Team

Randy has over 30 years of business development, leadership and operational experience. He’s sourced, evaluated and executed over 40 proprietary transactions, and has worked directly with many of the companies to deliver top-line revenue growth. Having executed both platform investments and add-on acquisitions, Randy has built an excellent track record for identifying prospective investments, working collaboratively to close mutually beneficial transactions, and assisting in the executing of highly strategic business plan and go-forward growth strategies.

Randy is also a highly skilled interpersonal and inter-operational leader. From founding and running his own start-up, leading a closely held family company to holding numerous leadership positions at a multi-billion dollar service companies, Randy’s leadership and conscientiousness are invaluable assets to Lakelet Capital. These skills are also valuable to a number of community organizations and company boards Randy is involved with. Randy is the President of the Board of Directors for Upstate Capital, the Founder of First Thursday Networking, and has served on the Executive Boards for the Junior Achievement of Western New York and Institute of Continuing Professional Education. Randy has served in these roles in addition to coaching youth hockey in the Western New York region.

Education:
- Certificate in Family Business Advising
- B.A. in Economics from Rowan University
- Executive MBA from University at Buffalo

Accomplishments:
- Nationally Recognized for Prestigious Board of Directors Recipient from a leading service company in three separate business segments.
- Multiple national and regional awards for management, leadership and performance recognition.
- Published numerous articles.
- Frequent lecturer and moderator in private equity, business development and family business investing.
- Judged on several business plan competitions including Ernst and Young Entrepreneurial Award and J.A. Business Plan Competition.

John has over 25+ years of management and transactional experience, primarily focused on successfully advising 200+ private equity transactions. In addition to his role as a Managing Partner at Lakelet Capital, John is a Partner and Private Equity Leader at the law firm of Lippes Mathias. John has advised on deals between $5MM and $250MM+ in a wide range of industry sectors including manufacturing, healthcare, consumer goods, technology, and business services. As counsel for Lakelet, John expertly strategizes and structures these deals to see them through closing with success, transparency, and integrity.

John is also active in the Western New York community and has been for his entire legal career. As a member of the American Bar Association and New York State Bar Association, John is also active in several other organizations and boards. He’s a Vistage Trusted Advisor, and a member of Upstate Capital and the Association for Corporate Growth.

Education:
- B.S. from University at Buffalo, Summa Cum Laude
- M.B.A. from University at Buffalo, with Distinction
- J.D. from University at Buffalo Law School, Magna Cum Laude

Accomplishments:
- Upstate Capital, Dealmaker of the Year
- Chambers USA, Leading Corporate/M&A Lawyer
- Chambers USA, Leading Private Equity Lawyer (Investment Funds)
- Upstate New York Super Lawyers®, Leading M&A Lawyer and Leading Closely Held Business Lawyer

Tyler is a seasoned investment professional with nearly a decade of private equity experience. As Vice President, he is a valuable member of our diligence team and a member of our investment committee. His responsibilities include conducting business valuations, financial analysis, industry research, project management, commercial diligence, and strategic planning.

Before joining Lakelet Capital, Tyler spent a large part of his career in Toronto, Canada, serving as a member of the investment team at a sector-focused venture capital & private equity firm. He also held a position in finance at one of the “Big Five” banks in Canada where he provided event-based loans to support North American financial sponsors and corporations. Prior to his time in Canada, Tyler was an Analyst at Buffalo-based private equity firm where he was involved in several transactions across the niche manufacturing and business services sectors. Early in his career, Tyler was a member of an investment consulting group providing asset allocation and third-party asset manager consulting services to pension funds.

Tyler's Western New York Community involvements include being a Nichols School Alumni Board member, volunteering as a mentor for Nichols' student courses, and being a member of Upstate Capital Association of New York.

Education:
- B.S in Finance from Canisius College

Accomplishments:
- Participated in the evaluation and execution of over 20 closed deals
- Implemented multiple analyst training programs for recent college graduates
- Holds the AFM (Accredited Financial Modeler) designation

Phil has over 30 years of B2B sales and sales leadership experience; over 15 of those years in sales management and associate development. Phil has led numerous sales organizations, across multiple geographies and business segments. Phil has recruited, hired, trained and promoted dozens of sales associates and managers. Phil has successfully created and implemented multiple sales processes across business units he has led; including but not limited to, strategic multi-channel selling, steps of a sale, client-based selling, phone canvassing, objection handling and more.

At Lakelet Capital, Phil assists in business development with a keen focus on driving top-line revenue and sourcing sales talent. His experience is leveraged by Lakelet Capital portfolio companies as they utilize Phil’s unique ability to identify areas of strong growth opportunity and process implementation. Phil understands which processes and resources are required to meet sales milestones and ensures that our companies enhance results.

Accomplishments:
- Multiple President's Club Qualifiers.
- Multiple Super Starts Qualifiers.
- 100% Breadth of Participation Amongst Teams, Within His Sales Organizations.
- Multiple Sales Associate, President's Club Qualifiers on Teams He Has Led.
- Promoted Several Successful Sales Leaders.
- VP Advisory Board.

