Speakers

Matt is the CEO of Westlake Securities, a middle market investment bank founded in 2003 and headquartered in Austin, Texas. Over the past 20 years, he has worked on over 140 completed transactions totaling over $5 billion in private placement and M&A value. Matt has gained in-depth experience working with companies from the lower middle market up to public companies with market capitalizations in excess of $1.5 billion. Since joining Westlake in 2014, Matt has advised companies with a combined annual revenue of over $1.8 billion in the areas of strategy, capital, finance, and M&A. He currently sits on the board of three companies. In past roles, Matt has had full operational and P&L responsibility for a NYSE-listed company division with $15 million of EBITDA, led a multi-million dollar revenue geographic territory for a privately held company, and oversaw a multi-million dollar revenue product line for a NYSE-listed company. Matt has an MBA in banking and has attended executive programs at Harvard and the University of Chicago. Matt holds Series 6, 7, 63, 65, 24, 27, and 79 FINRA licenses.

As a co-founder and managing partner of Crossplane Capital, Ben Eakes is responsible for sourcing and closing transactions with significant cash and profitability improvement opportunities and overseeing the lifecycle of the portfolio.

Prior to co-founding Crossplane Capital, Ben was a managing director with the middle market private equity firm Prophet Equity. During his nine years at Prophet Equity, Ben was responsible for sourcing and managing acquisitions with significant value creation upside. He served on the boards of directors for Public Safety Supply Resources, CID Resources, Ace Asphalt of Arizona, and Brown Brothers Asphalt and Concrete.

Prior to Prophet Equity, Ben was a principal with lower middle market private equity firm, SunTx Capital Partners. He joined the firm in 2002 and was responsible for all stages of the investment process including sourcing, analyzing and closing new investment opportunities and overseeing the implementation of post-closing operational initiatives. Ben began his career as a senior associate consultant with Bain & Company. There he focused on business unit strategy, turnaround strategy, and M&A due diligence for clients in the aerospace, automotive, IT services and specialty manufacturing industries.

Mr. Miltenberger rejoined IBC Funds in 2010 where he, as part of the general partner, focuses on sourcing, structuring, analyzing, and negotiating direct junior capital investments into lower-middle-market companies. Prior to rejoining IBC Funds, Mr. Miltenberger worked at Highland Capital Management, a $25 billion alternative investment asset manager. He started at Highland in 2006 as Senior Portfolio Analyst and was promoted to Portfolio Manager prior to leaving the firm in 2010. At Highland, Mr. Miltenberger managed investments in a $1 billion portfolio focused on the merchant power industry, where he was responsible for identifying stressed and distressed opportunities for inclusion into the portfolio, monitoring performing and non-performing assets, and participating on steering committees and company restructurings. Mr. Miltenberger’s performance was consistently in excess of the benchmark index returns. In 2002, Mr. Miltenberger joined the team at IBCF for the first time as Senior Associate. Before joining IBCF, Mr. Miltenberger worked at Hibernia Capital Corporation as Venture Capital Officer. Mr. Miltenberger received his MBA from the Kellogg School of Management at Northwestern University with majors in Finance and Strategy and graduated from Loyola University New Orleans with a BBA.

Barrett Dean is a co-founder and Partner of Craftsman Capital.  At Craftsman Capital, Mr. Dean participates in both the transaction process for potential acquisitions and the daily operations of existing portfolio companies. 

Craftsman Capital Partners is a lower middle market PE firm focused on making control equity investments in asset light business with $1-10M in EBITDA. 

Prior to Craftsman, Barrett worked at Renovo Capital, acquiring distressed businesses then improving operations for a turnaround. Prior to Renovo, Barred worked at Covalent Capital, making control investments in businesses with $3-20M in EBITDA. 

Barrett is active with his wife and 3 boys in sports and Boy Scouts.

Originally hailing from Oklahoma, Kiplan Welsch has been in restaurant operations his entire career. He started at Chili’s back in 2002, where he oversaw new store openings during its high-growth period across multiple markets. After working at PF Chang’s as an operating partner, he then spent the next decade at BJ’s Restaurant & Brewhouse, where he rose in the ranks and ultimately served as area vice president. Welsch then moved to Bluestone Hospitality as its vice president of operations, overseeing 34 restaurants and five area directors. For the past 18 months, Welsch has been instrumental in Via 313’s growth strategy and leadership development as the brand entered its fifth major metro, reached a milestone 158,000 members on its loyalty and rewards app, and ranked on the 2024 Inc. 5000. Welsch resides in San Antonio, TX and is a husband and proud father to two daughters, both recent graduates of Texas A&M University.

As Senior Director of Development at Venturi Private Wealth, Rachael helps business owners, corporate executives, high-net-worth families, and foundations identify optimal financial solutions. With a career spanning nearly three decades, including a long tenure as Senior Vice President at Bank of America Merrill Lynch, Rachael has managed client assets totaling $2 billion.

Her expertise is backed by a B.B.A. from Texas Tech University and a wealth of specialized designations, including Certified Investment Management Analyst (CIMA®), Certified Exit Planning Advisor (CEPA), and Certified Divorce Financial Advisor (CDFA®). Rachael’s holistic approach ensures personalized support tailored to the evolving needs of her clients.

