About

Brian has been a successful investment banker and investor for over 30 years. Brian co founded American Discovery in 2017 and since that time has overseen the firms growth in both private equity and investment banking. Before co-founding ADC, he was a Partner at Moelis & Company and focused on clients in the technology and business services sector. Brian completed numerous mergers & acquisitions and a number of successful merchant banking transactions while at Moelis & Company, including UELS and North American Partners in Anesthesia (NAPA). UELS, acquired in July 2011 with an initial equity investment of $26.9 million, was sold to Norwest Equity Partners in August 2014. Moelis Capital Partners (MCP) realized gross proceeds of $149 million (including dividends), equating to a 4.0x multiple of invested capital and a 75% IRR. MCP successor NexPhase Capital sold NAPA to American Securities in April 2016, realizing a 3.8x multiple and a 35% IRR on an initial equity check of $59 million.

Prior to joining Moelis & Company, Brian was Global Head of Technology Investment Banking at UBS Investment Bank, where he oversaw UBS’ technology investment banking business on a global basis with a focus on the following sectors: software, communications, internet, semiconductors, business services, and outsourced manufacturing and distribution. During Brian’s tenure, he expanded the business by over 100 bankers and reached a record level of $300 million of revenue in 2007, when it was recognized as the fastest-growing industry group throughout UBS on a global basis. Before becoming Global Head of Technology Investment Banking, Brian ran the technology and business services vertical within the broader group. Brian joined UBS from Donaldson Lufkin & Jenrette (DLJ) in 2001, following the sale of DLJ to Credit Suisse.

At DLJ, Brian co-founded the firm’s technology group and worked on a number of significant IPOs, high-yield, merger & acquisition and merchant banking transactions primarily in the technology sector. Under Brian’s management, DLJ commanded a leading market share in software and technology services for 6 years, and resulted in Brian being promoted to Managing Director in just 7 years. Brian joined DLJ as an Associate in 1993 and interned for the firm during the summer of 1992. Brian began his career in industry at the Ford Motor Company in Product Development Engineering, and assisted on the first major re-engineering of the very successful original Taurus.

Brian graduated with an MBA from Harvard Business School (HBS) in 1993. Prior to attending HBS, he graduated Magna Cum Laude with a Bachelor of Arts Degree from the University of Utah in 1989. He and his wife, Megan, have been married for 26 years and have three children.

John has spent over 30 years as an investment banker and corporate finance consultant. As a Partner and Managing Director at Moelis & Company, he was responsible for leading the firm’s global investment banking activities in the Enterprise Software sector, which included relationship management with private equity firms and hedge funds focused on the Enterprise Software sector and providing M&A and capital markets advice to leading software companies. During his tenure at Moelis & Co., he advised on some of the largest and most-prominent transactions in the Enterprise Software sector, including: Epicor Software’s (Nasdaq: EPIC) $980 million sale to Apax Partners; BMC Software’s (NYSE: BMC) $6.9 billion sale to Bain Capital, Golden Gate Capital, GIC Special Investments Pte Ltd and Insight Venture Partners; and CDC Software’s (Nasdaq: CDCS) $350 million bankruptcy restructuring, including the sale of its enterprise software assets to Vista Equity Partners.

Prior to joining Moelis &Co., John spent ten years at UBS Investment Bank where he was a Managing Director and Global Head of Software Investment Banking, as well as the Head of the Los Angeles office. While at UBS, he advised on some of the largest Capital Markets and M&A transactions in the Enterprise Software sector globally, including a $2.0 billion convertible bond offering for Symantec (Nasdaq: SYMC); a $600 million convertible bond offering for Business Objects SA (Nasdaq: BOBJ); the $745 million sale of Telelogic AB to IBM; the $400 million sale of SurfControl plc to Websense (Nasdaq: WBSN); the $350 million sale of Safeboot plc to McAfee (NYSE: MFE); and the $340 million acquisition by IBM of iLog Inc. His enterprise software coverage universe encompassed companies in the ERP, enterprise applications, SaaS, business intelligence and security subsectors, with a particular focus on high-growth, middle-market companies. He also lead the firm’s coverage of financial sponsors and private equity firms focused on the Enterprise Software sector.

