Engagement Partners

“I don’t know if I’ve ever experienced a better time to be an entrepreneur than now.    The rapid changes taking place in so many sectors – from media to software to medical devices – are truly incredible.”   

Troy brings to Growthink more than 20 years of experience advising corporations at all stages of development, from start-up firms to Fortune 500 companies.  Troy joined Growthink’s Los Angeles office after serving as the founding Principal of MBL, an advisory firm that assisted clients in all areas of business, including developing their strategies, raising capital, restructuring operations, sourcing partners, and drafting business plans and offering documents.  Also a seasoned entrepreneur, he helped found, manage and invest in several start-up companies, primarily in the New Media, healthcare, wellness, consumer products, and technology sectors while at and before MBL.  

Troy additionally worked as an Associate in the Investment Banking and Merchant Banking Divisions at Donaldson, Lufkin & Jenrette (DLJ, now CS First Boston).   At DLJ, he helped manage equity and debt capital raises, mergers & acquisitions transactions, merchant banking investment evaluations, and other financial advisory services.

As Engagement Partner, Troy serves as the firm’s senior investment banking executive and transaction specialist.  Since joining Growthink in 2008, he has been instrumental in building Growthink’s integrated strategy, investment banking and venture practice.   Troy is also the Executive Editor of the upcoming blog and website, The Shift Network (TSN), dedicated to the rapidly evolving media, entertainment and marketing sectors.  TSN will provide high quality, interactive content for executives at traditional and new media companies, including publishers, content providers, technology firms, marketers, and service providers.   Troy is the author of the quarterly market snapshot, “THE BIG SHIFT:  Tracking Convergence Media,” which reviews recent key trends, transactions and news in the media industry.

Troy holds a JD from the Law School and an MBA from the Darden School at the University of Virginia, where he won the Faculty Award and was elected to the Raven Society. He has a Bachelor’s degree with honors in Economics and Public Policy from Brown University.   He holds the Series 79 and 63 securities licenses.  Troy is an active angel investor. 

If you would like to receive a copy of Troy’s upcoming Strategy Brief, “Surviving and Thriving in a Rapidly Evolving PR Environment - Incorporating New and Social Media Expertise into Your Agency’s Services,” email him here.

Click on the links below to view Troy’s recent presentations and articles.

• Webinar:   “The Future of Advertising,” February, 2011. Comes with downloadable “Bonus Pack” of industry research.
• Webinar:  “Selling Your Business for the Maximum Price,” March, 2011.
• Articles on Business Strategy.

Phil has extensive experience in pay per click advertising, search engine optimization, sales conversion optimization, and lead generation for both B2B and B2C markets. Over the years, Phil has created and managed hundreds of successful direct-response online advertising campaigns using proven analytics and landing page optimization techniques.

Prior to working with Growthink, Phil managed a one million dollar Pay Per Click advertising budget for an affiliate marketing business. He tracked ROI down to the exact keyword level across multiple ad outlets like Google, Yahoo, and MSN/Bing, which allowed him to maintain a 30% overall profit margin. In addition to detailed tracking, Phil also continually optimized the ad campaigns by split testing ad text and landing page design/layout.

Phil's first Growthink project was to re-design the website in order to streamline the lead generation and Search Engine Optimization efforts. Once the website was live, he then developed a custom marketing automation and lead nurturing system for Growthink's sales team and centralized project management to a single platform.

Currently, Phil helps clients (and Growthink itself) with their online advertising. In the past year he has profitably scaled Growthink Publishing's advertising budget by 1,300% and this business unit is now on pace to generate more than one million per year in profit from his advertising campaigns alone.

When Phil is not working, he enjoys running "barefoot" (he wears minimalistic shoes since his wife no longer lets him run totally barefoot) in Central Park in New York City. He also is a member of the Determination running team where he raises money for the American Cancer Society by running road races in NYC.

Phil earned his Master of Engineering Management degree from Thayer School of Engineering and Tuck School of Business and his Bachelor of Arts and Bachelor of Engineering degrees from Dartmouth College.

