BIG IDEA TECHNOLOGY - Key Persons
David Ruiz is a Senior Associate at Rock Mountain Capital and focuses on transaction execution, portfolio management, and deal origination. Previously, Mr. Ruiz worked at Alliance Consumer Growth, where he focused on growth equity investments in the consumer and retail sectors. Earlier in his career, he was an investment banker at Rothschild & Co., where he also focused on the consumer and retail sectors. Mr. Ruiz earned his B.A. degree in History from Princeton University and his M.B.A. from Harvard Business School.
David Scharf is a Managing Director at Rock Mountain Capital and focuses on operations and strategic initiatives, leveraging his vast experience building out corporate infrastructure and guiding companies on a path to operational/financial best practices. Mr. Scharf currently serves as a Director of Spark Dental Management, VCM Products and PurposeBuilt Brands.
Previously, Mr. Scharf was an Operating Advisor to Carlyle's middle market focused fund, the Carlyle Equity Opportunity Fund (CEOF) from 2013 to 2019. Upon Carlyle's investment in Galaxy Brands, Mr. Scharf served as its Chief Operating Officer until the company was sold by Carlyle to Sequential Brands, after which Mr. Scharf rejoined CEOF as an Operating Advisor.
Prior to working with Carlyle, Mr. Scharf worked at ESL Investments, Prentice Capital, Basso Capital and Hutchin Hill Capital investing in both the public and private markets. Mr. Scharf began his career at Arkin-Medo Inc. a wholesaler serving the printing and publishing industry, eventually becoming CEO. The business was sold to Fuji Film International in 2001, where Mr. Scharf participated in an industry roll up of over $2 billion in revenues.
Mr. Scharf earned his B.S. degree in Economics from the University of Pennsylvania and his J.D. from Fordham Law School.
David Stonehill is the founder and Managing Partner of Rock Mountain Capital, L.P. Mr. Stonehill has over 25 years of experience in private equity focused on middle market investments, concentrating on the Consumer Goods & Services, Consumer-Facing Healthcare Services and Business Services sectors. Mr. Stonehill currently serves on the Board of Directors of GeoLinks, PurposeBuilt Brands, Spark Dental Management, VCM Products, Argoid Analytics, and Brand House.
Prior to founding Rock Mountain Capital, Mr. Stonehill was a Partner and Managing Director at The Carlyle Group, where he served as the Deputy Fund Head and a member of the Investment Committee for The Carlyle Equity Opportunity Funds I and II, funds focused on the North American middle market. Previously, Mr. Stonehill was an Executive Managing Director and the Head of U.S. Private Investments at Och-Ziff Capital Management, a Principal in the Private Equity Group at Blackstone, and also worked at Chartwell Investments and Bain & Company.
Mr. Stonehill graduated from Harvard with a degree in Applied Math with Economics and earned his J.D. and M.B.A. from Harvard.
John Battinelli is a Principal at Rock Mountain Capital and focuses on transaction execution, portfolio management, and deal origination. Mr. Battinelli currently serves as a Director of VCM Products. Previously, Mr. Battinelli worked in middle market private equity at MidOcean Partners and Gridiron Capital, where he focused on leveraged buyout transactions primarily in the consumer and business services sectors. He began his career in the M&A group of Wells Fargo Securities. Mr. Battinelli earned his B.S. in Economics from Duke University.
Job Titles:
- Chief Financial Officer
- Chief Operating Officer
Judith Ottensoser is the Chief Operating Officer and Chief Financial Officer of Rock Mountain Capital. Judith is responsible for all finance, accounting, tax, compliance, technology, and operational areas of Rock Mountain Capital.
Prior to RMC, Judith was the COO/CFO for GMF Capital, a real estate focused Private Equity firm, where she worked from 2015-2019. Previously, Judith was a Managing Director, COO/CFO of the Distressed Debt Strategies Group at Napier Park Capital Partners, an entity formed as a 2013 spin-out from Citibank's alternative investments platform. Judith had been a Managing Member of Epic Asset Management, which joined Citi in 2008. Prior to that, she was an Investment Banking associate and analyst at Goldman Sachs & Co.
Judith holds a B.S. in Economics from the Wharton School, and a B.A. in International Relations from the University of Pennsylvania.
Stephane Siboni is an Operating Advisor at Rock Mountain Capital and focuses on partnering with business owners and management teams to provide growth capital and strategic and operational advice, with a particular emphasis on the consumer goods and services sector. He is an expert in identifying unique business opportunities and developing growth and M&A strategies, and has significant expertise in customer insight and segmentation. Mr. Siboni currently serves on the board of directors of Dossier, WTF Beauty and Concrete Farm.
Mr. Siboni was previously the Co-Founder and CEO of Ardency Inn, an award-winning beauty brand, which was launched at Sephora in the U.S. and Canada. He was the recipient of a WWD Beauty Inc Award. Mr. Siboni possesses an array of strong relationships within the beauty industry accumulated over the years in the U.S. and international markets, including within product development labs, major retailers, distributors, creative agencies and the influencer community. Mr. Siboni also has first-hand experience building a direct to consumer e-commerce business. Prior to founding Ardency Inn, Mr. Siboni had extensive management consulting experience, having served as a Managing Director at Lexagon Group in New York and as a Principal at Boston Consulting Group in its New York office. Mr. Siboni was previously an Associate in the M&A group at Lehman Brothers in New York and an Analyst in Private Equity at PAI Partners.
Mr. Siboni holds an MBA from Columbia Business School. Mr. Siboni has U.S. and French dual citizenship.
Tom Hendren is an Operating Advisor at Rock Mountain Capital and focuses on partnering with management teams of growing consumer goods businesses, leveraging his 25+ years of experience working in the beauty retailing & manufacturing space.
Previously, Mr. Hendren served as Executive Chairman and Head of Global Business Development at Array Marketing, a Toronto-based global designer and manufacturer of retail merchandising solutions (displays/store fixtures and environments) for beauty brands and retailers. Mr. Hendren previously served as President and CEO of Array Marketing. In these roles, Mr. Hendren worked closely with both high-growth beauty brands and marquee beauty retailers, and he was instrumental in establishing Array's global capabilities, including operations in Asia, Europe and LATAM Mexico.
Mr. Hendren has a degree in accounting from Glasgow College of Technology and is an Honorary Professor of Marketing at Heriot Watt University in Edinburgh, UK, where he is a frequent guest lecturer.