
Proven Experience
Lightview Capital founders have successfully led direct investments and acquisitions of more than 50 growth companies. To date, more than half of those investments have led to IPOs or strategic exits yielding a combined enterprise value of nearly $2 billion. Over the course of their combined 50+ years of experience they have founded and managed both operating businesses and investment firms where they were instrumental in raising over $1 billion in capital from leading institutional investors that included university endowments, pension funds, family offices and funds.
Investment Team
Conor Mullett is a Co-Founder and Managing Director of Lightview Capital and brings over 20 years of private equity experience, including leading and monetizing investments in buyouts, growth equity and venture capital. At Lightview, Conor and Rich led the successful acquisitions and exits of Nexustek (sold to Abry Partners) and Acuant (sold to Audax). Prior to forming Lightview in 2012, Conor was Co-Founder and General Partner of Updata Partners, a growth equity firm with $450 million AUM where he was involved in all aspects of firm management. While at Updata, Mullett was involved in a host of investments including serving on the Board of Directors for eSecurity (sold to Novell), Getpaid (sold to Sunguard), Netkey (sold to NCR), Jobs2Web (sold to SAP), iContact (sold to Vocus), Pulsepoint, Amber Road (IPO: AMBR), Ordermotion (sold to Netsuite), Foresee (sold to Answers.com) and Pet360 (sold to Petsmart).
Prior to Updata, Conor was in the Private Equity Group of William E. Simon & Sons family office with over $1 billion AUM, where he sourced, closed and managed control-oriented buyouts of middle market companies. Conor also worked in the Corporate Finance Group of GE Capital which provided debt financing solutions to equity sponsors acquiring public and private companies. Conor graduated from the College of William & Mary and received his MBA from Columbia Business School.
Conor Mullett currently serves on the board of directors of Buchanan, Educational Measures, The Clarke Companies and Metova.
Conor Mullett
Co-Founder & Managing Director
Cameron Kirdzik is a Senior Associate at Lightview Capital, where he plays an active role in new deal sourcing, investment analysis, deal execution and portfolio company operational support. Prior to joining Lightview, Cameron worked as a private equity associate focusing on the lower middle market.
Cameron graduated Cum Laude from Yale University with a B.A. in economics where he also played Varsity Soccer.
Cameron Kirdzik
Senior Associate
Richard Erickson is a Co-Founder and Managing Director of Lightview Capital. Mr. Erickson is a proven technology operating executive and investor with over 33 years of combined operating and investment experience. At Lightview, Rich and Conor led the successful acquisitions and exits of Nexustek (sold to Abry Partners) and Acuant (sold to Audax). Prior to Lightview, Rich served as General Partner with Updata Partners, a growth equity investment fund focused on market leading software, internet and business services companies. While at Updata, Rich Erickson served on the Board of Directors for Acclaris (sold to Towers Watson), Jobs2Web (sold to SAP), Redvision (sold to First American), Interactions, and RES Software (sold to Ivanti).
In his 22 year plus operating career, Erickson held numerous positions as a technology executive at industry leading public and private Software and Services companies including; Alphanet Solutions (ALPH-NASDAQ) – sold to Ciber (CBR-NYSE), iXL (IXL-NASDAQ) – sold to Scient (SCNT-NASDAQ), Excelan (EXLN-NASDAQ), and Digital Network Associates. His deep operating experience as an entrepreneur, senior executive and CEO provide a unique perspective in adding value to high growth companies. Rich graduated from Villanova University with a Bachelor of Science in Mechanical Engineering.
Rich Erickson currently serves on the board of directors of Buchanan, Educational Measures, The Clarke Companies and Metova.
Rich Erickson
Co-Founder & Managing Director
Stan Bikulege is an Associate at Lightview Capital, where he plays an active role in new deal sourcing, investment analysis, deal execution and portfolio company operational support. Prior to joining Lightview, Stan worked as a consulting analyst in the Mergers & Acquisitions group at West Monroe Partners.
