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Progress Partners team members are a strategic mix of executives
with backgrounds in both entrepreneurial and Fortune 500 companies. Team
members have deep experience in venture capital and angel financings,
mergers and acquisitions, strategic planning and execution, business
development, integrated marketing, and sales management plus new product
/market launches.
This is a team which has not only been senior management but has also been
in the trenches building and growing small companies themselves as well and
managing larger divisions of Fortune 500s. Progress Partners’ clients
benefit from advice and processes that are time tested and have delivered
results many times before.
Nick is a founder and Senior Managing Director of Progress Partners. He is a proven technology marketer and fund raiser with 15 years experience in working with early stage companies in marketing, branding and advertising; product development; business development; partnership development; and fund raising. Through his experience in working with start-ups, top companies and with business leaders, he brings an extensive network of senior-level contacts in New England, New York, Washington, DC, and California.
Prior to founding Progress Partners, Nick served in senior marketing and product development roles at Virtual Access Networks,
MyWay.com (CMGi) and Scotia Pharmaceuticals, a British conglomerate. In New York, Nick ran an events-planning and non-profit fund raising firm called Diana Beattie Events. He started his career in New York City Mayoral politics and founded and ran the New York State chapter of the Democratic Leadership Forum.
Nick is a Government and History graduate of Skidmore College. In addition to his role at Progress Partners, Nick is a Principal at
Brooke Private Equity Advisors, a private equity management firm that provides investment and advisory services to institutions and high net worth families. Nick also serves on the screening committee of
Launchpad Venture Group. He currently holds investments in five early stage companies. Finally, Nick is the Financial Director of
Ballets Russes 2009, a non-profit organization celebrating a century of modern ballet. Nick is a General Securities Registered Representative.
Frits joins Progress
Partners as Managing Director, with a specific focus on
expansion of New York operations. Frits has over 12 years of
experience in marketing, business development and operations for
start-up ventures, for which he has managed all aspects of new
business formation and developed a targeted investor base for
investment projects.
Before joining Progress Partners, Frits helped launch Longbank
Corporate Restructuring Inc., an alternative investment firm
focusing on distressed assets. He co-founded, and served as
Managing Director of Marketing and Business Development for,
Velocity Holdings, a consulting firm focusing on small to medium
sized businesses. As President and COO of GFN Holdings, a New
York City niche financial services firm, Frits oversaw the
Marketing, Public Relations, Investor Relations, Sales and
Editorial Departments.
Frits founded the
Skidmore Business Network,
serves on the board of the Caron Foundation/Renaissance
Institute and has been a US delegate to the Young Leaders Forum
of the Asian Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC).
Frits holds a BA in Economics from Skidmore College and a
Certificate in International Political Economy and Trade from
the Institut D'Etude Des Relations Internationales (ILERI),
Paris, France.
Brad is an Executive in Residence at Progress Partners. Brad is the founder and managing partner of
Minuteman Advisory Partners, LLC, an outsourced corporate development consulting firm. Brad brings more than 20 years of technology, business and consulting experience. His experience includes VP, Corporate Development at MatrixOne (sold to Dassault Systèmes); VP, Marketing & Business Development for Synchronicity (sold to MatrixOne); and VP, Corporate Development for
SupplierMarket.com (sold to Ariba). Prior to his technology management experience, Brad was a Principal with global consultancy A.T. Kearney and started his career with IBM. Brad graduated with a B.A. in Engineering from Lafayette College and with an MBA from the Kellogg School of Management at Northwestern University.
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Tiran Kiremidjian
 
Executive in Residence
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Tiran is an Executive
in Residence at Progress Partners. Tiran has over 15 years of investments and investment banking experience, starting at the M&A group of Bear, Stearns & Co. Inc. and then as a partner in a $125 million venture fund backed by the Estee Lauder family. During his time there, he played key roles in launching Central European Media Enterprises, now the largest TV network in Central Europe, and in taking it public (ticker: CETV) on Nasdaq. He also helped launch Formosa TV, the No. 1 broadcaster in Taiwan , and manage a number of non-media investments in the fund’s portfolio. More recently, he has filled senior executive positions in several start-ups and helped secure financing for them: SignalOne Media ($4.0 million),
Magnify.net ($1.2 million) and Condo.com (undisclosed).
Sam is a Vice President at Progress Partners. With experience in
both traditional and interactive media, Sam’s current efforts
are focused on the new media and technology marketplace. Prior
to Progress Partners, Sam worked at the Boston-based Phoenix
Media/Communications Group in both the Media Sales and Finance
departments. Positioned in the finance group as the Manager of
its Trade Department, he focused on financing advertising
campaigns for online, print, and radio media sales clients. His
first exposure to the interactive space began at the San
Francisco-based start-up, IGN Entertainment, Inc., now a
division of News Corporation. While at IGN, working closely with
Advertising Operations, Sam brought together the Client
Relations framework, structure, and strategy for its media sales
department.
Sam graduated with a B.A. in Fine Arts from Lewis & Clark
College in Portland , OR and in 2004 graduated Magna Cum Laude
with an MBA from the F.W. Olin Graduate
School of Business at Babson College. Adding to his role
at Progress Partners, and bringing purpose to his love of
bicycles, Sam was recently elected to the board of directors for
the local non-profit Massachusetts Bicycle Coalition as Vice
President of Advocacy.
