Our

“Network of Experts”


  • Felipe G. Massa became an Associate Professor at the University of Vermont’s Grossman School of Business in 2023. He teaches experiential entrepreneurship and consulting classes and conducts research on decentralized, non-hierarchical organizations (e.g., hacker collectives, cultural industries, decentralized finance movements) that break with conventional ways of structuring innovation and supporting social change. He comes to UVM after receiving his M.S. and Ph.D. in Organization Studies from Boston College and serving as a faculty member at the Loyola New Orleans College of Business (2012-2023) where he founded the Center for Entrepreneurship and Community Development, led undergraduate and graduate programs in Entrepreneurship (ranked 14th by U.S. News and World Report, 2022). He published a bestselling guidebook called “Entrepreneurship in the Wild: A Startup Field Guide” (MIT Press, 2021). For his efforts, he has been named one of the Top 50 undergraduate business professors by Poets and Quants (2021) and one of the most influential people in technology in Louisiana (Silicon Bayou News, 2013-2019).

  • Andrew joined Littlejohn in 2020 and is a Senior Associate on the Private Equity team. He previously worked as an investment banking analyst in the restructuring group at Greenhill & Co. where he was involved in advising debtors and creditors across a variety of industries. Prior to Greenhill, Mr. Dazzo was an analyst in the Middle Market Group at Wells Fargo Securities where he was involved in sell side M&A and financing advisory. Andrew received a B.A. in Economics from the University of Vermont (Class of 2017).

  • Finance & Operations

  • Hi. My name is Robert Trim, I am from Newburyport, MA and am a UVM alum from the class of 2024. I am the former President of the Catamount Innovation Fund and now co-manage my own business, Stalgrid Technologies, with my best friend/business partner. I love to ski, fish, hike, boat, and am an extreme audiophile! Happy to connect with anyone to hear more about your business/idea and see how I can help!

  • Founder, Outdoor Gear Exchange


  • Director of Major Gifts; UVM Grossman School of Business

  • Principal, Crosslink Capital

  • Founder, Evercrest Capital Partners.

    Prior to joining the firm in 2024, Joe spent more than 10 years at the intersection of enterprise technology and capital markets. Most recently, Joe founded Verdure Capital Management, a private investment firm focused on tactical investing in b2b technology companies. Under Joe’s leadership, the firm deployed $90m into breakout companies in AI & Automation, Data Infrastructure, and Software & Solutions with a mandate spanning growth equity, structured capital, and liquidity solutions. Verdure portfolio companies and affiliate investments include Notion, Cents, Wise (LON: WISE), Groq, Domino Data Lab, PayNearMe, Sure, StrongDM, and Unqork, among others. Prior, Joe was an early employee at Forge Global, helping to build the Institutional Client Group. Across 9-figures of advised client capital deployment, investments included DigitalOcean (NYSE: DOCN), DoorDash (NYSE: DASH), Slack (NYSE: WORK, acq. by Salesforce), and UiPath (NYSE: PATH). Before Forge, Joe served as the head of business development for Chute (YC W12), an applied AI/ML platform for internet content, helping to drive corporate development pursuits ahead of the company’s eventual acquisition by IgniteTech. Joe began his career with IBM, first with the Microelectronics Division, where he focused on semiconductor business planning prior to the business unit’s sale to GlobalFoundries. He then went on to join the early corporate development team within IBM Watson, supporting M&A strategy, joint ventures, strategic partnerships, and venture portfolio initiatives. Joe covered industries including Financial Services, Industrials, and Consumer Packaged Goods. Joe holds a Bachelor of Science in Environmental Engineering with a minor in Mathematics from the University of Vermont. Joe has frequently advised startups in the fields of data, intelligence, and financial technologies, as well as non-profits in the areas of urban redevelopment and cultural preservation.

  • Consultant, Fletcher

  • Natalie Dayan Birwadkar is deeply passionate about helping early-stage founders grow and connect with the right resources. Currently based in Burlington, Vermont, she works as a Springboard Fellow at Hillel, where she supports student leadership, programming, and career development. Her journey into venture capital was shaped by her own experiences — after working in venture analysis and trying to build an edtech startup that aimed to connect mentors and mentees, she became even more committed to supporting others on their entrepreneurial path. Though her startup didn’t take off, it taught her the value of guidance, access, and community — lessons she now hopes to pass on. Natalie holds a master’s degree in Stem Cell Biology and Regenerative Medicine from the University of Southern California and is always excited to learn, listen, and help where she can.