Stan graduated with honors from Carnegie Mellon University with a B.S. in Mechanical Engineering, minor in Business Administration, and was a captain of the Varsity Football Team.
Stan Bikulege
Associate
James Elliott is an Associate at Lightview Capital, where he plays an active role in new deal sourcing, investment analysis, deal execution and portfolio company operational support. Prior to joining Lightview, James worked as an Investment Banking Associate in the Fintech and Financial Services Group at Keefe, Bruyette & Woods, Inc.
James graduated Cum Laude from the University of Notre Dame with a B.A. in Finance and a second major in Music Theory & History.
James Elliott
Senior Associate
Drew Coash is an Associate at Lightview Capital, where he plays an active role in deal sourcing, execution, and due diligence. Prior to joining Lightview, Drew worked in Financial Technology at SmartAsset doing Business Development.
Drew graduated from Middlebury College with a B.A. in Political Science, and was a member of the Varsity Baseball Team.
Drew Coash
Business Development Associate
Operating Advisors
Proven executives with substantial CEO, Advisory and Board Level Experience within the Business Services and Technology industry. As executives, they have created multi-billion dollar shareholder value at industry leading firms including MongoDB, Jobs2Web, ForeSEe and Acclaris. Lightview’s Operating Advisors play an integral role in applying Lightview’s Value Creation Playbook, providing insight, expertise, and guidance to our portfolio companies.
Tony Abena
Chairman of Insite Software
Tony Abena is the Chairman of Insite Software and is a leader with extensive experience, and consistent track record, successfully building and scaling information services and software companies across a number of industries, stages and business models. Currently, Insite is a leading provider of the “Connected Commerce Platform”. Previously, Mr. Abena was Chief Operating Officer of Deloitte Investments and Managing Director, Deloitte New-venture Accelerator, an internal $500 million venture capital fund for Deloitte, the world’s largest professional services firm. Prior to that, Mr. Abena was President of the Business Law division of Thomson Reuters, and he was also CTO and COO at techies.com, an online technology talent recruitment company that PC Week recognized as the #1 technology recruitment website. Earlier, he served in a variety of senior leadership roles including President, Gartner Institute at Gartner, the world’s leading information technology research and advisory company. He has been a key director and/or investor in three (3) technology start-ups that have achieved successful exits (Jobs2Web, PatentCore, and Docalytics), and currently sits on the board of of MyAlerts.com. Mr. Abena earned his MBA from the University of Minnesota and bachelor’s degree from Lewis and Clark College in Portland, Oregon.
Tony Abena
Chairman of Insite Software
Joe Falkenstein
Board Advisor
Joe Falkenstein is a seasoned strategic finance professional with 30 years of experience operating and supporting technology-oriented, private equity-backed, growth companies. Most recently Joe was the Chief Operating Officer and CFO at Pet360, Inc. (sold to PetSmart for $160M). At Pet360, Joe was responsible for strategy, finance, administration and operations in a high-growth environment, with revenue growing from $30 million to $90 million. Prior to Pet360 Mr. Falkenstein was the co-founder and managing general partner of NJTC Ventures, a top-quartile early-stage, technology-focused venture fund, realizing 4x for its investors. Mr. Falkenstein has held numerous Board of Directors positions over the last two decades and has significant experience working with executive teams on strategy, positioning, analytics and operational initiates. Joe is an expert in M&A transactions and corporate finance. Prior to NJTC Ventures, Mr. Falkenstein was a partner with Arthur Andersen in their Philadelphia growth-company practice.
