TEAM MEMBERS
Dennis is the founder of CommVest and Co-Founder of Eastward. He is responsible for overseeing the day to day operations of the Company, as well as managing the organization, structure and negotiation of all investment opportunities. At CommVest, Dennis raised $150 million and managed four fully-invested technology funds for venture debt and equity investments, totaling more than $200 million in committed capital. During his tenure, Dennis has led the firm’s investments in companies such as Pirus Networks (acquired by Sun Microsystems), Qtera (acquired by Nortel), @stake (acquired by Symantec), XCOM (acquired by Level 3) PSI (Initial Public Offering), NOPT (Initial Public Offering), Rocky Mountain Internet (Initial Public Offering), Broadbus, Revivio, Airvana, Virtela, Infinera and many others. Prior to founding CommVest, Dennis has had sixteen years of structured finance and leasing experience with John Hancock Leasing, CIT and MeesPierson. Dennis received his BS in Marketing/Finance from Northeastern University.
« Back to Top
Ed joined Eastward in 2000 and is a member of our Investment Committee. He is responsible for originating and structuring investment opportunities, performing due diligence and monitoring the Company’s portfolio of investments. He has more than 15 years of experience in equity and debt financings, credit & financial analysis, and alternative investments. Prior to joining the firm, Ed was a managing director at MeesPierson, Inc., a subsidiary of Fortis. At MeesPierson, Ed most recently managed investment research for an internal fund, which provided equity financing to publicly traded companies in various sectors including technology. He also oversaw various public and private investments on behalf of the company. Ed began his career as a credit analyst for Chemical Bank (JP Morgan Chase). Ed received his BA in Economics from Hamilton College.
« Back to Top
Michael joined Eastward in 2004 and is responsible for the financial and accounting operations of the funds, and management company. Prior to joining the firm, Michael was Chief Financial Officer at Great Hill Equity Partners, a $1 billion private equity firm focused on information technology. At Great Hill, Michael also acted as an initial CFO and Treasurer for several portfolio companies during their initial stages. Previous to Great Hill, Michael worked as a director of operations at TS Design, an internet consulting firm, which was later sold to Razorfish. In this role, Michael worked closely with the founder to develop the financial & operational controls, and sales plans that led the company to profitability. Michael’s experience also includes working in the financial and accounting areas at Carvel Ice Cream after their purchase by InvestCorp as well as Facilities Resource Management, a facilities consulting firm. Michael is a founding board member of the Private Equity CFO Association, a 300 member group of VC and PE firm CFO’s. Besides, Michael also sits as a board member for the Facility Management Consultants. Michael graduated from Babson College with a BS in Finance.
« Back to Top
Nick was an original member of Applied Telecommunications Technologies Inc. (ATTI), the predecessor of the Manager. Nick rejoined the Manager in 2006 as a Director and is responsible for origination of investment opportunities. Nick has more than 30 years experience in marketing and senior management positions for technology companies. Nick was the original Vice President of Marketing at Stratus Computer where he helped lead the Company through a successful IPO and grow revenue from $0 to $135 million. At Sequoia Systems Nick was the Vice President of Sales, Marketing and Service and a member of the turnaround team that completed a successful IPO. Prior to joining Eastward, Nick was a Senior Advisor at Needham & Company. He began his career at IBM in various sales and marketing roles. Nick received his BS in Finance from the University of Connecticut.
« Back to Top
Tim joined Eastward in 2010 as a Director and is responsible for originating and structuring investment opportunities, performing due diligence and monitoring the Company’s portfolio of investments. Prior to joining Eastward, he ran the New England Region for Vencore Capital. Prior to Vencore, Tim held a variety of senior management positions at Silicon Valley Bank. During his eight-year tenure at SVB, Tim was directly involved in over 150 financings for high technology companies. He has had over 30 initial public offerings and strategic sales in his portfolio. He has served as the Chief Credit Officer for the bank’s communication practice and in that role approved and monitored loans totaling more than $1.5 billion. Tim was the national product manager for the bank’s early stage lending products and was responsible for product development, product rollouts, pricing and training across the U.S. He is a graduate of Boston College with a B.A. in Economics.
« Back to Top
Chris joined Eastward in 2010 as a Director. At Eastward, Chris is focused on development of investment opportunities, industry trends and ongoing portfolio management. Prior to joining Eastward, Chris was an advisor reporting to the senior management team and the Board of Directors of Metabolix, a leading green technology company specializing in bio-polymers and alternative fuels. Previously, Chris spent 10 years at Bear Stearns covering the Specialty Chemical, Water, Ag-Biotech, Major Chemical and Diversified Chemical industries on a global basis. He was recognized by Institutional Investor Magazine as a “Best Up-and-Comer” in the Specialty Chemical category and was recognized by the Wall Street Journal as an “All Star” for earnings estimate accuracy for all chemical industry categories. Chris has also worked at the private equity firm Great Hill Partners and the investment bank Ladenburg Thalmann. Chris has an undergraduate degree in finance from Boston University and a Master of Business Administration from Cornell University.
« Back to Top
Nancy joined the firm in 2001 and is responsible for syndications, lease documentation, evaluation of potential investments and development of financing relationships. Nancy has more than 17 years of leasing experience. Prior to joining Eastward, Nancy was vice president at TLP Leasing, where she managed the origination, documentation, negotiation and financing of venture and middle market lease investments. Nancy also spent ten years with CSA Financial Corp., where she directed their documentation and debt placement functions. She earned her BA from The College of the Holy Cross.
« Back to Top
Beth joined the firm in 2000 as the Controller. Beth has 15 years accounting and finance experience that include general accounting, SEC, management and regulatory reporting. Prior to joining the firm, Beth held finance position with BankBoston and BayBank. Beth graduated from the University of Massachusetts at Amherst and holds a BBA in Accounting.
« Back to Top
Susan is the loan administrator for Eastward and is responsible for loan documentation management and the maintenance of loan data, loan invoicing and collections through use of the portfolio asset management software. Susan has been with Eastward and its predecessors for 15 years. Susan received her BS from Framingham State College.
« Back to Top
Devin joined Eastward in 2009 as a Staff Accountant. She assists with the financials and accounting operations of the Eastward Funds and is responsible for the daily accounting administration of the management company. Prior to joining the firm, Devin worked in accounting at a civil engineering construction company. Devin graduated from Trinity College with a B.S. in Economics.
« Back to Top