VIRIDIAN CAPITAL ADVISORS - Key Persons
Mr. Gabor spent 17 years building businesses and teams at various investment banks in New York with a focus on debt capital markets. He began his career at BNP Paribas where he specialized in interest rate derivatives and later became a Director at Citigroup specializing in bond underwriting and private placements for multi-national issuers. In 2018 Mr. Gabor began investing, advising and operating cannabis companies.
Job Titles:
- Advisor
- Board Member of Manning & Napier
Ms. Goodstein was most recently the CEO of TIGER21, an organization made up of over 500 members who collectively manage more than $50 billion in personal assets. The organization's mission is to help its members improve their investment acumen, tackle common issues of wealth preservation, manage family-related challenges, and understand estate planning options, philanthropic endeavors, and legacy impact.
Ms. Goodstein's experience spans business development, marketing and operations, having held senior leadership roles at firms including Bankers Trust, Instinet.com, Vonage, and American Express.
Among the Top 25 Women in Finance (U.S. Banker's Most Powerful Women Annual Ranking in 2008 and 2009), she participates in FORTUNE's Most Powerful Women Summits, is a member of the Women's Forum, and FORTUNE's Global Mentor Program. Ms. Goodstein has also won AWNY's "Impact" and "Changing the Game" awards for Innovation.
Ms. Goodstein is a board member of Manning & Napier, a New York Stock Exchange listed investment management company with over $50 billion in assets under management, and is a board director for God's Love We Deliver, a non-profit annually delivering over a million meals to NYC's homebound.
Ms. Goodstein received her M.B.A. from Columbia University and a B.A. from Brown University. She holds Series 7, 24, and 63 licenses.
Job Titles:
- Head of Investment Banking & General Counsel
Carl brings his over 30+ years of experience as a lawyer, investment banker, and private equity professional to Viridian. His joining Viridian also reunites him with Scott Greiper, as they both previously worked together at the investment banks of Barington Capital and Commonwealth Associates, where Carl was a managing partner in the investment banking group and Scott headed up the research division.
Mr. Kleidman has closed over 100 financing and M&A transactions throughout his varied career - primarily for small and mid-sized companies.
His prior experience also includes being a partner at the law firm of Shea & Gould and working at private equity funds such as ComVest Partners and BelHealth Investment Partners.
Carl received his J.D. from Cornell University School of Law in 1982 and a Bachelor of Science degree in Accounting from Syracuse University in 1979.
Job Titles:
- Director of Data Analytics
Mr. Colombo joins Viridian Capital with 20 years of experience in credit research, valuation, and financial forecasting and analysis. He was formerly the Director of Fixed Income & Credit Research at Dillon Read where he chaired the High Yield Commitment Committee and originated numerous high yield bond underwritings. Subsequently, he was the Global Head of High Yield Research at UBS. He also served as Managing Director/Head of Research at Seaport Global, a full service investment banking firm. For the last three years, Frank has worked as an advisor and analyst in the cannabis industry.
Mr. Colombo graduated summa cum laude from the University of Colorado with a B.A. degree in Economics, and received his MBA from Stanford University. He's also a Chartered Financial Analyst (CFA).
Job Titles:
- in 2022 As the VP of Marketing
Mr. Katselnik joined Viridian Capital Advisors in 2022 as the VP of Marketing. Prior to joining Viridian, Mr. Katselnik worked at Green Street Agency, a LA-based cannabis marketing and advertising agency owned by Gary Vaynerchuk. At Green Street, Mr. Katselnik worked vigorously on many projects, including: Hall of Flowers, Green Street Festival, and the opening of the Green Street Building. Mr. Katselnik also has experience working in finance at Worldquant, where he was a part of the business development team.
Mr. Coleman partners with Viridian Capital with 27 years of experience in the securities industry. He started in the equity business in the early 1990's at Sanford Bernstein and went on to become a Partner in 1997. He's held various sales management and senior management roles at firms such as Credit Suisse, Leerink Swann, and Macquarie Bank. In 2011, Greg launched his own firm, THINK Partners, a financial services boutique that focuses on identifying compelling investment management and private company opportunities and offering them to professional investors. Prior to joining Wall Street, Greg worked in the technology industry at both IBM and Electronic Data Systems.
Mr. Kreps joined Viridian Capital Advisors in 2022 as part of the investment banking team. He started his career working for AIG on the international property insurance team and has held various buy and sell side roles throughout his career. Prior to joining Viridian, Jason was an associate at PI Capital where he worked on all aspects of middle market deals including origination, execution, marketing and diligence.