Joe Falkenstein
Board Advisor
Michael Marcon
Board Advisor
Michael Marcon is an entrepreneurial leader with a demonstrated history of founding, building and scaling industry defining service businesses. Mr. Marcon is the founder and former CEO/Chairman of Equity Risk. Partners, Inc., the only global, full service, insurance brokerage, risk management consulting and employee benefits firm focused on the unique needs of private equity firms and their portfolio companies. Bootstrapped from personal savings and a 2nd and 3rd mortgage on his home, he executed a successful exit in 2016 with a sale to Hub International. Mr. Marcon also served as the founder and CEO of Transaction Risk Solutions, a specialty underwriting business focused on providing transactional liability insurance products, and founded Global Risk Advisors, a global risk management consulting firm focused on the enterprise risk management needs of technology businesses. Previously, Mr. Marcon was one of the architects of the Mergers and Acquisitions Practice at Aon Risk Services from 1993 - 2000. Mr. Marcon started his career in the finance departments of Transamerica Insurance Group and CIGNA Corp.
Michael Marcon
Board Advisor
David Weiss
Board Advisor
David Weiss is a seasoned executive with over 25 years in the software business. From 2002 until 2011, Mr. Weiss served as President and CEO of Numara Software, Inc, (formerly Blue Ocean Software) where he led the company to significant growth through both product and market expansion. Prior to Numara, Mr. Weiss served as Vice President of worldwide marketing for Citrix Systems, Inc. during its rapid expansion from a small, private company to a global leader in remote access software solutions. Mr. Weiss was also part of the founding team of a VC-funded software company in the late 1990s, and additionally spent 7 years at Lotus and 5 years at IBM in various sales, marketing and technical positions in the US and Europe. Mr. Weiss is a Director at InfoVista, SRSsoft, DigiCert, Medeanalytics, PowerPlan, iPipeline, Infogix, and Empirix.
A graduate of Duke University, Mr. Weiss holds degrees in computer science and economics.
David Weiss
Board Advisor
Doug Berg
CEO of MyAlerts
Doug Berg is a highly successful software entrepreneur who has started multiple companies in the marketing & technology industry raising/achieving $100+ million dollar valuations and serving hundreds of millions of users online. Currently Mr. Berg is CEO of MyAlerts, a venture backed company in the eCommerce technology sector. Previously, he was founder and Chief Recruiting Geek of Minneapolis-based Jobs2Web which sold in 2012 to SuccessFactors/SAP for over $100 million. Jobs2Web created a new category of interactive marketing within the recruiting vertical, and made the Inc 500 list 3-years in a row...during a recession.
Mr. Berg has worked with hundreds of major companies to guide their online strategies including the largest technology, banking, insurance, financial, healthcare, retail, and international consulting companies, and helps them utilize new technologies within their interactive strategy. Mr. Berg attended St. Cloud State University.
Doug Berg
CEO of MyAlerts
Larry Freed
CEO of 2nd Stage Partners
Larry S. Freed serves as the Chief Executive Officer and Managing Partner of 2nd Stage Partners. Mr. Freed founded and served as the President and Chief Executive Officer of ForeSee Results, Inc., and was responsible for managing its strategy and growth. He has more than 20 years experience in senior management and in directing eCommerce and technology initiatives. Previously, Mr. Freed held several senior executive positions at Compuware Corporation, leading a variety of e-commerce and professional services programs. Most recently, he served as Vice President of e-Business, where he was responsible for directing the national e-Business practice and for the design, development and implementation of e-Business strategies for numerous companies. Before joining Compuware, Mr. Freed held various positions including Chief Technology Officer at Bank One (formerly First Chicago NBD and NBD Bank). Mr. Freed serves as a Director and the executive committee of the Ann Arbor IT Zone, and previously held leadership positions at ASC X12, a national EDI standards group, and various other industry groups. He continues to serve as Director of ForeSee Results, Inc., and has been a Director at Intradiem, Inc. since June 2014 and Spigit, Inc. since February 2016.
Mr. Freed graduated from University of Michigan in 1983 with a B.S. in Computer Science and received an M.B.A. from Wayne State University in 1992.
