Partner

Michael, Best & Friedrich

Adam Wanee

Adam serves as legal partner and advisor to emerging companies and their founders and executives, as well as venture capital funds, angel investors and other early-stage, seed and growth capital investors. Adam counsels clients through the issues they face at each stage of the startup life cycle, including incorporation and LLC formation, founder agreements and other stockholder agreements, debt and equity financings, such as SAFEs and convertible notes, Series Seed, Series A, and late-stage financing rounds, as well as venture debt, stock options and stock incentive plans, securities laws, corporate governance matters, and mergers and acquisitions. Adam represents startups and investors in industry sectors that include Software as a Service (SaaS), climate tech, agricultural technology (AgTech), financial technology (FinTech), unmanned technology, healthcare technology, biotechnology, pharmaceuticals, medical devices, and consumer products, among others. Before joining Michael Best, Adam was a member of the emerging companies and venture capital group in the Durham office of the Forrest Firm, a North Carolina based boutique corporate law firm.  Prior to that, Adam was as an associate at Hutchison PLLC in Raleigh, North Carolina.

Performentor

Alicia Parr

Alicia Parr is the founder of Performentor, with deep experience in HR, she delivers a behavior science-informed and small-business approach. An entrepreneur at heart, Alicia has 20 years of HR experience in small businesses spanning multiple industries. Her expertise is coauthoring learning cultures, amplifying innovative environments, and building high-performing teams of HR experts.  She frequently serves executives as an executive coach and advisor. Startups who have begun to scale benefit from Performentor’s entrepreneur-friendly HR service approach.

Allen Cobb Certified EOS Implementer

Allen Cobb

As a business coach, teacher, and facilitator, Allen works with the leadership teams of privately held entrepreneurial companies to get what they want from their businesses. During full-day off-site sessions his clients implement the Entrepreneurial Operating System®. He was introduced to EOS® during his tenure as a Co-Founder of a software company in Raleigh, NC. Over the next eight years, Allen would see how the system can be a catalyst to significant growth when applied to solid business models. He served on the leadership teams of three different companies running EOS® (two of which were acquired and one not so great) before deciding to coach other companies as an EOS Implementer®. Allen took the success and passion from these experiences into his work as an EOS® Implementer. He now works with clients that are looking to go from good to great and get a grip on their business.

Williams Mullen

Amish Patel

Amish Patel works closely with large and middle-market companies and entrepreneurs to provide business and legal counsel on corporate and transactional matters, including mergers and acquisitions, private equity fundraising, economic development, and corporate governance issues. Amish serves as outside general counsel to companies across a broad range of industries, including life sciences, manufacturing, medical device and software-as-a-service (SaaS).

NC TECH

Andrea Fleming

Andrea Fleming is the Director, Talent + Workforce Development for NC TECH. In this role, she has a focus on resources and initiatives for not only current tech talent, but the pipeline of tech talent for years to come.

Rex Health Ventures

Anita Watkins

Wyrick Robbins

Annalise Perry

Annalise Perry is a partner in the Emerging Companies practice group at Wyrick Robbins. Her practice focuses on high-growth businesses, representing both early-stage companies and investors. She advises entrepreneurs and investors on equity financings, corporate governance, strategic transactions, and exits.

Technology

Atomic Object

Law Firms

Bagchi Law

Financial Planning & Wealth Management

Balentine

Accounting Firms

BDO

Goodrich Consulting Group

Bernard Goodrich

Born and raised in Houston, TX, Bernard (Founder) serves the entrepreneurial community by providing Financial Planning and Analysis expertise to help businesses maximize the achievement of their strategic goals. Beyond that, as he is often referred to as “the great connector” by friends and colleagues, Bernard is enthusiastic about aligning talented entrepreneurs to valuable resources within his personal and professional networks.

Accounting Firms

Bernard Robinson & Company

RTI International

Bradley Mooring

Bradley Mooring is the Business Development Manager with RTI International, where he works to develop strategies and lead execution in bringing clients’ technologies and products to market through the establishment of commercial partnerships.

