Investors & Operators

On this episode of Investors & Operators, Jordan sits down with Leon Brujis, Partner at Palladium Equity. Born in Mexico and raised in Argentina by a Peruvian family, Leon has a number of fresh takes on:feeling like an outsiderthe importance of meeting pressure head-onhow to make an impact on your community—and so much more.LEON BRUJIS joined Palladium in 2007 and serves as a Partner. Previously, he worked for the mergers and acquisitions group at Lehman Brothers. Mr. Brujis serves on the Board of Directors of Palladium portfolio companies Daniel's Jewelers and TransForce and has served on the Board of Directors of Palladium portfolio companies Cannella, Del Real, Pronto Insurance, Raben Tire, Teasdale and Celeritas. Mr. Brujis serves on the Board of Directors of the New America Alliance. Mr. Brujis earned a M.S. in Finance, Economics & Cost Engineering and a B.S. in Operations Research (magna cum laude) at The George Washington University.

On this episode of Investors & Operators, Jordan sits down with Chris and Nik Nikic. Chris is the first athlete with Down syndrome to complete an ironman triathlon. Together, they cover:training for an ironmanthe importance of disciplinestories from the racewhat the future looks like for Chris ...and so much more.A few folks on the podcast may even commit to an Ironman on this episode--listen to hear for yourself.To learn more about Chris and his journey, visit www.chrisnikic.com.

On this episode of Investors & Operators, Jordan sits down with Alexandra Lebenthal, Senior Advisor at Houlihan Lokey, to talk about:how to navigate a career pivotinspiration from powerful womenhow to instill values in young people...and much more.Alexandra Lebenthal has more than three decades of experience in financial services, having joined her family’s business, Lebenthal & Co., in 1988 and becoming President and CEO seven years later. In 2007, after selling the company, she relaunched her own certified woman-owned company as its President and CEO, recognized as a leading woman-owned broker-dealer in corporate capital markets. Over the course of her career, Ms. Lebenthal has received numerous awards and accolades, including being named one of New York's “100 Most Influential Women” by Crain's New York Business in 1999 and one of the “Top 50 Women in Wealth Management” by Wealth Manager in 2009. In 2013, she was named to both Crain’s “Largest Women-Owned Businesses” and “Fast 50” lists. She has served as a board member of The Committee of 200, an organization for businesswomen, and a board member and Treasurer of SIFMA. She also co-founded The Women's Executive Circle in 1996, a women's mentorship program.  Ms. Lebenthal holds a B.A. in History from Princeton University.

One hour wasn’t long enough, so the panel reassembled for PART 2!We cover:Stories from the early days pioneering BDHow sourcing has changed since they beganWhat they hope for the future of BD, BD “from home”, etc. --and we answer tons of questions submitted by attendees from Part 1.HOSTSJordan Selleck | CEO & Co-Founder, 51 LabsDan Lee | Partner, Comvest CreditPANELISTSBob Landis | Partner, Riverside CompanyGlenn Oken | Managing Director, Mangrove EquityGretchen Perkins | Partner, Avance Investment ManagementJay Jester | Partner, Plexus CapitalMark Jones | Partner, River Associates

Jordan assembles a panel of the next generation's BD professionals to talk about:how to differentiate yourself using LinkedIn, blogs, podcasts, videoshow to best manage your personal and firm brandingoutsourcing services to compliment your pillar BD effortswhat BD may look like in 2021--and so much more.PANELISTSCARLOS A. SOTO | Managing Director & Head of BD, Comvest PartnersHEATHER MADLAND | Partner & Head of BD, Huron CapitalJEREMY HOLLAND | Managing Partner of Origination, Riverside CompanyMARK GARTNER | Principal & Head of Investment Development, ClearLight PartnersRYAN GRAND | Principal (BD), HKWSPONSORSourceScrub: a data platform built to empower customers to find, research, and connect with private companies – using data to transform the M&A and private company investment industry

