Adjunct Assistant Professor Brian O'Connor, '08, provides an overview of Entrepreneurship Through Acquisition and how his firm, NextGen Growth Partners, is implementing it today.
Event Details
Join Joe Cortese, '10, Chicago Booth Alumni Club Co-President, and Brian O'Connor, '08, Adjunct Assistant Professor of Entrepreneurship at Booth and Founder – Managing Partner of NextGen Growth Partners, for a webinar focused on Entrepreneurship Through Acquisition (ETA). Learn about Brian's experience executing the ETA model and what drove him to start an investment firm based on it. We will discuss the various forms of ETA, the pros and cons of each approach, and what it takes to be a successful searcher. This discussion will be of interest to entrepreneurs, operators looking for their next career challenge, and private equity investors. There will be an opportunity to ask Brian questions as well.
Registration
Register Online
Zoom information will be shared once registration is complete.
Deadline: 5/19/2020
Speaker Profiles
Brian O'Connor (Speaker) '08
Adjunct Assistant Professor, Founder & Managing Principal, NextGen Growth Partners
https://nextgengp.com/brian-oconnor
Brian O'Connor is the Founder and Managing Partner of NextGen Growth Partners ("NGP"), a lower-middle market private equity firm that partners with talented entrepreneur-operators to acquire and build great companies in growing industries. The firm was founded in 2015 on the belief that there is significant opportunity for value creation when fundamentally sound small businesses are led by the best and brightest entrepreneurial-minded operators.
Prior to founding NGP, Brian served as co-CEO and Head of Business Development of Innflux, a hospitality-focused IT service company, where he oversaw sales / marketing, business development, M&A and investor relations functions. Innflux was sold to strategic buyer Thing5 in January 2015, after 3.5 years of significant growth. Brian became involved with Innflux after acquiring the business, through his search fund Fellowship Capital Partners ("FCP") in 2011.
Prior to founding FCP, Brian was a vice president with Equity International, a middle market growth private equity fund. Brian was responsible for sourcing, evaluating, underwriting and closing new investment opportunities, as well as working closely with portfolio companies post-acquisition on operations and business strategy.
Brian also serves as Board Member and Treasurer for Distinctively College Bound, a non-profit focused on creating opportunities for students to participate in extracurricular activities that cater to their individual talents and interests and promote continued education.
Brian holds an MBA from the University of Chicago Booth School of Business with concentrations in entrepreneurship, finance, accounting and international business. He is also a graduate of Miami University (Ohio) with a double major in finance and management information systems.
Joe Cortese (Moderator) '10
Principal, Senior Consultant, DiMeo Schneider & Associates, LLC
https://dimeoschneider.com
Joe joined DiMeo Schneider in 2008. He provides investment consulting services to family offices, nonprofit organizations, high net worth investors and other financial institutions as part of the firm's Financial Institutions Outsourcing Practice. Joe gives advice and expertise on all facets of effective investment program design including establishing investment objectives, asset allocation and portfolio design, investment research and due diligence and overall practice management. Joe is also a member of the firm's Private Markets Research Team. Prior to joining the firm, Joe worked for Morgan Stanley's Private Wealth Management Office and as a Managing Director for an investment management firm implementing a value-focused, long/short equity strategy based on University of Chicago Booth research. Joe earned his MBA with concentrations in Analytic Finance and Accounting from the University of Chicago Booth School of Business and a BBA with a Certification in Entrepreneurial Management from the University of Iowa. Joe is a member of UNICEF's NextGen Junior Board as well as Co-Founder of the Hawkeye Business Development Group of Chicago. Joe is currently serving as the Co-President of the University of Chicago Booth School of Business Alumni Club and is a frequent contributor to a number financial media outlets including podcasts and the TD Ameritrade Network.
Questions
Joe Cortese, '10
Principal, Senior Consultant
3124013434