Jason earned an undergraduate degree in Marketing and a Master's in Finance and Investment Management from The Lubin School of Business at Pace University. Jason also earned his MBA from The Daniels School of Business at The University of Denver where he served as portfolio manager for the school's student managed hedge fund, and president of the Graduate Business Student Association.
Jeffrey Wattenberg is a private investor and Wall Street veteran. His business career spans over 25 years of venture capital, senior management, and merger and acquisitions experience. He is the Founder and former President of a broker dealer with 200 brokers. He is a founder and former President of Telecuba Holdings, a telecom firm that secured licenses from the FCC to connect the United States with Cuba direct via satellite. The company is also licensed to build a subsea cable network between the U.S. and Cuba. He was a seed round investor in Inter Americas Communications (aka FirstCom) which was sold to ATT. He was a seed round investor in World port Communications which was sold to Energis U.K. for $600 million. He was the founder and President of Brief serve, the largest digital legal brief archive in the United States, which was sold to Westlaw, a division of Thomson Reuters. In addition, Jeffrey was a Board Member of the Association of Volleyball Professionals (AVP).He was directly involved in raising over $20 million in capital for the league and secured tour sponsorships in excess of $25 million for the AVP. He was co-founder of Flash Flood for Good, a non-profit clean water initiative in partnership with The Clinton Global Initiative, Proctor & Gamble and Crispin Porter Bogusky. He is currently on the Board of Major Arena Soccer League Properties which controls all commercial rights of the MASL.
Job Titles:
- Analyst
- Capital in 2021 As a Research Analyst
Mr. Ferguson joined Viridian Capital in 2021 as a Research Analyst. Prior to joining Viridian, Joe was a Private Equity Analyst at Meridian General Capital where he was responsible for sourcing and assessing new investment opportunities, leading due diligence for investments and assisting with portfolio company monitoring.
Joe earned his undergraduate degree in Accounting at Mississippi State University and was a Linebacker for the Mississippi State Football Team. Joe earned his Master's in Accounting and graduate minor in Data Analytics from McCool Business School.
Job Titles:
- Advisor
- Chief Investment Officer of Pacific Gate Capital Management
Ms. Johnson-Miller is currently the Chief Investment Officer of Pacific Gate Capital Management, a fund that is focused on U.S. private credit investments. She leads the investment team for manager due diligence, investment due diligence, and is actively engaged in the capital raising efforts for the fund. Most noteworthy, Ms. Johnson-Miller has successfully approved capital allocations to 3 US private debt funds, who combined, manage over $30.0 billion in assets under management.
Ms. Johnson-Miller is an alumni of the University of Denver, Colorado where she received her B.S. in Finance.
Keith Levy is a highly successful CPG executive with a career spanning more than 3 decades. Most recently he led the successful creation and execution of Mars Wrigley's Global Business Development division which included all inorganic and organic strategies designed to future proof the confectionery and snacking giant's business and drive accelerated growth. As President, of this division, he and his team led the multi-billion dollar strategic investment in KIND Snacks as well as smaller early stage capital deployment designed to form unique partnerships and marry entrepreneurial capabilities with scale capabilities of a large strategic, CPG investor. Prior to this, he was President of Royal Canin USA based in St. Charles, MO, a leading global manufacturer of premium dog and cat nutrition, and the largest business in the Royal Canin global network. Royal Canin is a subsidiary of Mars, Inc., one of the world's largest private companies. The business manufactures, markets, and distributes more than 200 different specialty diets and 500+ skus to approximately 30,000 clients nationwide. Mr. Levy's team operated a network of 4 factories in N. America and led nearly 1000 associates across the country. As President of that company from 2012-2017, several key initiatives were implemented accelerating topline growth including significant sales force expansion, the installation of brand management and marketing discipline, revenue management optimization, and the creation of an eCommerce strategy and organization. In addition to topline focus, he and his team have significantly improved bottom line results through broad based consolidation in logistics and distribution, productivity improvements and margin enhancing initiatives focused on efficiency and cost containment. All of this has led to more than doubling the size of the business and tripling the earnings shape over a five year period. Prior to Mars and Royal Canin, Mr. Levy enjoyed a successful 24 year career at Anheuser-Busch, Inc. During his tenure at Anheuser-Busch, he held numerous executive roles including Vice President of sales, Vice President of Brand Management and prior to leaving AB in 2011, he was the company's Vice President & Chief Marketing Officer responsible for leading some of the world's most valuable brands including Budweiser and Bud Light. He helped drive the company's revenue to a record $13B (at the time), and was instrumental in shaping modern brand management at Anheuser-Busch. He also led the development and launch of many innovative new products including Bud Light Lime, one the most successful line extensions across all CPG in 2008/2009. Some of Mr. Levy's awards for marketing excellence include winning USA Today's Super Bowl ad meter in 2008 and 2011 as well as capturing 3 out of the top 10 ad meter selections in 2010, Cannes Gold and Silver Lions in 2008 and 2010, several POPIA Gold and Silver medals for outstanding merchandising achievement, and three Emmy nominations for advertising excellence in 2009/2010. Additionally, he was a key member of the senior integration team during the $52B acquisition of Anheuser-Busch by Inbev in 2008. He is a past board member of the Association of National Advertisers, the Pet Food Institute, a current advisory board member to the George Herbert Walker School of Business & Technology at Webster University in St. Louis, MO, and a new board member of LucidMood, a fast growing cannabis business based in Boulder, CO. In addition, Mr. Levy has been a past contributor on Forbes.com where he is a member of the Forbes CMO Network. He earned his BBA from Kent State University and has attended executive education at both Kellogg School of Management and Harvard Business School.