John began his investment banking career with Donaldson, Lufkin & Jenrette (DLJ), and remained with DLJ until its sale to Credit Suisse in 2000. While at DLJ, he completed M&A transactions, private equity investments, IPO and other equity offerings, and leveraged buyouts for high-growth companies and LBO sponsors in a wide variety of sectors, including Technology, Business Services, Media, Financial Services and Wireless Communications. Before he began his investment banking career, John spent four years as a consultant with Coopers & Lybrand in Boston, London UK, and Chicago, and was licensed as a Certified Public Accountant.

John studied at the University of Pennsylvania’s Wharton School and the Ross School of Business at the University of Michigan, where he earned a Bachelor of Business Administration. He earned a Master of Business Administration, with honors, from the University of Chicago’s Booth School of Business. He and his wife, Mariel, have been married for 21 years and have three children.

Laurent has been investing in private equity in technology and biotechnology for the past 17 years. His investments range from software companies to drug development companies. Previously, Laurent managed private equity investments in Europe, Asia and USA. Notable investments include those in MedApps (sold to Alere) and in iTeos Therapeutics (NASDAQ: ITOS).

Laurent’s investment approach has always been very entrepreneurial and focused on building relationships with the management in order to assist in building growth and value over the long term.

Before becoming an investor, Laurent was a real estate developer in Europe where he successfully built office and residential properties in Brussels. He merged his company Urbis Development with Herpain to form Herpain Urbis. Herpain Urbis added retail investments and construction to its development business. Laurent sold his shares in the group after moving to the USA in 2011.

Laurent serves on the board of a number of private companies in the USA, and also serves on the board of Pacific Oak Strategic Opportunity REIT, a public non-traded REIT based in Los Angeles, California.

Laurent went to the Solvay Business School at the University of Brussels, Belgium. He and his wife Virginie now reside in Los Angeles with their three children. Laurent previously served on the Board of Trustees of the Museum of Contemporary Arts (MOCA) in Los Angeles and as an advisor to Ullens Center for Contemporary Arts in Beijing. He and his wife, Virginie, have been married for 21 years and have three children.

Prior to becoming a Founding Partner of ADC, Frank spent the previous 10 years in senior management positions at firms engaged in the Data and Analytics and Mortgage Services industries. He was named Vice Chairman and CFO of The First American Corporation (NYSE:FAF), a $7 billion financial services and data company, in March 2006. Frank led significant institutional change initiatives at FAF, including restructuring the balance sheet, selling underperforming businesses, cutting corporate costs and developing the plan to split the company into two pieces. The split unlocked tremendous value with the combined market cap increasing over 120% with an annualized IRR of over 22%.

Frank was named CEO of the Information Solutions Group (now called CoreLogic) in January 2008. He led a process of integrating business units, fostering collaboration across units and developing a cohesive go-to-market strategy as “One Company”. The company began to experience strong organic revenue and EBITDA growth in a down market.

In 2010, Frank began consulting for TPG Capital and later that year TPG acquired the data businesses of Macdonald Dettwiler (“MDA”) and rebranded the company Decision Insight. Frank joined the Decision Insight board and provided consulting services to TPG related to the U.S. Data business. In 2011, Frank assumed the additional role of Executive Chairman at DataQuick, the company’s provider of U.S. property data and analytics. In October 2014, TPG successfully completed the sale of Decision Insights business units.

Prior to joining First American, Frank spent 20 years as an investment banker at Merrill Lynch (13 years) and Lehman Brothers (7 years) specializing in Financial Institutions. Frank holds an MBA from the Fuqua School of Business at Duke University and a BS degree in Economics from Villanova University.

Frank currently serves on the Boards of Real Matters, Inc. (TSE: REAL) and American Pain Consortium Holdings. In addition, Frank serves as the Chair of the Board of Directors of Junior Achievement of Southern California.

Frank and his wife Vikki have been married since 1992 and have three children.

Jeff Gelles has been a senior leveraged finance and financial restructuring professional for over 25 years. Prior to helping found ADC in 2016, Jeff was a Managing Director, Head of CME Leveraged Finance, and Head of the U.S. Restructuring Group at RBC Capital Markets from 2009 through 2016. As such, he maintained a dual focus on raising capital for communication, media, and entertainment (CME) companies as well as advising companies facing capital structure difficulties.

