Ted is a highly respected operator, advisor and private equity investor in the lower middle market. He has built incredible value in both the office products and field-based services sectors.  He’s also one of those rare entrepreneurs who swings for the fences but also operates with a low ego,”it’s not about me” people centered approach.  While Ted has led impressive organic growth operating plans, his true specialty is executing on private equity-backed buy-and-build platforms in the lower middle market. Early in his career, Ted bought into a $20M office products company in Seattle.  He and his friend built it to $50M and sold it to a national office products company Corporate Express. He helped grow that company from $100M to $3B over six years. Ted played a key role in driving the M&A strategy. This same company bought a control position in an Australia-based company, which ended up being a turn around opportunity that Ted stepped into. He oversaw a valuation increase of 20X and helped formulate one of the most advanced e-commerce strategies in the industry, driving 80% of their revenues from the web in 2001. In 2002, Ted was recruited by JPMP and Leonard Green to run White Castle, a $300M distributor of building specialty products.  He helped execute a successful sale to Home Depot.  At that time, Ted moved to the investor side, joining middle market private equity firm Leonard Green. His draw was more to the lower middle market, which led him to joining private equity firm KRG, an early investor in White Castle.  Through KRG, Ted joined the board of Convergint Technologies and has been an active board member through two rounds of ownership (KRG to Ares), a rare achievement and indicator of his impact on the success of the business.  Convergint’s revenues grew 20X in the ten years, while maintaining a truly best-in-class company culture, the key catalyst to their ability to grow through acquisitions. Since 2016, Ted has worked mainly as a board member to PE-owned platforms.  He manages to inspire growth while simultaneously working with management to de-risk aggressive business plans.