Keynote Speakers

Bill Glastris ’84
Prospect Partners

Mr. Glastris is an Advisory and Founding Principal with Prospect Partners. Prior to forming Prospect Partners, Mr. Glastris was a partner at LaSalle Capital Group, a lower-middle-market leveraged buyout firm in Chicago, from 1990 to 1997. During this time, Mr. Glastris originated and completed nine acquisitions with management partners as a principal and as a personal investor.

From 1983 to 1989, Mr. Glastris was with Golder, Thoma & Cressey (now GTCR Golder Rauner, LLC), a large Chicago-based private equity investment firm managing over $400 million in three funds and specializing in consolidating fragmented industries. In six years at Golder, Thoma & Cressey, Mr. Glastris originated seven portfolio company investments for the firm.

Mr. Glastris received a BA from Northwestern University and an MBA from the Kellogg School of Management at Northwestern University.

Jeff Gonyo ’88
Geneva Glen Capital

Mr. Gonyo has more than 23 years of successful private equity investment experience. Prior to establishing Geneva Glen Capital in 2008, Mr. Gonyo was a Managing Director with Wind Point Partners, Vice President of Heller Investments and an investment professional with GTCR. Prior to joining GTCR, Mr. Gonyo was a Senior Strategy Consultant with Ernst & Young and an accountant with PricewaterhouseCoopers.

Throughout his private equity career, Mr. Gonyo has been an active board member of more than a dozen companies and led control investments leading to over 130 add-on acquisitions. He has invested in and managed portfolio companies across numerous industry investment cycles in traditional buyouts, recapitalizations, take-privates, industry consolidations and turn-around investments.

Mr. Gonyo has a BS with honors in Accounting from Indiana University and an MBA from the Kellogg School of Management at Northwestern University.

Rocco Martino
LaSalle Capital Group

Mr. Martino joined the predecessor to LaSalle Capital Group in 1989 and organized Fund I with Mr. Florences in 2004. He currently shares overall management responsibility for LCG with Mr. Florences. Mr. Martino is responsible for deal generation, overseeing due diligence, deal structuring and negotiation, fundraising and investor relations. Mr. Martino has extensive board level experience working with management in the areas of strategy formulation (including exit strategy), productivity improvement, product-line growth, strategic acquisitions, financing growth and recruitment of senior executives and outside directors. Mr. Martino has 23 years of private equity experience focused on investing in microcap market companies.

Mr. Martino currently serves on the Board and Executive Committee of Edward Hospital and Chairman of the Advisory Council for Loyola University of Chicago School of Business, as well as a member of the Economic Club of Chicago.

Mr. Martino is a Certified Public Accountant and holds a BBA in finance from the University of Notre Dame as well as an MBA from Loyola University of Chicago.

Chris Perry
CIVC Partners

Mr. Perry is an active investor in the business services industry and shares overall strategic and operating responsibility for CIVC Partners. Mr. Perry joined CIVC as a managing partner in 1994. He is a director of The Brickman Group Ltd., LA Fitness International LLC, Icon Identity Solutions Inc., Wintrust Financial Corporation, Pipeline Industries, Inc., PowerTeam Services, LLC and EN Engineering, LLC. He is a former Chairman of the Board of Trustees for Cristo Rey Jesuit High School, a Trustee of Cristo Rey Saint Martin High School, a Trustee of LINK Unlimited and a member of the Archdiocese of Chicago Investment Committee and Finance Committee.

Mr. Perry is a Certified Public Accountant and received a Bachelor of Science in Accounting from the University of Illinois as well as an MBA from Pepperdine University.

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Margaret Gibson
Kirkland & Ellis LLP

Ms. Gibson is a partner in the corporate group concentrating on business transactions and counseling, with particular focus on private equity, mergers and acquisitions, restructurings, private fund formations and secondary transactions. Her clients include Alvarez & Marsal, Bank of America Corporation and affiliates, Black & Veatch Company, CIVC Partners, Convergent Capital Management Inc., Frontenac Company, GTCR, Maxcom Telecomunicaciones, Prairie Capital, Resource Land Holdings, Ridgemont Equity Partners, The Royal Bank of Scotland and affiliates, Seaport Capital, Sterling Stamos Capital Management and Woodbury Strategic Partners.

