Alex Schneider is the Co-Founder of Clover Capital Partners, a private equity firm with offices in Evanston and Los Angeles that specializes in acquiring and investing in small businesses. Alex owned and managed a student services business in College before joining JP Morgan as an investment banking analyst. He spent ten years working with more traditional private equity firms, most recently with Chicago-based Keystone Capital. Throughout his career, Alex has acquired and helped manage control investments in small businesses representing a diverse range of industries spanning niche manufacturing, business services and consumer products. At Clover Capital, his primary attention is focused on the food and beverage industry. Alex currently sits on the board of four small food businesses including: Main Street Gourmet, a wholesale bakery that supplies a variety of sweet good products to national retailers and fast casual concepts; Jo's Candies which produces gourmet chocolate confections under its own brand and for national specialty retailers and coffee chains; Phillips Syrup, a private label manufacturer of flavored coffee syrups, ice cream toppings and pancake syrups; and Wilde Brands, a company that has developed a branded meat snack sold at retail in many natural and specialty grocery stores. In addition to his strategic investments in food and beverage, Alex personally invests in startups, search funds and other forms of entrepreneurial acquisition. 

Alex serves as an Adjunct Lecturer of Innovation and Entrepreneurship at Kellogg and currently teaches KIEI 905 (Entrepreneurship Through Acquisition) and serves as the director of the Acquisition and Ownership Track of the Zell Fellows Program. Alex graduated from the Honors Program in Mathematical Methods in the Social Sciences at Northwestern University and received his MBA from The Kellogg School of Management.

• M.B.A., 2006, Management & Strategy, Kellogg School of Management, Northwestern University
• B.A., 1999, Mathematical Methods in the Social Sciences and Sociology, Northwestern University

• Partner, Clover Capital Partners LLC, 2011-present
• Vice President, Keystone Capital, Inc., 2003-2010
• Associate, Goldner Hawn Johnson & Morrison, Inc., 2001-2003
• Investment Banking Analyst, J. P. Morgan Chase & Co., 1999-2001
• President and Chief Operating Officer, Student Solutions, Inc., 1996-1999

Entrepreneurship Through Acquisition (ENTR-905-5)
There are many paths to entrepreneurship, and one of those paths is through the acquisition of an existing company. This course will highlight aspects of strategy, finance, organizational behavior, marketing and other business disciplines through the context of acquiring and owning a small business. The course will outline pathways to entrepreneurship through acquisition, including search fund, independent sponsor, or through a CEO-in-Training program at a PE firm or a family business. The end goal is ownership of a company in the near future. The course is organized into sections that summarize the experience of entrepreneurs through distinct phases, including raising capital, the search process and deal structure. These classes augment existing FINC courses. Core focus points of the course include due diligence of a particular business, the post-closing transition process and how to create stakeholder value. The course uses several case studies as well as guest speakers who have completed search funds and acquired companies, investors and search fund experts.

Field Study (ENTR-498-0)
Field Studies include those opportunities outside of the regular curriculum in which a student is working with an outside company or non-profit organization to address a real-world business challenge for course credit under the oversight of a faculty member.