Meet the Team
Center Leadership Team
Mark Hardie
Director, Center for Private Equity & Venture Capital
Mark Hardie is the Director of the Center for Private Equity and Venture Capital at the Tuck School of Business at Dartmouth College. Prior to joining Tuck, Mark was the Director of the Entrepreneur Innovation Center at Framingham State University. A start-up veteran with deep experience in operations leadership, Mark is also an alumni Career Coach at Harvard Business School, working closely with start-up leadership teams, first time founders and mid-career entrepreneurs.
The son of two teachers, he has taught and lectured on technology issues and entrepreneurship at Harvard, MIT, University of Virginia, Framingham State University, and University of Hartford. A Massachusetts native, Mark attended primary and secondary schools in Holyoke MA, is a graduate of both Tufts University with a B.A. in Political Science and the M.I.T. Sloan School of Management with concentrations in finance and operation. He brings extensive experience launching start-ups, driving corporate strategy and business innovation, all with a focus on Internet business models, mobile device platforms, and cloud-based B2B and B2C service businesses.
Faculty
Mark Anderegg
Adjunct Professor of Business Administration
Mark brings to Tuck 15 years of private equity experience, with a focus on micro cap investing. He is co-founder of Newbury Franklin, a holding company that acquires and builds recurring revenue businesses with an extremely long-term orientation.
Mark is also Chairman of Little Sprouts, a Massachusetts-based provider of early education centers, which he led the acquisition of in 2012 via a search fund. What started as a local business with 16 locations in the Boston area grew to become the largest private preschool company in New England during Mark’s 6-year tenure as CEO. Little Sprouts now operates three brands across four states.
Mark is an active investor and serves on multiple private company boards in the search fund ecosystem. He was previously Faculty Associate in the Kellogg Innovation & Entrepreneurship Initiative, where he continues to advise and mentor on the subject of Entrepreneurship Through Acquisition.
Earlier in his career, Mark was an investment banker with Goldman Sachs, first in New York and later in Chicago. He subsequently worked as a private equity investor with Chicago Growth Partners, a middle-market buyout fund.
Mark received a B.A. in Economics from Vanderbilt University and an M.B.A. from the Kellogg School of Management at Northwestern University.
Jim Feuille D’79
Adjunct Professor; Faculty Adviser, Center for Private Equity and Venture Capital
Jim brings to Tuck 35 years of experience in the equity capital markets including the past 16 years as a highly accomplished principal investor in private equity at Crosslink Capital. Jim’s investment focus areas at Crosslink have included enterprise software/SaaS, internet digital media and consumer services, analytics, advertising technologies, and financial technology. Jim has led Crosslink’s investments in four companies which achieved multi-billion market cap exits—Omniture (NASDAQ: OMTR, IPO 2006, acquired by Adobe 2009 for $1.8B), Ancestry.com (NASDAQ: ACOM, IPO 2009, acquired by Permira 2012 for $1.6B), Pandora (NYSE: P, IPO 2011, average market cap at fund exit $5.5B), and Coupa (NASDAQ: COUP, IPO 2016, current market cap $2.6B). Jim’s current board seats for Crosslink include Personal Capital, Chime, Reltio, Gain Credit, Zebit, and Devon Way. In addition, Jim is Crosslink’s board observer for SilkRoad and Zoosk.
Prior to joining Crosslink, Jim’s professional experience included positions as Global Head of Technology investment banking at UBS, Chief Operating Officer at Volpe Brown Whelan & Company, and Head of Technology Investment Banking at Robertson Stephens.
Jim received an A.B. in Chemistry from Dartmouth College, a J.D. from the Stanford University Law School, and an M.B.A. from the Stanford University Graduate School of Business.
Josh Lewis
Adjunct Professor of Business Administration
Josh is a 35-year venture capital and private equity veteran who has applied the tools of that profession to a portfolio of for-profit and nonprofit activities. His portfolio has ranged from raw start-ups through growth stage and large/public companies to various social enterprises. He has served on a range of public and private boards in the tech, education, and life-sciences sectors in the United States and abroad. Several of those enterprises have had transformative impact on their sectors. The firm Josh founded and ran for two decades generated top-decile returns with infrequent capital loss. He also serves as a faculty advisor for Tuck’s Center for Private Equity and Venture Capital.