Bank

Bridge Bank

Revolution Technologies

Bruce Rennert

Bruce Rennert is Managing Director of Revolution Technologies in Downtown Raleigh. He brings 30 plus years of experience in all phases of Talent Acquisition (Apple and Deutsche Bank) and Staffing from both the Corporate and Vendor side. Bruce has partnered with multiple startups and early-stage companies via Venture fund referrals to help streamline process through a cost effective and innovative hiring model. He manages an experienced recruiting team to support the culture and vision of his clients.

WakeMed Hospitals

Casey Granack

As the manager of Innovations at WakeMed Health & Hospitals, Casey focuses on the development and implementation of new approaches to address unmet needs within the healthcare industry.  One of the main goals of WakeMed’s innovative work is to provide an opportunity for a wide variety of people to transform their ideas into real-world solutions.

Cushman & Wakefield

Chad Love

He joined Cushman & Wakefield in April of 2022.  As Managing Principal, he oversees all operations in the Raleigh/Durham market.  He plays a key role in strategy and growth planning, culture building, community outreach, growth and development of the team. Chad serves as a mentor to junior staff members.  Outside of Cushman & Wakefield, Chad is an entrepreneur.  He has a small business and is very encouraging and supportive of entrepreneurs.  His door is always open and he thrives on giving support and feedback to help others achieve success.

Life Science

Chiesi USA, INC.

Bank

CIBC Innovation Banking

Architecture & Engineering

Clark Nexsen

Technology

Clarkston Consulting

Accounting

CliftonLarsonAllen

Investor

Cofounders Capital

Technology

Collaborative Drug Discovery Inc

Law Firms

Cooley LLP

Commercial Real Estate Firms

Cushman & Wakefield

Design Hammer

Dave Shepley

Dave wears several hats at DesignHammer, a web technology strategy, design, development, and analytics agency. As Development Strategist, Dave works with the sales and marketing teams to find new ways to grow DesignHammer’s local exposure, thought leadership, and client base. A passionate believer in the ‘client for life’ mentality, he works with clients to identify new opportunities to help them achieve their business goals.

Dave is active in the Triangle startup ecosystem and loves to meet with startups to discuss how they can solve business challenges and achieve their goals through web technologies.

Merz Therapeutics

David Bell

David Bell serves as Director of Corporate Development for Merz Therapeutics, where he brings more than 20 years of experience in transformational business development strategy and transactions, including acquisitions, licensing partnerships, and equity investments. David is excited to learn about NC’s entrepreneurial ecosystem and opportunities for Merz Therapeutics.

WakeMed Hospitals

David Kirk

As a intensivist and pulmonary care specialist, Dr. Kirk is also WakeMed’s clinical leader for critical care and eICU services.  Dr. Kirk works to lead innovation efforts across the broader healthcare system focusing on the advancement of data driven technology.

Design Hammer

David Minton

David is the Managing Partner at DesignHammer. He and two partners founded the web technology company in 2022. Over the years he has built the business to cover a range of web engagements including strategy, design, development, accessibility, and analytics.

David is a local pioneer in advocating for accessible websites and is passionate about ensuring that websites meet accessibility standards and that clients understand the importance of that commitment.

Michael, Best & Friedrich

David Morris

David advises companies across all stages of the business life cycle – from early-stage ventures to mature enterprises. He represents start-ups, corporations, and investment funds in a range of transactional matters including mergers and acquisitions, debt and equity financings (including convertible notes, SAFEs, and Series Preferred rounds), venture capital and private equity fund formations, commercial transactions, corporate governance, and business succession planning. Immediately prior to joining Michael Best, David served as a Managing Attorney at the Forrest Firm, a boutique corporate law firm. After graduating from Duke Law School, David joined UBS Investment Bank where he assisted multinational clients in analyzing, structuring, and executing M&A transactions from the firm’s New York and Tokyo offices. He then spent a decade as a managing director and general counsel at a Midwest-based private equity firm focused on investing in companies operating in the manufacturing, commercial services, technology and healthcare sectors. David began his career as a commercial banker at a predecessor firm of JP Morgan Chase, providing market and financial analyses to senior real estate and private equity bankers. A seasoned legal and business educator, David taught at Duke University, North Carolina Central University, and Tulane University on topics related to mergers and acquisitions and corporate finance. He previously served as the Assistant Director and Senior Research Fellow for the Duke Global Capital Markets Center, a joint research center of the Fuqua School of Business and Duke Law School.