Larry Freed
CEO of 2nd Stage Partners
Shawn Miele
Founder and Chief Executive Officer of Advice Media
Shawn Miele founded Advice Media in 2008, a technology-enabled digital media company that manages the online footprint of private medical practices nationwide. Advice Media’s end-to-end platform helps build, host, and manage websites, while improving client engagement and optimizing lead generation for clients. Mr. Miele has led Advice Media to the forefront of the digital marketing industry, establishing the company as both a Google Partner and a consistent member of the Inc 5000 list. Shawn is a frequent speaker at industry meetings sponsored by national bodies such as The American Academy of Cosmetic Surgery, The Aesthetic Academy, and the Multi-Specialty Foundation. While a young professional living and working in New Jersey, Mr. Miele was named one of the state’s “40 Under 40” by New Jersey Business News.
Mr. Miele earned his undergraduate degree at Middlebury College and his MBA at Columbia Business School.
Shawn Miele
Founder and Chief Executive Officer of Advice Media
Timothy Murray
Board Advisor
Timothy L. Murray is an accomplished executive with decades of experience leading successful public and private companies. Most recently, Mr. Murray was President and Chief Operating Officer of K-12 (NYSE: LRN). Previously he held CEO positions at Pulsepoint, Inc., Datran Media, Dialogic Inc., Cross Match Technologies, and Riversoft Plc. Mr. Murray began his career at AT&T, where he held a number of positions, including President of Business Network Services, a $22 billion business unit. Mr. Murray is currently Chairman of the Board of Middlebury Interactive Languages, the Executive Chairman at Voxy, the CEO of Redline Speed Worx and a Director of The Clarke Companies.
Mr. Murray received a BS and MS in Management and Industrial Engineering from Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute.
Timothy Murray
Board Advisor
Michael Carus
Operating Advisor
Michael Carus is an accomplished executive and investor specializing in growing and scaling technology and data-enabled services businesses. Michael served as President of RedVision, a premier tech-enabled service provider of title reports and real property data solutions which grew from 20 to 500+ employees during his tenure. Prior to RedVision, Michael was a General Partner of Jersualem Venture Partners (JVP), a leading venture capital firm, where he led numerous technology investments. Previously, Michael was COO and CFO of Fundtech (Nasdaq: FNDT), a web banking and e-payment solutions provider. At Fundtech, Michael was instrumental in the growth of the company and led its initial public and secondary offerings at values approaching $500 million.
Michael is a CPA and graduated with a B.A. in Accounting from Ithaca College in New York.
Michael Carus
Operating Advisor
Dev Ittycheria
CEO of Mongo DB
Dev Ittycheria is the CEO of MongoDB, a leader in next generation database technology, and has a strong mix of entrepreneurial, operational and investing experience. Before MongoDB, Mr. Ittycheria was a Managing Director at OpenView Venture Partners, and before that he was a Venture Partner at Greylock Partners. Previously, he was a founder/CEO of BladeLogic. There, he took the company public in 2007, and just one year later sold it to BMC Software for approximately $900 million. After the acquisition he served as President of BMC Software, where he directly led a business with $1.4 billion in annual revenue and more than 4,000 employees. Earlier in his career Mr. Ittycheria was founder/CEO of Applica, one of the first venture-backed cloud companies. He eventually merged the business with Breakaway Solutions and the combined company went public in 1999. He began his professional career at large and growth-stage telecom companies developing advanced broadband services. He also serves as an advisor and/or board member to a number of next-generation software companies as well as leading venture capital and private equity firms.
Mr. Ittycheria received a BS in Electrical Engineering from Rutgers University, and was recognized by the School of Engineering as its 2010 Alumnus of the Year.
