WRIGHT EQUITY PARTNERS - Key Persons
Mr. Oster started his career as a professional economist and corporate banker with Bank of America in 1967. He then moved on to positions in corporate finance with a number of Bay Area companies. In 1983, he joined Oracle Corporation as Vice President-Finance and Administration and was responsible for Oracle's initial public offering in 1986. Since 1987, he has been a private venture investor working with other private and institutional investors in all phases of the venture investing process from incubation and due diligence through building the management team and sale or initial public offering. He was a founding investor and special advisor to Informatica, Inc. (INFA), a provider of analytic applications and infrastructure software. He is currently a director of Carillon Partners, LLP, Raleigh, NC, a private assisted living company; iNET Interactive, Dayton, OH, a private internet advertising company; Wind River Environmental, Boston, MA, a private LBO roll-up in the non-hazardous liquid waste industry. Mr. Oster received a Bachelors degree in Economics with honors from Occidental College in 1963 and an M.A. and Ph.D. in economics from the University of California, Berkeley in 1965 and 1967, respectively.
Mr. Burr's career has been devoted almost exclusively to venture capital and private equity activities, having founded Burr, Egan, Deleage & Co. in 1979. Previously, Mr. Burr was a partner at TA Associates. In addition, he has been a member of the Board of Directors of the New England Venture Capital Association and currently serves on the Board of Directors of several private companies. Mr. Burr received his Bachelors Degree, cum laude, from Harvard College and his M.B.A. from Harvard Business School.
Job Titles:
- Limited Partner
- Co - Founder of Search Fund Partners
David Carver is a co-founder of Search Fund Partners, a private equity investment firm specializing in small-cap buyout investments sourced via search funds. He and his partner, Rich Kelley, have spent the last three years developing and managing the SFP portfolio. He is on the board of ProService Hawaii, iNet Interactive and VCP Health Care Services. He is an observer of the iVize Board.
Mr. Carver spent thirty years as an executive in the high tech industry, and has extensive experience in all phases of business, including M&A, fund-raising, corporate strategy and operations. He was CEO of HiFive!, an application service provider; CEO of Hipbone Networks, an online collaboration company; EVP and GM at Network Associates; COO of Network General; EIR at Institutional Venture Partners; and an executive at Hewlett-Packard, including ten years in the professional service/software divisions of HP. Mr. Carver has an MBA from Stanford Graduate School of Business and a B.S. in Mathematics from the University of Arkansas.
Job Titles:
- Limited Partner
- Managing Director of Headwaters
Mr. Dodson is currently the Managing Director of Headwaters MB. He has been the CEO or Chairman of six middle market companies and has acquired and/or sold 55 companies in that role. Mr. Dodson has also led multiple capital raises as CEO or Chairman with a range of private equity firms, including TA Associates, Bain Capital, Housatonic Partners, the Centennial Funds, and others. He currently serves as Chairman of Wind River Management Inc., was formerly Chairman of Worldbridge Broadband Services Inc., and has been Chairman & CEO of ADAP Inc. and Smith Alarm Inc. Mr. Dodson has served on the boards of 16 middle market companies in which he was also a private investor. As a board member, Mr. Dodson has played a role in numerous debt and equity raises as well as ten significant M&A transactions. Prior to his entrepreneurial and private equity career, Mr. Dodson worked for McKinsey & Company. He holds a Bachelors degree in economics from Stanford University and an M.B.A. from Stanford University's Graduate School of Business.
Job Titles:
- Limited Partner
- Co - Founder of Continental Fire & Safety Services
Jim Southern is the co-founder of Continental Fire & Safety Services, a privately held service company serving the fire suppression industry. Previously, Mr. Southern was the Chairman and CEO of Uniform Printing, a highly successful niche printing business. Mr. Southern acquired Uniform Printing in a leveraged transaction and earned his investors a 59% IRR over the course of the ten years he managed the company. He also has experience in the insurance, and oil and gas industries.
Mr. Southern currently serves on the boards of Bay Communications, Inc., as well as various non-profit organizations. Jim received his BA from Southwestern University and his MBA from Harvard Business School.
Job Titles:
- Limited Partner
- Executive Vice President and Chief Operating Officer of the Michigan Electric Transmission Company
Ms. Couillard is the Executive Vice President and Chief Operating Officer of the Michigan Electric Transmission Company (METC). She joined METC in December 2001 and has grown the company from a one-person start-up to a 90+-person independent transmission system serving over three million customers with approximately 5400 circuit miles of high-voltage transmission lines. In May of 2006 Ms. Couillard led the sale of METC to the International Transmission Company earning a handsome return for METC investors. Previously, she worked for the City of Anaheim in California as its transmission and distribution manager responsible for standards development, design engineering, equipment specifications, root-cause analysis and strategic planning. Ms. Couillard also held numerous leadership positions in the transmission, distribution and substation functions at Exelon Corporation in Chicago.
Ms. Couillard earned her bachelor's degree in electrical engineering from Ohio University and her master's of business degree in finance from DePaul University. She is a licensed professional engineer, and a member of the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers and the National Society of Professional Engineers.
Job Titles:
- Associate
- Member of the Management Team
Logan Greenspan joined Wright Equity Partners as an Associate in 2007. His responsibilities include identifying and evaluating investment opportunities. Prior to joining Wright Equity Partners, Mr. Greenspan worked in corporate development for Aspen Life™ with The Aspen Club & Spa where he was responsible for market analysis and brand development related to launching new products and services. Previously, Mr. Greenspan was an Investment Banking Analyst with Wachovia Securities' Leveraged Finance group where he participated in the origination, structuring, underwriting and syndication of acquisition financing and related corporate credit products, including bank loans, bridge loans, and high yield debt across a variety of industry sectors.
