People | Cavu Venture Partners

Brett Thomas

Brett Thomas is the Co-Founder and Managing Partner of CAVU Venture Partners. Prior to co-founding CAVU in 2015, Brett was the founder of Thematic Capital Partners, a private investment vehicle focused on private/public equity investments in the consumer sector. Before entering into the consumer investing space, Brett worked at Scout Capital Management for 5 years, a long-short hedge fund focusing on special situations with over $9B in AUM based in NYC. He is a graduate of Boston College, with a concentration in Finance, and was a Division I Student Athlete. In 2017, Brett was elected to Boston College's prestigious "40 under 40 list" and was named a “Consumer Catalyst” by Forbes as one of the top dealmakers and influencers in the consumer space. In his spare time, he enjoys spending time with his 3 kids and wife and rooting for all professional Cleveland sports teams, hoping one day to see the Cleveland Indians win a World Series!

Rohan Oza

Rohan's strong track record and consistent success has enabled him to identify key trends and leverage those insights to build iconic brands. In 2002, Oza left The Coca -Cola Company to join Glaceau. There, as partner and CMO, he built the powerhouse brands Vitaminwater and Smartwater via innovative marketing and creative partnerships with 50 Cent, Jennifer Aniston, Kobe Bryant, and Tom Brady. These partnerships changed the entire landscape of entertainment marketing. Oza's career came full circle when Coke purchased Glaceau for $4.1B in 2007, and appointed him Chief Marketing Officer across all still Coke brands. Some of his latest ventures include Popchips, Vita Coco, Bai, and Flywheel. Rohan was named to the "40 Under 40" list by Crain's in 2007 and by Sports Business Journal in 2008 & 2009. He was also honored with the "Marketing 50" award by Ad Age in 2009. Today, Oza is currently in his third season as a recurring Guest Shark on ABC's Shark Tank.

Bader Alam

Bader Alam is a Senior Vice President at CAVU with over 10 years of private equity experience focusing on growth equity and middle market transactions primarily in the consumer sector. His interest in building better businesses has also resulted in Bader taking on various operational roles at the companies he has worked with. Prior to joining CAVU, Bader was a Vice President with Bespoke Capital Partners, a private equity firm focused on investments in the consumer, leisure and related sectors. Earlier in his career, Bader held private equity roles at Beekman Investment Partners, Arcapita and Bruckmann, Rosser, Sherrill (BRS). Before entering the private equity industry, Bader was an investment banking analyst in the Retail/Consumer Group at Credit Suisse and a strategy analyst at The Home Depot. Bader holds a B.B.A. with Distinction from Emory University and an M.B.A. from the Kellogg School of Management at Northwestern University.

Jared Jacobs

Jared is extremely passionate about investing and building the next generation of iconic consumer brands. Prior to joining CAVU, Jared was an associate in the consumer and retail group at AEA Investors, a private equity firm based in NYC. He also worked as a consultant for early stage food and beverage brands. Before entering the consumer investing space, Jared was an investment banking analyst in the Mergers and Acquisitions group at Morgan Stanley. He graduated with high distinction from the University of Michigan Ross School of Business where he earned a BBA and was named a James B . Angell Scholar.

Todd Bondy

Todd joined CAVU in 2017 and is a Vice President in the Austin office. Prior to joining CAVU, Todd was an Associate Director at the University of Texas Investment Management Company (UTIMCO), where he managed the private equity portfolio for the University of Texas endowment. Previously, he spent five years as an investment professional at Lion Capital, a middle-market private equity firm specializing in the consumer space, where he focused on the food & beverage, apparel, retail and beauty categories. Todd began his career in the Restructuring and Debt Capital Markets group of Evercore Partners in New York. He graduated with a BBA from the University of Texas, where he was in the Business Honors Program and concentrated in Finance.

Jamie Schwartz

Prior to joining CAVU, Jamie was a consumer private equity investor at Encore Consumer Capital in San Francisco where he was responsible for deal execution and portfolio management. Previously, he worked at Parthenon-EY as an M&A consultant for private equity firms and corporate clients, predominantly in the Consumer Products & Retail practice. Jamie graduated from Brown University with a BA in Economics and Public Policy and received his MBA from Columbia Business School.

Jay Carroll

Jay was most recently an Associate at KarpReilly, a consumer-focused growth equity fund, where he worked with brands across the food and beverage, e-commerce, and restaurant categories. He started his career at Piper Jaffray as an analyst in the Diversified Industrials and Services group. Jay graduated from the University of Virginia with degrees from the McIntire School of Commerce and the College of Arts and Sciences.

Stevie Clements

Stevie has close to two decades of experience in the marketing, branding and design world. She is passionate about helping fresh, young brands reach their full potential, and throughout her career, has worked with some of the most disruptive emerging brands in the CPG space. Stevie's speciality is the sizzle: all things brand, creative strategy, celebrity, influencer and PR. All which are rooted in a deep expertise of consumer-based lifestyle marketing. Prior to joining CAVU, Stevie spent 5+ years at Idea Merchants Capital working directly under Founder and Principal Rohan Oza. She began her career at Creative Artist Agency (CAA) and graduated with honors from Indiana University Bloomington with a B.S. in Marketing and International Business from the Kelley School of Business. Stevie is an avid lover of her dog Olive, all things Bravo TV and Pinkberry with dark chocolate crisps (on the side).

