Meet Our Team
Our team of bankers is widely regarded as among the deepest and most experienced in technology investment banking.
Partners/MDs
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Carter McClelland
Chairman
Carter McClelland
Chairman
Carter McClelland is the Chairman of, and a Partner at, Union Square Advisors. Prior to joining the firm, Mr. McClelland most recently served as President of Bank of America New York Market and Chairman of Banc of America Securities. Previously, he was President and Chief Executive Officer and member of the board of directors of Deutsche Bank North America. Mr. McClelland’s Wall Street career spans more than 50 years, including 21 years at Morgan Stanley, where he was Chief Administrative Officer and a member of the firm’s operating committee.
Mr. McClelland was formerly Chairman of the Board of the United Way of New York City and is currently a Board Co-Chair of Echoing Green. He holds a B.S. in Aeronautical Engineering and an MBA from Stanford University.
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Edward (Ted) R. Smith
President
Edward (Ted) R. Smith
President
Ted Smith is a Partner, co-founder and the President of Union Square Advisors. With over 30 years of experience executing transactions totaling many tens of billions of dollars in value, Mr. Smith has worked with several of the largest and most influential technology companies – including IBM, Microsoft, Oracle, Google, VMware, EMC, Informatica, SAP, Citrix, Nuance and Guidewire – as well as a wide range of high-growth public and private technology companies. Mr. Smith also has worked with many of the most important venture capital, growth equity and private equity firms in the technology ecosystem. Mr. Smith began his career at Morgan Stanley & Co., where he was an early member of the firm’s technology investment banking group. Prior to co-founding Union Square Advisors he was a Managing Director at Credit Suisse, where he headed the global software investment banking practice. Mr. Smith also served as a corporate executive at Novell, including as Vice President of both Corporate Development and Business Development.
Mr. Smith received both his B.S. and M.S. degrees in Electrical Engineering from the University of Notre Dame and is a member of Eta Kappa Nu. During 2015 Mr. Smith was selected as a member of the first-ever class of Presidential Leadership Scholars (www.presidentialleadershipscholars.org), a partnership between the presidential centers of George W. Bush, William J. Clinton, George H.W. Bush, and Lyndon B. Johnson. This unprecedented program brings together a select group of leaders who share a desire to create positive change across our nation and the world, and enables them to enhance their leadership skills to help face the toughest challenges of the 21st century. Mr. Smith also is a board director for Assurance Health System, serves as the Chairman of the Rife Scholarship Fund, and is the past Chairman of the Performing Arts Advisory Council for the University of Notre Dame.
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Wayne Kawarabayashi
Chief Operating Officer, Head of Mergers & Acquisitions
Wayne Kawarabayashi
Chief Operating Officer, Head of Mergers & Acquisitions
Wayne Kawarabayashi is a Partner, Chief Operating Officer and Head of Mergers & Acquisitions at Union Square Advisors. Prior to joining the firm, Mr. Kawarabayashi was a Managing Director in both the Global Mergers and Acquisitions and Global Technology groups at Barclays and Lehman Brothers (which was acquired by Barclays in 2008) working in both New York and London since 1993. Mr. Kawarabayashi has 28+ years of investment banking experience executing over $200 billion in technology mergers and acquisitions with an emphasis in software, enterprise IT, financial technology and IT services. Throughout his career, Mr. Kawarabayashi has worked with public and private corporate clients and private equity inside and outside of the technology sector, executing sell-sides, buy-sides, corporate divestitures, IPO carve-outs, cross-border, leveraged buyouts, and Reverse Morris Trust transactions, as well as rendering fairness opinions, advising special committees and providing hostile and defensive advisory services. He has advised on transactions for clients including Automatic Data Processing, Alliance Data Systems, AT&T, Blackstone, Carlyle, Cognos, EMC, General Atlantic, Guidewire, Hellman & Friedman, HP, IBM, Interactive Intelligence, KKR, L-3 Communications, Lionbridge, NeoPhotonics, Permira, Siris, SunGard and Vista.