Prior to RBC Capital Markets, Jeff was a Managing Director in UBS’ Leveraged Finance and Restructuring Groups. At UBS, Jeff was Head of Leveraged Finance and Restructuring for Technology, Media, and Telecommunication (TMT), and he was Head of the San Francisco office for his group.  Prior to UBS, Jeff worked in Leveraged Finance at Morgan Stanley and Salomon Brothers. During this period, he led senior loan, high yield, and mezzanine financing transactions for emerging companies, primarily in the TMT sectors. Before Salomon Brothers, Jeff worked with Deloitte & Touche as a Manager in their Restructuring Group. At Deloitte, he provided financial and operational restructuring advisory services to troubled middle-market companies, and his transaction experience included both out-of-court and in-court reorganizations.

Over the span of his career, Jeff has completed over 225 transactions raising more than $175 billion in capital and restructuring more than $50 billion in securities.  Jeff holds an MBA from Harvard Business School and a B.A. degree from Stanford University.

He and his wife, Beth, have been married for over 20 years and have three children.

Prior to American Discovery Capital, from 2011 to 2016, Mike was a member of the senior management team of YapStone, Inc., a leading venture-backed provider of online and mobile payment solutions for global marketplaces and large vertical markets. At YapStone, Mike was most recently General Manager (“GM”) of YapStone's vertical business operations. In this role, Mike worked with YapStone's founder and CEO to develop growth strategies for YapStone's vertical businesses, including RentPayment and VacationRentPayment, and oversaw the implementation and coordination of these strategies across sales, business development, marketing, customer support, product development and recruiting/HR. Prior to his role as GM, Mike served as SVP of Business Development for YapStone, responsible for YapStone's M&A strategy and the development of strategic partnerships and major client accounts.

Prior to YapStone, Mike worked for twelve years as an investment banker with UBS and DLJ. He most recently was an Executive Director and Co-Head of Business/Technology Services Investment Banking at UBS Investment Bank, responsible for leading UBS's investment banking activities for the firm's business/technology services clients. Over the course of his investment banking career, Mike has completed numerous M&A advisory and financing transactions for his clients in the business/technology services and technology sectors.

Mike holds a B.S. in finance and accounting from Indiana University.

Peter has spent over 35 years in the investment business, including work in growth equity, leveraged buyouts, turnarounds and recapitalizations. Before ADC, Peter was a Managing Director at Wedbush Capital Partners where he was co-head of the firm's Private Equity Fund and initiatives for 14 years. Peter has a strong track record of backing successful entrepreneurs and working with them to make sure they have the necessary resources to succeed. He is currently chairman of the board of directors of Critical Alert Systems and also on the board of VCC Optoelectronics. He is a board observer for The Intersect Group, Medix and an advisor to the Seminal Capital Food and Nutrition Fund.

Prior to joining Wedbush, Peter was a Managing Director of Alvin V. Shoemaker Investments, Inc. where he managed a family office and multiple investments. Peter has experience investing in a broad range of industries including: financial and business services, healthcare IT and services, software and outsourcing.

Earlier in his career, Peter identified growth opportunities and invested capital for Hanover Energy, a merchant bank focused on buyouts in the energy industry and controlled by William E. Simon & Sons.

Peter also worked at Price Waterhouse in the Corporate Finance and Recovery Group. There he was involved in a number of restructurings including Orange County and Rockefeller Center. Peter began his career as an analyst in the Merrill Lynch Capital Markets Group.

Peter earned his BA from the University of Pennsylvania in 1986 and an MBA from the University of Southern California in 1994. Since then, Peter has been active with the University of the Pennsylvania in a variety of philanthropic leadership roles. Peter is also the youngest winner of the Alumni Award of Merit, Penn’s highest honor for philanthropy.

Peter has been married to his wife Elizabeth since 1990 and they have three children.

Greg has been a successful investment banker and franchise builder for more than 30 years with broad experience advising owners of middle market private companies, boards of directors of public companies, C-suite executives, private equity firms, charitable foundations, ERISA-covered trusts and Employee Stock Ownership Plans (ESOPs). He has established the west coast brands and built offices for two middle market investment banking firms.