Functional Expertise: Strategic Consulting, Corporate Finance, Marketing, Communications

Industry Sectors: Digital Media, Mobile, Consumer Products, Manufacturing

As a Growthink Engagement Partner, Branden leverages his creative, technical and financial knowledge to the Growthink team. Since 2006, Branden has successfully managed clients in the Information Technology, Bio Technology, Consumer Products and Manufacturing sectors with a strong emphasis on corporate finance initiatives. Over the years, Branden has built relationships within the Venture Capital and Private Equity community and successfully sourced investment capital for Growthink clients in excess of $18m. Further, Branden has facilitated strategic relationships and licensing deals with Fortune 500 companies on behalf of Growthink clients.

Branden’s professional background includes marketing and account management roles at Visible Technologies- a leading venture-backed social media analytics platform- serving Fortune 500 clients SAP, ARCO-ampm, T-Mobile, TD Bank as well as global marketing firms Wunderman and Mindshare.  He also served as lead consultant to Versaly Mobile guiding the commercialization and financing of their VSP mobile video syndication platform.

Branden has an MBA from the University of Washington Foster School of Business with focus on Technology Management and a BA from the University of Texas at Austin. 

"The ideas and innovation we encounter daily at Growthink are not only interesting but also inspiring. Working with and assisting entrepreneurs provides a unique and challenging experience - you never know what you're going to get. It truly is exciting and rewarding work!"

Also serving as Growthink's Vice President, Jeff Jones has an extensive background in corporate finance and financial services, with an emphasis on assisting emerging and middle market companies with debt and growth financing.

During his tenure at Growthink, Jeff has led more than 250 client engagements spanning industries including healthcare, financial services, real estate, consumer products, entertainment and technology.  Clients include NEC Corporation, Hooters Restaurants, Wilson Supply (a division of Smith International), The K&D Group, University Chemists, DecisionStep (Buy.com), mobileStorm, and a variety of startup and early stage ventures.

Previously Jeff worked at Morgan Stanley, where he assisted in the management of a $300 million individual and institutional investor asset base. Jeff also worked at Taycor where he assisted emerging and middle market companies with both debt and growth financing.

Jeff earned a Bachelor's degree in Business Economics and Accounting from the University of California, Santa Barbara.

Pete Kennedy brings to Growthink several years of marketing experience, with specific expertise in internet marketing strategy, direct-response copywriting, search engine optimization (SEO), email marketing, partnerships and joint ventures, new product development and go-to-market strategy.

Prior to joining Growthink, Pete worked with Growthink co-founder and President Dave Lavinsky in launching and growing several new ventures, including a music website and a network of 3,000 niche websites, among others.

Most recently, Pete has helped clients (and Growthink itself) design and implement search engine optimization (SEO) campaigns to improve visibility in the search engines for relevant keyword phrases.  Pete’s efforts have resulted in first-page search engine rankings for hundreds of keywords, and have generated tens of thousands of leads, hundreds of clients, and millions of dollars in revenues.

Pete earned his bachelor's degree, magna cum laude, from Harvard University.

“I find my greatest pleasure and so my reward in the work that precedes what the world calls success.”  – Thomas Edison

Ashumi Kothary is an Engagement Partner at Growthink where she leads investment banking and strategic consulting engagements for the firm. Currently, she is advising growth stage companies on capital raising and strategic growth initiatives.

Ashumi brings extensive transactional, corporate finance and private equity experience to the firm.  She began her career at Los Angeles-based investment bank Houlihan Lokey Howard & Zukin advising on sell-side and buy-side engagements, as well as valuations, fairness opinions and solvency assignments. Notable deals include the sale of MediaDefender to ARTISTdirect (ARTD), which was named Media & Telecom Deal of the Year, buy-side advisor to a publicly-held U.K. engineering and construction company, sell-side advisor to Parsons Corp. on the sale of a sub-division of the company to a publicly-held Australian company, and as financial advisor to OPI Nails.

