with us.

Operator spotlight

Hiten Varia

Hiten Varia is a serial entrepreneur, investor and technology evangelist with broad leadership experience across multiple business and technology sectors. He’s equally passionate about helping companies understand and position their true customer-oriented value proposition, and providing the operating guidance to help them succeed.

Hiten currently serves as Chairman and Founder at Autoplant Systems, a Mumbai-based technology firm blending AI, machine learning, advanced analytics and mobility platforms to help companies improve supply chain and operational efficiency. Additionally, he is an active Board Member with Efrac, a leading Testing Services company based in India; Cleo, a B2B-led cloud integration category leader (Chicago), Riverside Insights an education assessments co (Chicago), an AI platform co DeepBay Technologies China; and Omatic Software, which provides data and integration software tailored for non-profit organizations (Charleston, S.C.). He also serves as an operating partner with Singapore-based Tembusu ICT, a software venture capital fund; and Mandala Capital, an investment fund that helps food and agriculture companies on the Indian subcontinent scale to realize their full potential.

Prior to these current positions, Hiten was a Board Member with Angoss, an analytical software tools company, and also spent 17 years in various executive roles at i2 Technologies (now JDA Software), a leading supply chain software player. While with i2, he held multiple leadership roles including: EVP of Global Customer Operations and Chief Customer Officer; EVP of Greater Asia Pacific Region; EVP of Worldwide Delivery; and VP of Worldwide Development. In these positions, Hiten contributed significantly to i2’s growth strategy, helping the company expand its revenue from $5 million to $1 billion in just five years. Hiten also spent ten years with EDS working on Factories of the Future Technologies, System Integration and Hosted IT Operations.

Hiten holds an M.S. in Computer Architecture and Software Design from University of Kentucky, and a B.S. in Electrical Engineering from University of Baroda, India.

Operator spotlight

Mahesh Rajasekharan

Mahesh Rajasekharan is President and CEO of Cleo, the pioneer and global leader of the world’s Ecosystem Integration software category. Cleo enables the supply chain ecosystems of thousands of customers in the logistics, transportation, manufacturing, distribution, and retail industries by continuously improving business relationships, driving rapid revenue growth, and improving corporate profitability through the frictionless movement, transformation, and integration of supply chain and financial data.

Mahesh has extensive leadership experience in business, including sales and marketing, operations, and business strategy; in technology, including supply chain management, SaaS, and enterprise software and consulting services; and in finance, including proven acumen around private equity investment, acquisition integration, and P&L management. Since 2012 he has been leading Cleo’s evolution and expansion from a “neo-startup” with a small number of investors to a high-growth, scaled cloud software business, with a strategic growth investment backed by H.I.G. Capital. Prior to leading Cleo, he served as Chief Operating Officer at SumTotal Systems, where he led the dramatic turnaround of this $100 million multinational software company. Previously, Rajasekharan led the High-tech Industry Sector at i2 Technologies, where he managed global sales and a $60 million P&L.

Today Rajasekharan serves on the Board of Directors for Cleo, Ascend Software, and Banyan Software, and is on the Advisory Board for StartupWind, a social ideation network. He holds a Ph.D. in Industrial Engineering from Texas A&M University, an M.S. in Industrial Engineering from Texas Tech University, and a B.E. in Mechanical Engineering from Anna University, India. He also earned an MBA in Finance, Strategy, and Marketing from the Haas School of Business at UC Berkeley, where he graduated No. 1 in his class. In 2022 he was named an EY “Entrepreneur of the Year” winner in the U.S. Midwest region.

Operator spotlight

Rob Cherun

Rob has been an active investor for over ten years. He has invested in over 50 companies and 15 search funds. As Founder and Managing Partner at Legate, Rob is excited to work with fast growing companies and passionate entrepreneurs.

For the last 12 years, Rob was CEO of Stealth Monitoring where he led 2,000 employees across 4 countries. Under his leadership, the company grew to become the industry leader in remote monitoring services and a top 10 security company in North America. The company grew at a 35% CAGR over his tenure to over $100 million annual recurring revenue and 40+ offices. During his tenure, Stealth raised over $300 million of equity and debt.