Most recently he founded and directed the growth of the LA office of Stout, growing the office to a 25 person team and heading the firm’s Aerospace and Defense investment banking. Prior to Stout, Greg led the LA office for Duff & Phelps, establishing a west coast presence for that firm, where he completed the then largest transaction in the firm’s history, the sale of Wesco Aircraft Hardware to The Carlyle Group. Prior to Duff & Phelps, Greg was a senior vice president with Houlihan Lokey.

Among the many industries Greg has served are aerospace & defense, automotive, distribution, manufacturing, consumer products, construction, agriculture, and specialty chemicals. He has worked extensively with employee owned companies and led the sale of employee owned Rainbow Environmental Services to Republic Services.

Greg has an MBA in Finance from UCLA and graduated with a Bachelor of Arts degree in Economics from Stanford University. He and his wife Lynn have been married since 1992 and have two sons.

Bruce Pompan has over 30 years experience as an investment banker providing sell-side and buy-side mergers and acquisitions advisory services, arranging private placements and structuring recapitalizations for closely-held companies. He has a broad range of industry expertise, particularly in business and consumer services, healthcare services, technology, communications, technology, and digital media.

Prior to becoming a partner at American Discovery Capital, Bruce Pompan was the founder of Clear Capital Advisors, a leading M&A advisory serving the middle market for over a decade. Previously Mr. Pompan served for over seven years as Managing Director at Cappello Capital, a boutique investment bank in the Los Angeles area. Mr. Pompan previously held the position of Director of Investment Banking at Harris Nesbitt Gerard (formerly Gerard Klauer Mattison) and at ING Barings. He was instrumental in building ING Barings’ West Coast presence, facilitating over $2 billion in equity financings, recapitalizations and mergers and acquisitions.

Mr. Pompan received his M.B.A. from New York University, Graduate School of Business Administration (Stern School of Business) and earned his B.A. from Yale University. He is a Certified Public Accountant (inactive) and is registered with FINRA as a General Securities Representative (Series 7 and 63) and a General Securities Principal (Series 24).

Mr. Pompan was Captain of the Yale Varsity Tennis Team, and is a two time U.S. Open Singles Champion in paddle tennis. He also enjoys running, skiing, mountain biking, and basketball.

Prior to American Discovery Capital, Avi was CFO of the Filo Group, a boutique wireless advisory firm where he was responsible for all aspects of the company’s day-to-day financial operations as well as helping to develop new business strategies and initiatives.

From 2013-2015, Avi served as Senior Portfolio Manager for Wireless Capital Partners, a Blackstone portfolio company focused on telecom related real estate. In this role, he was responsible for development and implementation of strategic initiatives, portfolio valuation, risk management and investor reporting. While at Wireless Capital, he was involved with the Company’s sale to Melody Capital Partners, its acquisition of CCG’s ground lease portfolio and the $150mm securitization of its ground leases portfolio.

Before joining Wireless Capital Partners, Avi was a Director in UBS Investment Bank’s Global Technology Group. During this time, Avi executed numerous transactions including representing the NTI Group on its $182mm sale to Blackboard, Sigma Design on its $190 million acquisition of CopperGate Communications, Princeton Review on its $170 million acquisition of Penn Foster and various other M&A, debt and equity transactions.

Prior to joining UBS, Avi worked as a research analyst at William O’Neil + Co.

Avi earned a B.A. in Business Economics from the University of California, Los Angeles. He also holds an MBA from the University of Chicago’s Booth School of Business.

Todd has over 25 years of experience as investment banker, private equity investor, and senior operating executive. He has advised numerous companies on corporate finance transactions, including M&A, equity, and debt, and has broad experience across industry sector throughout North America, Europe, Asia, and Africa.

Todd joined American Discovery Capital in September 2017, where advises middle market companies in the business services, technology, and media sectors on M&A and capital raising. He has also been actively involved with several fund investments, including GreenSlate, Majestic Realty, SmartBug Media, and Entertainment Partners, and previously led the administrative functions for the firm’s investment banking operations.

Prior to ADC, Todd was CFO and VP, Strategy and Finance at Materia, Inc., a technology company in Pasadena, CA serving the energy, chemical processing, pharmaceutical, and bio-refinery sectors. He led the finance & accounting and corporate development functions, and also oversaw business development, legal, human resources, and operations. During Todd’s tenure at Materia, the company grew revenue six-fold.