Active in the Austin community, Rachael has served as President of the Austin/San Antonio Chapter of the Association for Corporate Growth. She's also committed to supporting women through her past board roles at Austin Recovery and SAFE (Stop Abuse for Everyone).

Beyond her professional life, Rachael cherishes time with family and friends on Lake Austin or the coast in Port A, with her Boston Terrier, Jack, by her side.

Mr. Dyar joined IBC Funds in 2015 and is responsible for sourcing, structuring, analyzing, and negotiating direct junior capital investments into lower-middle-market companies.  Prior to joining IBC Funds, Mr. Dyar started his career in the valuation practice of EY’s Transaction Advisory Services division, where he performed valuations of public and private business enterprises, legal entities, intangible assets and preferred and common equity interests. His primary focus was performing mark-to-market valuations for private equity clients in the upstream oil and gas sector. Mr. Dyar received his BBA in both Finance and Economics from Southern Methodist University in December 2011.

Steve Reesing joined Focus Strategies in 2018. He has more than 25 years of senior management experience as a CFO for middle market privately held companies in Austin, TX. Steve’s broad range of experience includes extensive work in mergers and acquisitions, leveraged buyouts and private placements of debt and equity as well as all finance, accounting and treasury functions. From 2001 to 2009 as CFO he helped manage the growth of a local financial service startup company NetSpend to over $300 million in revenue. From 1991 to 2000 Steve was CFO for High End Systems with revenue growth from $18 million to $75 million. He was responsible for the establishment of operations in Singapore to serve the Asian market and in Munich, Germany to better serve the European market. Steve has also owned and managed a lower middle market M&A advisory firm in Austin since 2013. Steve began his financial career as a CPA with Arthur Andersen & Co. in Houston, TX. He earned a BBA from the University of Texas and is a Certified M&A Professional. Steve holds a FINRA SIE, Series 82 and 63 securities licenses.

Terese Everson joined Focus Strategies in 2019. Terese has over 20 years of finance experience in investment banking and private equity in a variety of industries and has worked on over $3 billion in transactions.

Prior to joining Focus Strategies, Terese was a Vice President at Cienda Partners in Dallas, where she led the acquisition of real estate and distressed debt investments in hospitality, office, land, multi-family, master-planned community and industrial sectors. Prior to Cienda, Terese was an investment banker in New York at Bear Stearns and subsequently at Deutsche Bank Securities in the Healthcare Group. Terese has also worked as Director of Acquisitions IFM Services and as an associate at Olympus Real Estate Corporation, a former affiliate of Hicks, Muse, Tate & Furst. She began her career as an analyst at JP Morgan Chase in the Mergers & Acquisitions group.

Terese currently serves as the Treasurer for the HBS Club of Austin. She is past chair of the UT McCombs BBA Advisory Board and past chair of the steering committee for WLI (Women’s Leadership Initiative for the Urban Land Institute of Austin). Terese earned a BBA from the University of Texas and an MBA from Harvard Business School. Terese holds a FINRA SIE, Series 82 and 63 securities licenses.

Chris Halloran is a Managing Director in PGIM Private Capital’s Alternatives Direct Lending Group. Chris leads sponsor coverage in the southern U.S. on behalf of the Direct Lending Group. Prior to this role, Chris led a team in PGIM Private Capital’s Energy group responsible for marketing, originating, and managing private investments including senior debt and junior capital. Earlier in Chris’ career he was located in PGIM Private Capital’s Chicago office focused exclusively on investing junior capital on behalf of PGIM Private Capital’s mezzanine funds. Chris received a BBA from Texas Christian University and is a CFA Charterholder. He resides in Dallas with his wife and two sons, and enjoys coaching his kids’ teams, any activity in the mountains, golfing, and running.

Braden Upp is a Vice President with Main Street Capital's Lower Middle Market investment team and has been with the firm in various roles since 2017. Braden supports the evaluation team with the evaluation of new investment opportunities and assists with investment underwriting, due diligence, and documentation of new investments and the post-investment management of a portfolio of Lower-Middle Market companies.

Braden graduated from Abilene Christian University receiving a Bachelor of Business Administration in Finance.

Jason Brown is Founder and Managing Partner of PGP Advisory, a Mergers and Acquisition (M&A) advisory firm based in San Antonio, TX. He is a seasoned business leader, M&A transaction professional, and entrepreneur with over 20 years of professional experience that he uses to help current and future entrepreneurs successfully navigate the business sale process. He works closely with lower middle market clients to establish the value of their business, identify an exit strategy, and successfully close the sale transaction.

Jason held leadership positions in both business operations and merger & acquisition roles with several Fortune 500 companies across a variety of industries. He’s helped small business owners implement growth strategies, execute profit improvement initiatives, and develop their leadership and organizational capabilities. Jason leverages his knowledge and experience across both the corporate and entrepreneurial worlds to create value for his clients. He is passionate about doing good deals for good people.

Jason earned his M.B.A. from the University of Michigan, Ross School of Business, with a concentration in entrepreneurial finance and general management and his B.S. from Northwestern University in mechanical engineering. Jason was appointed by the Secretary of Commerce to the Texas Camino Real District Export Council and is the group’s Executive Director. He also serves on VelocityTX’s Community House Strategic Advisory Committee.