Ms. Gibson graduated cum laude from Northwestern University School of Law in 1987 and received her undergraduate degree from The University of Michigan in 1984, with class honors.

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Mark Heesen
President
National Venture Capital Association

For more than two decades, Mr. Heesen has advocated for the venture capital industry, entrepreneurship and innovation, first as National Venture Capital Association’s (NVCA’s) head of public policy and, since 1999 as the Association’s president. Under his leadership, the NVCA has grown in both scope and scale, broadening its public policy agenda, expanding its research initiatives and adding member programs. By providing strategic direction for the NVCA professional staff and managing a board of more than two dozen venture capital practitioners, Mr. Heesen sets the legislative and regulatory agenda for issues relating to information technology, life sciences and clean technology investing.

Mr. Heesen received a law degree with an emphasis in taxation from the Dickinson School of Law.

Warren Weiss
Foundation Capital

Mr. Weiss is a General Partner at Foundation Capital. At Foundation Capital, Mr. Weiss focuses primarily on investments in emerging software and Cleantech. He currently serves on the boards of InterAct, MarkMonitor, Moxie Software, Rearden Commerce, SilkRoad Technologies, Silver Spring Networks and Visier. Mr. Weiss joined Foundation Capital in 2002 with more than 25 years of experience in the software industry, including time as president and CEO of four public and private software companies. Most recently, he was president and CEO of Asera, a real-time software solutions provider.

Mr. Weiss holds a BS from Western Illinois University.

Kevin Willer
New World Ventures/Chicagoland Entrepreneurial Center

Mr. Willer is the President and Chief Executive Officer of the Chicagoland Entrepreneurial Center (CEC). The CEC works with high-potential entrepreneurs to build the next generation of high growth companies in the Chicago area. He works across the entrepreneurial eco-system with startups, investors, government and industry organizations to accelerate the pace of innovation and rate of success for local entrepreneurs. The CEC is managing, operating and programming 1871, a new startup co-working center for 400 entrepreneurs located at The Merchandise Mart. Previously, Mr. Willer co-founded the Google Chicago office in late 2000.

Mr. Willer has a Bachelor’s degree from Boston College, studied at the London School of Economics and earned his MBA from the Booth School of Business at the University of Chicago where he serves on the Advisory Board for the Polsky Center for Entrepreneurship.

Nazar Yasin ’06
Tiger Global/Rise Capital

Mr. Yasin is the Managing Partner of Rise Capital, a global investment firm he is launching in March 2013. Mr. Yasin is currently a Director at Tiger Global, a $13bn global investment firm, where he is one of three people responsible for managing the firm's private investments. At Tiger Global, Mr. Yasin led the firm's private investments in YY (Nasdaq: YY) in China, Baby.com.br in Brazil, Ivi.ru in Russia, Iroko Partners in Africa and a number of other leading Internet businesses around the globe. Prior to Tiger Global, Mr. Yasin was the CEO of Forticom, a $1bn+ market value European Internet company and co-led Goldman Sachs's Internet investment banking activities in the EMEA region.

Mr. Yasin received his Bachelor's in Industrial Engineering from Georgia Tech, holds a JD from Northwestern University School of Law and an MBA from the Kellogg School of Management at Northwestern University, where he received the Dean's Distinguished Service Award for founding Kellogg Insight, the School's official web-based business journal.

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Troy Henikoff
Excelerate

Mr. Henikoff is the CEO and Co-Founder of Excelerate, a seed stage accelerator in Chicago. Additionally he teaches Entrepreneurship at Northwestern University, is on the board of the Chicagoland Entrepreneurial Center and an advisor to Hyde Park Angels. His last 25 years have been spent starting, running and advising early stage technology companies.

Prior to Excelerate, Mr. Henikoff was the CEO of OneWed.com, a wedding website that provides the largest online database of wedding vendors, detailed ratings and reviews and a smart, unique voice for wedding planning tips and advice. Mr. Henikoff was also the President of Amacai, a consumer and business data supplier.