Prior to Materia, Todd was a senior investment banker at leading global firms in London, Hong Kong, and Los Angeles. He was most recently the Global Co-Head of the Renewable Energy & Environmental Finance Group at Standard Chartered Bank, where he led the bank’s clean technology efforts in Asia, the Middle East, and Africa. Before that, he specialized in leveraged & acquisition finance and financial sponsor coverage for Morgan Stanley, and in various roles for CS First Boston and prior to its acquisition, Donaldson, Lufkin & Jenrette (DLJ).

Todd is board member and Treasurer of Healthy Humor, a charity that brings the healing power of joy and laughter to hospitalized children and their families at hospitals across the country and to others who are most in need.

Todd holds an A.B. from Harvard University. He, his wife Sheila, and son Tyler, and live in Altadena, California.

Susan has over 20 years of experience in investment banking and corporate finance advising middle market and entrepreneur-led companies on mergers and acquisitions, debt and equity capital raises, and financial restructurings.

Prior to joining American Discovery Capital, Susan was a Director at Clear Capital Advisors, a leading M&A advisory firm serving the middle market for over a decade.  She started her career in the high yield department of Bankers Trust and Bank of America, followed by senior level roles at several Southern California boutique investment banks.  She has successfully executed a diverse range of transactions including leveraged buyouts, management buyouts, growth recapitalizations and dividend recapitalizations across a wide variety of industries.

Susan received an MBA from the Anderson School at UCLA and a BSBA from Washington University in St. Louis (John M. Olin School of Business).  She is registered with FINRA as a General Securities Representative (Series 7, 79 and 63) and a General Securities Principal (Series 24).  She and her husband, Jeff, have been married for 20 years and have two children.

Peter serves on the board of The Intersect Group, an investment of American Discovery Fund, L.P.

Peter has 35 years of experience in I.T./business services and staffing industry leadership, corporate law, and private investing. Peter has served in various executive capacities at four publicly traded companies and has represented I.T./business services and staffing companies in the private practice of law. Peter was previously CEO and President of ASGN, Incorporated (NYSE: ASGN), a $6 billion market capitalization public company, where he oversaw ASGN’s growth into the largest provider of staffing services in the technology, creative, healthcare technology, and life sciences sectors.

Prior to ASGN, Peter held a variety of leadership positions (including Chief Operating Officer) at Quanta Services, a $24 billion market capitalized, publicly held provider of specialized contracting services for the electric and gas utility, cable, and telecommunications industries.

Prior to Quanta Services, Peter served as Chairman of the Board, Chief Executive Officer and President at Metamor Worldwide, Inc., then an international, publicly traded IT consulting / staffing company. At Metamor, Peter negotiated the company’s $2.1 billion sale to PSINet in 2000.

Peter previously was a Partner with the law firm Cochran, Rooke and Craft LLP, and was also Executive Vice President, Secretary, and a Director of Xpedior, Inc.  Peter has served on 5 public boards and 4 boards of private equity portfolio companies.  Peter started his career as a corporate attorney and clerked for the Honorable Federal District Judge George Cire of the Southern District of Texas.

Peter holds a J.D. from University of Texas Law School and a B.S. in Business Administration from Southern Methodist University.

Halbert Sullivan Washburn

Hal Washburn serves as a Senior Advisor to American Discovery Capital where he is involved in principal investing for the firm’s current private equity fund, American Discovery Fund II.

Hal is an experienced C-Suite executive and entrepreneur with a track record of building and operating both private and public companies. Over the course of his career Hal has built a number of companies, the largest of which was a private company, Breitburn, that he co-founded and subsequently took public, which grew from $0 to over $1 billion of annual EBITDA under his leadership.

In addition to his operating experience, Hal has over 30 years of experience in capital markets transactions, M&A and restructuring. Hal led two initial public offerings, multiple secondary public equity and debt offerings and the issuance of private equity and syndicated private debt. Hal also led more than $8 billion of private and public M&A transactions and successfully led a balance sheet restructuring that resulted in the equitization of more than $3 billion of debt.

