Team
Tom Carter
Tom Carter, CFA is the founder of Fountain Partners and managing general partner of its funds. Tom’s background includes buyside, sell side and operating experience. Tom worked in traditional bank lending, venture finance, asset based lending and equipment leasing (or venture leasing) in the mid 1990s. Tom was an institutional equity research at Piper Jaffray following e-commerce in 1999 through 2001 and Tom was the Chief Financial Officer of StarMine through its growth phase and prior to its sale to Reuters. Tom has also been an advisor to and an equity investor in startups and usually takes an interest in anything to do with innovation and entrepreneurship as it relates to financial services, markets and analytics. Tom graduated with B.A. and M.S. in Finance degrees from Bentley University and serves on the Continuing Education Committee of the CFA Institute of San Francisco.
John O. Van Hooser
John O. Van Hooser joined Fountain as a partner in 2010 after serving as an advisor to the company during 2009. John’s background includes 15 years experience in due diligence, structuring, negotiation and management of venture and growth stage companies as a private equity / venture investor with J.P. Morgan Capital and most recently as a General Partner at M/C Venture Partners. During that time, John served as a board member or active observer on the boards of 14 portfolio companies. John’s investment career has spanned venture, growth and buyout investments in the media and communications, IT services and healthcare sectors. John started his career as an Associate Consultant at Bain and Company and served as a Senior Financial Analyst in Studio Strategic Planning for The Walt Disney Company immediately prior to business school. John earned an MBA from The Harvard Business School and a BA, Magna Cum Laude from Dartmouth College.
John Doyle
John Doyle joined Fountain Partners in 2008 and focuses on business development. Prior to Fountain Partners, John held sales positions at equipment leasing firms Celtic Leasing Corp and Global Finance Group. John joined Fountain Partners in order to solve problems for entrepreneurs and to help support rapidly growing start-ups. John earned his B.S. degree in Business Administration from the Marshall School of Business at the University of Southern California with an emphasis in Entrepreneurial Studies from The Lloyd Grief Center and played varsity water polo for USC.
Afsheen Sharifi
Afsheen Sharifi joined Fountain Partners in 2010 as an Associate focusing on credit analysis and fund operations. Afsheen is able to apply several years of direct operating experience in accounting, financial reporting, inventory management and operational efficiency. Afsheen has performed investment manager diligence as an intern at Hamilton Lane and served as an Associate in wealth management at First Republic Bank. Afsheen remains active in the community as a black-belt karate instructor and enjoys teaching children and adults the values of the martial arts curriculum. He is also a member of Big Brothers Big Sisters and takes part in mentoring the youth of the community. Afsheen earned B.S. degrees in Corporate Finance and Financial Services from San Francisco State University and is a Chartered Financial Analyst (CFA) Level III Candidate.