Mr. Kawarabayashi received an M.B.A. from the Wharton School, University of Pennsylvania, and a B.S. in International Relations from Georgetown University.
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Mike Meyer
Partner
Head of Capital MarketsMike Meyer
Partner
Michael Meyer is a Partner at Union Square Advisors, responsible for the firm’s Capital Markets business. Mr. Meyer has 30+ years of experience in Leveraged Finance, Global Credit and Fixed Income. He has been responsible for the execution and oversight of over $200B of leveraged finance transactions and has worked with world class financial sponsors such as Blackstone, KKR & Co., Apollo Global Management, and Bain Capital. Several notable transactions with these financial sponsors include the LBOs of HCA Inc., Alliance Boots, Warner Music Group Inc. and Fidelity National.
Prior to joining Union Square Advisors, Mr. Meyer was responsible for the Global Credit and U.S. Fixed Income businesses at RBC Capital Markets. Mr. Meyer also ran the Leveraged Finance and Global Credit business at Bank of America and Bank of America Merrill Lynch, working both in New York and London. Earlier in his career, Mr. Meyer worked in the leveraged finance and high yield businesses at Morgan Stanley and Citigroup.
Mr. Meyer earned an MBA from the McCombs School of Business at the University of Texas, and a B.S. in Chemistry and Economics from Duke University. He has served on multiple Boards, including; Duke NY, and SIFMA in the U.S. and the UK. Mr. Meyer is also a guest lecturer for the Economics Department at Duke University.
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Devon Ritch
Partner
Mergers & AcquisitionsDevon Ritch
Partner
Devon Ritch is a Partner at Union Square Advisors. Devon has over 22 years of M&A advisory experience primarily focused on the technology sector. During his career, Devon has managed and completed a broad range of public and private M&A transactions including sell-side, buy-side, cross-border, LBO, stock-for-stock, asset purchases, corporate divestitures, fairness opinions and hostile defense advisory. Prior to joining Union Square Advisors, Devon was a Director in the M&A group of RBC Capital Markets having spent nearly ten years at the firm in both its San Francisco and New York offices. Earlier in his career, Devon practiced M&A law as an Associate at Wilson Sonsini Goodrich & Rosati.
Devon received a BA in History with High Honors from the University of California at Berkeley where he also served as two-time captain of the nationally ranked crew team. Devon also received a JD / MBA from Duke University / Fuqua School of Business where he was a member of the Duke Law Journal.
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Andrew Atherton
Partner
SoftwareAndrew Atherton
Partner
Andrew Atherton is a Partner at Union Square Advisors. Mr. Atherton has 18+ years of investment banking and principal investing experience focused primarily on the software and financial technology sectors. Prior to joining Union Square Advisors, Andrew was a Vice President in the Technology group of RBC Capital Markets, focused on M&A and debt and equity capital raises. Prior to RBC, Andrew was an Associate in Goldman Sachs’ Special Situations Group providing debt and equity capital to middle market companies. Andrew began his career at Shattuck Hammond Partners, a healthcare investment bank, which was acquired by Raymond James.
Andrew is originally from San Antonio, Texas and received a B.A. in Economics and History and a Minor in Financial Economics from Vanderbilt University.
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Dean Riskas
Vice Chairman
Dean Riskas
Vice Chairman
Dean Riskas is a Partner at Union Square Advisors. Prior to joining the firm, Mr. Riskas was Managing Director and President, North America of TriplePoint Capital, where he leveraged long relationships with top-tier venture capitalists in Silicon Valley to originate and manage a several hundred million dollar portfolio of venture loans and leases. Prior to TriplePoint Capital, Mr. Riskas founded Atherton Vista Capital, where he developed and marketed a tax-oriented, leveraged purchase-leaseback structure to privatize US municipal infrastructure assets. Before Atherton Vista Capital, Mr. Riskas co-founded Trinity Advisors, which provided advisory services to institutional investors in connection with highly structured, domestic and cross-border leveraged lease transactions, project financings and buyouts. Prior to Trinity Advisors, Mr. Riskas was a Partner and SVP at Comdisco Financial Services where he headed the leveraged lease equity placement group.