In 1988 Hal co-founded the Breitburn group of companies where he served as Co-CEO, CEO and as a member of the Board of Directors. The Breitburn group was comprised primarily of Breitburn Energy Partners LP (NASDAQ: BBEP), a publicly traded MLP, and Pacific Coast Energy Holdings, a private partnership which was the sponsor of Pacific Coast Oil Trust (NYSE: ROYT), a publicly traded royalty trust.

Under Hal’s leadership the Breitburn group grew from a startup with two California oil fields to two primary entities that employed over 1000 personnel and produced more than 60,000 barrels of oil equivalent per day (BOE/D) from more than 10,000 oil and gas wells across 13 states. 

In addition to the Boards of Breitburn and Pacific Coast, Hal served on the Board (including serving as Chairman) of Rentech, Inc. (NASDAQ: RTK) an alternative energy company and the General Partner of Rentech Nitrogen Partners (NYSE: RNF), a publicly traded Master Limited Partnership in the nitrogen fertilizer business. Hal also served on the Board of Directors of Jones Energy (NYSE: JONE), a publicly traded oil & gas company with operations in Texas and Oklahoma. In addition, Hal has served on the boards of a number of private companies, trade associations and non-profits.

Hal graduated with a degree in Engineering (with distinction) from Stanford University.

Kevin Cohn has over 30 years of successful executive, operational and finance experience leading private and public companies in the technology and business services sectors. His operating experience includes extensive merger & acquisition focus around strategy, contract negotiation, due diligence and integration. He also has extensive transactional corporate finance experience in public and private financings involving debt and equity.  Kevin serves on the boards of directors of Genuent, Opptly and The Staffing Ninjas.

From 2012 to 2017 Kevin was a Board Member, Executive Vice President and COO of Sirius Solutions (“Sirius”), a consulting firm providing financial advisory, technology and performance improvement solutions. Kevin joined Sirius in 2012 with corporate strategy, executive oversight and day-to-day operating responsibilities. Sirius has 200 plus professionals and has delivered services to clients in 45 countries with headquarters in Houston and offices in Dallas, New York and London. While at Sirius, Kevin redesigned and implemented the corporate strategy and aligned the service offerings, organizational structure, talent acquisition, sales and compensation programs along with onboarding key executive team members resulting in restored double-digit revenue growth and annual growth over 100 percent in EBITDA to approximately $10 million.

Prior to joining Sirius, Kevin spent 15 years as an officer and member of the Executive Committees of three public companies with enterprise values up to $2 billion.

From 2006 to 2011, Kevin was the Senior Vice President, CFO and Corporate Secretary of First Acceptance Corporation, an NYSE listed provider of insurance and related services with over $400 million in revenues, 1,400 employees and 400 locations throughout the U.S. While at First Acceptance, he restructured the balance sheet, cut costs by 40%, implemented new compensation, marketing and credit scoring based underwriting programs that led the business from breakeven to $20 million in EBITDA. From 2001 to 2006, Kevin was the Vice President, Finance for BindView Development, a Nasdaq listed global IT security software provider that was successfully sold to Symantec in 2006 for $209 million.

From 1997 to 2001, Kevin served as the Vice President, Corporate Development and CAO, for Metamor Worldwide, a Nasdaq listed global IT consulting company with approximately $1.2 billion in revenues and 6,000 employees. During Kevin’s tenure, Metamor executed over 60 acquisitions globally with aggregate transaction values in excess of $1 billion, raised $190 million through the IPO of 20 percent of its wholly-owned subsidiary Xpedior, divested three business units for $685 million and completed three financing transactions raising over $700 million. Metamor was successfully sold to PSINet in 2000 for $2.1 billion.

Prior to 1997, Kevin worked in various capacities in the audit practices of Ernst & Young and Arthur Andersen serving high growth clients in the technology, healthcare and business services sectors.

Kevin is a licensed CPA and received a B.S. in Finance and an M.S. in Accountancy from the University of Houston. Kevin played Division One basketball at Texas State University.

Anthony (Tony) Shepherd serves as the CFO of American Discovery’s private equity fund entities as well as the broker-dealer, American Discovery Advisors. Prior to joining American Discovery in 2021, Tony spent the last 14 years serving in CFO positions at private equity owned companies in diverse industries, including third-party fulfillment, B2B media, environmental services, IT services, contract manufacturing, flooring supplies, printer supplies, restaurant, broadcasting, retail, and distribution. Mr. Shepherd served most recently as the CFO of AMS Fulfilment, a portfolio company of Fort Point Capital with revenues of over $120M and over 500 employees.

