I am now, for the most part, an educator.  I teach a humanities course at Tuck/Dartmouth and co-teach an economics course at Dartmouth College.

 

For over 30 years I was a venture capital and private equity investor.  I served for a decade at one pioneering firm learning the trade and rising to partner, then as a partner for a briefer period at another world class firm that was valiantly attempting to re-invent itself.  Then when the moment presented itself in the early aughts I went entrepreneurial and founded my own firm. 

 

We named it Salmon River Capital, after my favorite river.  My goal was to build a firm that would combine capital and expertise, contribute to the creation of a portfolio of high-quality businesses and generate handsome risk-adjusted returns. Our strategy was equal parts sensibly conventional and remarkably unconventional.  We targeted innovation-driven businesses that aspired to pioneer new markets or carve new paths in existing ones.  We were comfortable with execution and market risk but generally avoided technology risk, favoring entrepreneurs using existing technology to exploit market discontinuities.  Our strategy was tightly sector-focused and biased towards industries where success requires creation of bona fide social goods (e.g., education) - but stage-independent, from early-stage through growth-stage to take-private transactions.  We used financial engineering to enhance but not drive returns and avoided significantly leveraged balance sheets.  This was designed as much to mitigate risk as it was to preserve operational flexibility, which is vital to rapidly evolving businesses.  Hold periods were a good deal longer than industry average, for both strategic and financial reasons. I served on the board of every portfolio company.  This necessitated a measured investing pace and a concentrated portfolio, which in turn limited risk tolerances.

 

With the backing of a group of investors willing to bet on a new firm with an unorthodox strategy trying to break into a business with low barriers to entry but high barriers to success and the drive of a small high-quality team, Salmon River Capital thrived beyond my expectations.  We benefitted from well-timed alliances with two larger, highly complementary firms, favorable macros (equity indexes generally did well through the firm’s 20-year life despite the 2008 financial crisis, and when we began SAAS software was an undervalued asset class), and more than our share of good luck.  The firm generated top decile returns over its 20 year life, and – credit to our risk tolerances, patience, and willingness to think hard and get our hands dirty while riding out difficult passages - lost capital on only one investment.  These results can make two decades of hard work appear a good deal easier than they were, which I learned is the story of most successful businesses.

 

During this period I also applied the tools of my trade to three enterprises not in the Salmon River Capital portfolio, all in the education sector.  I served on the board of two transformative education-sector social enterprises, New Leaders (including 8 years as board Chair) and New Classrooms, and as a non-executive director of Pearson Plc, then the world’s largest education company.

 

Having wound down Salmon River Capital’s portfolio I remain engaged in the VC/PE markets on a personal basis.  I am also active in a variety of advisory and philanthropic roles.

 

I am married to Tess Lewis, a prize-winning literary translator and essayist.  We have two living children who make us proud as they carve their own distinct paths.  We divide our time between NY and the Upper Valley of VT/NH, where when I'm not in the classroom I enjoy my bicycles, my skis, and my tractor.  I am a Member of the American Alpine Club and a Fellow of the Royal Geographical Society, which entitles me to get lost on any continent and not ask for directions.