Prior to Stealth, Rob worked in strategy and business management at Morgan Stanley in New York. Prior to Morgan Stanley, he worked as a consultant at McKinsey & Company in Toronto.

Rob has an MBA from the Stanford Graduate School of Business and is heavily involved in Stanford GSB’s admissions. He also received an Honors Business Administration (HBA) from the Richard Ivey School of Business at the University of Western Ontario, where he was an Ivey Scholar. He received Canada’s Top 40 under 40 award and is a member of YPO NY Metro. Rob is on the Board of Stealth Monitoring, AppWrap, and the West Village Chabad Synagogue.

Operator spotlight

Stephen Goddard

Stephen is a passionate “servant leader” with a lengthy track record of helping LargeLocal companies through challenging transformational stages on their growth paths. As a former military officer and Lean Six Sigma Master Blackbelt, Stephen is particularly adept at building strong management teams, cultivating performance cultures, and institutionalizing the best practices that allow smaller companies to scale profitably.

Since joining Kamylon in 2008, Stephen has held both direct and indirect support roles with portfolio companies, including 3 stints as a CEO. Prior to Kamylon, he served as Executive Director and Vice President of Operations at 3D Systems Inc. (NYSE:DDD), where, over his 6-year tenure, he helped grow it into the dominant player in the 3D Printing industry. Earlier career stops included 2-years leading Performance Improvement at the packaging firm Sealed Air Corp (NYSE: SEE) and 4-years as a project manager with McKinsey & Company. Stephen began his professional career as an officer in the U.S. Coast Guard, where he held key Operations management positions and, as a helicopter search and rescue pilot, saved more than 190 lives, earning 14 awards/medals for leadership and heroism.

Going way, way back, “Stevie” had his first taste of entrepreneurship when he and a friend started up a commercial lobstering company as pre-teens. Unfortunately, his lack of vision led him to prematurely sell his half (of what grew into a very lucrative enterprise) when he left for college. He has since been on a mission to collect as much material as possible for his planned retirement gig: hosting a podcast to be titled “All the dumb business mistakes I’ve made and what I learned from them, so that you won’t have to.”

Stephen received his undergraduate degree from the U.S. Coast Guard Academy, his aviation wings from U.S. Navy Flight School, and his MBA from the London Business School.

Outside of work, Stephen is best known as a retired tri-athlete, retired MMA enthusiast, retired rock climber, semi-retired surfer — and very, very non-retired father of two teenage “theatre-nerd” daughters. When not in the office, he can usually be found either engaged in thespian-parent activities, along with his spouse, Jessica (e.g. practicing lines from Shakespeare or constructing elaborate sets), or hiding from the world whilst on walkabouts with his two mutt dogs.

Operator spotlight

Sarah Hasan

Sarah has had the privilege of experiencing numerous transformational opportunities in her corporate career across 3 Fortune 500 companies. She grew up aspiring to be a technology-driven business leader and fast-tracked herself across the corporate spectrum into challenging executive leadership roles that involved managing global P&L’s.

In 2017, she left behind a rich and familiar corporate career to make a courageous leap from enterprise to entrepreneurship. She immersed herself into working with SME executives to help them refine strategies, optimize operations, and enhance organizational culture. She then co-founded the investment firm CloudsteetPartners, and led the acquisition of ezTaxReturn where she now serves as CEO.

Operator spotlight

Chris Lueck

Three-time Software CEO veteran Chris Lueck comes with well over a decade of success and experience in Ed-tech, Gov-tech, and eCommerce.

Along with his partner Ben Knoll, Chris co-leads Scribbles Software, a leading Ed-Tech solution that helps K-12 educational communities enhance, streamline, and simplify their student records processes, as well as Permitium, the leading Workflow Automation SaaS solution for law enforcement and local government agencies.

Prior to his time with Scribbles and Permitium, Chris was the CEO of FastSpring, a full service eCommerce platform for companies that sell software and other online digital products, where he grew ARR by 3.75X.

Prior to that, Chris managed product development for Nyko Technologies, the leading video game accessory company in North America. Before Nyko, he was a product engineer at Qualcomm, where he worked on the development of mobile communications chips, including the world's first 3G communications chip.