John Denny

John is a recognized industry leader on the topic of Amazon, eCommerce & Digital Marketing who has been quoted by The New York Times, Forrester Research and the Association of National Advertisers for his innovative approach to helping brands excel online. He frequently speaks at Amazon Vendor Conferences and to internal Amazon teams on how upstart CPG brands are leveraging the platform to drive hyper-growth. John is also a MasterClass Teacher for Ascential’s Amazon Hackathon Conferences in NYC and Seattle, and currently has an Amazon Advertising MasterClass video series with Clickz/Search Engine Watch. Prior to CAVU, John was VP of eCommerce & Media at Bai, where over four years he built the brand on Amazon from a tiny niche product to the number 1 selling beverage on the platform, ahead of Coke and Pepsi.

Andrew Haynes

Andrew Haynes is a New York City-based Creative Director that provides solutions ranging from brand identity, package design, print design, digital media, television, and experiential activation for a wide range of lifestyle, CPG, and editorial brands. Andrew’s experience includes working within traditional advertising agencies, on in-house design teams and serving as a creative partner providing unique perspectives for brands such as Vans, Bell & Ross, Vitaminwater, Pepsi, Cannondale and Bai. While working with CAVU, Andrew has led the rebranding initiatives for a range of brands (Vital Proteins, ONE Bar, poppi, etc.) which has sparked disruption and growth in the CPG industry.

Krisa Park

Krisa is based in the LA office and is the new VP Talent for CAVU, helping us to recruit the best and brightest consumer talent to our portfolio companies. Krisa joins us from Korn Ferry where she spent nine years as a member of the firm’s Consumer practice, recruiting senior executives for clients ranging from large CPG companies to high-growth equity-backed businesses. Krisa began her career in Private Banking at Merrill Lynch and later worked in consulting at BCG before joining Korn Ferry. She earned her undergraduate degree from USC and her MBA from Wharton. The addition of Krisa to our team continues our focus on providing value-add resources to help our brands drive sustainable growth.

Bella Filer

Bella has over 15 years of experience in the alternative investments industry. Prior to joining CAVU, Bella served as CFO/CCO of Cascabel Management in New York, a global long-short hedge fund she joined at launch in 2008, where she built an institutional-grade operating platform. She was also Controller at Scout Capital Management LLC, responsible for financial reporting and operations of global investment funds and separately managed accounts with over $2 billion in assets under management. Bella was Assistant Controller at the Rohatyn Group (TRG Management LP), handling accounting and tax reporting for an emerging market global macro fund and affiliated entities, and served as Senior Accountant at the Carlyle High Yield Group in New York, responsible for financial reporting and compliance of cash flow CDO vehicles with over $1.5 billion in assets. Bella began her career at Zimmer Lucas Capital, LLC in New York in 1999, where she assisted the CFO with operations and reporting for three long‐short equity funds while also attending college full‐time. She received a BBA in Accountancy from Baruch College.

Melissa Zambito

Based in our New York office, Melissa is extremely passionate about the consumer products space, and is dedicated to living a healthy, fun, and active lifestyle. Prior to joining CAVU, Melissa was a Senior Fund Accountant at Warburg Pincus LLC, and prior to that a Senior Associate at PricewaterhouseCoopers within their alternative investments practice. Melissa graduated with honors from St. Bonaventure University as a double major in Accounting and Finance where she received The Dr. John H. Burns Award for Excellence in Finance. Along with her BBA, Melissa also earned her MBA at the university and received her CPA shortly after graduating.

Courtney Pollack

Courtney Pollack is one of our super-star Executive Assistants. Bringing 10 years of experience within the entertainment space, she supported top C-Level executives, honing in on her rock-star EA skills. She truly knows what it takes to work hard, efficiently and under enormous pressure to get the job done. An organization whiz, our resident CAVU event planner, and confidante for our team, Courtney is an essential part of our organization. Wildcats or bust! Her passion for all things Villanova transcends to the startup world, as she channels that same infectious energy. Courtney’s dedication to her family translates seamlessly into her commitment to the CAVU family.

Samantha Martinez

Samantha Martinez is a fast-thinking and integral Executive Assistant who helps keep our organization running at full speed. With a breadth of experience within the financial space, Samantha’s organizational and detailed-oriented mind is her most impressive asset. A leader committed to results, Samantha is trusted with some of the most top-secret business matters and serves as the voice between C-level staff and outside contacts. A team player, Samantha’s passion for fitness trends is much-needed perspective to the CAVU approach.

Kylie Frankowski

Kylie Frankoswki, CAVU's highly-motivated Administrative Assistant, handles the day-to-day activities with professionalism and grace. She recently graduated from the Villanova School of Business with a dual major in Marketing & Business Analytics. While attending college, she worked as a project coordinator for Villanova’s Innovation, Creativity, and Entrepreneurship Institute as well as a Marketing and Analytics Intern for Digital Firefly Marketing. Bringing that same drive to CAVU, Kylie’s team-oriented spirit and commitment to excellence make her a perfect match for our firm.

VC, but make it human

Meet the Team

Brett Thomas

Rohan Oza

Tenacity is our middle name.

Tenacity is our middle name.

Bader Alam

Jared Jacobs

Todd Bondy

Jamie Schwartz

Jay Carroll

We're not the

suit-wearing types.

We're not the suit-wearing types.

Stevie Clements

John Denny

Andrew Haynes

Krisa Park

Think of us as a best-in-class

creative resource.

Think of us as a best-in-class creative resource.

Bella Filer

Melissa Zambito

Courtney Pollack

Samantha Martinez

Kylie Frankowski

Dare to be better

than yesterday.

Dare to be better than yesterday.