Kevin is a Partner and a member of Pantheon's Partnership Board and is responsible for global business development and client service. Pantheon is a leading global investor in private equity, infrastructure, and real assets that has invested over $30 billion on behalf of institutional investors around the world.
Kevin joined Pantheon from Elevation Partners and prior to that led the Global Private Equity Placement Group at Merrill Lynch.
He holds a BA in Economics and a MBA in Finance, both from the University of California, Los Angeles.
Job Titles:
- Advisor
- CEO of Conception Nurseries
Kevin Brooks Serves as CEO of Conception Nurseries, the leading cannabis tissue culture company. Prior to Conception, Kevin served as CEO of Connected Cannabis one of the largest vertically-integrated cannabis companies in California. Before entering the cannabis industry, Kevin spent 15 years as an executive in Silicon Valley supporting companies through multiple successful exits.
Job Titles:
- Advisor
- Founder and Chairman of Iconic Entertainment Studios
Mr. Cohl's career spans over 45 years in the entertainment business, producing worldwide music tours including The Rolling Stones, Pink Floyd, U2, Barbra Streisand, and many more, as well as films such as Pete Seeger: Power of Song (Emmy Award), LENNONYC (Peabody and Emmy Awards), a film about Harry Belafonte, Sing Your Song (Peabody Award), and The Rolling Stones classics Live at the Max and Shine a Light.
Mr. Cohl has also produced live shows such as the children's show Yo Gabba Gabba! Live! (2010 Billboard Touring Award for Creative Content) and has spent decades on and off Broadway with shows including SpiderMan: Turn Off The Dark (for which Mr. Cohl was voted Producer of the Year 2011), Rock of Ages, The Lion King, and Spamalot (Tony Award).
Mr. Cohl was previously the chairman of Live Nation, was inducted into the Canadian Music Hall of Fame, and has received a star on Canada's Walk of Fame. Among his many other awards, Michael has also been honored with the Billboard Legend of Live Award, the TJ Martell Foundation Man of the Year Award, and a JUNO Award for Special Achievement.
Mr. Cohl is the founder and chairman of Iconic Entertainment Studios and is currently developing, producing, and promoting over a dozen properties including David Gilmour, Transformers Live!, An Evening with Al Pacino, A Night with Janis Joplin, Alvin and the Chipmunks Live on Stage!, and many more.
Job Titles:
- Advisor
- President of WGA Global Marketing Group
Mr. Fox was group president and publishing director of Condé Nast Publications, responsible for more than a dozen of the company's media properties. In 2000, Mr. Fox helped acquire, and later become the president and CEO of, The Golf Digest Companies. From 2001 to 2008, Mr. Fox oversaw all properties that operate under The Golf Digest Companies' umbrella.
Prior to his position at the Golf Digest Companies, Mr. Fox served as executive vice president of corporate sales of Condé Nast Publications. Mr. Fox was also a member of Condé Nast Publications' executive management team. In 1994, Mr. Fox was named publisher of Vanity Fair. He was named Condé Nast's Publisher of the Year in January 1997. In December 1997, Mr. Fox was promoted to the position of vice president and publisher. Prior to that, beginning in 1989, he was publisher of Details magazine, earning Magazine of the Year honors and Top 10 Hottest Magazine honors two years in a row.