A lifetime resident of the Bay Area, Mr. Riskas served for 18 years as the Treasurer of the COPF Foundation. He also served on both the UCLA Foundation Board of Governors and the Board of Directors of the Ronald McDonald House at Stanford. Mr. Riskas is a past President of the Menlo Circus Club, a former member of the Board of Trustees of Menlo School, and Elder of the Menlo Park Church.
Mr. Riskas is a published author of articles on tax-oriented leveraged leasing. He received both his BA in Economics and his MBA in Accounting and Finance degrees from the University of California – Los Angeles.
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Phillip Kim
Managing Director
Mergers & AcquisitionsPhillip Kim
Managing Director
Phillip Kim is a Managing Director at Union Square Advisors. Prior to joining the firm, Phillip worked as an Associate in the M&A Group at Greenhill & Co., as an Analyst and then an Associate in the Asia Technology and Korea Coverage Groups at Lehman Brothers, and as an Analyst in the Financial Institutions Group of Deutsche Banc Alex. Brown. Phillip has over 18 years of investment banking experience, primarily focused on executing public and private company M&A and private placement transactions, including sell-sides, buy-sides, cross-border, leveraged buyouts, asset sales, and fairness opinions within the broader technology sector.Phil received his B.S. in Finance and International Business from Georgetown University and an MBA from Columbia Business School. -
Emily Anderson
Managing Director
Head of Sponsor CoverageEmily Anderson
Managing Director
Emily Anderson is a Managing Director and Head of Sponsor Coverage at Union Square Advisors. Ms. Anderson has over 17 years of investment banking and transaction advisory experience primarily focused on the internet / digital media, software, and consumer retail sectors. Prior to joining the firm, Ms. Anderson was a Vice President at Code Advisors, focused on early stage M&A and equity capital raises across the consumer internet and digital media sectors. Prior to Code, Emily worked in Goldman Sachs’ Consumer Retail Investment Banking Group, advising clients on M&A, IPOs, and capital raises. Emily began her career at Ernst & Young in the Assurance and Transaction Advisory Services Groups.Emily received a BA in Business Economics & Accounting from UC Santa Barbara, where she was also a member of the varsity women’s soccer team. Emily also received an MBA from New York University, Leonard N. Stern School of Business, and she holds a CPA in the state of California. -
Will Andereck
Managing Director
SoftwareWill Andereck
Managing Director
Will Andereck is a Managing Director at Union Square Advisors. Will has 13+ years of M&A and capital advisory experience in the technology sector, with a focus on the MarTech, SalesTech, Contact Center, HCM and Workflow / Automation markets. During his career, Will has completed a range of public and private M&A and private placement transactions including sell-side, buy-side, cross-border, corporate divestitures, restructuring and fairness opinions. Prior to joining the firm, Mr. Andereck held positions at Morgan Stanley and Franklin Templeton Investments.Will graduated with a B.A. in Economics and History from Vanderbilt University. Since 2013 he has served on the Board of Directors of the San Francisco Zoological Society. -
Todd Holman
Managing Director
Internet & Digital MediaTodd Holman
Managing Director
Todd Holman is a Managing Director at Union Square Advisors. Mr. Holman has 12+ years of investment banking and finance experience primarily focused on M&A advisory across the technology sector. Prior to joining Union Square Advisors, Todd was a Vice President in the M&A group of RBC Capital Markets, focused on transactions in the Internet, software security, semiconductor, and financial technology sectors.
Todd is originally from Honolulu, Hawaii and received a BA in Economics from UC San Diego and a JD / MBA from UCLA where he captained the graduate rugby team.
