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Our Team

The same partners, cycle after cycle.

The team that raised Fund I still answers the phone today. Our partnerships with entrepreneurs define us — and the people below are the ones who show up between board meetings, not just at them. Tap any face to connect on LinkedIn.

Partners

The partnership.

Five partners with careers built at South Atlantic Venture Funds, Morgan Stanley, Raymond James, Goldman Sachs and Wachovia — investing together across the Southeast and Texas.

Drew Graham

Managing Partner & Co-Founder

Co-founded Ballast Point Ventures in 2002 after six years at South Atlantic Venture Funds, where he was a Principal and General Partner in Funds III and IV. Began his private-equity career in Morgan Stanley's Merchant Banking Division and as a consultant at the Parthenon Group. Currently Chairman of Theragen; previously Chairman of KBI BioPharma, kSep Holdings, MolecularMD and SleepMed. Also Chairman of the Board of Tampa General Hospital.

Princeton University (Phi Beta Kappa, magna cum laude) · Harvard MBA, with Distinction

Paul Johan

Partner & Chief Operating Officer

Co-founded Ballast Point Ventures in 2002 after four years in the Investment Banking Group of Raymond James & Associates, where he led the Telecommunications Equipment practice and helped clients raise over $2 billion. Serves on the boards of Numeracle, AVOXI, The Zebra, Dash Solutions and Vazata, and on the University of Tampa Board of Trustees.

Emory University · Darden Graduate School of Business (University of Virginia) MBA

Matt Rice

Partner

Joined Ballast Point Partners in 2004 and leads much of the firm's healthcare investing. Serves on the boards of Medsender, careviso, PaceMate, Suncoast Skin Solutions, IRIS, Theragen and BioTissue, and as a Board Observer at Carterra. Began his career in the Healthcare Investment Banking Group of Raymond James and worked in Strategic Alliances at the Novartis Institutes for BioMedical Research.

University of Virginia (Commerce) · Harvard Business School MBA

Robert Faber

Partner

Joined Ballast Point Partners in 2010. Serves on the boards of PowerChord, Symphonic Distribution, Mailprotector, Key Data, Gun.io, Sojo and Work Shield, and as a Board Observer at Spotio. Previously an Associate at Wachovia Capital Partners (now Pamlico Capital) in Charlotte, focused on media, communications, business services and energy.

Princeton University · Tuck School of Business at Dartmouth MBA

Sean Barkman

Partner

Joined Ballast Point Partners in 2011. Serves on the boards of Abacode, Spotio, Keen Decision Systems and Viirtue. Previously spent three years in the Technology Investment Banking Group at Raymond James, active in both M&A and capital raising, and has served on the Board of the Florida Venture Forum.

University of Central Florida (Finance, summa cum laude) · Crummer Graduate School of Business at Rollins College MBA

Jerett Smith

Vice President

Joined Ballast Point Partners in 2018 from the Healthcare Investment Banking Group at Goldman Sachs, where he was active in mergers and acquisitions, equity capital markets and shareholder advisory.

University at Buffalo (Delta Sigma Pi Scholarship Key) · Stanford Graduate School of Business MBA

Laura Stein

Vice President

Serves on the Board of the Florida Venture Forum and as a Board Observer at Gun.io and Numeracle. Previously a management consultant at Deloitte and American Express.

Washington University in St. Louis (Environmental Studies) · Kellogg School of Management (Northwestern) MBA

Andrew Sanders

Associate

Supports the investment team on sourcing, diligence and portfolio-company work across Ballast Point's software, tech-enabled services and healthcare investments.

Washington University in St. Louis (Finance & Psychology)

Michael Lynch

Associate

Supports the investment team on sourcing, diligence and portfolio-company work across the firm's sectors and geographies.

University of Notre Dame (B.A. Economics, M.S. Finance)

Zach Zientarski

Associate

Supports the investment team on evaluation, diligence and portfolio work across Ballast Point's software, tech-enabled services and healthcare investments.

University of Central Florida (Finance)

Gina Orsino

Executive Assistant

Keeps Ballast Point Partners running day to day, supporting the partnership and the entrepreneurs the firm works with.

Kutztown University (B.S.)

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