Ashumi then transitioned to work for fashion house BCBG MaxAzria, where she managed the retail financial performance of the company’s $450M+ domestic business, the post-merger integration/restructuring of the “tween” Rave/G&G line, as well as the launch of the company’s e-commerce site. Most recently, Ashumi was an Associate at the consumer products focused private equity fund VMG Partners, LLC, in  due diligence, acquisition advisory and portfolio management capacities. At VMG Partners, Ashumi worked in due diligence and post-transaction operational capacities at Waggin’ Train, Pirate’s Booty, Colorescience, Snack Factory and KIND.

Some notable projects at Growthink include:

• Strategic advisory and ongoing consulting assignment for a $150M + consumer products company;
• Evaluation of strategic opportunities and challenges for a $75M  post-production studio;
• Buy-side advisory for an industry-specific family office; and
• Growth financing for an early stage consumer technology company.

Ashumi graduated from Claremont McKenna College with Honors, majoring in History and Economics.  While at Claremont, Ashumi was elected Student Body President and President of the 5C Student Body Government. Ashumi currently volunteers for the non-profit organization Reading to Kids and is a pro-bono consultant  for the Taproot Foundation.

Per brings 13+ years of operating experience in emerging and mid-market growth companies as a principal and consultant to his role at Growthink. With the company since 2005, he is responsible for maximizing the client experience and the overall delivery quality of all engagements, which have numbered 1,250 since his arrival. The company’s Business Planning, Market Research, and Emerging Company Investment Banking Groups all fall under Per’s domain. In his 5+ years with the firm he has also worked directly with over 120 clients to develop business models, create financing and restructuring strategies, refine operational structure, and raise capital.

Prior to Growthink he was with QuantumShift (funded by Mayfield, Thomas Weisel Partners, and TPG) where he led operations strategy engagements focusing on telecommunications and cost-containment. Engagement clients included Micromuse, Del Monte, Critical Path, Scient, Sanrio, and Business Objects.

Per’s experience also includes founding companies in outsourced municipal services, online publishing and content aggregation, and web services.

Per earned his MBA from the Ross School of Business at the University of Michigan and his B.S. in Natural Resource Management from Cornell University. While at Ross, he was a member of the Wolverine Fund, where seed investments he led in medical devices and nanotechnology have subsequently raised over $75 million in additional funding and are on track for significant exits. In his 'spare' time, Per has also found himself playing professional football in Europe, attempting tango and sitting on non-profit boards.

“Growthink allows its clients to achieve their goals on both small- and large-scales; this has an enormous impact on the economy, which makes working with entrepreneurs fun, exciting and rewarding for me.”

Also serving as Growthink's Director of Engagement Management, Brittany has managed over 100 client engagements since joining Growthink in 2008. They have ranged have ranged from start-ups and small businesses, to middle market and corporate clients looking to grow and / or sell their business.

Select notable client engagements include:

• the strategic planning and fundraising for an automotive social media management platform;
• an analysis of Northern California real estate markets for use in the successful close of a real estate fund;
  consulting a leading celebrity-based apparel group with diverse media holdings valued in excess of $100M;
• a corporate re-structuring and marketing strategy for an online education company looking to break its revenue plateau; and,
• consulting various non-profit and cause-based organizations on their fundraising and mission fulfillment strategies.

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Prior to joining Growthink, Brittany worked in marketing and editorial roles for The Peninsula Chicago, one of the nation’s leading hotel firms and iMedia Connection, a top industry resource on viral marketing.

Brittany holds a Bachelor of Arts degree from UCLA.  She is a volunteer with the National Foundation for Teaching Entrepreneurship and Amnesty International’s Stop Violence Against Women campaign.

Mr. Martinez is responsible for corporate finance, debt restructuring, M&A and capital placement for investment banking clients across the Technology, Telecom, Entertainment, Media and Broadband Communications sectors. Mr. Martinez brings a unique combination of F100 corporate operating and investment banking experience to client engagements. He is a graduate of Georgia State University School of Business Administration.

Mr. Martinez has executive management experience within large public companies, including President of AT&T Consumer Services Florida; COO of US Communications, a nationwide wireless MVNO; Director of Business Development- Sprint; and Managing Director of Wireless Communications- Computer Sciences Corporation. Martinez also serves as Senior Advisor to Ion-Partners, an investment banking firm in New York.