Previously, Mr. Henikoff co-founded SurePayroll.com, now the largest Internet-based payroll company in the country. Prior to SurePayroll, Mr. Henikoff built the technology for Jellyvision (creators of “You Don’t Know Jack!”) and his first company was Specialized Systems and Software, which focused on creating custom database applications.

Mr. Henikoff has an undergraduate degree in Engineering from Brown University and a Master's Degree in Project Management from Northwestern.

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Paul Carbone
The Pritzker Group

Mr. Carbone is the Managing Partner of Private Equity for The Pritzker Group. The Pritzker Group is the private investment firm, led by Tony and J.B. Pritzker, which makes control investments in middle-market companies headquartered in North America with enterprise values between $75 million and $400 million. Mr. Carbone was previously Director and Managing Partner of the Private Equity Group for Robert W. Baird & Co. which makes venture capital, growth equity and buyout investments in smaller, high potential companies in the US, Europe and Asia. Mr. Carbone chaired each of Baird Private Equity’s fund businesses and served as Managing Partner and Chairman of the Investment Committee for Baird Capital Partners and Baird Venture Partners.

Mr. Carbone is a Phi Beta Kappa graduate of The College of the University of Chicago and a member of its Visiting Committee. Mr. Carbone received his MBA from the Harvard Business School.

Walter Florence ’98
Frontenac Company

Mr. Florence is a managing director with Frontenac Company, a Chicago-based private equity fund. Since 1995, Mr. Florence’s investing experience and focus has been on companies across a range of markets. Today he leads Frontenac’s activities in the food/consumer as well as business services markets. In addition, he leads the firm’s investment operations. Mr. Florence currently serves on the board of directors of Mercer Foods LLC, Wenner Bread Products, Salient Federal Solutions, Sigma International Group and F&W Media. Prior to joining Frontenac, Mr. Florence worked at Bear, Stearns & Co., Inc. and McKinsey & Company.

Mr. Florence graduated cum laude from Dartmouth College with a major in economics and mathematics and received a MBA from the Kellogg School of Management at Northwestern University.

Lex Leeming ’02
Moelis Capital Partners

Mr. Leeming is a Principal of Moelis Capital Partners and leads the business development functionality. Mr. Leeming has ten years of investing, sourcing and capital raising experience and has completed numerous middle-market buyouts across a variety of industries. Prior to joining Moelis Capital Partners, Mr. Leeming was a Principal with Park Avenue Equity Partners, a middle-market buyout fund. Previously, Mr. Leeming worked in a strategy and marketing capacity at American Express and began his career as an analyst at Global Emerging Markets.

Mr. Leeming graduated magna cum laude with a BA in International Relations and Spanish from Tufts University and holds an MBA from the Kellogg School of Management at Northwestern University.

Peter Pettit ’07
MSouth Equity Partners

Mr. Pettit joined MSouth as a Principal in 2009. Prior to joining MSouth, Mr. Pettit was most recently employed by Code Hennessy & Simmons, a middle-market private equity firm with $2.7 billion of capital, as a Vice President in the business & consumer services group. Prior to CHS, Mr. Pettit worked for Cravey, Green & Wahlen for four years. Before joining CGW, Mr. Pettit worked at The Robinson-Humphrey Company, Inc. in the investment banking division with a focus on sell-side M&A transactions for middle-market companies.

Mr. Pettit holds a BS in Commerce from the McIntire School of Commerce at the University of Virginia and an MBA from the Kellogg School of Management at Northwestern University.

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Oscar David
Winston & Strawn

Mr. David is a partner and chair of Winston & Strawn’s mergers and acquisitions, securities, & corporate governance practice. Mr. David is ranked as a leading Chicago attorney in the Chambers Guide and the firm's practice is also ranked. In addition, the practice is ranked as a “Tier 1” firm in the area of middle-market M&A by Legal 500 USA and in the top 20 among law firms for U.S. buyouts (based on volume of deals) by MergerMarket.

