Columbia Business School

2013 CBS PEVC CONFERENCE TEAM

Preston Brice, MBA 2013 - PEVC Club Co-President Preston is a second year student at Columbia Business School where he focuses on private equity and entrepreneurship. Over the last summer he interned at The Beekman Group, a lower middle market private equity fund in New York. Prior to school, Preston spent five years as an Associate/Analyst at CIT Group, a middle market investment bank. During his time at CIT, Preston focused exclusively on the healthcare industry where he worked on both M&A and leveraged finance transactions. He graduated magna cum laude from Boston University’s School of Management with a B.S. in Business Administration.

David Lerman, MBA 2013 - PEVC Club Co-President David is a second year MBA candidate at Columbia Business School focusing on finance and entrepreneurship.  This past summer he interned at two New York-based starts-ups, Enterproid and Tracks.  During his first year, he interned at High Peaks Venture Partners, a seed and early stage venture fund in New York. Prior to school, David was an Associate at Spectrum Equity Investors, a $4.5 billion technology-focused growth equity fund in Menlo Park, CA.  While at Spectrum, David focused on investments in software, online media, information services, and financial technology.  Prior to that, David was an Investment Banking Analyst at Houlihan Lokey and began his career as a Consultant at Rosetta, where he worked in their Technology and Financial Services verticals.  He graduated from the Wharton School of Business at the University of Pennsylvania with a B.S. in Economics.

Rishita Patel, MBA 2013 - Conference Chair Rishita is a second year MBA student at Columbia focusing in Decision Sciences and Entrepreneurship. This past summer, Rishita interned in Business Development for Google Shopping. During her first year, Rishita interned at StarVest Capital Partners in New York City. Prior to Columbia, she worked as a Strategy Consultant for Deloitte Consulting's Retail Insights and Analytics practice. Rishita has maintained a focus in analytics and e-commerce throughout her roles. Rishita received her Bachelors in Business Administration from the Business Honors Program at the McCombs School of Business at the University of Texas with concentrations in Finance and Advertising.

Graham Riley, MBA 2013 - VP Logistics Graham is a second-year MBA student at Columbia Business School. Over the summer and throughout this past fall, Graham worked as a Senior Associate for Alliance Consumer Growth, a private equity firm focused on investing in high-growth consumer and retail companies. He has also collaborated on two FinTech startups over the last year. Prior to Columbia Business School, Graham worked for over five and a half years as an Associate in the Shanghai office for The Jordan Company (“TJC”), New-York-based operationally-focused middle-market private equity firm managing over $5 billion of capital. While at TJC, Graham focused on sourcing, evaluating and executing buyouts and growth-equity investments in China across a wide range of industries. Graham graduated with honors from Denison University with a B.A. in History. In addition, Graham has a passion for traveling, playing blues guitar, entrepreneurship, and U.S.-Sino Relations.

Jeffrey Chang, EMBA 2013 - VP Speakers and Sponsors Jeffrey is a Senior Associate at Performance Equity Management, a Greenwich, CT-based private equity firm with $10bn in AUM focusing on buyout, venture capital, and distressed debt investments in partnerships, direct and secondary investments. Mr. Chang is responsible for all aspects of the investment process including sourcing, due diligence, portfolio monitoring and management. Prior to joining Performance Equity in 2005, Jeff was a Senior Analyst at Thomson Financial Corporate Group where he provided valuation and M&A advisory services to Fortune 500 companies. Mr. Chang received his undergraduate degree from New York University in economics and computer science. He is expected to complete his MBA from Columbia Business School in May 2013.

Michael Henderson-Cohen, MBA 2013 - VP Speakers and Sponsors Michael is a second year student at Columbia Business School. This past summer he interned at Andalusian Capital Partners, a Greenwich-based hedge fund that focuses on credit and special situation investing. Prior to CBS, Michael was a Vice President at J.P. Morgan in a private equity group focused on global private equity opportunities across the capital structure. Working in both New York and London, Michael focused on evaluating and executing a variety of control, minority, and secondary investments in multiple geographies and industries. Prior to J.P. Morgan, Michael was an investment banking analyst at Bear Stearns in the firm’s Global Industries Group. Michael graduated summa cum laude from Colby College with a B.A. in Economics.

Zachary Schwarzman, MBA 2013 - VP Speakers and Sponsors Zak is a second year Columbia Business School student and active participant in New York's venture capital and startup community. Zak is an InSITE Fellow and currently working as an MBA intern with Canaan Partners. He previously worked with DFJ Gotham, AOL Ventures and Learn Capital. Prior to Columbia Business School, Zak spent six years launching and raising institutional funding for international and economic development ventures. Most recently, Zak worked as a senior associate with Seedco, designing and raising over $25 million for job training and small business lending programming, with an emphasis on the green economy. Previously, Zak worked as the Central and South America Regional Field Director for the Obama campaign, designing and executing a pilot initiative to organize American voters living abroad in Latin America. In 2007-2008, he co-founded a community development site for the international development organization Manna Project International, whose board of directors he now chairs. He earned a B.A. In Political Economy with a minor in Business from Tulane University in 2005.