Gordon Phillips
Laurence F. Whittemore Professor of Business Administration; Professor of Finance
Gordon Phillips is the Laurence F. Whittemore Professor of Business Administration and a professor of finance. He teaches the 2nd year course Venture Capital and Private Equity and specializes in private equity, mergers, and the impact of financial decisions on firms' strategic decisions. He is a faculty advisor at the Center for Private Equity and Venture Capital, where he was the faculty director for 5 years, reorganizing and helping to expand the previously named Center for Private Equity. He is also a research associate at the National Bureau of Economic Research (NBER) and a visiting research professor at Tsinghua University in Beijing. He previously taught at the University of Southern California and the University of Maryland. He has been a visiting professor at Harvard Business School, Duke University, HEC Paris, Insead, MIT, and Southern Mediterranean University. He received his MA and Ph.D. from Harvard University and his undergraduate degree from Northwestern University. His areas of research include corporate finance and how financial decisions impact firms' strategic decisions, and contracting in financial markets. His work in corporate finance includes studies of private equity issuance, capital structure, Chapter 11 bankruptcy, how leverage buyouts and other forms of high debt influence a firms' and rivals' investment decisions.
Recent research published in the Journal of Political Economy and the Review of Financial Studies has been on applying computational linguistics to firm financial statements to analyze merger synergies, dividends and product market competition. Research published in the Journal of Finance has been on real and financial booms and busts and mergers and acquisitions and how firms organize across multiple markets. He recently presented the keynote address on PIPEs (private investment in public equity) to an audience of executives and finance professionals. He has served as an associate editor at The Review of Financial Studies and The Journal of Corporate Finance.
Nick Russell D’00, T’10
Adjunct Assistant Professor, Private Investments
Nick Russell has twenty years of experience as an investor, advisor, strategist and occasional operator. The entirety of his career has been focused on helping engineering-driven product and service companies across a range of sectors succeed and generate shareholder value. He began his career as a strategy consultant focused on corporate venture formation and growth strategy, as well as complex operational improvement engagements. For the last fifteen years, Mr. Russell has focused on leading control buyout investments in middle and lower-middle market companies, and working closely with portfolio companies and their leaders to develop and execute growth and other improvement initiatives. Mr. Russell joined Tuckerman Capital in 2010. He has been a Board Director and has led several Tuckerman investments. He is responsible for all facets of the firm’s efforts including business development and partnership origination, investment execution, portfolio management, investor facing activities, and internal firm operations.
Mr. Russell received his bachelor’s degree from Dartmouth College and his MBA from the Tuck School at Dartmouth. He teaches an MBA course on private investments in small and middle market companies at the Tuck School and is a frequent speaker on small company buyout investing, particularly addressing the emerging ecosystem surrounding independent private equity sponsors.
Morten Sorensen
Associate Professor of Finance; Paul E. Raether T'73 Faculty Fellow
Professor Sorensen conducts research in the areas of entrepreneurial finance, venture capital, and private equity and focuses on understanding the behavior, performance, and economic effects of venture capital and private equity in individual transactions and in the broader economy. His studies have investigated the risks, returns, and illiquidity inherent in venture capital, private equity, and other alternative investments; the effects of private equity and venture capital investments on individual companies and for industries; and the role of management in venture capital and buyout deals. His research has been presented at numerous universities and conferences, has been featured in the Wall Street Journal, New York Times, Financial Times, Bloomberg, CNBC, and BusinessWeek, and has been published in leading academic journals.
Executive Advisors
Renee Noto D’88
Executive Advisor
Renee has over thirty years of experience in financial services and asset management. She has built three asset management firms and most recently was Partner and President of Brightstar Capital Partners, a middle market private equity firm she helped found in 2015 and grew to over $4bn in assets by 2023. Prior to the inception of Brightstar, Renee was involved in founding two asset management firms, Narraganset Asset Management, a long short hedge fund, and Talon Advisers, a specialty fund of funds. She has advised several other funds on capital raising, operations and strategy. Renee started her career with Peter Lynch at Fidelity Investments where she was a public equity analyst.