Tony’s experience also includes 8 years as an investment banker at Trinity Capital (4 years) and Barrington Associates (4 years), specializing in sell-side M&A and capital raising for lower middle market companies located primarily in Southern California. At Trinity Capital, Tony served simultaneously as an SVP investment banker as well as the CFO, CCO and FinOp and held Series 7, 24, 28 and 63 licenses. He started his career at PriceWaterhouse, becoming a California CPA and then serving in the Corporate Restructuring practice, advising clients in bankruptcies, workouts and turnarounds.

Tony holds an MBA from the Stanford Graduate School of Management and a BA degree, cum laude, in Business Economics from UCLA.

Mr. Jensen has been Managing Partner of Jensen Capital Partners since 1996 and joined ADC in 2020 as a Senior Advisor.

He has a proven track record of delivering unique and timely funding options to provide liquidity for challenging middle market companies as well as individuals - developing innovative private capital sourcing solutions to complex investment issues, seeking value through bottom-up modeling, valuation, liquidity, and structure.

He is passionate about building financial models for complex investment scenarios where liquidity has been difficult to secure and intermediate to long term values can be realized; finding deep value situations with huge market potential; and proposing realistic funding opportunities to institutional investment partners.

Mr. Jensen has cultivated extensive relationships with broad-based network of Wall Street, Silicon Valley, regional family offices, and other lesser-known funding sources including early founders in private equity, distressed debt / high yield / bankruptcy funds and venture capital.

Early in his career, he honed his investment skills by engaging with some of the most prominent value, distressed, special situation, and fixed income investors at the time including Mutual Shares, Kayne Anderson, Odyssey Partners, 61 Associates, Mercury Investments, Great Pacific Capital, Patricof & Co., and others.

He began his career at Warburg Paribas Becker, Drexel Burnham Lambert, and Bear Stearns.

Mr. Jensen graduated from Claremont McKenna College with a B.A. in Economics and the University of Oklahoma - Michael Price School of Business with a Master of Science in Finance.

Garrett has over 10 years of investment banking experience, providing bespoke and high-impact advice to Founders, CEOs, and Boards of companies. He has been a trusted strategic partner to numerous companies globally and across a diverse set of industries, providing them with premium M&A advice.

Garrett joined American Discovery Capital in 2023 where he advises companies across the globe on M&A and capital raising in the Cybersecurity, Technology, Media, and other industries. Prior to American Discovery Capital, Garrett was at Momentum Cyber where he specialized in Cybersecurity and provided critical advice to companies in the space. He built close relationships with strategics and investors in the industry, providing strong networks for his clients. Garrett served as a Vice President at GP Bullhound and Associate at Capstone Partners where he worked primarily on M&A transactions for technology companies.

Garrett graduated from the University of Southern California, where he received his B.A. in Economics. Garrett lives in Los Angeles with his wife and son and is originally from Singapore. He is a commissioned infantry officer of the Singapore army. Outside of work, Garrett is a licensed pilot, and enjoys sailing, tennis, golf, and pickleball.

Steve began his career as an Analyst with American Discovery Capital in 2017 after working as an intern. During his tenure at ADC, he has advised numerous clients, across a broad range of industries, through mergers and acquisitions, debt and equity capital raises, and financial restructurings. He also supports American Discovery’s private equity fund with industry research, financial modeling and analysis, transaction execution, and ongoing operational support to portfolio companies.

Steve received a JD from the University of San Diego and a BS from the University of Arizona (Eller College of Management). He enjoys playing golf, skiing and snowboarding, and spending time at Southern California beaches.

Jason is a Vice President at American Discovery Capital, where he focuses on the firm’s advisory assignments and principal investments across all industries. 

Prior to joining American Discovery Capital, Jason scaled multiple Silicon Valley, NYC, and China based Software and Technology Startups operating within Mobility, FoodTech, Logistics, and Supply Chain industries. Most recently, Jason worked at Los Angeles based CloudKitchens, where he partnered with Sales and Product teams to scale Software Sales teams globally and streamline Software Product for Food Delivery during the Covid Pandemic.