Mr. Fox is currently the president of WGA Global Marketing Group, a holding company with interests in insurance, media development, cross border e-commerce, and investments in cannabis related businesses.
Pete McGough joins Viridian with 25+ years of investment banking experience as both a producer and a manager. He began his career on the floor of the New York Stock Exchange, and later rose to manage teams at Credit Suisse and JPMorgan. Pete has focused on the hemp and cannabis sectors since2015. He has been active in the industry as an angel investor, raising capital, advising hemp and cannabis entrepreneurs, and advocating for legislative hemp reform.
Mr. McDonough is one of the world's leading brand and marketing executives, with over 30 years' experience growing and managing some of the globe's most iconic brands.
In his most recent corporate role at Diageo, Mr. McDonough served as President, Chief Marketing Officer, and Chief Innovation Officer for Diageo North America, from 2009-2015. Diageo (NYSE: DEO), with a $65 billion market capitalization, is a global leader in beverage alcohol, owning iconic brands in spirits, beer, and wine, including the top two largest spirits brands in the world, Johnnie Walker and Smirnoff, and 20 of the world's top 100 spirits brands. In his role, Mr. McDonough transformed and built the marketing and product development organizations that delivered accelerated growth and positioned Diageo as the industry leader in product innovation.
Mr. McDonough is an alumnus of Cornell University and holds a Masters of Business Administration from the Wharton School of Business.
Mr. Greiper has had a highly successful 30-year career on Wall Street and in his own businesses, with a track record of helping to identify, advise, finance and buy/sell best of breed emerging growth companies in newly emerging industries.
Mr. Greiper is the founder and President of Viridian Capital Advisors, launched in June 2014 as one of the earliest institutional financial and strategic advisory firms in the legal cannabis sector. To date, the Viridian team has closed 16 financing transactions totaling approximately $185 million, and 10 M&A transactions with total consideration of approximately $400 million. Viridian has performed several dozen valuation, financial modeling and board development assignments for its cannabis and hemp client companies.
In 2002, Mr. Greiper founded one of the first investment banking practices on Wall Street focused on the homeland and cyber security markets. As an early pioneer in these industries, he was able to advise, finance and buy/sell some of the early market leaders in the burgeoning security marketplace.
He has been involved in raising more than $700 million in capital for emerging growth companies and has completed a range of M&A transactions.
Practicing intellectual property law for over three decades, Mr. Thompson has been repeatedly recognized by the World Trademark Reporter as one of the top 300 trademark attorneys in the world and is a three-time recipient of the WTR's Best in-house Trademark Teams in the world.
Most recently Mr. Thompson was the General Counsel - Intellectual Property/Marketing Properties for Mars Incorporated. He also simultaneously served as the interim General Counsel for Mars Edge helping the startup division in its first two years of growth in new innovative areas of business.
Mr. Thompson has served in leadership positions at the largest brand companies in the world, including:
Assistant General Counsel at Philip Morris Companies
Vice-President and Associate General Counsel at Colgate-Palmolive
Vice-President of Global Trademarks at GlaxoSmithKline
Mr. Thompson was also a partner at the global law firm of Greenberg Traurig. He is a graduate of Cornell University with a B.S. degree in Communications and a J.D. degree from Brooklyn Law School.
Tripp Keber is widely considered one of the most prominent and well-known business leaders in the cannabis industry. Additionally, Mr. Keber is recognized as an established branding expert in the adult use and medical cannabis spaces. He was previously the co-founder and former CEO of Dixie Brands, Inc., a cannabis centric branding company. Dixie is known worldwide for its namesake cannabis-infused beverages and infused products, Dixie Elixirs & Edibles, Aceso and Therabis, Dixie's human and pet Full Spectrum Hemp Oil wellness brand platforms respectively, as well as hundreds of other cannabis products. Mr. Keber has served as a Director for several cannabis industry organizations, including the National Cannabis Industry Association, the Marijuana Policy Project, and the National Association of Cannabis Businesses. Currently Tripp is Managing Director for Right Side Advisory Services, LLC, a hemp and cannabis centric advisory firm that specializes in both private and public companies in the United States and abroad. He has also held many senior and C-level positions in realty, communications and other industries. He has a BS in Political Science from Villanova University and currently resides in Denver, CO with his family. Additionally Tripp is involved in several charitable organizations located within his community including several focusing its support of military veterans suffering from "post-traumatic stress disorder