Commercial Real Estate Firms

Davis Moore Capital

Accounting Firms

Dean Dorton Allen Ford, PLLC

Accounting Firms

Deloitte LLP

Marketing & Design

DesignHammer

Technology

Dualboot Partners

Economic Development

Duke Energy Carolinas

Hughes Marino

Edwin Yarbrough

Edwin has experience working with companies of all sizes and industries, specializing in a range of asset classes to include office, industrial, life science, tech and medical office. With more than 20 years of experience, he has conducted real estate transactions for his clients in excess of 7 million square feet. His extensive experience in North Carolina, as well as markets across North America, has garnered him to be best known in lease negotiations, purchase and sale negotiations, sale-leaseback transactions, real estate strategy, financial analysis, lease and portfolio administration, operating expense audit, real estate process consulting, market research, and design and construction project management.

Content Creation

Elemmir

VentureXpert Advisors

Emily Finklestein

At VEA, we offer world-class consulting at a local price, providing a one-stop solutions shop for growing your business. Our goal is to empower entrepreneurs with the knowledge and roadmap they need to make informed business decisions and achieve their goals.

Consulting

EOS Worldwide

Human Resource Management & Recruiting Firms

Extensis HR

Accounting Firms

EY

Financial Advisory Employers & Individuals

Financial Directions Group

First Flight Venture Center

Law Firms

Fox Rothschild LLP

Investors

Fulcrum Equity Partners

SAS Institute

Gavin Day

As Senior Vice President for Corporate Programs within the Office of the CEO, Gavin Day oversees a multifaceted organization that includes the SAS IPO Readiness Office; Corporate Programs and Strategy; Alliances and Channels; Technology Partnerships; and field and technology enablement. Gavin’s focus is on defining and communicating SAS’ technology vision to transform a world of data into a world of intelligence. He also directs SAS’ path toward IPO with the goal of empowering our customers and employees, enhancing our culture and investing in our brand as the future and founder of analytics.

Co-Working

Gig East Exchange

Life Science

GlaxoSmithKline (GSK)

Robinson, Bradshaw & Hinson, P.A.

Glen Chaplan

Glen is a partner at Robinson Bradshaw where he represents emerging growth companies across a wide variety of industries and the individuals and institutions that make investments in emerging growth companies.  Glen has been a part of the Triangle entrepreneurial community since 2005 when he relocated from Silicon Valley.

Business Consulting

Go-od Consulting

Consulting

Goodrich Consulting Group

Tech

Google

RBC Wealth Management

Grant Chaney

Grant and his partner Bob McCarthy work with individuals, multi-generational families, corporations, and non-profits to develop and implement long-term investment strategies based on a foundation of financial planning. Their clients include individuals who have experienced liquidity events, founders and private stockholders, private equity and debt investors, and others who are involved in the entrepreneurial community. Grant and Bob connect their clients with partners such as attorneys and CPAs to create a broader wealth management team.

Longfellow Real Estate Partners

Greg Capps

Greg Capps serves as Managing Director for Longfellow Real Estate Partners, the largest privately held investor and developer of life science buildings in the world. Mr. Capps oversees the coordination with Longfellow’s Partners to set and execute the strategy for the firm’s continued growth and presence in North Carolina. To date, Longfellow has developed a North Carolina portfolio of more than 4 million square feet and key assets throughout Research Triangle Park and Durham.

