Bill Stapleton
FOUNDING PARTNER
Bill founded Austin-based Capital Sports & Entertainment (CSE), a sports marketing and management company, in 1998, and co-founded the subsequent launches of successful enterprises such as the Austin City Limits Music Festival (2002), Lollapalooza (2005), and C3 Presents (2008).
After a series of private equity transactions, Live Nation purchased C3 Presents in 2016. Bill’s work at CSE as Lance Armstrong’s long-time agent included numerous Fortune 500 endorsement deals and advertising campaigns with companies such as Nike, Visa and Coca Cola, as well as two New York Times best-selling books. Bill was one of the founding architects of the commercialization of the LIVESTRONG brand. He also served as the CEO of Tailwind Sports, managing an American and European staff of more than 60 people. At Tailwind, he led the effort to secure sponsorship of more than $25mm annually for the Discovery Channel and RadioShack professional cycling teams.
Bill then co-founded New Waterloo, a hospitality management and development company based in Austin, Texas. New Waterloo operates award-winning hotels and restaurants such as the South Congress Hotel, Hotel Ella, La Condesa, and Sway (newwaterloo.com).
Bill was a member of the 1988 United States Olympic Swimming Team (200 IM) and served later as the Chairman of the USOC’s Athlete’s Advisory Council and as a USOC Vice President. He holds a BA, MBA and JD all from the University of Texas.
John McAvoy
FOUNDING PARTNER
John McAvoy has 38 years of experience in the financial industry having worked in investment banking and private equity. Previously, he served as Senior Managing Director of Charleston Holdings, Chief Executive Officer and Chairman of the Board of Directors of Charleston Capital and as President of Asset Management Finance (AMF), an affiliate of Credit Suisse.
He was a Managing Director at Credit Suisse where he held a number of senior roles in both the New York and London offices for over 17 years, including Global Head of Hedge Fund Coverage in the firm's Prime Services Department, European Head of Equity Capital Markets and Global Co-Head of Convertible Securities. During his time at Credit Suisse, Mr. McAvoy also served on the Global Equity Operating Committee, the European Investment Banking Committee and was Chairman of the Equity Diversity Advisory Committee.
Mr. McAvoy joined CSFB in 1991 from Lehman Brothers where he worked for seven years in the firm's Convertible Securities Department in institutional sales and sales management. John graduated from Wake Forest in 1982, earning his bachelor’s degree in economics. He then received his MBA from Duke’s Fuqua School of Business in 1984.
Bryce Johnson
FOUNDING PARTNER
From 1999 to 2011, Bryce worked with Michael Ovitz (founder of CAA and former President of Disney) to launch Artists Management Group, a talent management company with related film and TV production divisions (Artist Production Group and Artists Television Group) and a sports management division (AMG Sports), where he also oversaw a technology investment and advisory services business and a restaurant and real estate portfolio. Bryce’s prior work in entertainment and media began with Cinesite, a Kodak subsidiary focused on pioneering digital media technologies, where he was a systems administrator and artist on the digitization and restoration of Disney’s Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs.
Bryce joined Dragon Global as a partner and member of the investment committee in 2011. Dragon Global began as a private equity firm focused on late-stage, pre-IPO technology investments (e.g., Facebook (now Meta)), and expanded to include venture-capital investments, self-funded technology startups and a mixed-use real estate assemblage in Miami, Florida.
In 2015, Bryce left to form Lone Star Ventures, an investment and advisory firm specializing in technology, media, real estate and hospitality. Shortly after making an early-stage investment in Core Scientific, a blockchain and AI company, Bryce became its President, CEO and Chairman of the Board. Core went public in 2021 through a SPAC.
Bryce completed his undergraduate education at MIT (BS 1990), was awarded a post-graduate research fellowship at Tokyo University in Japan and received his JD from UCLA School of Law where he was Editor-in-Chief of the UCLA Law Review. Following law school, Bryce served a law clerk to Judge Cynthia Hall on the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit. Bryce remains an active member of the California State Bar.
Jolie Goldberg
ANALYST
USC Marshall School of Business graduate with intern and full time experience in M&A, PE and Venture Capital in health & wellness, as well as media & entertainment.
First Point Partners
Madison Wells Media
University of Southern California BS Business Administration
Michael McCracken
FOUNDER & ADVISOR
Michael McCracken’s specialty focus is on the alchemy of business success: managing the intersection of strategy, operations, and talent.
Michael brings to your C-Suite over 30-years of tenure as a business operator, consultant, investment banker, and venture capitalist. He has contributed to Fortune 100 companies as Interim CEO, COO, CFO. He has been the executive coach and Thought-Partner to over 75 CEOs, Senior Partners, and studio heads across dozens of organizations.
In addition to being an investment banker and VC investor for over a dozen years, Michael was President, COO & CFO of UGO Entertainment, a leading online lifestyle property he managed for 11 years and sold to Hearst Corporation in 2007. His clients often include digital media start-ups, TV & film production studios, talent management agencies, and entertainment marketing and advertising firms.