Chris holds a BS in Electrical Engineering from the University of Virginia, and an MBA with honors from the University of Southern California Marshall School of Business, where he was a Leadership and Academic Scholar.

Operator spotlight

Eric Giesecke

Eric Giesecke is the CEO of Planet DDS. In his role Eric is responsible for operations, technology, finance, customer success and strategy.

Prior to joining the company, he co-founded District Line Partners, a private investment fund created to acquire and operate a single attractive business in a growing industry.

Prior to that, Eric was the President of One Source Water, a bottleless water cooler firm, where he nearly doubled the size of the company in less than three years.

Eric has an MBA from Harvard Business School and a bachelor’s of science in mechanical engineering from the University of Virginia.

Operator spotlight

Gideon Wilk

A fourth-generation entrepreneur, Gideon grew up watching his father run the 400-person niche technology services company he founded. Starting from Gideon's very first lemonade stand, he went about building his educational and professional experiences with the ultimate goal of running a business.

Over the past ~20 years, Gideon has built digital products, driven operational improvements, invested in niche B2B product companies as a venture capitalist, and led organizational change across a Fortune 500 services organization. As Director of Special Projects at Wipro, he generated ideas and executed cross-departmental programs to support senior executives, giving him a top-down view of the ins and outs of various functions, processes and cultures, and most importantly, the daily life and challenges of a CEO.

Off the back of his successful career, Gideon co-founded the investment firm Cloudstreet Partners and led the acquisition of ezTaxReturn, where he now serves as CFO.

Gideon holds an MBA from Harvard Business School and a bachelor of applied science in industrial engineering from the University of Toronto. He is passionate about systems thinking and does not hesitate to apply his analytical and computing skills to assist his teams, friends and family to bring about improvements.

Outside of work, Gideon is dad to two young boys, husband to his supportive and encouraging wife, and an amateur musician who has performed seven piano concertos.

Operator spotlight

Andy Love

As a student of the search fund model, as a searcher-CEO of one of the most successful search funds to date, and as a search fund investor-advisor, Andy has spent over two decades in the search fund arena. In that time, he has invested in almost 200 search funds and has advised many more.

Prior to Aspect, Andy was CEO and Founder of his search fund’s operating company, Behavioral Health Group (BHG), where he pioneered the use of a callable capital search fund structure to facilitate growth via M&A when merited. Under his leadership from 2006–2012, BHG grew from infancy into one of the largest treatment providers for opioid use disorder in the U.S. BHG was a three-time winner of the Inc. 500|5000 award (2010, 2011, 2012), which ranked the company the 18th fastest growing private healthcare firm in the U.S. (2010), and the Dallas 100 award (2009, 2010, 2011). From 2004–2006, Andy was Founder and Managing Principal of VantageCap Partners (VCP), the search fund that launched BHG.

Prior to VCP, Andy was a founding team member of Broadband Venture Partners (BVP), a Dallas-based growth equity investment firm specializing in enterprise software, telecom software/services, and managed service provider models (ASP/SaaS/MSP). At BVP, he worked extensively with Telecom Technologies Inc., acquired by Sonus Networks Inc.; VeriCenter, Inc., acquired by SunGard Data Systems Inc.; and other BVP portfolio companies. Earlier in his career, Andy was an Associate Consultant with Bain & Company.

Andy is a recipient of the Ernst & Young Entrepreneur of the Year Award, Southwest Region (2011), and is a member of Young Presidents’ Organization (YPO). He has served as Co-President of the Dallas Chapter of the Stanford GSB Alumni Association, as a Board Member of the University of Texas Silver Spurs Alumni Association, and as a Board Member of and Advisor to community and faith-based organizations.

Andy earned an MBA from the Stanford Graduate School of Business and an MA from the Stanford University Graduate School of Education. He graduated magna cum laude from The University of Texas at Austin with a BA in Plan II Honors with Phi Beta Kappa honors and Departmental Distinction.

He and his wife, Ann Marie, and their seven children reside in Dallas.

Operator spotlight

Michael Miles

Michael Miles is a veteran of search fund investments since 2009. He has served as a board member and trusted advisor for many search fund-backed enterprises, including successful outcomes with Innflux, Workplace Answers, and Caravel Autism. In 2016, Michael co-founded The Operand Group to exclusively invest in Search Fund businesses.

