Afghanistan. Prior to founding Coltala Holdings, He was a Vice President at Goldman Sachs where he advised company founders and CEOs. He co-led national capital and acquisitions activities for InvestRes growing to over 400 employees and $1billion under management. He currently serves as a trustee on the Business School Council at Tulane University, is a Lifetime Member of Veterans of Foreign Wars and a term member of the Council on Foreign Relations.Edward is a TEDx speaker on Servant Leadership and has been highlighted in World View Magazine, Dallas Business Journal, D CEO Magazine, and The Washington Post. Edward was a top 50 under 50 Diversity MBA Magazine winner, A Peace Corps Success Story, U.S Peace Corps, a MACVPAC 40 under 40 Business Leader, and selected as Peace Corps top 40 under 40 on the 40th anniversary of Peace Corps Founding.

Euan Rellie is Co-Founder and Senior Managing Director of BDA, based in New York. He is also President of BDA Advisors Inc, the firm’s SEC/FINRA registered broker-dealer. Since founding BDA in 1996, he has lived in New York and London, and Singapore, and has worked in China, Taiwan, Korea, Japan, India and across the Middle East. 1990-1996, he worked for Schroders, the UK investment bank now part of Citigroup, in New York, London and Singapore. He was Head of SE Asia Execution for Schroders Asia-Pacific Regional Advisory Group. His clients include AgFeed, Ardian, Bain Capital, CITIC Capital, Dainippon Ink & Chemical, DuPont, Ecolab, Flex, Hanjin, Happy Socks, ICICI, Intel, Investcorp, Kraft Foods, Life Technologies, Lubrizol, Materion, Nalco, One Equity Partners, OpenGate Capital, Pfizer, Philip Morris, Platinum Equity, Sara Lee, Sigma-Aldrich, Tenneco, Terex, ThomsonReuters, Wockhardt and Yucaipa. He was named Dealmaker of the Year in 2016 and 2012 (by The M&A Advisor), 2014 North American Investment Banker of the Year, and one of the Top 50 Global M&A Dealmakers (by The Global M&A Network). He was educated at Eton and Trinity College, Cambridge.Charlie Maynard is Co-Founder and Senior Managing Director of BDA. Since founding BDA in 1996, Charlie has been based in Singapore, Tokyo, New York, Beijing, and now London. Charlie was based in Tokyo from 2002 to 2005 and established BDA’s office there and in Seoul. He has advised on a number of successful transactions throughout the region. Charlie advised Navis Capital in China’s largest control exit in 2014 by a private equity group, the sale of Trio to Weir plc. In 2015 he has advised Cosma (a Magna International subsidiary) on its acquisition of Chongqing Xingqiao and Cristal on its acquisition of Jiangxi Tikon. Prior to BDA, he worked for the Jardine Matheson Group in Hong Kong and Singapore. In 2011, he was named by M&A Advisor as one of their “40 Under 40” global M&A professionals. Charlie was educated at Oxford University (MA Hons, Geography).BDA Partners is the global investment banking advisor for Asia. BDA is a premium provider of Asia-related advice to sophisticated clients globally, with over 20 years’ experience advising on cross-border M&A, capital raising, and financial restructuring. BDA has strategic partnerships with William Blair, a premier global investment banking business, and the Development Bank of Japan (DBJ), a Japanese government owned bank with total assets of US$150bn.

As an F-15 pilot, Thor escorted the U.S. President through the sky and flew missions to ensure the safety of the country after the attacks of 9/11. He was the tactical leader of 300 of the most senior combat pilots in the Air Force and he oversaw the execution of a $150M/year flight program. Thor was named the Top Instructor Pilot at the Air Force Flight Training Headquarters and he’s flown thousands of missions teaching pilots from 25 countries around the world. He received his Bachelor’s Degree at the United States Air Force Academy and is a summa cum laude graduate of the McCombs School of Business at the University of Texas. He is Afterburner’s expert leadership speaker, sharing his knowledge with organizations across the US.For most of 2015, Thor led a team of Afterburner consultants that was embedded in Silicon Valley with one of the top-five largest software companies in the world. While there, Thor supported the successful completion of more than 50 projects or “Missions” created from the CEO’s key strategic objectives.Thor is humbled to have had the incredible experiences that executive leadership within the military and Afterburner have afforded him, but he’s most proud of the following accomplishments. In 2010, Thor was diagnosed with Stage IV cancer and given about a 15% chance to live. Instead of giving up, Thor decided to give back. He started a youth outreach program in San Antonio that has grown to help more than 15,000 at-risk kids. Their efforts have been featured on every news channel for 100 miles and one national media outlet. In 2012, he was selected out of 62,000 people to receive the AETC National Public Service Award.Thor completed the New Zealand Ironman Triathlon in March of 2015 to commemorate the five-year anniversary of his Stage IV cancer diagnosis and to raise awareness for the rare and deadly cancer that he battled.Thor sits on the board of several national organizations and is the co-founder of a military support corporation. As Afterburner’s CEO, Thor leads our team of more than 70 elite military professionals. He has helped achieve strategic objectives and foster elite teams for Fortune 100 companies within the tech industry, pharmaceuticals, finance, medical devices, retail apparel and several NFL teams.