Merz Therapeutics

Hadley Iliff

Hadley Iliff serves as the Vice President of Regulatory Affairs and Product Safety for M​​erz Therapeutics, where she leads the strategy and execution of new drug and biologic approvals, maintenance of existing products, safety reporting, pharmacovigilance, as well as quality. Hadley is a native North Carolinian who has a strong desire to see our region grow and succeed in growing strong companies.

Investors

Hatteras Venture Partners

Insurance

Hub International

Accounting Firms

Hughes Pittman & Gupton LLP

Law Firms

Hutchison PLLC

Technology

IBM

Law Firms

Jenkins Wilson Taylor & Hunt, P.A.

Robinson, Bradshaw & Hinson, P.A.

John Fogg

John is a partner at Robinson Bradshaw where he advises technology and emerging growth companies from inception to exit, focusing in the areas of venture capital, mergers and acquisitions and general corporate law.  John represents companies nationally from Silicon Valley to Research Triangle Park and has earned a reputation for providing creative solutions to complex legal and business issues. John has been a part of the Triangle entrepreneurial community since 2004 when he relocated from Silicon Valley.

Vocable Communications

Jonathon Weisenfeld

Jonathon Weisenfeld is COO and consulting principal for Vocable Communications, a data-driven communications company providing both spoken and visual comms training to executives, teams, and startups. For over 20 years, he has provided a wide range of services in graphic design, visual communication, and brand identity. He has worked with multiple CED members here in the Triangle to help them either establish, revise, or simply maintain their branding and websites, freeing up time to better utilize their expertise in business development or research. He serves as the point-person for Vocable’s speech focused training arm to support the CED community with executive level coaching, team-level assessment and training, strategic messaging, and investor pitch scrubbing. He enjoys working with entrepreneurs and helping them improve how they communicate and grow their business.

CSC Leasing Company

Jordan Stowe

As Regional Director at CSC Leasing, Jordan works with early stage companies to design tailored, flexible financing strategies. By introducing non-dilutive equipment leasing solutions, he helps startups procure technology and other mission-critical equipment without the burden of owning expensive and depreciating assets. As a result, Jordan’s clients are better positioned to scale their business, meet milestones quicker, and address planned and unplanned financial obligations. Having financed a wide array of equipment across many different industries, he understands the capital requirements necessary to achieve business growth goals.

Vaco, LLC

Josh Haymond

A Raleigh native, Josh Haymond serves as Managing Partner at Vaco, where he has P&L responsibilities and serves as the lead business developer for the Triangle market. Josh is a CPA who practiced accounting at PwC and KPMG prior to joining Vaco in 2013. Josh remains active in the community – after serving on various non-profit boards, Josh founded a non-profit organization in 2020 called Beyond Basketball, a mentorship platform preparing youth for when the ball stops bouncing; he also supports several other community organizations focused on helping underserved youth and driving equity in the community and he coaches youth basketball. Josh is an accredited investor via his investment firm LMH Capital, founded in 2018 with an investment focus in early-stage companies. Josh resides in Raleigh with his wife, Christie, and two sons, Liam and McDaniel.

Bank

JPMorgan Chase & Co.

Vaco, LLC

JR Shearin

JR is a senior business executive and Big 4 Managing Partner with over 25 years of extensive finance, public accounting and international business experience. He has a proven track record of leading multinational/multifunctional teams and serving life sciences, technology, manufacturing, real estate, and media companies as well as public sector. JR is a recognized leader in the community through board involvement in many non-profits (education, health and human services, and economic development). He has served as board chair and finance & audit committee chair, on CEO search and strategy committees, as well as many other leadership roles, including as a founding board member of the Daniel Center for Math and Science.

Insurance & Employee Benefits

JWM Group

Life Science

LabCorp

Raleigh Founded

Lauren Romer

Lauren Romer is the Director of Raleigh Founded. She oversees the four locations in Raleigh as well as the programming and ecosystem-building efforts throughout the Triangle.

