Michael Rutner —Managing Director

Prior to The Zucker Group, Michael Rutner was a transaction manager at Q Investments, a private investment fund in Fort Worth, Texas. There, he led multi-functional teams of attorneys, accountants, analysts and professional staff in the purchasing, sale and leasing of aviation related portfolio assets to global commercial carriers. Rutner negotiated financing terms for flexible debt facilities, developed profitability and risk models for future growth projects, and negotiated terms to establish specialized operating companies. Rutner also negotiated terms for the purchase and sale transactions for senior secured, subordinated and revolving debt facilities.

Prior to his experience at Q Investments, Rutner was a Senior Financial Analyst at American Airlines. There, he joined the airline's senior financial team in managing capital planning around the airline's global operations and developed airline sector performance models that were applied by American for various uses, including route profitability and development. Prior to business school, Rutner practiced bank finance and bankruptcy law for the law firm of Shearman & Sterling LLP in New York City, where he developed structured financing vehicles, negotiated corporate financing and managed acquisitions for numerous clients and assisted in the management and negotiation of Chapter 11 reorganization processes and debtor-in-possession financing for several distressed entities. Rutner also served as Senior Judicial Clerk to the Chief Judge of the United States Federal Bankruptcy Court for the Southern District of New York (Manhattan), where he managed bankruptcy related negotiations and reorganization processes on behalf of the Federal Court.

Rutner holds an MBA from the Wharton School of Business at the University of Pennsylvania, where he was the recipient of the Robert A. Mayer Merit Scholarship and was a Wharton Omnicom Teaching Fellow in the Managerial Communications Division. While at Wharton, Rutner served as acting Chief Financial Officer for Smarter Agent, Inc., a technology company based in Camden, NJ that develops integrated GPS technologies for both civilian and military use. Rutner also holds a Doctorate of Jurisprudence from Boston College Law School, where he graduated with honors and served as Articles Editor for the Boston College Law Review, and a Bachelor of Arts from the University of Pennsylvania, where he also graduated with honors with a degree in diplomatic history.

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Matthew Zucker—Managing Director

Prior to The Zucker Group, Matthew spent two years working as a management consultant at The Monitor Group, a top-five global consulting firm as ranked by Vault in 2008.  While there, he worked on and led teams in a wide variety of engagements in numerous industries (furniture manufacturing, Internet media, truck manufacturing, telecom, and education) and disciplines (business development, corporate strategy, financial planning, human asset planning, marketing segmentation, and regional economic competitiveness).  This varied engagement work included:

• Creating a $250 million NPV business plan for a Middle Eastern wireless phone company’s entry into the Internet Service Provider (ISP) business

• Supporting a $70 billion telecom firm in formulating a market segmentation and targeting strategy for the roll-out of a new television service offering

• Evaluating a leading telecom firm’s proposed plan to partner with a $14 billion satellite television provider in providing bundled offerings

• Working with an Internet media firm with revenues over $150 million and annual growth over 50% to develop plans to help scale its finance and HR functions

• Assisting a century-old furniture manufacturer with sales over $2.5 billion to identify reasons for its first ever quarterly loss and suggesting strategies for rationalizing its product / brand portfolio and retail strategy

• Providing strategic and economic advice to the national government of a large Eastern European country with plans to consolidate four separate institutions into one cohesive university system in one of its key economic regions

• Performing due diligence and providing strategic advice to a $12 billion truck manufacturer contemplating a joint venture with a $44 billion engine manufacturer

Prior to business school, Matthew worked for four years for Southwest Airlines as a software engineer and architect.  During this time, Matthew designed and coded critical components for Southwest’s new flight scheduling system which was expected to save the company over $3.5 million annually.  In this role, Matthew was responsible for designing and implementing all elements of the core logic at the center of the system and managed a team as large as 15 people including programmers, analysts, and customer resources.  He led and trained an external consulting team of six, none of whom had previously worked in the airline or technology industry. 

Matthew holds an MBA from The Wharton School at the University of Pennsylvania.  While at Wharton, he worked as a consultant for local entrepreneurs at the University of Pennsylvania’s Small Business Development Center.  Matthew also holds an undergraduate degree with highest honors in Business / Management Information Systems from the University of Texas at Austin.

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Marion Equity Partners—Institutional Investor

Marion Equity Partners is a Boston based investment firm which acquires and invests in growing businesses across a broad range of industries. The firms partners have over 40 years of combined investment experience and have developed a strong network of contacts to help source high quality investment opportunities and aide managers in building great companies.