Mr. David concentrates his practice on public and private mergers and acquisitions, corporate governance, private equity and venture capital and corporate finance matters. He regularly advises senior executives on sensitive challenges arising in these matters. In the past decade, he has represented clients in connection with consummated transactions valued at over $60 billion.

Mr. David received his J.D. from the University of Chicago Law School in 1987 and graduated Phi Beta Kappa from George Washington University in 1984.

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Bill Pescatello
Lightbank

Mr. Pescatello joined Lightbank as a Principal in May 2011 and has served on the boards of Whoshere, Udemy, Snapsheet, Centzy and Ovuline while at Lightbank. He joined the team from NBCUniversal, where he was a Vice President and founding member of the Peacock Equity Fund, the venture capital arm of NBCU, from 2007-2011. While at Peacock Equity, Mr. Pescatello served as NBCU's board representative at Greystripe, Ramp and Vivox. Prior to joining NBCUniversal, Mr. Pescatello worked at GE Capital where he helped finance leading early stage biotech companies. Mr. Pescatello also worked as a Finance Analyst at Morgan Stanley and at Merrill Lynch within their Global Research Group.

Mr. Pescatello is a Chartered Financial Analyst, holds a Bachelor's Degree from Northwestern University and graduated with honors from the Booth School of Business at the University of Chicago.

Ashish Rangnekar
BenchPrep

Mr. Rangnekar is the CEO and Co-Founder of BenchPrep, the world's only cross-device learning platform. As the CEO of BenchPrep, Mr. Rangnekar successfully raised more than $8MM in funding and built a team of 35 professionals across Chicago, NY, Uruguay and India. Mr. Rangnekar designed the first testing and assessment engine for iOS in 2008 and led the product development for the first cross-platform exam prep app. Under his leadership, BenchPrep was voted “most innovative and best-in-class test prep and assessment platform” at the Education Innovation Summit and won the 2010 New Venture Challenge at the Booth School of Business at the University of Chicago.

Mr. Rangnekar holds a BS in Mechanical Engineering from the Indian Institute of Technology in Mumbai, a MS in Applied Mathematics at City University New York and an MBA from the Booth School of Business at the University of Chicago.

Jeremy Smith
SpotHero

Mr. Smith is the Co-Founder & COO of SpotHero. After completing his undergraduate degree, Mr. Smith worked at Motorola and became roommates with Co-Founder Mark Lawrence. During his short time in Chicago, he amassed $3,500 in parking tickets! That's when SpotHero was born. When he's not out being a SpotHero for Chicago residents, Mr. Smith loves catching sporting events with friends, checking out new places around the city and frequenting local dive restaurants.

Mr. Smith graduated from the University of Illinois in 2008.

Chuck Templeton ’06
Impact Engine

Mr. Templeton is passionate about early stage and emerging companies and is focused on using business to find solutions to today’s biggest challenges. He is currently the managing director of Impact Engine (TheImpactEngine.com), a venture accelerator focused on helping for-profit companies that address environmental and/or societal challenges increase their chances of success.

Mr. Templeton took his first big step as an entrepreneur in San Francisco when he founded OpenTable, Inc., which went public on the NASDAQ in May of 2009 (OPEN). He used that experience to support the GrubHub.com team as an Advisor and Director as they grew to be the national leader in providing hungry diners with all their food delivery and take-out options while helping independent restaurants use technology to operate more profitably. In addition, Mr. Templeton has had the pleasure of being involved in over two-dozen startups as an entrepreneur, investor, board member or advisor.

Mr. Templeton holds a BS in Environmental Economics from California Polytechnic State University and received his MBA in Entrepreneurship and Leadership from the Kellogg School of Management at Northwestern University.

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Joseph Dwyer ’06
OCA Ventures

Mr. Dwyer is a Venture Partner with OCA Ventures and has been working at OCA since 2008. For the 15 years prior to joining OCA, Mr. Dwyer was an Internet entrepreneur creating high-growth technology companies.