Technology

Lenovo

Bank

Live Oak Bank

Real Estate

Longfellow Real Estate Partners

Hutchison PLLC

Lucas Beal

Lucas has a passion for helping businesses successfully manage a wide variety of legal issues. His practice focuses on data privacy and security, employment law, contract negotiation and corporate law. Prior to joining Hutchison, Lucas worked in the life sciences and clinical trial industry as in-house legal counsel for PRA Health Sciences. In this role, he drafted and negotiated commercial contracts and assisted PRA on regulatory compliance issues and privacy issues. Before his work at PRA, Lucas presided over unemployment benefits hearings while working with the North Carolina Division of Employment Security. He has practiced at other North Carolina firms advising clients on employment law and a variety of corporate transactions. Before attending law school, Lucas worked in the financial industry. Lucas currently serves as an advisory board member for the Chapel Hill Public Library.

Law Firms

Manning Fulton & Skinner, P.A.

Extensis HR

Marlana Bunn

Marlana Bunn is a Senior PEO Consultant at ExtensisHR, a full-service HR and employee benefit provider for SMBs and entrepreneurial companies. She has over a decade of experience in the HR solutions industry, including global benefits expertise in a previous role. Marlana is a proud member of the Carolina Angels Network, as well as a Limited Partner in the Triangle Tweener Fund. As a lifelong resident of North Carolina currently raising her family there, she is honored to work alongside these organizations to support the local startup community. Marlana is an alumna of UNC Chapel Hill (go Heels!) and enjoys spending her downtime with her two young children, Jimmy (7) and Jack (3).

Law Firms

Marshall Gerstein & Borun LLP

Insurance & Employee Benefits

McGriff Insurance Services

Life Science

Merz North America

Wells Fargo

Michael Crooke

Law Firms

Michael, Best & Friedrich

Cook Wealth

Mike Holloway

Museum

Museum of Life and Science

University Partnerships

NC State Office of Research and Innovation

Non-profit

NC Tech

Consulting

North State Consulting

Bank

Pacific Western Bank

Investors

Pappas Capital

Life Science

Parexel International

Live Oak Bank

Pat Scherper

Pat Scheper is Head of Venture Banking at Live Oak Bank.  Having worked in the industry for 15+ years, Pat (along with his team) looks to provide additional growth capital to innovation economy companies. This capital comes in the form of venture debt facilities in conjunction with institutional VC rounds.

Human Resource Management & Recruiting Firms

Performentor

Fulcrum Equity Partners

Peter Franconi

Pete is on the Board of Venture Atlanta and a handful of other venture conferences. Through Fulcrum’s support of Goodie Nation, Pete helps diverse founders with strategic advice and tries to connect them with capital partners if they’re not a fit for Fulcrum.

Life Science

Pfizer CentreOne Contract Manufacturing

Bank

PNC Bank

Law Firm

Polsinelli

Law Firms

Poyner Spruill

Accounting Firms

PwC

Co-Working

Raleigh Founded

Bank

RBC Bank (Georgia), N.A

Financial Planning & Wealth Management

RBC Wealth Management

Investors

Rex Health Ventures

Williams Mullen

Rick Matthews

Rick Matthews concentrates his practice on intellectual property matters, including patent, trademark, copyright, trade secret, licensing and related litigation. He has represented companies in intellectual property disputes in over 40 states as a first-chair trial attorney and in bet-the-company litigation. He has extensive experience handling every aspect of litigation through trial and appeal. His cases have spanned federal courts across the country and before the Patent Trial and Board (PTAB), International Trade Commission (ITC), Trademark Trial and Appeal Board (TTAB), Fourth Circuit, Sixth Circuit, Federal Circuit and Supreme Court.

Investors

River Cities Capital Funds (RCCF)

Law Firms

Robinson, Bradshaw & Hinson, P.A.