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Search Fund Partners—Institutional Investor

Search Fund Partners invests in small, profitable companies with $5 million to $30 million in revenue. They work closely with Search Fund entrepreneurs to find, acquire and build successful companies. They combine a portfolio approach with active, hands-on investment management to help our entrepreneurs build lasting value companies. The principals of Search Fund Partners, Dave Carver, Rich Kelley, and Jim Edmunds, bring with them a wealth of operating and investing experience.

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Kent Aftergut—Limited Partner

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Carolyn Baker—Limited Partner

Carolyn Baker is a Texas Real Estate Broker. She has a property management and rehab company. She has been running her own "mini" REIT for the last 20 plus years. Her specialty is bringing new life to older, underperforming apartment projects.

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Bradford Brown—Limited Partner

Brad Brown is a senior partner of McKinsey & Company. He leads McKinsey’s Business Technology Office (BTO) on the U.S. East Coast, with overall responsibility for New York, Boston, and Stamford CT. He also leads McKinsey’s Financial Institutions Operations and Technology  practice in North America.

Brad received his B.A. cum laude from Dartmouth College, an M.S.E.E. in Computer Sciences from the University of Pennsylvania, and an M.B.A. with distinction from the Wharton School in 1986.

He is an active investor in search funds.

He lives outside of Boston, with his wife and three daughters.

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Craig Burr—Limited Partner

Mr. Burr's career has been devoted almost exclusively to venture capital and private equity activities. Mr. Burr founded Burr, Egan, Deleage & Co. in 1979 and previously was a Partner at TA Associates. He has been a member of the Board of Directors of the New England Venture Capital Association. He is presently a private investor and serves on the Boards of Directors of several private companies. Mr. Burr received his AB, cum laude, from Harvard College and his MBA from Harvard Business School.

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Dave Carver—Limited Partner

Dave has extensive experience as an operating manager in a variety of high-tech companies. He was CEO of HiFive Networks, Executive VP and GM of Network Associates, COO of Network General, and worked for 19 years at the Hewlett Packard Co. Dave holds an MBA from Stanford University and a BS from the University of Arkansas.

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David Dodson—Limited Partner

David Dodson, Headwaters MB Corporate Director, has been the CEO or Chairman of six middle market companies, and has acquired and/or sold 55 companies in that capacity. He has led multiple capital raises as CEO or Chairman with a range of private equity firms, including TA Associates, Housatonic Partners, the Centennial Funds, and Alta Communications Partners. He currently serves as Chairman of Wind River Management Inc.

Dodson previously served as Chairman of Worldbridge Broadband Services Inc., as well as Chairman & CEO of ADAP Inc. and Smith Alarm Inc. He has been a director of and investor in a total of 16 middle market companies, and has assisted in ten significant M&A transactions in those capacities.

Prior to his entrepreneurial and private equity career, Mr. Dodson worked for McKinsey & Company. He holds both undergraduate and MBA degrees from Stanford University.

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Jim Edmunds—Limited Partner

Jim joined Search Fund Partners after serving as President of a portfolio company, Celebrity Kids Portrait Studios. Jim and his business partner had assembled an investor group to purchase the upscale photography retailer in 2005 and subsequently grew the business in the U.S. and expanded to India. Prior, Jim worked for McKinsey & Company. Jim has an MBA from Stanford University and an AB from Harvard University.

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Mark Egan—Limited Partner

Mark is a founder and Managing Partner at Marion Equity Partners, a Boston based investment firm. Prior to Marion, Mark focused on growth equity investments in the technology, healthcare, media, and business services industries at Polaris Venture Partners. Before Polaris, Mark began his career at Alta Communications where he executed investments in the media and telecommunications sectors. Mark also has previous experience with Comcast Corporation in business development. Mark serves on the Board of Directors of The Penn Warranty Corporation.

Mark received a degree in Finance from Fairfield University and an MBA from The Wharton School at the University of Pennsylvania.

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William P. Egan—Limited Partner

Bill is a founder and Managing Partner at Marion Equity Partners. Bill is also a founder and General Partner of Alta Communications. He 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., Bill was a Partner at TA Associates. Bill 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, a Trustee of the University of Pennsylvania, and an Overseer of The Wharton School. Bill serves on the Boards of Directors of Cephalon, Inc. and CRH plc, as well as on several boards of directors of privately held companies.

Bill received a degree in Economics from Fairfield University and an MBA from The Wharton School at the University of Pennsylvania.

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Harpreet Grewal—Limited Partner

Harpreet Grewal brings more than 17 years of broad based finance experience to VistaPrint. In his role as Chief Financial Officer at VistaPrint, Harpreet manages the finance, investor relations and legal functions.