  • Deb is President, Sales Trainer and Coach at her firm, SALESconfidential, LLC, working with sales and account management teams at top-tier global media, ad tech and hospitality firms. Before leaving the corporate world, she enjoyed a successful career in media sales management in the health care and parenting space at blue-chip companies including WebMD, Time Inc., Disney and Johnson & Johnson. In addition, Deb has served on several boards, including the Consumer Healthcare Products Association (CHPA) and the Juvenile Product Manufacturers Association (JPMA), where she founded JPWOMEN (Juvenile Product Women Offering Mentoring and Education). In July, 2025, Deb will become the President of the UVM Alumni Association. Previously, she was the Chair of the New York Regional Alumni Board, following several years as an active member, including serving on the career committee. She is a passionate advocate for UVM through hosting/mentoring UVM interns and job shadowers and participation in numerous activities over the years, such as Career Night networking, welcome receptions, job fairs and outreach to prospective and newly admitted students. She also served on the Presidential Search Advisory Committee for the next university president. Deb earned her Bachelor of Arts degree in Psychology from UVM in 1982 and her MBA in Marketing and International Business from the Stern School of Business at New York University in 1992. Deb lives in Westport, CT, with her husband, Alberto, also a 1982 Catamount, who is the General Manager of Aero Gear in Windsor, CT. They have two grown daughters, Melanie, who is attending Columbia Law School and Alexandra, who is in her Family Medicine residency at UCSD.

  • Chad Brodsky is an entrepreneur and the CEO of City Brew Tours, an educational brewery tour company operating in 20 cities in the US and Canada, and of Unboxed Experiences, a B2B provider of guided virtual team building & corporate events. Prior to starting his businesses, Chad worked as a Financial Analyst for Vermont Federal Credit Union. Chad is a Cicerone and has expertise in franchising, tourism, corporate wellness, digital marketing, and DTC alcohol retail. His companies are a four-time consecutive recipient of the Inc 5000 Fastest Growing Private Companies award and one of Entrepreneur magazine’s Top 500 New Franchisors.

  • Lily Merchant spent her time in the Grossman School of Business surrounding herself with entrepreneurial-minded students and local business owners. As an active leader in the Entrepreneurship Club and Catamount Innovation Fund, Lily recognized the "small but mighty" community that existed across the state of Vermont. Currently, Lily travels around the Northeast as a District Manager for ALDI, where she learns about people, product, and property management. In her free time, Lily volunteers for FeelGood and mentors college students on a variety of professional development-related topics.

  • Director, Alvarez & Marsal

  • Jesse Stein recently joined the UVM Innovations team as a Business Development and Technology Licensing Officer. Jesse has a wealth of business experience, leading product, strategy, and go-to-market teams for major enterprises, start-ups, and growth-stage companies. Jesse spent 17 years at Apple, Inc. in various technical, sales, and marketing roles, but established his product management and strategy skills as a Product Manager in Apple’s Desktop and Peripherals Group bringing many industry-first products to market, among them are the world’s first consumer WiFi “Airport”, a high-speed connectivity solution which laid the ground work for today’s Firewire and Thunderbolt technologies, and was part of the team that brought iTunes to the world. He relocated to Vermont in 2001, working with IBM’s Microelectronics division in Essex Junction, where he led High-End Processor Product Marketing, responsible for the launch of the world’s first consumer electronics 64-bit Microprocessor, and helped IBM achieve near 100% market share in Game Console processors. He also served as IBM’s marketing representative to Power.org and chaired Power.org’s Marketing Committee. Jesse went on to build and lead the Product teams at Dealer.com and MyWebGrocer, leading to their successful acquisitions. Most recently Jesse was VP of Product for OVR Technology, a local hardware, software and scent technology start-up working to add scent to virtual and augmented reality. He volunteers his time as a mentor, coach, and instructor with LaunchVT, and has helped several Vermont Startups, including several with UVM association