
Our Team
MAKE AN IMPACT
Our business is not about capital – it’s about people. That’s why we strive to keep business human. With zero patience for posturing, disrespect or pointy elbows, we have high expectations for ourselves – and others. We love to win, we hate to lose, and we aim for exceptional every time.
What makes us unique? The volition to be the best.

Sean Cantwell
Managing Partner

Sean Cantwell
Managing Partner
“I admire the tenacity and guts of the founders we work with. They possess a level of relentlessness that inspires me to push harder for them. I consider it my personal mission to help them reach their goals. I absolutely love investing, but my favorite part of this job, by far, is the people I get to work with. I strive to have a personal relationship with every founder and every management team I meet.”

Larry Cheng
Managing Partner

Larry Cheng
Managing Partner
"I want to be and believe I am the go-to partner for my founders and CEOs. When things are challenging, I’d like to be the first call because they know I will do anything and everything possible to help support them. When things are going well, I’d like to be there celebrating all of the little and big wins during the journey. I hope to be the most trusted and most impactful partner they can imagine."

Roger Hurwitz
Managing Partner

Roger Hurwitz
Managing Partner
“I see value in the investment opportunities others may not immediately see. I believe recognizing what’s beneath the surface is extremely powerful. I’ve helped several companies expand into market leaders in their segment by identifying what could be. At the end of the day, I have this passion for helping founders transform their businesses. My love for this job continues to grow. There’s really no other way to do this every day other than with your whole heart all in it.”

Tomy Han
Partner

Tomy Han
Partner
“The businesses that I get the most excited about are those that have strong relationships with their customers, with a commitment to helping each other grow and improve. What I love most about working with entrepreneurs is the opportunity to form a true partnership – both inside and outside the boardroom.”

Jim Ferry
Principal

Jim Ferry
Principal
“I view investing as a true partnership and not a business transaction. Because of that, I spend the majority of my time on the road meeting entrepreneurs in-person and discussing how Volition can be a value-add partner. All startups have their unique challenges that I strive to understand and come up with tailored solutions to ensure Founders can realize their ambitions.”

Dave Gordon
Principal

Dave Gordon
Principal
“The businesses that I find most interesting are those unconcerned with the spotlight or accolades and are just singularly focused on dominating their respective categories. My favorite part about this job is having the opportunity to be in the trenches alongside entrepreneurs and play a small part in helping them realize their aspirations.”

Claude de Jocas
Vice President

Claude de Jocas
Vice President
"I love meeting with founders that have a deeply personal reason for starting their company. These are the leadership teams that have identified a truly broken customer journey and set out to make things better. These are businesses that are equal parts economics and empathy – how could you not want to help advance that goal?"

Melanie Jordan
Vice President

Emily Pawlak
Sr. Associate

Michael Brannan
Associate

Estelle Spanneut
Associate

Aparajita Chauhan
Analyst

Aparajita Chauhan
Analyst
"I am drawn to growth equity because the chance to contribute to the success of businesses that are driven by a genuine passion for their mission is both inspiring and motivating. I believe that the combination of trailblazing founders and dedicated deal teams creates an energetic environment that fosters innovation, resilience, and a shared commitment to achieving exceptional results."

Hannah Deljkic
Analyst

Hannah Deljkic
Analyst
"I believe in investing time and capital into ideas that not only challenge the status quo but also improve how we interact with the world around us. When used appropriately, technology gives us a set of tools to solve the world’s toughest problems - access to quality healthcare, the growing climate crisis and the threat of cyber insecurity to name a few. I am inspired by audacious founders and am excited to work alongside them to build a better and safer world. "

Katharine French
Analyst

Sinjon Goldberg
Analyst

Aaron Hou
Analyst

Wells Johnstone
Analyst

Wells Johnstone
Analyst
"I am excited to join Volition because doing work centered around learning and improving is extremely fulfilling to me. Being able to set other people and companies up with long-term success by helping them grow and gain adaptability while experiencing the same thing for myself is an opportunity I can’t get anywhere else.”

Matteo Palacardo
Analyst

Matteo Palacardo
Analyst
"Analyzing and empowering growing businesses led by inspiring, go-getting founders is primarily what drives my interest in growth equity. Joining Volition allowed me to enter an environment in which the investment team matches the ambition behind the founding teams in our portfolio.”

Luke Phillips
Analyst

Luke Phillips
Analyst
"I am captivated by the passion and drive exhibited both by the Volition team as well as the countless founders we interact with. I pride myself in fostering personal, authentic relationships and consider myself a positive collaborator who wants to see all parties thrive – investors, founders, and peers alike."

Ella Steinhilber
Analyst

Henry Stites
Analyst

Carolyn Woll
Analyst

Carolyn Woll
Analyst
"I was drawn to work in the growth equity field because of the opportunity to interact with passionate founders every day and play a role in growing their companies to the next level. At Volition specifically, I am excited by our focus on creating partnerships with aspirational and authentic founders.”

Steve Shaffer
Operating Partner

Steve Shaffer
Operating Partner
"Throughout my career I have had the privilege of working with gifted and visionary technology entrepreneurs. Building great companies is extremely difficult, but it is work worth doing -- and it takes the right team to be successful. Volition was a great partner for us at Insite Software -- so the chance as an operator to join Volition to support and resource our portfolio founders and executive teams is very exciting and purposeful for me."