Christine
is a Vice President of Progress Partners. Her background is in
product management, product marketing and market research for
start-ups. Prior to Progress Partners, Christine worked at Predictive
Networks, a Cambridge-based start-up focused on Web personalization,
MyWay.com (a wholly owned subsidiary of CMGI), an Andover-based
private label portal for high traffic ISP and as an independent
consultant. Christine has a thorough understanding of the technology
markets, particularly digital media, and has tied her marketing
and product development background together with her business
experience to help start-ups flourish and compete. Most recently,
she has been active in non-profit work for her own community including
fund-raising, marketing and public relations.
Christine holds an MBA, with honors, from the
F.W. Olin Graduate School of Business at Babson College
in Wellesley, MA. Prior to business school, Christine worked in
asset management for commercial real estate at AEW in Boston , MA .
Vinay Kantak is a Consultant at
Progress Partners, focusing on Strategy, Operations and Technology.
He brings over 23 years of experience in the areas of information
technology, management consulting, operations, and finance. For
the past 10 years, Vinay has worked in executive management positions
with startup/early stage companies (some of which he co-founded
or promoted), or new business units of large companies. His range
of experience helps him play multiple organizational roles, including
COO, CTO and CFO. Vinay is especially deft at crafting business
models, devising product and solution strategies, creating technology
frameworks, as well as streamlining business and technical operations
to meet business objectives.
Vinay received his BS in Financial
Management from University of Bombay. He then completed his Chartered
Accountancy (CPA) with specialization in Systems Analysis, Cost
Accounting, and Operations Research. He was ranked in top 50 (all-India)
in the final qualifying examination. After his training as a CPA,
with special focus on analysis and audit of business systems, Vinay started his career in the field of Information Technology
as a developer, assuming roles up to, and including, COO. Vinay
is a practitioner of martial art and is a 2nd Degree Black Belt
in Shaolin Kempo style of Karate and he is training in Jade Forest
Praying Mantis style of Kung Fu and Tai Chi. Finally, Vinay also
studies percussion - Indian, African, and Latin, and performs
as a musician whenever his schedule permits.
T.S. brings 9 years of experience in consulting and research in the information technology and chemical engineering sectors to Progress Partners, where he focuses on financial analysis, firm/technology valuation, business development, and cross-border transactions.
Prior to Progress Partners, T.S. worked at Samsung as a project manager, leading projects ranging from operation consulting to information system implementations. During the five years at Samsung, he managed more than ten projects for clients in financial services, electronic manufacturing and consumer services. T.S. was also instrumental in restructuring the company's strategy and organization. He has a keen understanding for integrating business processes with information technology in the areas of Enterprise Resource Planning, Supply Chain Management and Corporate Performance Management.
T.S. is also an experienced entrepreneur, having launched two start-up companies, Aigis Systems and Organic-Biotech. T.S. received a BS and a Ph.D. in Science and Engineering from Seoul National University, and graduated with an MBA from the S. C. Johnson Graduate School of Management at Cornell University .
Andrew Clarke is an Analyst at Progress Partners, having joined in
the summer of 2006. Previously, he has held positions at the US
Army Corps of Engineers and Hemsley Fraser Group, a management
consulting and training company based in London, where he assisted
in projects for several Fortune 500 companies.
Andrew graduated from Skidmore College in 2005 with a BA in English
and Government. Andrew is a General Securities Registered Representative.
Stephen is an Analyst at Progress Partners. Prior to joining Progress Partners, Stephen worked for Public Safety Canada, in the National Security Directorate’s Air Security Program, where he advised the Deputy Prime Minister of Canada on all airside security matters, analyzed and developed protocols for Canada/US terrorism watch lists, and helped implement biometric data in Canadian Passports. He is also a former member of the Royal Canadian Mounted Police force.
Stephen graduated with a Bachelors in Mathematics and in Chemistry from the University of Ottawa and holds an MBA in Finance and Investments, with honors, from Northeastern University.
April Monchik is an
Analyst
at Progress Partners. Prior to joining Progress Partners, April
conducted healthcare-related research for four years in the Cell
and Developmental Biology department at Weill Cornell Medical
College. Her focus was on the connection between the immune system
and heart disease. For her thesis, she studied mechanisms of eye
disease in the chick embryo. She also covered neuronal plasticity,
evolution, ecology, and genetics in her graduate studies, and
has worked in a clinical laboratory at New-York Presbyterian hospital.
April received her MS in biology from New
York University and her BS in chemistry from Skidmore College.
In her free time she enjoys sailing in Buzzards Bay, MA., ballroom
dancing, theater, and opera.
Alison Starrett is an
Analyst at Progress Partners, having
joined in the summer of 2007. Prior to graduating, she was
an Attorney Development intern at Ropes & Gray LLP. She
assisted the Attorney Development team in planning fall 2006
orientation for all new attorneys and conducted a firm-wide
lateral analysis.
Alison graduated from Skidmore College in 2007 with a BS in
Business Management and a Minor in Economics. She was a four
year member of the Skidmore Field Hockey Team.
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