Team
Charles F. Saponaro – Founder and Managing Partner
Charlie Saponaro is an enthusiastic entrepreneur with significant growth and investment experience. Prior to founding Bartley Capital, Mr. Saponaro was a Vice President of Corporate Development for ArchivesOne, the third largest records management company in the United States. He was a key part of the management team where he led all M&A activities. ArchivesOne closed a total of 35 acquisitions before being acquired by Iron Mountain (NYSE: IRM) in May of 2007. After the acquisition, he joined the Iron Mountain team as Director of Corporate Development before leaving to start Bartley Capital. Before joining ArchivesOne, Mr. Saponaro was a Vice President at Brook Venture Partners. While at Brook, Mr. Saponaro identified, evaluated, and negotiated investment opportunities for Brook Funds. He also worked closely with portfolio company management teams to help develop their customer base as well as strategic partnerships. Prior to Brook, Mr. Saponaro worked for Saturn Capital, a Boston based venture capital and private equity firm focused on early stage technology companies. Before Saturn, he worked for Boston Capital, the fourth largest owner/investor of apartment properties in the United States with an investment focus on affordable housing and tax credits. Mr. Saponaro holds a Bachelor of Arts in Political Science from the University of Vermont.
Scott Asen – Investor
Scott Asen is a former general partner of Pioneer Ventures and was responsible for management of the group's venture capital and special situations investment activities. Mr. Asen managed the remaining Pioneer Ventures entities that were successfully liquidated in 2002. Currently, Mr. Asen is a private investor managing a portfolio of equity and real estate investments for his personal account. Mr. Asen sits on the boards of three privately held companies and is a Trustee of Groton School and the Paris Review and a board member of the Island Foundation. He is a graduate of Harvard College.
Craig Burr – Investor
Criag Burr's career has been devoted almost exclusively to venture capital and private equity activities, having founded Burr, Egan, Deleage & Co. in 1979. Previously, Mr. Burr was a Partner at TA Associates. In addition, he has been a member of the Board of Directors of the New England Venture Capital Association and currently serves on the Board of Directors of several private companies. Mr. Burr received his Bachelors Degree, cum laude, from Harvard College and his M.B.A. from Harvard Business School.
Brian Collins – Investor
Brian Collins is currently the Vice President for The Collins Group, a private equity firm located in Boston, Massachusetts. The company specializes in early stage equity and bridge financing. He oversees a portfolio of companies in a variety of industries. Mr. Collins has served on the boards of several of these portfolio companies. He is on the board of Junior Achievement of Northern New England, and is also involved with The Endowment for Wednesday's Child in Boston. Mr. Collins received his MBA in Entrepreneurial Studies at Bentley College graduating with high distinction.
William P. Egan – Investor
Bill Egan, a founder and general partner of Alta Communications, founded Alta’s predecessor firm, Burr, Egan, Deleage & Co., in 1979 and identified and backed several of America’s leading growth companies in the information technology, life sciences and communications industries. Prior to founding Burr, Egan, Deleage & Co., Mr. Egan was a partner at TA Associates. Mr. Egan began his career as a manager of venture capital for New England Enterprise Capital Corporation. He is past president and chairman of the National Venture Capital Association and a member of the Boards of Trustees of Fairfield University and the University of Pennsylvania. Mr. Egan is on the board of directors of Cephalon, Inc. and also serves on the boards of several privately held communications, cable and information technology companies. Mr. Egan holds an M.B.A. from the University of Pennsylvania’s Wharton School of Finance and a degree in Economics from Fairfield University.
Sandro Mina – Investor
Mr. Mina is a co-founding Managing Director of Sverica International and is based in the Boston office. He currently serves on several portfolio company boards including Creative Catalog Concepts, I-Coat Company, Ackerman Security Systems and Magellan's. Mr. Mina also serves on the board of the Swedish School of Boston. He was previously President and CEO of Cameraworld.com, one of Sverica's pre-fund portfolio companies. In earlier careers, Mr. Mina worked in the public and private sectors in a number of industries, including technology (United Nations Computing Centre and Storage Technology), banking (Citibank, Goldman, Sachs & Co. and VISA) and telecommunications (consultant for a large European company). A native of Italy and Sweden, Mr. Mina earned his Bachelor of Science degree in Computer Engineering from Imperial College at the University of London and his MBA degree at the Graduate School of Business at Stanford University. He lives in Boston with his wife and two children.
Joseph M. Niehaus – Investor
Mr. Niehaus was a Managing Director at Hellman & Friedman before joining Housatonic Partners in 2001. During his twelve-year career at Hellman & Friedman, he was involved in several of the firm's recurring services, media and communications investments including Eller Media, Falcon Cable, and Mitchell International. Earlier in his career, Mr. Niehaus was employed in the Merchant Banking and Mergers and Acquisitions departments at Morgan Stanley & Co. Mr. Niehaus is a graduate of Dartmouth College and the Harvard Business School. He is a Director of Braden Partners, LP; California Communications, LLC; Convergent Broadcasting, LLC; Ilios Partners, LLC; Momentum Media, LLC; Precis Communications, LLC; and South Florida Media Group, LLC.