Bonnie has over 20 years of diverse business experience ranging from sales and marketing to investment banking. Prior to joining Lakelet Capital, Bonnie spent 5 years operating her own small business consulting company in the Buffalo area. In that role, she offered operations, marketing, CRM, and other business development services to companies in several different industries.

Bonnie has extensive experience in investment banking and volunteered for Conscious Capital NEO to help grow and align businesses culturally. Additionally, Bonnie had a very successful direct sales business for over a decade where she sourced, trained and developed a sales force to provide in-home demonstrations. During that time Bonnie was recognized as one of the top contributors in both training/development and personal sales.

Accomplishments:
- Was an integral part of the management team which created an investment bank focused on aligning cultures for M&A work
- Created a business plan with a client from an initial concept to become a finalist for the - Rochester Venture Capital Challenge
- Established an online order system for a large distributor and worked with several other clients to improve their website, digital marketing and data management capabilities to increase the top line of each client several fold
- Implemented operations overhaul for a client to increase efficiency and productivity and reduce errors

Connor graduated from the University at Buffalo in 2020 where he studied Business Administration with a concentration in Financial Analysis. Connor worked as an intern at a local real estate private equity company. Connor was actively involved in the due diligence and integration processes for multiple acquisitions.

At Lakelet Capital, Connor assists in conducting due diligence on investment opportunities and all aspects of the M&A deal cycle, from screening to closing. Connor builds and modifies financial models while incorporating pro-forma and return sensitivity analyses offering related critical thinking communication. Connor helps to support existing value creation activities for portfolio management. Connor delivers an ability to manage multiple projects and extraordinary critical thinking and problem-solving capabilities.

At Lakelet Capital, Ava coordinates, monitors, measures, and helps execute our marketing and communication efforts. Ava is responsible for managing our social media accounts and assists in writing and designing regular content for our websites and email lists. She is responsible for organizing all team-related events such as fundraisers, professional networking, award ceremonies, and continues to find other ways that our team can help the local community.

Ava coordinates internal and external communications including press releases, website updates, newsletters, and advertisements. She helps assess and report on the effectiveness of communication and marketing strategies and continuously researches ways that the organization can make improvements and reach our set goals for each quarter.

Jennifer has 15 plus years of comprehensive human resources experience in various industries including financial services, hospitality, healthcare, and real estate. As a human resources professional, she is committed to integrity, innovation, and providing quality service.

Jennifer’s background as a human resources professional includes building HR departments from the ground up, developing and administering processes, policies and procedures, recruitment, new hire orientation and on-boarding, employee relations, performance management and employee development, benefits administration, 401(k) administration, worker’s compensation, leave management, HRIS and payroll systems, state and federal compliance regulations, and mergers and acquisitions.

Jennifer operates an effective Human Resources Department with communication, respect, and honesty. She has a passion for working with people and supporting our organization’s human resource needs while ensuring the company is in compliance.

Education:
- B.S. in Human Resource Management

Accomplishments:
- Created and launched new hire orientation and on-boarding program.
- Played an essential role in company acquisitions by ensuring employees were integrated into company culture.
- Successful oversaw the benefit administration in six states for over 1000 employees.
- While working in HR in the healthcare field, worked with executive team to ensure we met and achieved the Joint Commission on Accreditation of Health Care Organizations (JCAHO) Standards.
- Success in building and re-building HR departments.

Amy has been in the HR field for over 20 years in a variety of positions, beginning her career in recruiting. She has also held the roles of HR Manager for an insurance services organization, HR Director for a local non-profit human services organization and HR Consultant focusing on providing her clients with practical solutions to guide their employees and ensure their businesses are compliant with state and federal regulations.

Amy is an innovative thinker who enjoys finding creative ways to support employees that lead to productive outcomes while mitigating risk for the employer. She takes pride in being able to help companies navigate the ever-changing HR landscape and improve their culture.

Accomplishments:
-Graduate of Leadership Buffalo’s Class Experience in 2018
-Developed a wellness program that had approximately 90% participation, assisting in the reduction of high-cost claims
-Successfully onboarded 99 employees during the acquisition of a partnership program
-Created a hiring plan for a multimillion-dollar project to support Florida’s homeowners’ insurance requirements and increased field staff retention by 12% in one year
-Recognized as a certified HR professional holding PHR and SHRM-CP designations

Tony has 30 years of both public and private accounting experience. He has served as Director in public accounting and CFO/COO for private companies focusing on operations, accounting, process improvement, income tax planning, transactions, and strategy primarily in Healthcare, Not for Profit Organizations and Real Estate Entities.

Tony has served as Board Chair of Stanley G. Falk School, served on Board and as Treasurer of Child & Family Services as well as serving on Board of CASA Voices for Children and Hamburg Academy of Finance.