Michael also has 25+ years of experience building, growing and operating recruiting businesses. In 1988, Michael founded SeatonCorp, a leading provider of recruiting, vendor-on-premise staffing and end-to-end supplier management solutions for strategic users of contingent labor. In 2014, Michael and his investor group sold SeatonCorp to True Blue (NYSE: TBI). Under Michael’s leadership, SeatonCorp grew from a staff of two to one of Crain’s “Largest Privately Held Companies” in Chicago, with more than 2,500 employees. SeatonCorp achieved consistent, organic growth resulting in a 20%+ compounded annual growth rate over a 25-year period, earning more than $700 million in revenue during 2014.

In addition, Michael was recently (2020-2021) CEO of EmployBridge, the largest light industrial staffing company in the United States. In that role, Michael navigated the company through the Pandemic and towards a successful sale to the Apollo group after only 18 months in the role.

Michael has been recognized with several awards including: the Staffing Industry Analysts’ Peter Yessne Workforce Innovator Award, a finalist in the Ernst & Young Entrepreneur Of The Year® program, and is listed on The Staffing 100 (the 100 most influential people in the staffing industry).

In 2012, Michael founded INCubatoredu (non-profit), a national program teaching high school students how to start a business. Michael is a Board member at Servnet Telecomunicaciones, Explora Biolabs, Paragon Legal Staffing, Lorman Education Services, EmployBridge, Insertech and Penn Foster.

Michael is a member of the Economic Club of Chicago and earned a Bachelor of Science in Finance from Arizona State University.

Operator spotlight

Mike Schmitz

Mike has two decades of private equity, public markets, family office, and operations experience across a variety of sectors. Prior to joining Aspect, Mike was the Chief Financial Officer of Athos Group, a private equity-backed, tech-enabled services and software company focused on the off-duty police officer market. Prior to Athos, he was Managing Director of the Acquisitions Team at Arcis Golf, the second largest owner and operator of private and daily fee golf clubs.

Prior to Arcis Golf, Mike was an Equity Research Analyst with hedge fund Hudson Way Capital Management. Before Hudson Way, Mike was a Managing Director with Cox Partners Inc., co-managing the family office for Berry R. Cox, an original investor and board Member of Home Depot. Earlier in his career, Mike had investment roles in several lower middle market private equity and growth equity firms including Austin Ventures, American Capital, and Hunt Private Equity.

Mike has an MBA from the Stanford Graduate School of Business, and a BBA in Finance and Business Honors from the University of Texas at Austin.

Mike and his wife, Tricia, and their two children reside in Southlake, Texas.

Operator spotlight

Badge Stone

Badge is a Co-Founder and Managing Partner of WSC & Company and is involved in all aspects of the firm’s search fund activities, inclusive of the search, acquisition and operation phases.

While at WSC, Mr. Stone acquired and operated Perimeter Security Systems (“PSS”). PSS is a leading provider of monitored, electric fences to commercial and industrial customers. Perimeter Security Systems was sold to Electric Guard Dog (Snow Phipps Group, LLC) in August 2016.

Prior to co-founding WSC, Badge served as President of Stone Pump & Trench, an infrastructure equipment rental business. Badge developed and led the execution of a turnaround plan which resulted in EBITDA improvement of 71% in the first 12 months. Badge sold the North and South Carolina operations to National Trench Safety in 2013 and the Tennessee operations to Cross Country Pipeline (Odyssey Investment Partners) in 2015.

Before Stone Pump & Trench, Badge co-founded HeelHorn Partners, a search fund, and worked for VF Imagewear, a Nashville-based division of VF Corporation. While at VF Imagewear, Badge focused on operations, mergers and acquisitions, and internal growth projects.

Prior to VF, Badge worked for McColl Partners and First Union Securities’ M&A Group (formally Bowles Hollowell Conner) as a middle-market investment banker focused primarily on sell-side assignments, private capital raises, and leveraged buyouts.

Badge holds a Business Administration degree with Distinction from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, where he was a Morehead Scholar, and an MBA from Harvard Business School.