Mr. Martinez has served on the following boards: St Thomas University, Board of Directors; Greater Miami Chamber of Commerce, Board of Governors; Florida Council of 100, Board of Directors; Florida Take Stock in Children, Board of Directors; Greater Atlanta Chamber of Commerce, Executive Committee; Atlanta High Museum of Art, Board of Directors.

Tristan brings to Growthink an array of entrepreneurial finance skills with specific expertise in healthcare services and IT, technology and new media. Currently, Tristan is focused on advising companies looking to raise capital, exit their businesses, or pursue growth via acquisition.

Tristan began his career at Growthink as an analyst while completing his Bachelor’s degree at the University of California, Los Angeles. Over the years he has been with the firm, he has grown into a leadership role managing a team in executing strategic and corporate advisory mandates.

He has been involved with more than 120 engagements for companies ranging from pre-revenue start-ups to multi-billion dollar joint ventures. Some notable successes include securing early stage financing for an innovative green technology company from a top tier VC, structuring the sale of a venture-backed test and measurement company to an international conglomerate, completing a complex analysis of the South American secondary mortgage market, developing the offering package for a successful $1.5 billion capital raise to fund a high-profile joint venture and providing ongoing advice and financing assistance for a host of healthcare IT companies.

Prior to joining Growthink, Tristan worked as a financial analyst for a private wealth management division of Citigroup. Tristan also worked in a corporate development capacity for Millennium Real Estate, a Northern California-based operator of fitness centers for whom he identified and assessed acquisition targets.

Tristan is the winner of several high-profile business plan, case study and debate competitions at Oxford University and at the Haas School of Business at the University of California, Berkley.

Melissa has extensive experience in sales, business development, project management, and executive search.

Melissa began her career in the healthcare arena at industry leader Emerald Health Services, where as the organization’s Senior Business Development Manager, clients included some of the nation's largest hospital systems. Melissa left Emerald to join the Lucas Group, one of the world's largest retained executive search firms. Clients included companies in the software, entertainment, biotechnology, manufacturing, consumer products, retail, apparel/fashion, and real estate sectors.

Since joining Growthink in 2007, Melissa has developed and worked with a robust portfolio of clients and investment arenas ranging from startup SaaS and New Media/Web 2.0 models to early stage ISPs, Forex platforms, healthcare/medical device, biotechnology, and fashion/entertainment companies to a $ 9billion dollar multinational manufacturing company.

Melissa is known for being out and about the city of Los Angeles representing Growthink at entrepreneurial, finance, and other industry related networking events.

Melissa earned her Bachelor's in Legal Studies from Johnson & Wales University and her MBA from Pepperdine University’s Graziadio School of Business and Management. Melissa is also an active member of the Junior League of Los Angeles, Santa Monica Junior Chamber of Commerce, and the National Association of Women MBAs.

"Working for Growthink is one of the more fulfilling jobs in finance; unlike the work at most firms, Growthink projects are tangible - companies get built, products get made, jobs get created."

Over the past 6 years, as a Growthink Engagement Partner Jack Wolbert has led a deep and wide array of over 200 strategic advisory and financing assignments, including:

• Advising an energy infrastructure project which secured $150MM in equity financing;
• Serving as lead banker on a $10MM financing for a fast-growing healthcare services firm;
• Provided and implemented financial and strategic advice to a rapidly-scaling healthcare services firm that grew existing locations by 500% in just its second year of operation, increased revenue per location by 150%, and secured $5MM of non-dilutive capital;
• Advising a Regional Bank on their re-capitalization effort during the banking crisis of 2008-2009 which resulted in the procurement of TARP funds and the acquisition of two additional banking assets;
• Advising an early-stage financial analytics company through a full financial restructuring, resulting in repayment to all previous shareholders and significant cash-flow generation to the surviving entity;

Prior to working with Growthink, Jack built a chain of retail outlets in the telecommunications industry and then sold them as a group to a strategic acquirer.

Jack received his Bachelor's degree from the University of Michigan.