Advisory Board
Jeff Barber ’01
Managing Director, TA Associates, Inc.
At TA Associates, Jeff Barber focuses on growth capital investments, leveraged recapitalizations and management-led buyouts of business services, consumer products, financial services and other growth services companies. Mr. Barber has a BA from Johns Hopkins University (1995), with all university and departmental honors. He earned his MBA from Columbia Business School (2001) with honors and was a Beta Gamma Sigma Scholar.
John Coyle ’94
Partner & Co-Head of New York Office, Permira
John Coyle recently joined London-based Permira as a partner and co-head of the company's newly expanded New York office. At Permira, Mr. Coyle is responsible for running all operations of the New York office. He earned a BA in economics from the University of Notre Dame and an MBA from Columbia Business School (1994).
Patrick Dalton ’97
Partner and Chief Investment Officer, Apollo Investment Management
Patrick Dalton joined Apollo in June 2004 and was elected executive vice president of Apollo Investment in November 2006. Since joining Apollo, he has led a team responsible for sourcing transaction opportunities and overseeing portfolio development. Mr. Dalton earned his MBA from Columbia Business School (1997).
Daniel Durn ’00
Vice President, Goldman Sachs & Co.
Daniel Durn is a vice president in Goldman Sachs ’s technology, media and telecom investment banking coverage group and a member of Goldman Sachs’s merger leadership group. Based in San Francisco, he is focused on M&A in the technology industry and has significant interaction with the private equity community. Mr. Durn earned his MBA from Columbia Business School (2000).
Benjamin Edmands ’99
Managing Director, CCMP Capital
Ben Edmands is a managing director in the New York office of CCMP Capital. He focuses on making investments in the healthcare sector and has been responsible for CCMP’s investments in Legacy Hospital Partners, CareMore Medical Enterprises, DJ Orthopedics, Hanger, MedQuest Associates and Warner Chilcott. Mr. Edmands currently serves on the boards of directors of Legacy Hospital Partners, CareMore Medical Enterprises, and National Surgical Care. He holds a BA from Colgate University and an MBA from Columbia Business School (1999).
Pamela Hickory Esterson ’97
Managing Director, SG Partners
Pam Esterson joined SG Partners in 2001. Prior to joining SG, she spent four years at Prudential Capital Group, the merchant banking group of Prudential Financial. SG Partners represents top private equity funds, hedge funds and financial services firms searching for investment professionals ranging from analyst to partner level. Ms. Esterson is a graduate of Trinity College, Hartford, Conn., where she earned her BA (1990), and Columbia Business School, where she earned her MBA (1997).
Alex Ferrara ’04
Vice President, Bessemer Venture Partners
Alex Ferrara is a vice president with Bessemer Venture Partners where he focuses on investments in financial technologies, internet, and software. He serves on the boards of Quadriserv, SelectMinds, Yodle, and Dayak and is involved in the firm's investments in Gerson Lehrman Group, Soleil Securities, Wix, Skype (acq. eBay), SiteAdvisor (acq. McAfee), Pure Networks (acq. Cisco), and Revver (acq. LiveUniverse). Mr. Ferrara holds a BS in electrical and computer engineering from the University of Pennsylvania and an MBA from Columbia Business School (2004).
Jon Eric Hilsenrath ’97
Economics Reporter, Wall Street Journal
Jon Hilsenrath is the markets editor of the Wall Street Journal, overseeing global coverage of stock, bond and currency markets. He has been at the Wall Street Journal since 1997. He earned his bachelor’s degree from Duke University. While at Columbia University he was a Knight-Bagehot fellow (1995–96) and earned an MS in journalism as well as an MBA (1997).
Matthew McCooe ’99
Managing Partner, Chart Venture Partners
At Chart Venture Partners (CVP), Matt McCooe focuses on early-stage investments in communications, software and robotics. He represents CVP on the boards of RemoteReality, StackSafe and PacStar Communications. Mr. McCooe is a Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) Program reviewer for the National Science Foundation. He earned a BA from Boston College and an MBA from Columbia Business School (1999).
John Morris ’94
Managing Director, HarbourVest Partners
John Morris joined HarbourVest in 1996 and is a managing director specializing in U.S. buyout, venture and mezzanine partnership investments, as well as Israeli partnership investments. He serves on the advisory boards of partnerships managed by Bear Stearns Merchant Banking, the Blackstone Group, BRS, Court Square Capital, the Cypress Group, Domain Associates, EOS Partners, GTCR Golder Rauner, the Jordan Company, Oak Investment Partners, Pitango Venture Capital, Providence Equity Partners, Sterling Investments, Sun Capital, U.S. Venture Partners and Windjammer Capital. Morris earned a BA in economics from Clark University (1986) and an MBA from Columbia Business School (1994).
R. Adam Smith ’98
Founder & CEO, Circle Peak Capital
Adam Smith is founder and CEO of Circle Peak Capital, a middle market private equity firm focused on growth-oriented businesses in the consumer, industrial, and financial sectors. Mr. Smith has 15 years of experience in private equity and mergers and acquisitions at leading institutions. Prior to founding Circle Peak Capital, he worked in the Financial Sponsors Group at Lehman Brothers where he advised private equity firms and leading middle market corporations on financial and strategic matters. Prior to Lehman Brothers, he served in private equity capacities at Caxton-Iseman Capital LLC, Castle Harlan, Inc., and Columbus Advisors. Mr. Smith is currently an adviser to and board member of several private businesses, including Rocket Dog, Fischbein, WealthTrust Inc., Luxury Optical Holdings Co., Shari’s Management Corp. and Hill & Valley Inc. Mr. Smith earned a BA cum laude in international relations and economics from Boston University and an MBA with honors from the Columbia Business School (1998).