Mr. Dwyer’s past ventures include CEO and founder of The Virtual Market, one of the first dynamically generated e-commerce sites; CEO and founder of Blir, a technology consulting and custom software development company serving clients such as Bain & Company, Albertsons and Exodus Computing; CTO and board member of LoanSurfer.com, a venture-backed online mortgage bank; and President and Founder of TouchPoint Solutions, an enterprise Software-as-a-Service company with customers including Kodak, British Petroleumand Lockheed Martin.

Mr. Dwyer has an undergraduate degree in International Relations from the Georgetown University School of Foreign Service. He also holds an MBA with Distinction from the Kellogg School of Management at Northwestern University and a law degree Cum Laude from the Northwestern University School of Law, where he was awarded the Order of the Coif.

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Brian Gallagher ’95
Twin Bridge Capital Partners

Mr. Gallagher co-founded Twin Bridge Capital Partners and has extensive experience in the middle-market buyout industry. He shares responsibility for all aspects of the Firm's investment and fundraising activities. Based in Chicago, Twin Bridge Capital Partners focuses on investing in buyout funds and co-investments throughout North America, with a particular emphasis on middle-market buyouts. Twin Bridge manages over $1 billion in customized separate accounts for large, institutional investors.

Before co-founding Twin Bridge, Mr. Gallagher worked for UIB Capital, where he was responsible for leading private equity investments in the United States. Mr. Gallagher was also a Partner at PPM America Capital Partners, where he led investments in private equity funds and co-investments. Mr. Gallagher began his career at Arthur Andersen.

Mr. Gallagher earned his BA in Accounting from the University of Notre Dame BA and his MBA from the Kellogg School of Management at Northwestern University. He holds the Chartered Financial Analyst designation and is a Certified Public Accountant.

Harisha Koneru Haigh ’02
Private Investments and Real Assets Northwestern University

Ms. Haigh co-manages the Private Investments and Real Assets portfolios for Northwestern University’s $7.5 billion endowment. Ms. Haigh is responsible for all aspects of these portfolios, including venture capital, buyouts, real estate, natural resources, commodities and timber investments.

Prior to joining Northwestern University in 2005, Ms. Haigh was a Principal at PPM America Capital Partners, LLC, the U.S. private equity manager for Prudential plc and Jackson National Life Insurance Company. She also worked with PPM’s sister company, PPM Capital (now known as Silverfleet), in London focusing on European middle-market buyouts. She started her career in the investment banking department of ABN AMRO, concentrating on mergers and acquisitions of small and middle-market companies.

Ms. Haigh received a Bachelor of Science in Business Administration from Washington University in St. Louis and an MBA from the Kellogg School of Management at Northwestern University. Ms. Haigh is a CFA charter holder.

Kathy Wanner ’97
Adams Street Partners

Ms. Wanner is a Partner with Adams Street Partners primarily focused on the US portfolio with emphasis on venture capital and special situations fund investments. She is responsible for managing relationships with several of Adams Street's managers including Battery Ventures, Essex Woodlands, Versant Ventures and Warburg Pincus. Ms. Wanner is a member and secretary of the Primary Investment Committee.

Ms. Wanner joined the Private Equity Group in 1998 after five years with the Brinson Partners Financial group, where she was responsible for the revenue cycle, statistical analysis and market research. In addition, she has five years’ experience in statistical modeling, reporting, tracking and analysis as a Senior Financial Analyst with Frontier Risk Management/Range Wise, Inc. in Chicago and Morgan Stanley & Company in New York.

Ms. Wanner holds a BS from University of New York at Binghamton and an MBA from the Kellogg School of Management at Northwestern University.

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Manoj Mahenthiran
PwC UK

Mr. Mahenthiran is PricewaterhouseCoopers’ (PwC’s) Midwest private equity leader for the Deals practice. He is known for his expertise in managing complex mergers and acquisitions as well as his ability to bring together the right players for the right situation. Mr. Mahenthiran began his career at PwC UK and is a qualified chartered accountant.

Mr. Mahenthiran holds a bachelor’s degree in Industrial Economics from the University of Warwick in the United Kingdom.