Beth Birnbaum
Senior Advisor

Beth Birnbaum
Senior Advisor
"My best work experiences have been in environments where a small group works together to surmount significant challenges. There's something magical about a passionate, scrappy group that organically learns to draw on the strengths of individual members, engage in healthy debate, and then move forward decisively in lockstep. Even with limited resources, teams like that can move quickly and accomplish a great deal."

Michael Giannetto
Senior Advisor

Mike Wilkens
Chief Financial Officer

Chris Fahey
SVP, Talent & Human Resources

Chris Fahey
SVP, Talent & Human Resources
"Behind every business is an idea, but the success of that idea is the direct result of the humans operating and iterating behind it every day. Working in Talent at Volition, I get to help some of the best operators and leaders take their business to the next level through the addition of world-class talent."

Pete Keenan
Sr. Finance Manager

Kelly Barnum
Talent Manager

Meghan Smith
Sr. Finance Associate

Alan Soclof
Marketing & Content Associate

Aimee Tashjian
Sr. Executive Assistant

Ashley Harding
Executive Assistant


Blake Day
Co-Founder & Chief Technology Officer | Chewy

Blake Day
Co-Founder & Chief Technology Officer | Chewy
Michael Blake Day is the co-founder and former Chief Technology Officer of Chewy, Inc. He founded the company with Ryan Cohen in 2011 and rapidly grew the business to become a market leader in the pet industry, selling to PetSmart for $3.35 billion in the largest e-commerce acquisition at the time. Today, Blake focuses on his personal investments in both public and private markets. He currently lives in Fort Lauderdale, Florida.

Raul Fernandez
Vice Chairman & Partner | Monumental Sports & Entertainment

Raul Fernandez
Vice Chairman & Partner | Monumental Sports & Entertainment
Raul Fernandez is currently Vice Chairman and Owner of Monumental Sports & Entertainment, a private partnership which owns some of Washington DC’s major sports franchises including the WNBA’s 2019 Champion Washington Mystics, the NHL’s 2018 Stanley Cup Champion Washington Capitals, the Washington Wizards, and Wizards District Gaming NBA 2K team. The partnership also owns and … Continued


Karen Flathers
Chief Customer Officer | Qure4u

Karen Flathers
Chief Customer Officer | Qure4u
Strategic Customer Executive with a proven history of driving customer-centric revenue growth and retention. Today, Karen is the Chief Customer Officer for Volition Portfolio company, Qure4u. Prior, Karen was the Chief Customer Officer for Blackline, where she led all post-sales customer functions through a successful IPO, multiple acquisitions, and significant domestic and international growth. Prior … Continued


Anna Griffin
Chief Market Officer | Commvault

Anna Griffin
Chief Market Officer | Commvault
Anna Griffin is the Chief Marketing Officer at Intercom. She brings more than two decades of experience in senior marketing roles and was most recently Chief Marketing Officer at Smartsheet. Before Smartsheet, Anna was the Cheif Marketing Officer of IEX Group, a disruptive trading exchange for U.S. equities. Prior to IEX Group, Anna spent five … Continued


Mindy Grossman
Partner and Chair of Consello Business Development | The Consello Group

Mindy Grossman
Partner and Chair of Consello Business Development | The Consello Group
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Sam Hall
Chief Product Officer | CLEAR

Sam Hall
Chief Product Officer | CLEAR
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Paul Melchiorre
(Former) CRO | Anaplan

Paul Melchiorre
(Former) CRO | Anaplan
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Lynne Oldham
Chief People Officer | Stash

Lynne Oldham
Chief People Officer | Stash
Lynne is a successful global Chief People Officer and business leader with 20 years of progressive experience in strategic HR leadership and key talent acquisition in various industries, driving profitable growth strategies for startups, private and public companies, and international organizations. She is currently the Chief People Officer at Stash. Prior, Lynne served as Zoom’s … Continued


Cathy Polinsky
Chief Technology Officer | DataGrail

Cathy Polinsky
Chief Technology Officer | DataGrail
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Niraj Shah
Co-Founder & CEO | Wayfair

Niraj Shah
Co-Founder & CEO | Wayfair
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JD Sherman
Former CEO & Current Advisor | Dashlane

JD Sherman
Former CEO & Current Advisor | Dashlane
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Shauna Spenley
President of Entertainment | Riot Games

Shauna Spenley
President of Entertainment | Riot Games
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Tim Wallace
(Former) CEO | iPipeline

Tim Wallace
(Former) CEO | iPipeline
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Vince Thomas
Founder & (Former) CEO | Billhighway

Vince Thomas
Founder & (Former) CEO | Billhighway
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Julie Wainwright
Founder | The RealReal

Julie Wainwright
Founder | The RealReal
Julie Wainwright is an e-commerce pioneer whose latest venture came to her as an epiphany while shopping in a brick-and-mortar consignment store, an industry she felt was ripe for reinvention. She founded The RealReal in June 2011, bringing luxury consignment online and into the modern world with a digital marketplace for authenticated luxury consignment. In … Continued