Jason began his career at UBS Investment Bank as an Investment Banking Analyst in New York in the Industrials group, where he worked on transformative Chemical deals via M&A advisory, equity offerings, and debt capital raises. Following UBS, Jason worked as an Investment Associate at Allianz Capital Partners, where he invested into a generalist portfolio of Private Equity and Venture Capital funds for Allianz’s global $10b fund of funds.

Jason studied at the NYU Stern School of Business and the Ross School of Business at the University of Michigan, where he graduated with Distinction and earned a Bachelor of Business Administration in Finance and Accounting. Jason earned a Master of Business Administration from Columbia Business School. 

Riley is the Head of Business Development at American Discovery Capital and is responsible for sourcing and evaluating M&A and capital raising transactions. He also sources both platform and add-on investment opportunities for American Discovery Fund II.

Prior to joining ADC, Riley evaluated sell-side M&A opportunities and both debt and equity capital raises at an LA based investment bank.

He started his career at Wells Fargo Capital Finance, formerly known as Foothill Capital, covering both Sponsor and non-sponsor backed companies pursuing M&A opportunities. While at Wells Fargo, Riley evaluated and underwrote over $5 billion in acquisition finance, buyout, and restructuring transactions for private companies.

Riley graduated with a BBA from the Cox School of Business at Southern Methodist University.

Ryan is an Associate at American Discovery Capital.

Prior to joining ADC, Ryan was an Associate in the Financial Services Investment Banking Group at Piper Sandler, focusing on mergers & acquisitions and strategic advisory assignments. In his roles as part of the Investment Banking group at Piper Sandler, Ryan has assisted clients on ~$1 billion in M&A transactions and the issuance of over $1.5 billion of debt and equity capital.

Ryan earned a B.S. in Business Administration with a concentration in Finance from the University of Southern California, Marshall School of Business in 2019.

Ryan is a Associate at American Discovery Capital.

Prior to joining American Discovery Capital, Ryan was in the Financial Advisory group at Weaver CPA Firm, where he provided business valuation services to clients nationwide operating across diversified industries. Ryan began his career as a financial analyst at PennyMac Financial Services, a publicly traded residential mortgage company.

Ryan graduated summa cum laude from Tulane University with a B.S. in Economics.

Jason is an Analyst at American Discovery Capital.

Jason graduated with honors from the Paul Merage School of Business at the University of California, Irvine. He received a B.B.A with emphases in Finance and Accounting.  

Ben is an Analyst at American Discovery Capital.

Prior to joining American Discover Capital, Ben was in the Valuation & Capital Markets group at BDO, where he provided business valuation services to clients nationwide operating across diversified industries.

Ben graduated from the E. J. Ourso College of Business at Louisiana State University with a B.S. in Finance.

Casey is an Analyst at American Discovery Capital.

Prior to joining ADC, Casey was a Portfolio Specialist in the Public Fixed Income group at MetLife Investment Management, focusing on Corporate Bond, Long Duration, and Core Based Strategies. In his role as part of the Investments team, Casey assisted on ~$70 billion in Public Fixed Income strategy assets.

Casey graduated from the University of Pennsylvania, where he received a B.S. in Economics with a concentration in Finance from the Wharton School in 2021.

Will is an Analyst at American Discovery Capital, responsible for supporting deal activity and sourcing M&A and capital raising transactions.

Prior to joining ADC, Will was a Senior Consultant for EY and Booz Allen and a Customer Success Manager for Salesforce, where he provided digital transformation, chief-of-staff, software implementation, financial project management, sales engineering, and business consulting services to enterprise clientele. For successfully delivering technological solutions and leading product teams, Will has received over 50 regional company awards.  

Will earned his MBA from USC Marshall School of Business in 2023 as a member of the Beta Gamma Sigma International Business Honor Society and graduated Cum Laude from the College of William & Mary in 2014, with a B.A. in History and Philosophy. 

Trevor is a Junior Analyst at American Discovery Capital.

Trevor graduated from Howard L. Hawks Business School at the University of Nebraska in 2021. He holds a B.S. in Business Administration with concentrations in Finance and Economics.