Jordan sits down with José Feliciano, Co-Founder and Managing Partner of Clearlake Capital Group, to discuss the importance of giving back, the power of acknowledging the unknown, and the payoff of entrepreneurial ups and downs.José Feliciano is Co-Founder and Managing Partner of Clearlake Capital Group, LP. Clearlake is a leading private investment firm that has managed approximately $9 billion of institutional capital since its inception. José is involved in the investment side of the firm, as well as its day-to-day management, and currently serves on the Board of Directors of several Clearlake portfolio companies.José started his career in investment banking in the Mergers & Acquisitions and Corporate Finance Groups at Goldman, Sachs & Co. Prior to co-founding Clearlake, José was a Partner and member of the investment committee at Tennenbaum Capital Partners, a leading alternative investment management firm, and served as Chief Financial Officer of govWorks, Inc.In 2014, José and his wife, Kwanza Jones, founded the SUPERCHARGED Initiative, a philanthropic grant-making and impact investment organization. Their initiative is focused on creating lasting impact in four key areas: Education, Entrepreneurship, Equal Opportunity, and Empowerment. To date, the organization and its affiliates have made over $40 million in commitments to diversity efforts and over $25 million to organizations focused on education and empowerment. José is also a Board Member of Robert F. Kennedy Human Rights, which works alongside activists to ensure positive changes in governments and corporations, and sits on the Board of Directors of the Robert Toigo Foundation. The Robert Toigo Foundation is dedicated to promoting the career advancement and increased leadership of under-represented talent.José graduated from Princeton University with a BS in mechanical & aerospace engineering and received his MBA from the Graduate School of Business at Stanford University.

Jordan sits down with Anna Edwin, Global Head of Talent Development at TPG, to discuss successful talent retention, great talent management, and the importance of strong company culture in facilitating and enabling those practices.Topics include: The intersection of diversity management and talent managementHow to retain top tier talentD&I goals we need to set as an industry--and many more.Anna Edwin, Senior Director, is the Global Head of Talent Development at TPG. In her role, Anna leads the strategy for performance management, talent management and diversity and inclusion. Previously, Anna worked at BlackRock, where she served as the Head of Leadership Development. In this role, she was responsible for all of BlackRock's executive leadership programs. Prior to joining BlackRock in 2017, Anna spent ten years at Goldman Sachs in a variety of Human Resources roles, including serving as a Business Partner for the Technology Division and roles within the Global Leadership and Diversity team and Goldman Sachs University.  Anna earned a BA in Political Science from the University of Pennsylvania. She currently serves on the Board of Trustees for Deerfield Academy, an independent co-educational boarding school in MA.

Jordan assembles six legends of the business development profession to talk about:How the profession has changed since they startedWhat constitutes good BD vs. bad BDWhat advice they have for the next generation of BD professionals...and so much more.HOSTSJordan Selleck | CEO & Co-Founder, 51 LabsDan Lee | Partner, Comvest CreditPANELISTSGlenn Oken | MD, MangroveGretchen Perkins | Partner, Avance Investment ManagementJay Jester | Partner, PlexusMark Jones | Partner, River AssociatesRobert Landis | Partner, RiversideTed H. Kramer | CEO, HKW

On this episode of Investors and Operators, Jordan sits down (and pushes-up) with Michael Carter, Managing Partner of Carter Morse & Goodrich. Topics include:highs and lows of entrepreneurshipaccountability and integrity in the workplacehow entrepreneurship interacts with familyparenting--and many more.Michael Carter is the founding principal of Carter Morse & Goodrich where he serves as Managing Partner. He has been on the financial side of business from many perspectives: as a business founder, commercial lender, investment banker, board director, and business advisor.With a broad-based background in a myriad of industries, Michael is well acquainted with the special requirements of each business situation. As a seasoned investment banker, he has advised over 100 M&A and financing transactions. In addition to his work with private companies, Michael has worked with several public companies as a board member and advisor. Michael is a founding member and former board director of the Association for Corporate Growth, Connecticut Chapter. He served on Weston’s Board of Finance for ten years. Michael joined the Fairchester board for National Federation for Teaching Entrepreneurship (NFTE), a non for profit, dedicated to teaching inner city kids about starting their own business. His last position was the chapter’s Vice Chairman.Michael founded Push for Entrepreneurship, an extreme push-up fundraiser where participants do push-ups for two hours. Since its founding over a $100,000 has been raised for teaching students from low income neighborhoods about innovation and entrepreneurship.Michael earned an MBA from Columbia University and a BA from the University of Rochester.

Charmel Maynard joined the University of Miami in 2016 and currently serves as associate vice president, chief investment officer, and University treasurer. In this capacity, he leads the University’s efforts to invest assets, including endowment and pension funds. He is also responsible for the University’s capital structure, including liquidity and debt issuances. Additionally, he manages treasury and cash management.Charmel was previously a vice president with J.P. Morgan’s Investment Bank in New York City. During his 10-year career with J.P. Morgan, he focused on investment banking debt capital markets and leveraged finance, where he advised clients on capital structure solutions, deal structuring, and execution of syndicated revolving credit facilities, institutional term loans, and bond issuances.Charmel holds a Bachelor of Arts in political science from Amherst College.