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Mark Anderegg ’10
Little Sprouts

Mr. Anderegg is currently President & CEO of Little Sprouts, a Boston-based provider of early education centers, which he led the acquisition of in October 2012 via the search fund model. Little Sprouts owns and operates 17 preschools throughout eastern Massachusetts and southern New Hampshire. The company has been recognized by the U.S. Department of Education as a Preschool Center of Excellence and is one of only 30 schools nationwide to receive the prestigious Early Reading First grant. Little Sprouts employs approximately 430 educators and serves 1,400 children.

Earlier in his career, Mr. Anderegg was an investment banker with Goldman Sachs, first in New York and later in Chicago. He subsequently worked as a private equity investor with Chicago Growth Partners, a middle-market buyout fund, where he focused on investments in the education industry.

Mr. Anderegg received his BA in Economics, magna cum laude, from Vanderbilt University and his MBA from the Kellogg School of Management at Northwestern University.

Paul Furlow
Dixon Midland Company

Mr. Furlow co-founded and is Co-President of Dixon Midland Company. On behalf of Dixon Midland Fund I, a Chicago-based search fund, Mr. Furlow led the acquisition of Tech Lighting and served as its Co-President from 1998 to 2004 when the business was sold. Dixon Midland’s subsequent investment strategy has been to acquire young, growing companies in the Midwest and recruit energetic managers early in their careers to serve as company Presidents. Mr. Furlow and his Co-Founder Aaron Mobarak, together with other associated investors, have also invested in 11 separate search funds since 2005. Mr. Furlow’s prior work experience includes working at McKinsey & Company and Wasserstein Perella & Co.

Mr. Furlow has an undergraduate degree from the University of Michigan and an MBA from the Graduate School of Business at Stanford University.

Jim Southern
Pacific Lake Partners

Mr. Southern is a founding director of Pacific Lake Partners, a $35 million private equity fund investing in small-cap buyouts using the search fund model. In addition, Mr. Southern manages a portfolio of private equity investments in small to medium sized companies.

Between Pacific Lake and his personal investing, Mr. Southern has been involved in more than 70 search funds. Previously, Mr. Southern was a beneficiary of search fund investors early in his career. His first search resulted in the acquisition of Uniform Printing, a $43 million printer of specialty insurance documents, where he served as its CEO and chairman for 10 years. Investor returns from distributions and exit exceeded 30x the acquisition capital.

Mr. Southern holds an MBA from the Harvard Business School.

Todd Tracey ’97
HemaSource

Mr. Tracey has been the CEO of HemaSource since February of 2010 when he acquired the company through a private equity and high net worth investor backed search fund. The company is a distributor of medical disposable products.

Mr. Tracey founded his search fund, Lila Capital Partners, in August of 2008 and evaluated over 100 companies before successfully completing the HemaSource acquisition. Prior to Lila Capital Partners, he held a variety of senior management positions for small to medium sized enterprises and helped them achieve superior growth.

Mr. Tracey graduated cum laude from Dartmouth College in 1990 and received his MBA from the Kellogg School of Management at Northwestern University.

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Prof. Bill Sutter, Jr
Professor of Finance, Kellogg School of Management

Professor Sutter is a Senior Lecturer of Finance and a member of Kellogg's Larry and Carol Levy Institute for Entrepreneurial Practice. He teaches Venture Capital and Private Equity – The Human Element (ENTR 926), NUvention Medical Innovation (HEMA 915) and Global Governance of Private Companies (ENTR 965). Professor Sutter is a founder of Wildcat Angels and manages the student associates program for screening deal flow.

Professor Sutter is also a Partner of Hopewell Ventures, a $106 million venture capital fund with an investment focus on high-growth companies located in the Midwest. Hopewell has completed fifteen investments ranging from medical device manufacturers to alternative media companies. Before becoming a founder of Hopewell, Professor Sutter was a Senior Managing Director of Mesirow Financial's Private Equity division.

Professor Sutter graduated from Yale University with a BA degree in Economics and received his MBA from Graduate School of Business at Stanford University.

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