Renee is an experienced investor in both public equities and private companies. As a public market investor, she focused primarily on the retail and consumer sectors and is fluent in all aspects of the investment process and public markets. At Brightstar, in addition to running the firm’s daily operations, she was involved in sourcing and deal activity and was a member of several portfolio company deal teams. As a board member, she worked closely with the management teams of two portfolio companies, Gateway Dealer Network and America’s Group. Renee has raised over $7 billion of capital for multiple asset classes across many LP types and geographies and has been the primary contact and relationship manager for these capital allocators.
Renee is a leader with a proven track record of creating, managing and developing teams across many different functional areas, combining empowerment with accountability and leading from the front with strong technical expertise. She has strong relationship building skills and was instrumental in creating a sourcing network of family business owners across the U.S. for Brightstar. Renee has extensive experience in working with entrepreneurs and assessing business models, including as a Regional Judge for the EY Entrepreneur of the Year program.
Renee currently serves on the board of the Metropolitan Golf Association. She graduated Magna Cum Laude from Dartmouth College with an AB in Mathematics and Geography and has earned an MBA from Harvard Business School. She lives in Greenwich, CT with her husband and is an avid golfer.
James Socas
Executive Advisor
James is a Managing Director & Head of the Climate Solutions business at Investcorp. Climate Solutions brings Investcorp’s combination of capital, business-building services, international network and investment experience to the leading companies addressing climate change. James is responsible for managing the overall business, working with portfolio company executive teams, sourcing new investment opportunities, and is the chairperson of the Investment Committee.
He has invested in, advised and financed leading technology companies throughout his career as a private equity and growth investor, board member, senior executive, and strategic advisor. Prior to his current role, James was a Managing Director at Blackstone, where he sourced, managed and lead transactions in the software and global technology industries, including the take-private of events management software leader Cvent, convertible equity investment in cybersecurity services leader FireEye/Mandiant Solutions, pre-IPO investment in data management leader Snowflake, and convertible preferred investment in cybersecurity AI developer Vectra, among others.
Prior to joining Blackstone, he was co-managing partner of a boutique technology growth equity firm and earlier served as a Managing Director with Credit Suisse First Boston and Donaldson, Lufkin & Jenrette. James began his career as an analyst at Goldman Sachs. His operational experience includes serving as head of corporate development and a member of the senior management team of global technology leader Symantec, where he executed over seven corporate acquisitions, managed Symantec's corporate VC investments, and established a highly successful joint venture in China.
James currently serves as a board member of Island Press, the leading not-for-profit publisher on sustainability and the environment and is a member of the Woodwell Climate Research Center’s President’s Council; he has also served on the boards of the Potomac School, the University of Virginia Alumni Association, and the Commonwealth of Virginia's Board of Corrections. He is a member of the Latino Corporate Directors Association (LCDA) and was until recently a member of the New America Alliance, organizations that provide mentoring and networking opportunities for diverse business leaders. He is an honors graduate of the University of Virginia and the Harvard Business School.
Stephen Vicinelli D’87
Executive Advisor
Stephen is a Vice President of Impact Investments at Social Finance, where he leads the design and implementation of impact-first investment solutions.
Previously, Stephen served as Deputy Chief Investment Officer for TIFF Investment Management, a provider of investment solutions to the nonprofit community. Stephen was a member of TIFF’s management committee and a member of the firm’s investment committee. He also spent 15 years leading TIFF’s private investment program, raising 25 private funds with roughly $2.5 billion of capital on behalf of nonprofit investors. Stephen served on the advisory boards of over 20 private investment managers.
Prior to joining TIFF, Stephen spent ten years at Morgan Stanley, where he held positions in the firm’s mergers and acquisitions, technology corporate finance, and realty advisory practices. For nine of those years he was based in London, where he had significant exposure to the global private equity community as an advisor, underwriter, and co-investor. Before joining Morgan Stanley, Stephen was employed by the investment banking division of Donaldson, Lufkin & Jenrette in the firm’s New York and Dallas offices. He serves as a member of the investment committee for The Hotchkiss School and as a council member of the Tuck Center for Private Equity and Venture Capital.