Mr. Greenspan earned a BBA in Finance with a minor in Economics from the Goizueta Business School at Emory University. While in school Mr. Greenspan co-founded and operated a web-based consignment textbook business that served the college market.
Michael Kay was chairman of Magnatrax Corporation from 2001 to 2004. Magnatrax is one of the nation's leading manufacturers and marketers of engineered building products and services for commercial and residential construction. Prior to joining Magnatrax, Kay was president and CEO of LSG Sky Chefs for ten years. Widely know in the airline catering industry, LSG had gained 30 percent of global market share before Mr. Kay sold the company to Lufthansa Airlines in 2001. Other executive management posts for Mr. Kay include Charter Medical Corporation where he was executive vice president and management consultant, and president and CEO of both, Portman Hotel Company and Omni International Hotels. He is an officer of the Jewish Federation of Greater Atlanta and President and Director of the Jewish Family Services Agency in Atlanta.
Job Titles:
- Limited Partner
- President of Trans - Elect
Paul McCoy is President of Trans-Elect. Trans-Elect specializes in the acquisition, construction and independent operation of transmission systems. Prior to joining Trans-Elect, he spent 27 years at Commonwealth Edison. At ComEd, he served for 7 years as a member of the senior executive policy team, and had direct responsibility for a wide range of activities, including the planning, design, operation, and construction functions for its transmission and distribution systems. In addition, Mr. McCoy started and developed ComEd's Wholesale Energy Marketing Group into a major regional trading organization, and managed it until early 1998. In conjunction with this effort he was instrumental in the formation of the Chicago Board of Trade's electricity futures contract. He has held a number of leadership positions involving major industry organizations, including service as Chairman of the Mid-America Interconnected Network (MAIN), Chairman of the National Electric Energy Testing, Research & Applications Center at Georgia Institute of Technology (NEETRAC), member of the Electric Power Research Institute (EPRI) Research Advisory Committee, and board member of the North American Electric Reliability Council (NERC). Mr. McCoy was a leader in the formation of the Midwest Independent System Operator (MISO). Mr. McCoy earned his BSEE degree from the Illinois Institute of Technology, and is a Licensed Professional Engineer in the State of Illinois.
Mr. Kelley has spent the past 15 years as an operator, owner, and investor in numerous small businesses and start-up companies. His varied experience includes: CFO of Score Learning Centers, CEO of San Jose Giants, General Partner of two hotels, developer of houses and subdivisions, owner of office buildings, and investor in successful tech start-ups (Coinstar, PLX Technology, Corcept Therapeutics). He has also invested in many limited partnerships, including venture and private equity funds. Mr. Kelley has an MBA and BA from Stanford University.
Job Titles:
- Founder
- Managing Partner
- Member of the Management Team
Thaddeus Wright is the founder and managing partner of Wright Equity Partners and leads the firm's acquisition sourcing activities. Prior to founding Wright Equity Partners, Mr. Wright was the director of pricing strategy at BellSouth where he was responsible for pricing and market research for all next-generation products and services including IPTV and several VoIP initiatives. Previously, Mr. Wright was a management consultant at ScottMadden, Inc. While at ScottMadden Mr. Wright advised senior management of leading companies in North America on various revenue expansion, cost reduction and business development initiatives. For example, Mr. Wright co-managed the successful carve-out of a $290 million business services company in the energy industry. The same client later hired him to lead a $20 million effort to plan, design, construct and commission a mission-critical operations center.
Earlier in his career Mr. Wright traded taxable fixed income securities for PaineWebber and Morgan Stanley Dean Witter. Mr. Wright holds a BBA in Economics from the University of Georgia and an MBA from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.
Job Titles:
- Limited Partner
- Managing General Partner of Housatonic Partners
Mr. Thorndike is Managing General Partner of Housatonic Partners (housatonicpartners.com), a private equity firm he co-founded in 1994. He is a graduate of Harvard College and the Stanford Graduate School of Business. Mr. Thorndike is a Director of Access Information Management; Alta Colleges; Continental Fire & Safety Services, LLC; Carillon Assisted Living, LLC; Rapid Communications, LLC; and a Trustee of the Groton School; the Boston Athenaeum and, the College of the Atlantic.
Job Titles:
- Limited Partner
- Founder and General Partner of Alta Communications
Bill Egan is a founder and General Partner of Alta Communications, a private investment firm with over $1 billion under management. Mr. Egan founded Alta's predecessor firm, Burr, Egan, Deleage & Co. in 1979 and has identified and backed several of America's leading growth companies in the information technology, life sciences, and communications industries. Prior to founding Burr, Egan, Deleage & Co., Mr. Egan was a partner at TA Associates. Mr. Egan began his career as a manager of venture capital for New England Enterprise Capital Corporation. He is past president and chairman of the National Venture Capital Association and a member of the Boards of Trustees of Fairfield University and the University of Pennsylvania. Mr. Egan is on the board of directors of Cephalon, Inc. and also serves on the boards of several privately held communications, cable and information technology companies. Mr. Egan received his BA from Fairfield University and his MBA from the University of Pennsylvania's Wharton School of Finance.