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Michael Moore
Managing Director
Michael Moore
Managing Director
Michael Moore is a Managing Director at Union Square Advisors in the firm’s Capital Markets business. Mr. Moore has over 15 years of capital markets experience, primarily focused on the technology and consumer industry verticals. Prior to joining Union Square Advisors, he was a Director in the Leveraged Finance Group at Citi, focused on the origination, structuring and execution of capital markets transactions for corporate and sponsor-backed clients.
Michael earned a B.S. in Business Administration from Boston University’s School of Management.
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Zeke Navar
Managing Director
Head of HealthTechZeke Navar
Managing Director
Ezequiel (Zeke) Navar is a Managing Director and Head of HealthTech at Union Square Advisors. Mr. Navar has over 25 years of investment banking experience, with a comprehensive healthcare domain knowledge base across Providers, Patients, Payors and Pharma. Prior to joining the firm, Mr. Navar was the Head of HealthTech at Crosstree Capital, JMP Securities, H2C and GCA Savvian (d.b.a., Houlihan Lokey).
Mr. Navar earned an MBA from Wharton and a BS in Mechanical Engineering from the University of Maryland. He is an avid horseman and has competed in the Mexican Rodeo circuit.
Officers
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Jono Peters
Director
Jono Peters
Director
Jono Peters is a Director at Union Square Advisors. Prior to joining the firm, Mr. Peters was a Senior Associate in Leveraged Finance Capital Markets at Citigroup. Mr. Peters began his career as an Artillery Officer in the United States Marine Corps, completing one combat tour to Helmand Province, Afghanistan.
Mr. Peters graduated with a BA in Political Science from Hamilton College and received an MBA from the University of Virginia Darden School of Business.
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Harriet Britt
Chief Compliance Officer
Harriet Britt
Chief Compliance Officer
Harriet Britt is the Chief Compliance Officer at Union Square Advisors. Ms. Britt brings more than 20 years of experience in compliance operations, and finance experience to Union Square Advisors. She oversees the day to day strategic operational functions of the firm: finance and accounting, operations, human resources, and facilities. Prior to joining Union Square Advisors, Ms. Britt served as a consultant for the past five years working with investment banks and investment advisors, including robo-advisors and other FinTech firms. Previously, Ms. Britt served as Chief Compliance Officer with ThinkEquity LLC and Standard Pacific Capital LLC. Ms. Britt’s early career includes tenures at Robertson Stephens, JP Morgan, Montgomery Securities and Bear Stearns.
Ms. Britt graduated from California State Polytechnic University, earning a BS in Agriculture Business Management.
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Su Mei Chen
Chief of Staff
Su Mei Chen
Chief of Staff
Su Mei Chen is Chief of Staff at Union Square Advisors. With nearly 20 years of experience, Ms. Chen will oversee the planning and execution of the firm’s strategic and business initiatives, as well as day to day business operations and lateral recruiting. Previously, Ms. Chen spent 17 years at Barclays Capital / Lehman Brothers in NY, most recently as Chief Operating Officer of both the Technology, Media and Telecommunications, and Healthcare Investment Banking Groups, as well as Co-Head of Business Management for the division. Ms. Chen began her career as an Analyst in the Mergers & Acquisitions Group at Lehman. In the interim period, she held various roles across Lehman, Neuberger Berman (acquired by Lehman) and Barclays incorporating strategy, management, operations, and human resources.
Ms. Chen holds a BA degree in Economics from Wesleyan University.
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Tyler Graham
Vice President
Tyler Graham
Vice President
Tyler Graham is a Vice President with Union Square Advisors. Prior to joining the firm, Mr. Graham was an Associate in Deutsche Bank’s Global Industrials Group based in New York City, focused on M&A and debt and equity capital raises. Tyler began his career at Cambridge Associates in Washington, D.C.
Tyler is originally from Baltimore, Maryland and received a BS in Finance from Elon University and an MBA from the University of Virginia, Darden School of Business.