Previously Harpreet served as Chief Financial Officer at GoldenSource Corporation, an enterprise software company serving financial institutions, as well as eGain Communications, a provider of CRM software solutions. While at eGain, he assisted in taking the company through a successful Initial Public Offering. In addition, Harpreet served in numerous finance and strategy positions during his tenure at PepsiCo. and Pepsi-Cola North America as well as worked in the Investment Banking group while at Wasserstein Perella & Co.

Harpreet received a Bachelor of Arts degree in Economics from the University of California at Berkeley and a Master of Arts in International Studies from Johns Hopkins School of Advanced International Studies.

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Rich Kelley—Limited Partner

Rich has been involved in numerous small businesses and start-up companies as an operator, owner, and investor. His experience includes: CFO of Score Learning Centers, CEO of San Jose Giants, investor in successful tech start-ups (Coinstar, PLX Technology, Corcept Therapeutics). He is also a Limited Partner in several venture capital funds and has invested in search funds since 1994. Rich has an MBA and a BA from Stanford University.

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Mike Knust—Limited Partner

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Ed Leahy—Limited Partner

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Greg W. Levenson—Limited Partner

Mr. Levenson has spent most of his career in the banking and financial services industry, where he has held numerous executive level positions. He currently serves as the President and Chief Executive Officer of the Bank of Las Vegas, Las Vegas, NM, where he manages the bank's commercial and consumer lending as well as oversees all operations of the bank's branches. In addition Levenson serves as a Combat Mission Ready pilot in the Air National Guard where he flies the single seat multi-role F-16 Fighting Falcon. He holds a Bachelor of Arts degree from the University of Texas at Austin and a Master of Arts degree from the American Military University.

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Michael O'Connell—Limited Partner

Michael O’Connell is currently the Managing Director at M2O Investments - a family investment fund. He was formerly the Managing Director and President of Anhalt, O'Connell & Steffanci, Inc., an investment management firm specializing in debt securities with $1 billion under management. Previously, Michael owned and operated the National Lines Bureau, a ship mooring company for the Los Angeles and Long Beach Harbors. He is currently an investor in over 20 private companies. Michael received his Bachelors, with high honors, from Harvard College, and his M.B.A from Harvard Business School.

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Andy Stevenson—Limited Partner

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Howard Stevenson—Limited Partner

Howard is Sarofim-Rock Professor of Business Administration at Harvard University, Graduate School of Business Administration. He was a founder and first president of the Baupost Group, Inc. which manages partnerships investing in liquid securities for wealthy families. From 1978 to 1982, Professor Stevenson was Vice President of Finance and Administration and a Director of Preco Corporation, a large privately-held manufacturing company. In addition, in 1970-71, he served as Vice President of Simmons Associates, a small investment banking firm specializing in venture financing.

Prior to 1978, he held various academic appointments at Harvard University, specializing in Real Property Asset Management and General Management. He received his B.S. in mathematics, with distinction, from Stanford and his M.B.A., with high distinction, and D.B.A. degrees from Harvard University. He was a Thomas Watson National Merit Scholar and a recipient of the ALCOA and Ford Foundation Fellowships for graduate study.

He has authored, edited or co-authored six books and forty-one articles including New Business Ventures and the Entrepreneur, with Michael J. Roberts and H. Irving Grousbeck; Policy Formulation and Administration, with C.R. Christensen, N. Berg and M. Salter, among several others. He has also authored, co-authored or supervised over one-hundred fifty cases at Harvard Business School.

He is currently a director of Camp Dresser & McKee and Landmark Communications, as well as a trustee for several private trusts and foundations. He is a director of Sudbury Valley Trustees where he served as president from 1996 to 2000. He is a trustee of the Boston Ballet and a member of the Harvard Club of New York City.

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A. J. Wasserstein—Limited Partner

A. J. Wasserstein was the founder and CEO of ArchivesOne, the third largest records management company in the United States. He successfully built ArchivesOne into a super-regional, full-service records management company before selling to Iron Mountain (NYSE: IRM) in May of 2007 after 16 years of operation. At ArchivesOne, 35 acquisitions were successfully completed to supplement growth. ArchivesOne employed 400 Team Members and had approximately 10,000 customers with total revenues of $50 million.

Mr. Wasserstein graduated from Colgate University and received his MBA from New York University. He completed the Owner/President/Manager Executive Education Program at Harvard Business School in 2002. The Hartford County Business Journal and New Haven Business Times have both selected Mr. Wasserstein as an award winner in their respective "Forty Under 40" programs. The U. S. Small Business Administration named him the "2000 Small Business Person of the Year in Connecticut". He is also a trustee at the Connecticut Community Foundation and at Waterbury Hospital. A. J. is a board member at IPT, a Hartford based facility outsource service provider as well as a board participant at Ivize, a market-leading provider of e-Discovery and legal document services.