“I’ve enjoyed the process of developing relationships and cultivating new sources of unique investment opportunities for the firm, and giving them the confidence that Atlantic Street has the experience and expertise to close challenging transactions. I take pride in being able to tell our intermediary partners, as well as business owners, that we are a firm that treats people with the utmost respect and stands by our word.”Grant focuses on transaction sourcing for both new platforms and add-on acquisitions for the existing portfolio, as well as relationship management amongst the firm’s various constituencies.Grant joined Atlantic Street in July 2015. Prior to joining Atlantic Street, Grant spent five years with The Riverside Company as a member of their Origination team, where he was responsible for evaluating new investment opportunities, developing intermediary relationships and executing on strategic initiatives for new business sourcing. Prior to Riverside, Grant worked for the New York County District Attorney’s office as part of their frauds investigation practice. He received his B.A., Cum Laude, in Economics from Colgate University.

Samantha Ory is the General Partner at Ouroboros Group, a private investment firm specializing in middle market corporate acquisitions and operations. Ouroboros works within a diverse set of industries including: manufacturing, healthcare, and consumer. Ouroboros also has a minority investment arm specializing in early stage and minority investments within the consumer vertical.Previously, Samantha was on the investment team at Generation Equity Capital (a lower middle market private equity firm) where she sourced, evaluated, and executed investment opportunities on its behalf. Prior to joining Generation, Samantha advised clients on a variety of M&A and financing transactions at Corporate Fuel Advisors.

51 Labs hosted a fireside chat on global PE challenges & opportunities. TOPICS: (1) Developments in M&A and private equity across Asia, Europe, Africa, and the US, (2) Regulatory dynamicsSee below for key takeaways from a unique panel of 3 global PE firms, a global investment banking advisor, and the largest & most active global PE legal practice.Panelists:BDA Partners, Euan Rellie, Co-FounderKirkland & Ellis, Duncan Enista, PartnerCathay Capital, Andre Puong, Partner, $4bn AUM, 143 investmentsDPI, Joanne Yoo, Managing Director, $1.6bn AUM, pan-AfricanRiverside Company, Bob Landis, Founding Partner (Origination), $10bn AUM, 650+ transactions51 Labs, Jordan Selleck, CEO & Co-Founder, a digital marketing agency for the middle market Here are some of the key takeaways:Global buyout transactions fell 60% from January to April and transaction volume is now trending around 1/3 of the five-year monthly averageUncertainty in the US is hampering deal flow relative to other marketsDeals are getting done, but largely for add-ons and platforms known pre-COVIDEarn-outs: Not seeing a significant uptick in earn-outs; however, Duncan is seeing them as a way to get sellers back to the table when the valuations weren’t what they had hoped for during the lockdownHong Kong: The mood is bleak, according to Euan. Firms are moving out and there’s a feeling that it’s quickly becoming less of the multinational hub that attracted people for decades. In the short term, tying Hong Kong closer to China might not be all bad. For example, Chinese companies which may have be reluctant to do IPOs in Western markets might favor listing in Hong KongChina: Doing most cross-border deals with China is incredibly difficult now. Also, 20 years ago you do a business meeting in a hotel lobby in China and you would find partners knocking on your door if you had a good product/brand in Western markets. Today, you have competitive local brands that are going to eat your lunch if you're not extremely aggressive and localize your business. You can't use the playbook of 20 years agoAfrica: Joanne Yoo, Managing Director at DPI, made it clear that Africa is not as connected to the rest of the world so the pandemic hit later and caused less damage. DPI's deal activity is actually busier than before. Their portfolio companies have largely been deemed as essential businesses and, like many lower/mid market company in Africa, they hold more inventory than other marketsWhat impact will the upcoming US election have on their business and strategies, based on a scale of 1-5? Joanne 2, Bob 3, Andre 3, Duncan 2, Euan 2

He is committed to helping individuals fulfill their full potential through their professional lives. In this episode, we explored topics:Is it still worth it to get an MBA?The Importance of white space Misconception of entrepreneursHow to align your organization’s value with all stakeholdersIs being busy always a good thing? Knowing when to say no***Todd Connor is a former management consultant, U.S. Navy veteran, and has held many leadership roles in the public and private sector – with the belief that we can all change and redirect our lives.Todd is the CEO of Bunker Labs, a national non-for-profit organization built by military veteran entrepreneurs to empower other military veterans as leaders in innovation. Todd is also the architect and ideator behind The Collective Academy programs. A successful entrepreneur, he is expert at turning ideas into action into reality. He is all about learning by doing, and pushes others to be brave and be of service.Todd co-owns Emerson House, a country manor retreat center in La Porte, IN.

Her entrepreneurial journey; being an entrepreneur vs. working for someone elseWhat keeps her up at night Transaction vs. relationship mindset Closing her first deal Advice for women entering finance ***BIOMichelle co-founded Clearhaven Partners and sets firm strategy and direction. Michelle is the Chairman of Clearhaven's Investment Committee.  Prior to founding Clearhaven Partners, Michelle developed a love for investing in software and technology businesses, having started in finance and investing nearly 20 years ago. Michelle was a member of the investment teams of Thoma Bravo and Riverside Partners. At Riverside, Michelle was a General Partner and member of the investment committee. Prior to her career in technology investing, Michelle worked in energy and utilities investment banking at Morgan Stanley.Michelle holds an MBA, with distinction, from Harvard Business School and a BBA from the University of Notre Dame.