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Alexander Despo
Vice President
HealthTechAlexander Despo
Vice President
Alexander Despo is a Vice President at Union Square Advisors and is primarily focused on the healthcare and financial technology sectors. Prior to joining the firm, Alex led HCIT execution at Crosstree Capital and held roles at both Jefferies global technology group and Houlihan Lokey’s leading restructuring group.
Alex has over 8 years of broad experience, including private and public company M&A, capital markets, and restructuring transactions with over 30 closed deals. Alex began his career at Johnson Rice in New Orleans and is originally from New Jersey.
Associates
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Maxwell Ash
Associate
Maxwell Ash
Associate
Max Ash is an Associate with Union Square Advisors. Prior to joining the firm, Mr. Ash interned with Ancestry.com in their FP&A department. Mr. Ash graduated with BA in Economics and a minor in Business Management from Brigham Young University in Provo Utah, where he played defense on the University men’s lacrosse team. In his spare time, Mr. Ash enjoys skiing and fly fishing. He hails from Kansas City, Kansas.
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Jamie Cummings
Associate
Jamie Cummings
Associate
Jamie Cummings is an Associate with Union Square Advisors. Prior to joining the firm, Ms. Cummings was an Associate at FMI Capital Advisors, focused on M&A advisory. Prior to FMI, Jamie was an Associate at Gates Corporation, a Blackstone portfolio company, focused on Corporate Development and Investor Relations. Ms. Cummings began her career as an Engineer at Siemens Energy.
Jamie received a B.S. in Chemical Engineering from Penn State and an MBA from IE Business School.
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Wesley Or
Associate
Wesley Or
Associate
Wesley Or is an Associate with Union Square Advisors. Prior to joining the firm, Mr. Or worked in Corporate Development at project44 Holdings Corp., ARM and TIBCO Software Inc. He began his career as an Investment Banking Analyst at Canaccord Genuity.
Mr. Or received his Bachelor of Commerce (Hons.) from Queen’s University in Kingston, Ontario, Canada.
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Sam Werner
Associate
Sam Werner
Associate
Sam Werner is an Associate with Union Square Advisors. Prior to joining Union Square, Mr. Werner interned at Ironwood Capital Management, a hedge fund of funds in San Francisco, and D.A. Davidson’s wealth management division in Portland, OR. Mr. Werner graduated from Stanford University with a B.S. in Science, Technology, & Society, where he won three consecutive national championships as a member of the men’s soccer team. Following graduation, Mr. Werner played professional soccer for two years before joining Union Square. He is a native of Bozeman, Montana.
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Yesul Lee
Associate
Yesul Lee
Associate
Yesul Lee is an Associate with Union Square Advisors. Prior to joining Union Square Advisors, she interned at JEGI, an investment bank focusing on Media & Communications M&A. She graduated with double majors in Quantitative Economics and Dance from Bates College.
Yesul is bilingual in English and Korean and is learning Hebrew. Outside of work, she can be found kite surfing or golfing around the globe. She is part of the hosting committee for New York City Ballet’s Young Patrons Circle.
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Maxim Kalinkin
Associate
Maxim Kalinkin
Associate
Maxim Kalinkin is an Associate at Union Square Advisors. Prior to joining full-time, Mr. Kalinkin interned with Union Square Advisors in 2020. He graduated with a B.S. in Business Administration and a concentration in Finance with honors from California Polytechnic State University in San Luis Obispo, CA. Mr. Kalinkin is fluent in Russian and enjoys fitness, non-fiction, and playing the piano.
Analysts
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Tanzim Ahmed
Analyst
Tanzim Ahmed
Analyst
Tanzim Ahmed is an Analyst with Union Square Advisors. Prior to joining full-time, Mr. Ahmed interned with Union Square Advisors in 2021. Mr. Ahmed graduated from Middlebury College where he attained his B.A. in Economics with minors in Psychology and Religion. He enjoys film photography and is a native of Brooklyn, New York.