Rafael Somoza – Investor
Mr. Somoza most recently was the Co-Founder and CEO of VIU Media, Puerto Rico’s largest locally-owned outdoor advertising company, which was sold to Lamar Advertising. Prior to becoming CEO of VIU Media, he was the Co-Founder and CEO of Quest Management Corporation, a private equity group formed to identify, acquire, and operate a company in Puerto Rico. Previously, Mr. Somoza worked at CS First Boston, where he was involved in structuring over $1.2 billion in financings. He received the 2004 Entrepreneur of the Year Award in the Media Category for Puerto Rico, and currently sits on the board of the Puerto Rico Convention Bureau. Mr. Somoza graduated cum laude, with a BA in Economics and Political Science, from Yale University, and holds an MBA from Stanford’s Graduate School of Business.
Martin Steber – Investor
Mr. Steber is a co-founding Managing Director of Sverica International working out of Geneva. He serves on the boards of Ackerman Security Systems, Creative Catalog Concepts, Prospect Colleges, Attentive Rentals LLC (the holding company for Arizona Tents & Events, Distinctive Tent Rentals and Party Concepts) and Gorilla Companies. Mr. Steber was previously CEO of AccuDocs, a billing services company which was a Sverica pre-fund portfolio company. Before working with AccuDocs, he managed ADSI, an electronic security company located in Birmingham Alabama, also a Sverica pre-fund portfolio company. Both of these entities were sold to larger industry leaders. Prior to co-founding Sverica International, Mr. Steber was a management consultant with Bain & Company and with Goldman, Sachs & Co. He also served as a consultant on strategic and operational projects for several corporations based in California. A native of Canada, Mr. Steber earned his Bachelor of Science degree in Engineering from Imperial College at the University of London and his MBA degree from the Graduate School of Business at Stanford University. He lives in Geneva with his wife and three children.
Jose Stella – Investor
Mr. Stella most recently was the Co-Founder and President of VIU Media, Puerto Rico’s largest locally-owned outdoor advertising company, which was sold to Lamar Advertising. Prior to becoming President of VIU Media, he was the Co-Founder and President of Quest Management Corporation, a private equity group formed to identify, acquire, and operate a company in Puerto Rico. Previously, Mr. Stella worked at KPMG Peat Marwick in the middle-market Mergers & Acquisitions Advisory Group. He also worked for UBS and Chase Manhattan Bank. He received the 2004 Entrepreneur of the Year Award in the Media Category for Puerto Rico. Mr. Stella graduated with high honors, with a BA in Economics, Finance and Investments, from Babson College and graduated cum laude with an MBA from The University of Michigan.
Howard Stevenson – Investor
Professor Stevenson is the Vice Provost for Harvard University. He is also the Sarofim-Rock Professor of Business Administration and has served as Senior Associate Dean, Director of External Relations at Harvard Business School. He has authored, co-authored, or edited nine books, forty-one articles, and over one-hundred-fifty Harvard Business School case studies. Professor Stevenson was a founder and the first president of the Baupost Group, Inc., a $5.5 billion investment management firm that manages partnerships investing in liquid securities, which he grew to over $400 Million in assets while president. Professor Stevenson is an investor and board member in numerous private and public companies. He received his Bachelors degree in Mathematics, with distinction, from Stanford University and his M.B.A., with high distinction, and D.B.A. degrees from Harvard Business School.
Will Thorndike – Investor
Mr. Thorndike was a Founding Partner of Housatonic Partners in 1994 and has been Managing Partner since 1995 as assets under management have grown from $5 million to $275 million. Prior to that, Mr. Thorndike worked with the Walker Publishing Company and T. Rowe Price Associates. Mr. Thorndike is a graduate of Harvard College and Stanford University’s Graduate School of Business. He is a Director of Alta Colleges; Continental Fire & Safety Services, LLC; Carillon Assisted Living, LLC; LeMaitre Vascular, Inc.; Rapid Communications, LLC ; The Governance Institute, LLC ; Wind River Environmental, LLC; and a Trustee of the Groton School.
A. J. Wasserstein – Investor
Mr. Wasserstein was the founder and CEO of ArchivesOne, the third largest records management company in the United States. He successfully built ArchivesOne into a super-regional, full-service records management company before selling to Iron Mountain (NYSE: IRM) in May of 2007. Mr. Wasserstein graduated from Colgate University and received his MBA from New York University. He completed the Owner/President/Manager Executive Education Program at Harvard Business School in 2002. The Hartford County Business Journal and New Haven Business Times have both selected Mr. Wasserstein as an award winner in their respective "Forty Under 40" programs. The U. S. Small Business Administration named him the "2000 Small Business Person of the Year in Connecticut". He is also a trustee at the Connecticut Community Foundation.
