Rachel Stone Charlottesville Bureau Chief MERGERMARKET

Rachel covers fintech and the broader tech sector for Mergermarket. She has a bachelor’s degree in business journalism from Washington and Lee University.

Emily Anderson Managing Director & Head of Sponsor Coverage UNION SQUARE ADVISORS

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.

Lucy Dobrin Managing Director PROVIDENCE EQUITY PARTNERS

Lucy Dobrin

Managing Director

Providence Equity Partners

Lucy Dobrin is a managing director on Providence’s investment team and is based in the New York office. Ms. Dobrin is currently a director of DoubleVerify and Smartly.io, and is involved in Providence's investment in OUTFRONT and the Times Square billboard partnership. She was previously a director of EdgeConneX and OEConnection. She is a member of the Providence Women’s Roundtable and the firm's D&I committee, and was previously founding co-chair of the D&I committee. Prior to joining Providence in 2011, she worked in the financial sponsors investment banking group at Bank of America Merrill Lynch. She currently sits on the boards of Works & Process at the Guggenheim and Tom Gold Dance, two performing arts non-profits. Ms. Dobrin holds a Master of Arts and a Bachelor of Arts from the University of Pennsylvania.

Ryan Hinkle Managing Director INSIGHT PARTNERS

Ryan Hinkle joined Insight Partners in 2003 and has worked across many industries, geographies and deal structures, spanning SaaS, internet, and infrastructure software companies primarily in North America, Europe, and Australia. Ryan has led or participated in over 30 investments including growth equity, leverage buyouts, growth buyouts, and platform roll-ups. Current investments include scaled leveraged buyouts (Optimizely, Diligent, InhabitIQ, CivicPlus), growth SaaS companies (HqO, Plume, iLobby, PayCargo), and growth buyouts (PayIt, Workforce Software). His vertical investment experience includes education, collaborative work management, real estate, and payments software among many others.

Ryan’s past investments include 6 IPOs and over a dozen partial or full sales to financial sponsors and strategic acquirers. The IPOs of Pluralsight (NASDAQ: PS) and Smartsheet (NYSE: SMAR) were two of the top SaaS IPOs of 2018. They are also notable for Insight’s long history in working with each since 2012. Ryan enjoys working closely with the executive management teams of his investments focused on articulating the boldest “what can go right” vision, creating clear communication in all dimensions, maximizing talent retention via culture, and driving measurement and optimization of critical unit economics. Ryan is also a key manager of the Analyst program at Insight with responsibility for recruiting, training, and mentoring. He has been named to Growthcap's list of Top 40 Under 40 Growth Investors multiple times and has been named to Private Equity International's 2020 40 Under 40 list.

Prior to Insight, Ryan began his journey as a lifelong technology enthusiast by developing real-time electricity trading productivity tools with PPL Corporation. Ryan also worked with Morgan Stanley where he observed trader behavior and built software tools to increase their efficiency.

Ryan is a summa cum laude graduate of the University of Pennsylvania with degrees in Finance from Wharton and Electrical Engineering from the School of Engineering and Applied Science. Originally from rural southeastern Pennsylvania, he has spent over 15 years living in New York City with his wife, son, and daughter. Ryan and his family enjoy cycling, hiking, attending Broadway shows, playing games (including frequent Chess defeats at the hands of his 8-year-old son), visiting museums, and exploring NYC and beyond. He is a published author on the Pluralsight platform for excel coding. He loves juggling, origami, and number theory (and he can demonstrate for you at any time). He also enjoys trying to keep up with the enormity of exceptional original television series. Ryan’s philanthropic interests include creating agency for underserved schoolchildren and attacking homelessness via root causes like lack of affordable housing and limited access to mental health services. Ryan is also an avid Philadelphia sports fan. While he is typically overheard saying “maybe next year,” he will always hold dearly the memory of watching Super Bowl LII with his family.

Philip Hunter O'Brien Senior Director, Private Equity CDPQ

Mr. O'Brien is Senior Director, Private Equity at CDPQ on the direct investment team based out of NYC. Previously he led North American Private Equity, Direct Investments within the Abu Dhabi Investment Council's Private Equity Department. Prior to joining the Abu Dhabi Investment Council, Mr. O'Brien worked as a private equity investor at The Carlyle Group within their US Buyout team and LLCP. In addition, Mr. O'Brien worked in the Investment Banking Division of Deutsche Bank. Mr. O'Brien holds an A.B., magna cum laude, from Princeton University in Economics and an MBA from Columbia Business School, where he earned the Sonkin Prize for Value Investing. Mr. O’Brien is a CFA Charterholder.

Mark Fariborz Partner, Private Equity, Member of the Management Committee BC PARTNERS

Partner, Private Equity, Member of the Management Committee

Mark joined BC Partners in 2011. He is a Partner and member of the Management and Private Equity Investment Committees.

Mark leads the Technology vertical in North America and led BC Partners’ investments in NAVEX, EAB, and Accudyne.

Previously, he spent five years at Hellman & Friedman, and prior to this worked in the US buyout fund at The Carlyle Group in Washington DC and New York.

Education, Other

MBA with distinction, Harvard Business School
BA in Economics - magna cum laude, Harvard College