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T.J. Collins
Analyst
T.J. Collins
Analyst
T.J. Collins is an Analyst at Union Square Advisors. Prior to joining full-time, Mr. Collins interned with Union Square Advisors in the summer of 2021. He graduated cum laude with a B.S.M. in Finance and a specialization in entrepreneurship from Tulane University. Mr. Collins is an avid cook and sports fan. He is a Bay Area local, hailing from Lafayette, California.
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Caroline Dunleavy
Analyst
Caroline Dunleavy
Analyst
Caroline Dunleavy is an Analyst with Union Square Advisors. Ms. Dunleavy was a summer intern at the firm in 2020 and 2021. Ms. Dunleavy received a B.A. in Political Science from Yale University where she also served as Captain of the women’s varsity tennis team. She is a native of Darien, Connecticut.
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Evan Labuda
Analyst
Evan Labuda
Analyst
Evan Labuda is an Analyst at Union Square Advisors. Mr. Labuda joined the firm after completing an internship with Union Square Advisors in 2021. Mr. Labuda graduated summa cum laude with a B.A. in Economics and a minor in Business Institutions from Northwestern University, where he was a member of the Varsity Men’s Swim and Dive Team. In his free time, Mr. Labuda enjoys paintballing and watching Formula 1, and he is a native of Los Altos, CA.
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Naquiya Barwaniwala
Analyst
Naquiya Barwaniwala
Analyst
Naquiya Barwaniwala is an Analyst at Union Square Advisors. Prior to joining full-time, Ms. Barwaniwala completed a fall / winter internship with Union Square Advisors in 2022. She graduated from Drexel University with a B.S.B.A in Finance and Business Analytics. She enjoys swimming and is a native of Indore, India.
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Lilly Cordover
Analyst
Lilly Cordover
Analyst
Lilly Cordover is an Analyst at Union Square Advisors. Prior to joining full-time, Ms. Cordover interned with Union Square Advisors in 2022. She graduated from the University of Virginia with a B.S. in Commerce and concentration in Finance and IT. She enjoys exercising and reading in her free time.
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Mike Goody
Analyst
Mike Goody
Analyst
Mike Goody is an Analyst at Union Square Advisors. Mr. Goody joined the firm after completing an internship with Union Square Advisors in 2022. He graduated Magna Cum Laude with a B.S. in Business Administration (emphasis in Finance) and a minor in Jazz Studies from the University of Southern California. He enjoys playing the guitar and is a native of Piedmont, California.
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Megan Gorman
Analyst
Megan Gorman
Analyst
Megan Gorman is an Analyst with Union Square Advisors. Ms. Gorman joined the firm after completing a summer internship with Union Square Advisors in 2022. Ms. Gorman graduated from Dartmouth College with a B.A. in both Economics and Government. In her free time, Ms. Gorman enjoys cooking and playing pickleball. She is a native of Westbury, New York.
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Kevin Wenzel
Analyst
Kevin Wenzel
Analyst
Kevin Wenzel is an Analyst at Union Square Advisors. Prior to joining full-time, Mr. Wenzel interned at Union Square Advisors in the summer of 2022. He graduated with distinction with a BBA in Finance and a B.S. in Economics from The University of Wisconsin – Madison. Mr. Wenzel enjoys poker, sports and food in his free time, and grew up in Northbrook, IL.
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Justin Best
Junior Analyst
Justin Best
Junior Analyst
Justin Best is a Junior Analyst at Union Square Advisors. Prior to joining Union Square, Mr. Best worked at Splunk, a Software Company based in San Francisco, as a member of the ITS-Enterprise Automation Team. Mr. Best competed for team USA at the Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games. He placed 4th in the Men’s 8+.
Mr. Best graduated from Drexel University with a BS in Business and Engineering and a minor in Finance, where he served as two-time captain of the Varsity Crew Team