Skip to Content

ASPIRE Columbus is now the Smart Business Dealmakers Columbus Conference. CLICK HERE for more information.

Bellows EF Session A

Picking winners: How companies attract capital

Presented By: U.S. Bank / Clark Schaefer Hackett

Why do some businesses attract VC and PE investments while others don’t? Learn how two entrepreneurs raised more than $80 million for their companies as well as what a regional family office leader looks for when investing – and get practical advice from an expert advisor on how to structure deals.

Moderator:

Steve Bennett
Market President, Central Ohio
U.S. Bank

Steve has led the region as U.S. Bank’s senior executive since 2016. He has more than 27 years of experience in banking. As head of U.S. Bank’s Commercial Banking Group in the greater Columbus area, Steve focuses on helping middle-market clients work toward their goals and meet their financial and operational needs. In addition, he leads the local U.S. Bank Foundation.

Panelests:

Scott L. McRill
Shareholder, Transaction Advisory Services, Private Equity Industry Group
Clark Schaefer Hackett

Scott is a trusted adviser to clients planning to buy or sell a business across a wide variety of industries. He has led teams that have contributed to well over 100 successful transactions. Scott is skilled in guiding private equity and corporate clients on acquisition and divestiture activity, including due diligence, integration planning and implementation, transaction structuring, valuation, and divestiture planning and preparation.

Nicholas Ulrich
Managing Director
Tri-W Group

Prior to joining Tri-W Group, Nick was a managing director at Stonehenge Partners, a firm that directs the investment activities for approximately $1 billion in mezzanine and equity commitments. He started his career at Stout Risius Ross Inc., in Chicago, where he was a senior analyst participating in the Investment Banking Group’s merger and acquisition advisory activities. Nick serves on the boards of several private companies and is a board member of the Columbus chapter of the Association for Corporate Growth.

Robert A. Smith
President
Capitol Waste & Recycling Services

With over 26 years of solid waste and recycling experience, Rob has successfully led teams as small as seven and as large as 1,300, which have resulted in improvements in revenue, safety, compliance, customer service and operational efficiencies. He consistently achieved or exceeded annual EBIT targets during his tenure at two of the U.S.’s largest publicly held solid waste providers. Today, he oversees growth opportunities at Capitol.

Alex Timm
Co-founder and Chief Executive Officer
Root Insurance

Alex has been in the insurance business since the age of 14, building comprehensive expertise in pricing and reserving, finance and mergers and acquisitions. With a vision of transforming the insurance industry, Alex started the first carrier built entirely for consumers and founded on the principle of fundamental fairness, Root Insurance. As Co-founder and Chief Executive Officer, Alex leads the team in revolutionizing a traditionally stodgy and stagnant industry, using mobile technology and data science to offer fair auto insurance rates to consumers. Before co-founding Root, Alex worked at Nationwide Insurance as a senior strategy consultant for the property and casualty lines of the business. Alex is based in Columbus, Ohio and is a fellow of the Casualty Actuarial Society and a member of the American Academy of Actuaries.


Presented By

U.S. Bank / Clark Schaefer Hackett

Conference Location