Dev Ittycheria
CEO of Mongo DB
Mark Perlstein
CEO of Datavail
Mark is President and CEO of Datavail, a national leader in database support and professional services. For more than two decades, Mark has been a leader in the IT services market and brings a wealth of growth-oriented and operating experience in the services business to Datavail. Prior to his CEO role at Datavail, Mark was President of the IT Outsourcing division of a large global systems integration corporation. While there, Mark led the firms entry into the IT infrastructure outsourcing market and helped lead that division to a tripling of its revenues and becoming a major force in the ITO sector. He also served as Chief Operating Officer of AlphaNet Solutions, a regional IT services provider traded on NASDAQ and located in the NYC/NJ area. In his career, Mark held various positions in the IT services sector, including serving as President of Aztec Technology Partners $175 million New England-based business unit.
He is a graduate of the State University of New York at Albany where he received a bachelors degree in communications with a minor in business administration. Mark also attended Hofstra University’s MBA program from 1988 to 1990.
Mark Perlstein
CEO, Datavail
Marty Fahey
Board Advisor
Marty Fahey is a seasoned CEO with a successful track record in growing best-of-class technology companies in emerging markets. He has held executive positions in a wide range of technology organizations and has lead multiple successful SaaS-based companies including OrderMotion (acquired by NetSuite) and Webhire (acquired by Kenexa). Mr. Fahey has extensive experience building, scaling and monetizing businesses with deep experience in eCommerce and Human Capital Management. Earlier in his career, he was with Lotus Development where he served as General Manager of the Spreadsheet Division and General Manager of the Advanced Products Group. Mr. Fahey serves on the board/advisory boards of DRYNC, ReacHIRE, and HubLogix.
Mr. Fahey graduated from the University of Notre Dame with a BBA and earned his CPA while at KPMG.
Marty Fahey
Board Advisor
Dipankar Mandal
VP of Aspire Financial Services
Dipankar Mandal is the Executive Vice President and CIO of Aspire Financial Services, a proprietary technology platform provider of smart retirement solutions. Previously, Mr. Mandal was the founder and President of Acclaris, the industry leader in CDH Financial Technology and Services, which was listed multiple times in Inc. 500|5000 Fastest-Growing Private Companies and Deloitte’s Technology Fast 500. Mr. Mandal founded the company in 2001, built the technology, was instrumental in the acquisition of all key/anchor clients, and grew the company to 600+ employees in 2 countries and 5 locations supporting more than 1.8 million active account holders. Earlier in his career, Mr. Mandal was the CTO/SVP at Ceridian, and held various technology leadership roles of increasing responsibility at AT&T, Bell Labs, Modi/Rank Xerox, and other companies.
Mr. Mandal earned his Bachelor’s degree in Engineering, Electronics, and Telecommunications from Jadavpur University.
Dipankar Mandal
VP of Aspire Financial Services
Steve Simcox
Board Advisor
Steve Simcox is a senior healthcare professional and entrepreneur with 30 years of experience in delivering outstanding programming to consumers and healthcare professionals. Mr. Simcox brings a passion for building grassroots education and awareness movements for patients and consumers in his role as Managing Partner of HealthTalker, widely recognized as the innovators in Word of Mouth programming for the healthcare industry. During his thirty year tenure there, MediMedia was the worldwide leader in Patient Education, creating long-term commercial partnerships with the American Red Cross, Canadian Red Cross, Harvard Health Publications, the American Diabetes Association, the American Heart Association and the National Cancer Institute. Mr. Simcox led the explosive growth of MediMedia from 50 employees to over 2,000 employees during his tenure, operating ten collaborating divisions within MediMedia. Mr. Simcox has significant equity and strategic transaction experience as a CEO, including a sale to strategic buyer Vivendi in 1999, a $600 million leveraged international buyout with private equity partners The Carlyle Group, Cinven Partners, and APAX Partners. He co-led the $600 million sale of MediMedia’s International businesses to Reed Elsevier and UBM respectively, and led a $625 million buyout of MediMedia’s US Business with VC Partners. He also led divestiture transactions of MediMedia Information Technologies to Susquehanna Growth Equity and the group’s Animal Health Division to strategic buyer Veterinary Corporation of America.
Mr. Simcox holds a degree in Economics from Princeton University
Steve Simcox
Board Advisor