Sam is a Senior Managing Director at Progress Partners. He is an entrepreneurial manager cum banker with a twelve-year history in media sales, business development and leadership. Most recently, Sam has worked with early-stage companies to form go-to-market strategy, raise capital, develop strategic partnerships, negotiate business development contracts, as well as organize and act upon merger and acquisition strategies. With a particular focus in entertainment and news media, Sam has built a strong network of high-level contacts for both early and growth stage business alike.

Among other transactions in the online media market, most notably, Sam brought together Progress Partners client Wavexpress with NBC Sports to deliver high-definition video coverage of the 2008 Beijing Olympics in partnership with Microsoft and Lenovo. He recently worked to close venture investments in online advertising technology startups Media6Degrees and MediaMath, and facilitated the sale of Going.com to AOL.

Prior to joining Progress Partners, Sam held positions in management of design at Pod Consulting and Procter & Gamble, finance and sales at the Phoenix Media/Communications Group, and client relations at IGN Entertainment, Inc., and Snowball.com. Sam began his career in commercial photography after graduating with a BA from Lewis & Clark College in Portland, OR, and more recently earned his MBA from the F.W. Olin Graduate School of Business at Babson College, Magna Cum Laude.

Sam actively participates in speaking opportunities, including Digital Hollywood, makes select investments in early stage companies and has brought his passion in business to the non-profit world as a former Managing Director of the MassBike (www.massbike.org) board of directors. Sam regularly coaches leadership to undergraduate students at Babson College and serves on judge’s panels for business plan competitions at Babson’s F.W. Olin School and MIT’s Sloan School. When not involved with business matters, Sam enjoys road and mountain biking, tennis, skiing and photography.

Sam Thompson is a Series 7 and 63 registered representative of Foreside Investment Services LLC, Three Canal Plaza, Suite 100, Portland, ME 04101. Member FINRA, through which all investment banking activity is conducted.