Pennell Venture Partners and the Marathon Fund Portfolio Companies benefit from resources we have brought together. Collectively, our resources possess a wealth of helpful information that can be tapped when the need arises.

Investors
Marathon Fund's investors are individuals. These individuals include private investors, commodities traders, finance academics, investment bankers, venture capitalists and entrepreneurs from a variety of industries.

In addition to Pennell Venture Partners' Advisory Board, the Marathon Fund’s Limited Partners serve as an expanded network and resource for the Marathon Fund's Portfolio Companies. Several Marathon Fund Limited Partners hold senior management positions or oversee companies which are prospective customers or allies for Marathon Fund Portfolio Companies.

Portfolio Companies
Executives from existing portfolio companies serve as an extended network to exchange strategic and operational ideas. PVP periodically sponsors events at which founders and existing managers from the portfolio discuss industry issues, management/operational tactics and strategies for implementing specific business initiatives.

Advisory Board
PVP's Advisory Board is a valuable resource and network for the Marathon Fund's General Partner and, in turn, its Portfolio Companies. The Advisory Board is comprised of a dozen individuals with expertise in banking, law, tax, accounting, investment banking, software, venture capital and establishing and running valuable companies. The Advisory Board is not a fiduciary to the Marathon Fund or its Partners.

Kenneth D. Alpart
Ken, founder and managing partner of the 34-employee Alpart Trading Co., is an active private equity investor and the lead investor in The Marathon Fund. Ken also manages Urban Options, a private operating foundation focused on inner-city youth development that he founded in 1995. The foundation's activities include youth entrepreneurship education, job and career exposure, academic enrichment, and sports. go to top

Zenas Block
Zenas retired from the Faculty of the Stern School at NYU in 2001 where he had served as Clinical Professor of Management, and as Adjunct Professor of Entrepreneurship. He also founded the Center for Entrepreneurial Studies at Stern. This followed a career which began as a chemist and ended as Co-CEO and Vice Chairman of DCA Food Industries Inc. Zenas also co-founded and was President of Haystack Cablevision in Northwest Connecticut (later sold to TCI). Zenas has been directly involved in 28 new ventures as a technical resource and/or investor, director or entrepreneur. go to top

Arnold L. Cohen
Arnold is Chairman of the Board and co-founder of Mahoney Cohen, P.C., an accounting and management consulting firm with 175 professionals. Arnold, who specializes in corporate financing and restructuring, has been a member of the Board of Directors for a number of publicly held companies. Before establishing Mahoney Cohen, Arnold was Financial Vice-President of Puritan Fashion Corporation and a member of its Board of Directors. go to top

R. Michael Collins
Michael is a director and the head of Consumer Mergers and Acquisitions at SG Cowen Securities Corporation. Prior to joining SG Cowen, Michael was a member of the M&A group at Robertson Stephens, and an associate at the law firm of Kirkland & Ellis. At K&E, Michael was lead counsel to the Marathon Fund.go to top

David Dempsey
David has over twenty years experience as an international investment banker specializing in private equity and mergers & acquisitions. He started his career at Chase Manhattan Bank in London after completing his term as Secretary General of AIESEC International in Brussels, Belgium and was subsequently in the merger groups at both Prudential Securities and Bankers Trust. He was also a principal in the management consulting practice of Booz Allen & Hamilton Inc. David is currently a Managing Director at Bentley Associates L.P./Bentley Securities Corporation, investment bankers. He focuses primarily on merger and private equity transactions and he is a frequent speaker and writer on related topics. He also serves on the Board of VC Experts Inc., Speedbird Capital Inc, 205-69 Inc. and he is co-founder of American Aviation Network, LLC. go to top

Steven R. Navarro
Steven has approximately 30 years experience in the banking industry focusing primarily on leveraged middle market and large corporate companies. He is currently a Director of ING Capital, LLC in the Syndicated Finance Group responsible for the distribution and trading of senior bank debt . Prior to ING, Steven was a Senior Vice President/Relationship Manger, at Fleet Bank in the New York Corporate Banking Division with a specialty in the textile and apparel industries. Prior to Fleet he was a First Vice President/Managing Director and Senior Vice President, Corporate Finance for Bank Leumi USA and Bank Austria Creditanstalt, respectively. go to top

Ronald R. Reed
Ron is an entrepreneur who has worked in venture capital, M&A, software development and software marketing. Ron is the founder and Chairman of Fullscope. Prior to founding Fullscope, Ron was a General Partner at Endeavor Capital Management, where he led that firm's effort to identify software and Internet-based investment opportunities. Prior to joining Endeavor in 1994, Ron was President of Emerald Intelligence, which develops and markets knowledge-based software tools for customer service and discrete manufacturing environments. Before joining Emerald, Ron founded two companies: Nemen Data Systems, which built PC database systems and Expert Implementations Corp., a database and expert systems development firm. go to top

Manuel D. Ron
Manuel D. Ron is a Managing Director at investment banking and merchant banking firm, Duncan Capital, LLC. He is also Of Counsel to the Venture Group at the international law firm of Fognani Guibord & Homsy LLP. Mr. Ron has held various operating and finance positions including CEO of a venture capital backed technology company where he raised its first equity and debts rounds from U.S. and international investors. He began his career as a U.S. Army officer and paratrooper, serving in the Far East and in Central America. Mr. Ron is a graduate of St. John's University where he earned a B.A. in Economics and a J.D. from the School of Law. He also earned an M.B.A. in Finance from New York University's Leonard N. Stern School of Business. Mr. Ron is admitted to practice law in the State of New York and in the federal courts of the Southern and Eastern Districts of New York. go to top

Leathem S. Stearn
As Founder, Chairman, President and Consultant, Leathem has specialized in new product start up companies for the last 25 years. Leathem has developed business plans, strategic models and operational plans covering all aspects of product development, production, administration, organization and finance. Among the companies Leathem founded were Stearn Sailing Systems ("SSS") and Scunci International Ltd. ("Scunci"). Stearn Enterprises, Leathem's current firm, provides consulting services to startup companies. Leathem holds three patents in a variety of industries. go to top

Jeffrey D. Summa
Jeff, who is Tax Manager – Projects for Marsh & McLennan Companies, has over twenty years experience in domestic, multi-state and international tax experience. Jeff has worked on tax planning, financial statement presentation and audits by taxing authorities for businesses and individuals. Jeff performs tax research and planning for acquisitions, divestitures, restructurings and other transactions at Marsh & McLennan. Prior to entering industry, Jeff was a tax partner at Richard A. Eisner & Company, LLP and Deloitte & Touche, LLP, where he advised clients on tax matters relating to IPO’s, capital structure changes, M&A, equity based compensation and selection of entity for new and existing businesses. go to top

Kimberly P. Taylor
Kim is a partner at Kirkland & Ellis practicing primarily in the Leveraged Buyout/Venture Capital practice area. At K&E Kim has worked on mergers and acquisitions, corporate finance transactions, venture capital transactions and private equity fund formations. Kim received her JD from UC Hastings and her BA from UC Berkeley. Prior to attending law school, Kim worked in sales management for Procter & Gamble. Kim is lead counsel to the Marathon Fund. go to top

Arvind Walia
Arvind's experience spans over twelve years in information technology, consulting and services. He is an entrepreneur, having started two successful Internet businesses in the last four years. Arvind is the founder and CEO of Porteck Corporation (www.porteck.com). Porteck provides services for developing Portal solutions for the Healthcare industry. Prior to co-founding i-frame, Arvind was the co-Founder, President, and CEO of Visient. Arvind holds a BS and MS in Computer Science from the Wayne State University, Michigan.go to top