Stephen obtained his AB in History from Dartmouth College and received his MBA from Columbia Business School.
Fellows
Nicolas Alvarez-Tolcheff T’24
2024 CPEVC Fellow
Hometown: Madrid
Education: Bachelor of Laws, Master of Laws
Previous Employer: Perez-Llorca
Summer 2023 Employer: Barclays
Career Interest and Goals: Financial Services
Personal Interests: Soccer, traveling, music
Valeria Brito Barbosa T’24
2024 CPEVC Fellow
Hometown: Caracas, Venezuela
Education: Boston University, 2015
Previous Employer(s): PwC Consulting
Summer 2023 Employer: Pacific Lake - masLabor
Career Interest and Goals: Entrepreneurship and entrepreneurship through acquisition
Personal Interests: Travel, pilates, nutrition, dancing, fitness, triathlons, surfing, kitesurfing, hiking
Devin Casey T’24
2024 CPEVC Fellow
Hometown: Cincinnati, OH
Education: B.S.B.A., Ohio State University
Previous Employer(s): Accenture, Ryan Specialty Group, Discover Financial Services
Summer 2023 Employer: Adobe
Career Interest and Goals: My career goal is to start, support, and/or fund companies focused on closing the wealth gap via both systemic and point solutions. I hope to leverage my experience in fintech/ tech and corporate venture investing to play a role in bringing financial equity to disadvantaged populations.
Personal Interests: Financial literacy, fintech, football, golf, Ohio, hot sauce
Allie Coukos T’24
2024 CPEVC Fellow
Hometown: Newton, MA
Education: BA, George Washington University
Previous Employer(s): Deloitte Consulting
Summer 2023 Employer: Blu Ventures
Career Interest and Goals: My career interest and goals include ultimately working for a cybersecurity-focused early-stage venture capital fund. I’m incredibly interested in how early-stage venture and government innovation programs can work together.
Personal Interests: Skiing, ice hockey, Boston sports, bouldering, pickleball
Hannah Darpoe T’24
2024 CPEVC Fellow
Hometown: Stockholm and London
Education: Durham University
Previous Employer(s): Dovetail Digital (own start-up), J.P. Morgan, Citi
Summer 2023 Employer: Ethos Capital
Career Interest and Goals: Midmarket buy-out with a focus on technology / tech enabled industries.
Personal Interests: Horse riding (ex steeplechase jockey), hiking, skiing, cooking for friends, wine and gardening.
Aodi Jiang T’24
2024 CPEVC Fellow
Hometown: Beijing, China
Education: Northeastern University
Previous Employer(s): Wellington Management Company
Summer 2023 Employer: L.E.K. Consulting
Career Interest and Goals: Management Consulting, ESG, Private Equity, Investment Management
Personal Interests: Basketball, Skiing, Poker, Sports coach for my kids
Benjamin Jones T’24
2024 CPEVC Fellow
Hometown: Mt Holly, NJ
Education: AB, Dartmouth College
Previous Employer: Self-Employed
Summer 2023 Employer: BCG Philadelphia
Career Interest and Goals: I am interested in value-add and opportunistic real estate redevelopment and investing in second and third teir cities.
Personal Interests: Hiking, shooting skeet
Chirag Kataruka T’24
2024 CPEVC Fellow
Hometown: Mumbai, India
Education: Bachelors of Engineering
Previous Employer(s): Swvl, nexquare, Mu Sigma
Summer 2023 Employer: Irving Institute
Career Interest and Goals: I am passionate about working at the intersection of entrepreneurship, venture capital, and technology, with a particular focus on aiding startups that strive for global impact in the realms of climate change and health. I am also interested in harnessing the power of AI for positive change. My long-term goal is to establish my own fund or incubator in emerging markets, dedicated to solving similar problems and catalyzing positive global change.