Partner | Cherry Bekaert LLP

Ronnie Eubanks

Ronnie advises an array of private-equity and venture backed companies typically found in industries involving innovation at their core; including the Technology and Healthcare & Life Science industries. Ronnie’s clients rely on his expertise to optimize corporate structure and evaluate/select the most effective internal finance structure. He helps companies navigate financial reporting, funding options and impact, equity vs. debt and related matters, governance and compliance with investors, and private equity owner requirements.
For more than 27 years, Ronnie has worked with Technology, Healthcare & Life Science and Industrial companies, providing clients with the guidance essential to achieving growth, creating and retaining value, meeting short and long-term goals and mitigating unnecessary setbacks.

Accounting Firms

RSM US LLP

Life Science

RTI International

J.P. Morgan

Ryan Cosola

Ryan Cosola is a Banker at J.P. Morgan Private Bank. He advises entrepreneurs around personal financial decisions as they grow their company and ultimately exit. Ryan works closely with J.P. Morgan’s Commercial Bank and Investment Bank. Through this industry-specific partnership, they support entrepreneurs and their companies from formation to IPO/M&A and beyond.

Centri Consulting

Ryan Starkes

Ryan is the Partner & Life Sciences Practice Leader at Centri Business Consulting, LLC. He has more than 25 years of public and private accounting experience. Throughout his career, Ryan has worked with public, privately held, and private equity portfolio entities, ranging from pre-IPO entrepreneurial startups to large public multinational corporations. Ryan assists emerging growth companies across various industries collectively from an audit, consultative and internal perspective while supporting a multitude of financial accounting advisory, financial reporting, and internal control issues and transactions.

Software

Satva Softech

Real Estate

Savills

Investors

SJF Ventures

Law Firms

Smith Anderson

Technology

Spoonflower

Trillium Square Advisors

Sukesh Pai

Trillium Square Advisors specialize in providing wealth management services for entrepreneurs and business professionals. We are passionate about planning and we obsess about investment ideas. We are a fiduciary to our clients. If there is a financial product out there that may benefit our clients, we want to know more about it, see if it will bring benefits to our clients. We employ cutting edge programming and machine learning tools to continually improve our quantitative investment strategies. We partner with clients who recognize that managing wealth is a continual process. They value our expertise so they can pursue their dreams. Trillium Square Advisors is founded and managed by Sukesh Pai, CFA.  With over 20 years of broad industry experience, Sukesh brings fresh perspective from different disciplines such as engineering and design to the financial advisory service. Having started his career in the technology industry, he understands the needs and aspirations of engineers, scientists and software developers. He implements evidence-based strategies and systematizes the investment process to mitigate the impact of behavioral biases in decision making. He is very active in the local business community. He has been on the board of the Financial Planning Association (FPA), Triangle chapter for the last several years and has been the President during the year 2022. He also mentors and teaches for the TiE Young Entrpreneurs (Tye) program hosted by TiE Carolinas for high school students to foster entrepreneurship. Prior to founding Trillium Square Advisors, he served at QMS Capital Management LP and Morgan Stanley & Co. He is a holder of the Chartered Financial Analyst ® designation and has an MBA from Duke University where he was a Fuqua Scholar.

Real Estate

T3 Advisors, LLC

SAS Institute

Tim Wilson

Wyrick Robins

Tom Allen

Tom Allen is a partner at Wyrick Robbins and the Practice Group Leader for the Emerging Companies team.  Tom assists entrepreneurs with formation, financing and outside general counsel matters.  He also works with venture funds in their formation and financing activities.

University Partnerships

UNC Office of Technology Commercialization

Human Resource Management & Recruiting Firms

Vaco, LLC

Business Consulting

VentureXpert Advisors

Business Consulting

Vocable Communications

Insurance & Employee Benefits

Wade Associates

Healthcare

WakeMed Hospitals

Wealth Management

Bank

Wells Fargo

Law Firms

Williams Mullen

Law Firms

Wilson Sonsini Goodrich & Rosati P.C.

Life Science

Worldwide Clinical Trials

Law Firms

Wyrick Robbins