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Kent Weaver—Limited Partner

Kent is currently Chairman and CEO of Progressive Home Care, a Northern California-based home health care agency purchased using the search fund model. Previously, Kent held executive positions in marketing and product management for KnowledgeLINK, a venture-backed technology services company that enables channel marketing process management. Prior to this, he served as a regional CFO and business analyst in Pepsico's Pizza Hut Division. Kent began his career with Ernst & Young, where he led engagement teams in the areas of strategic formation, valuation, restructuring, and corporate finance. Mr. Weaver received his MBA from the University of California, Los Angeles and a BS in finance from the University of Southern California.

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David Zlotchew—Limited Partner

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T. Robert Zochowski—Limited Partner

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Bruce Zucker—Limited Partner

Bruce Zucker served as president and director of Mydiscountbroker.com, a nationally recognized and highly rated online brokerage firm.  In addition to heading the fastest growing division of SWS Securities Inc., he was an active member of the parent company’s management committee.

Mr. Zucker’s responsibilities for Mydiscountbroker.com began with its inception.  In 1996, he developed the concept and business plan for launching an online brokerage firm for SWS Securities.  Within 2 years, he achieved the transformation of a traditional brokerage operation into a nationally recognized Internet provider.  Under his leadership, the new firm gained national recognition and achieved rankings as high as 4th by Kiplingers, 9th by Smart Money Magazine, and one of the top 20 of all online brokers as rated by Barron's magazine.

National publications, including The Wall Street Journal, USA Today, Barron’s and Fortune have quoted Mr. Zucker in articles focusing on trends in online brokerage.  He has frequently been interviewed as an industry expert by CNBC television.

Mr. Zucker’s leadership in marketing the new business and in developing the talent within his firm is measured in results.  Mydiscountbroker.com opened in excess of 50,000 accounts with assets of over $500 million within five years of the launch.  He also selected and directed both an advertising agency and public relations firm to promote the new company.  The Mydiscountbroker.com television campaign won national Telly awards for outstanding commercials for three consecutive years. In addition, he conducted several successful national media tours.

Prior to starting Mydiscountbroker.com, Mr. Zucker established and managed the Las Colinas retail office of SWS Securities.  He was responsible for overseeing a team of 15 representatives as well as personally managing approximately 3,000 customers with assets in excess of $30 million.  For the 17 years prior, Mr. Zucker was founder and president of Addison Securities, Dallas' first discount brokerage firm.  He was pivotal to Addison’s growth, which during his tenure reached a level of 65 representatives, four branch offices, and annual sales in excess of $5 million.

For the last two years, Mr. Zucker has been heavily involved in the health care industry, specifically in the urgent care space.  He successfully implemented programs that both increased revenues for the urgent care clinics and allowed uninsured and underinsured patients to receive quality healthcare while saving out of pocket expenses.  Additionally, he was involved in the insurance side of the business and is licensed to sell health and life insurance.  The industry contacts Mr. Zucker made during this time, such as The American Academy of Urgent Care Medicine and the Urgent Care Association of America, will prove invaluable in the search for under-performing clinics.

Mr. Zucker graduated from the University of Texas with a B.A. in Political Science.

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Paul Panza—Intern

After graduating from Jesuit College Prep in Dallas, Paul Panza attended Southern Methodist University earning a degree in Economics and Applied Finance. During his time at SMU, Paul studied Structured Products and their application to Dividend Received Deduction for C-corporations at Merrill Lynch. While there, he assisted a team in capturing over $250 million in investments. Paul left Merrill Lynch at the beginning of his Senior Year to join Hunt Consolidated, a division of Hunt Oil Corp. to work on corporate cash placement full time. During his time with Hunt, Paul was exposed to several of the worlds top money managers and worked closely with upper management to provide due diligence on alternative investments.

Upon Graduation, Paul joined One Technologies, a start-up internet advertising firm. He assisted the Managing Director with the launch of the affiliate program, leading the initiative to capture new business and gaining invaluable executive insight while adding $2 million to the company's bottom line in 6 months time.

Now with Jones Lang LaSalle in Dallas, Paul oversees the lease administration of over 60 properties across the United States. His responsibilities include the review of all new lease documents and performing accounting functions for each property in his portfolio.

Paul remains active in the community through several Dallas Area Homeless initiatives and serves as the director of internal communications for the Mentorship Program on the Jesuit Young Alumni Board of Directors.

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