Matt Ridenour
Matt Ridenour has over 20 years of experience in high growth early and mid stage companies. He has spent roughly half of that as a principal investor in private equity and venture firms and half as a CEO of portfolio companies. Matt has served on over 20 Boards and has served as Chairman of 10 of these Boards. Prior to his direct private equity career Matt was with Bain & Company in its private equity advisory practice.
As a result of these experiences Matt has deep experience with all aspects of launching and growing an early stage company through various phases through exit. He has raised over $200mm in capital, has dealt with early stage governance and founder transition issues, understands how to drive progress against metrics and is an expert at building strong management teams.
Currently, Matt serves as CEO of Zev Technologies, Inc, a high growth manufacturer of after-market parts for firearms. Matt had previously led several rounds of investment into this Inc 1000 growth company and joined as CEO in the summer of 2014 to professionalize all aspects of the company to facilitate continued growth of 50% to 100% per year. Over the past year since joining, Matt implemented new ERP and CRM systems, established regular financial reporting, reorganized the management team and raised a Series B round of funding. As a result of these activities the company had its highest growth year on record, doubling in size, and turning consistently profitable.
Prior to Zev Technologies, Matt ran a portfolio of companies on behalf of a family office (2010 to 2014). Matt was responsible for consolidating the current portfolio of distribution companies by implementing systems, consolidating warehouses, and reorganizing management teams. Matt replaced 12 of 15 senior executives during this process, put in place financial reporting, and implemented ecommerce initiatives. As a result of this effort the portfolio of companies each achieved best in class growth in their respective industries.
Prior to the family office Matt’s career has alternated between being a direct investor in early and mid stage companies via private equity and venture firms and serving as CEO in portfolio companies. Matt has invested in and operated companies in software, financial services, computer hardware, consumer goods, distribution and manufacturing.
After graduating from Harvard Business School in 1995, Matt spent two years with Bain & Company before beginning his private equity career.
Education:
BA, Dartmouth College, Economics 1989
MBA, Harvard Business School, 1995 (Baker Scholar – Highest Distinction)
Lecturer, UCLA Anderson School of Business:
- Several years teaching Business Plan Development
- Several years teaching Entrepreneurial Finance