Personal Interests: In my personal life, I am an avid sports enthusiast. I enjoy engaging in a variety of sports and have a particular passion for learning and mastering new ones. My favorite sports to play are football (soccer) and tennis.
Rob Leet T’24
2024 CPEVC Fellow
Hometown: Seattle, WA
Education: St. Olaf College
Previous Employer(s): KeyBank, River City Bank
Summer 2023 Employer: Jefferies
Career Interest and Goals: Real Estate Private Equity
Personal Interests: Swimming, hiking, skiing, cooking, singing, traveling
Tobe Okpala T’24
2024 CPEVC Fellow
Hometown: San Jose, California
Education: UC Berkeley
Previous Employer(s): Cisco, Zendesk
Career Interest and Goals: Startups and Venture Capital
Personal Interests: Soccer, hiking, ski, travel, music festivals
D’Najah Picou T’24
2024 CPEVC Fellow
Hometown: New Orleans
Education: University of Cincinnati
Previous Employer: Walmart
Summer 2023 Employer: Evercore
Career Interest and Goals: Consumer and Retail Private Equity
Personal Interests: Weightlifting, tennis, crime podcasts
Kush Sodha T’24
2024 CPEVC Fellow
Hometown: Philadelphia
Education: MBA Candidate
Previous Employer(s): SKF USA
Summer 2023 Employer: Credit Suisse
Career Interest and Goals: Kush joins the PEVC center with experience in sales and operations from working at a large manufacturing company to build on his network in the investing arena and develop his financial skill set. Through Tuck, he pivoted from engineering and industrial sales to Investment Banking and will spend his summer as an Associate in Credit Suisse’s energy transition group. Kush’s passion for sustainability and diversity, equity, and inclusion will help create exciting new opportunities in PEVC at Tuck.
Personal Interests: Outside of his career interests, Kush is involved in leading the Mental Health and Wellness Initiative at Tuck. He is also a member of the Pride and Consortium communities, and enjoys outdoor activities like tennis, golf, or hiking as well as a craft beer or a glass of whiskey with his partner or their friends.
Prateek Srivastava T’24
2024 CPEVC Fellow
Hometown: Singapore
Education: Tuck School of Business
Previous Employer(s): Energy Research Institute @ Nanyang Technological University / Future Mobility Solutions
Summer 2023 Employer: Falkon Ventures
Career Interest and Goals:
Career Interest: I'm interested in a career in clean technology venture capital. I have a strong commitment to assisting and funding cutting-edge clean technology solutions that tackle environmental issues and help build a sustainable future. Strategic investments and collaborations have the ability to influence the cleantech sector positively and significantly, and this excites me.
My professional aspiration is to become a prosperous venture capitalist with a focus on clean technologies. My goal is to find and fund great clean tech firms that offer innovative and scalable solutions. I want to use my knowledge, contacts, and financial assets to support these businesses in expanding, obtaining further investment, and commercializing their cutting-edge clean technology goods and services. Through my work in the clean tech venture capital industry, I hope to ultimately contribute significantly to hastening the transition to a more sustainable and environmentally friendly society.
Personal Interests: Watching Films, Fishing, Cycling, Writing Short Poems
Mark Terwilliger T’24
2024 CPEVC Fellow
Hometown: Glen Ellyn, IL
Education: University of Michigan, Stephen M. Ross School of Business
Previous Employer(s): Lazard, Adams Street Partners, E78 Partners
Summer 2023 Employer: Graham Partners
Career Interest and Goals: Investing or operating roles in middle market private equity, with interest in the industrials, consumer, and healthcare sectors
Personal Interests: University of Michigan and Chicago sports, golf, snowboarding, electronic music
Ta-Von Wilson T’24
2024 CPEVC Fellow
Hometown: Cambridge, Maryland
Education: UMass - Amherst - bachelor's in Accounting & Information Systems
Previous Employer(s): Ernst & Young - 2014 - 2022
Summer 2023 Employer: JP Morgan- Investment Banking
Career Interest and Goals:
- Healthcare Private Equity
- Capital raising and formation
Personal Interests: Hiking, reading, fishing and playing piano!