Investment Committee
Brian Birk
Sun Mountain Capital
Santa Fe, NM
Brian Birk has over 20 years experience as an operating executive and
investor, during which time he has formed, led or co-sponsored private
investments in numerous companies. Mr. Birk�s experience ranges from setting
corporate strategy for technology and life science companies at The Boston
Consulting Group to helping establish and spin off companies from think
tanks like The Santa Fe Institute and Applied Minds to conducting due
diligence and structuring investments at Fort Washington Capital Partners
and GE Capital. Mr. Birk is an accomplished entrepreneur and has led or
assisted in the establishment of multi-million dollar partnerships and
licensing agreements with firms like SAP, Sony, General Motors, Sun
Microsystems, Proctor & Gamble, Northrop Grumman, and others.
Mr. Birk recently formed Sun Mountain Capital, a boutique investment firm headquartered in Santa Fe, New Mexico. Prior to forming Sun Mountain, Mr. Birk led the efforts of Fort Washington Capital Partners in the Western Region, where he managed New Mexico Co-Investment Partners, a $46 million dollar fund focused on New Mexico-based companies. In addition, Mr. Birk oversaw the New Mexico and Utah in-state Private Equity investment programs, which represent a $425 million capital pool dedicated to regionally focused venture funds. In that capacity Mr. Birk has become familiar with the key markets and venture funds active in the Southwest and Rocky Mountain regions.
Mr. Birk currently serves on several Boards and advisory committees,
including Advent Solar, Aspen Avionics, Lumidigm, and Puente Partners. He
earned a BS in Economics from Carleton College and a MBA from The Kellogg
School at Northwestern University, where he graduated first in his
class.
Sally Corning
Sun Mountain Capital
Santa Fe, NM
Ms. Corning has over 20 years experience in evaluating investment
opportunities, conducting due diligence, structuring transactions, and
raising equity and debt capital in both the public and private markets.
Immediately prior to joining Sun Mountain Capital, Ms. Corning was a
Principal in a family company, Corning Enterprises, where she invested
in commercial real estate and oil and gas partnerships.
Prior to Corning Enterprises, Ms. Corning worked for 13 years in
various positions at Credit Suisse First Boston's Investment Banking
Division, most recently as a Director in the Firm's Private Placement
Group. In this role, she structured, marketed and executed over 40
private placements of securities including senior and subordinated
debt, project finance, asset backed, mezzanine and equity financings,
in addition to raising over $2 billion for venture capital, buyout and
mezzanine fund sponsors.
During her tenure at Credit Suisse, Ms. Corning led the evaluation of
dozens of companies and fund sponsors. As placement agent for companies
seeking private equity as well as venture fund sponsors, she developed
a “best practices” approach to company and fund evaluation. Her work at
CSFB provides her with extensive venture community contacts and
invaluable experience in conducting due diligence, assessing management
teams and business plans, and applying standards of economic viability.
Ms. Corning received an MBA in Finance from Columbia University
Graduate School of Business and a BSBA in Finance from Georgetown
University. She has lived in Santa Fe for five years and is an active
civic leader through her work on the Boards of the Santa Fe Mountain
Center and the Santa Fe Community Foundation.
Paul Goblet, Principal
Asset Advisors, LLC
Santa Fe, NM
Mr. Goblet has been involved in the Venture Capital community
since his arrival in New Mexico in 1999. Governor Johnson appointed Mr.
Goblet to the Private Equity Advisor Committee of the State Investment
Council. That organization doubled the number and size of its commitments to
New Mexico Venture funds during his tenure on the Board. Mr. Goblet helped
create amending legislation that allows the State Investment Council to
directly co-invest in New Mexico companies.
Mr. Goblet currently is the financial advisor to the New Mexico Small Business Investment Corporation. This entity has received $18.5MM from the Severance Tax Permanent Fund in order to make investments in New Mexico small businesses. He also helped craft expanded legislation that has broadened the NMSBIC's abilities to conduct its investments.
Mr. Goblet has been engaged in various segments of the investment banking industry for thirty years. From 1990 until 1999, Mr. Goblet was a Managing Director of Banc One Capital Corporation, the investment-banking subsidiary of Banc One Corporation, one of the largest U.S. financial institutions. His primary responsibilities included the integration of investment banking throughout the banking system, education and the development of new business development activities of Banc One Capital.
For over fifteen years, Mr. Goblet managed equity and fixed income capital markets trading departments for regional investment banking firms in Ohio, Illinois and Wisconsin. Mr. Goblet directed Blunt, Ellis & Loewi's equity and fixed income trading of listed and unlisted securities and was a member of the New York Stock Exchange and Midwest Stock Exchanges. Mr. Goblet opened and was Sales Manager of a branch office for the Ohio Company for a five-year period from 1977 through 1982 and consistently ranked in the firm's Presidents Council of outstanding sales representatives. Mr. Goblet has managed the syndication and public offering of both equity and debt issuance and has been actively involved in the retail and institutional placement and the trading of these initial public offerings.
Paul Goblet possessed U.S. Securities Licenses for Series 7 (General Securities), Series 24 (Securities Principal) and Series 63 (State of Ohio) until his early retirement in 1999.
Kristin Martinez, Managing Director
Sound Point Ventures, LLC
Seattle, WA and Albuquerque, NM
Kristin Martinez is the founder and Managing Director of Sound Point
Ventures, LLC, a venture development and management company she started in
1998. Through Sound Point she created and manages Angels with Attitude, the
only active angel venture fund focused on sustainable cleantech
investments. Kristin is a director of portfolio companies TraceDetect,
Mobius Technologies, and MACH Energy. She recently served as the Vice
President and CFO of portfolio company Advent Solar, Inc., an emerging
manufacturer of high performance, cost effective photovoltaic products in
Albuquerque, NM.
Prior to establishing Sound Point Ventures, Kristin was one of the founding
partners of New Vantage Partners, LLC, a registered investment advisor
focused on private equity for individuals, family offices, and family
foundations. Her major responsibilities at NVP included client services,
investment review, and operations. She co-produced two venture fairs each
year for the Investors' Circle, a national group of angel and institutional
investors working to grow the sustainable venture capital industry.
Kristin spent 10 years in the energy industry, most recently as Chief
Operating Officer and Treasurer of Pepco Energy Services, Inc., an
unregulated spinout from Potomac Electric Power Company (now Pepco Holdings,
Inc.). She was a member of the founding management team from
1994-1996. From 1991-1994, she was Executive Director of a private,
non-profit economic development corporation in central Vermont. She was a
member of the Vermont Small Business Development Advisory Board and was
appointed by Gov. Howard Dean to the New England Transportation
Initiative.
Kristin has served as a director of the Northwest Area Foundation and
Investors' Circle, as an Advisory Board member of the University of
Washington chapter of Net Impact, and as a University of Washington MBA
Program Mentor. She has a BS from Boston University and an MBA in Finance
and Investments from the George Washington University.