Leadership
Ian Smith, BA, CA
978-395-1155 Ian@TPPBoston.com
A serial entrepreneur, Ian, has been successfully scaling businesses around the globe for over 40 years both organically and by acquisition. He has established himself as an astute thought leader on acquiring private companies and has completed over 40 deals with an enterprise value of $1B. He has scaled over 12 businesses as either the CEO or as a fractional leader. Almost all of these businesses exited at premium valuations. He is an operator who is just as happy in high tech manufacturing and software as he is in service businesses from travel, recruitment, HR, media, and investment banking. Ian is a multi-company operator and an investment banker; a rare combination. The C-suite gravitates towards his ability to simplify the complex.
After twenty years successfully leading enterprises, he launched his own practice The Portfolio Partnership (TPP) in 2009 to support clients scaling their businesses by deploying his deep operational and M&A experience. He believes most business owners are looking through the wrong lens – the seller’s lens. He looks at businesses through the lens of a buyer. This allows his team to uncover value creation strategies.
Ian’s leadership roles at CFO or CEO include Thomson Reuters, Livingstone Guarantee (Investment Banking), Capita (Investment Banking Division), Teamstudio (Software Tools), and Vamosa (Migration Software). At TPP he has built businesses buyers love to buy and many did! These include MRSI Systems (Die Bonding manufacturer), AEi Automation (Camera Assembly and Test Equipment), HR Knowledge, Boston IVF, ADMET (Material Test Equipment), Web Industries (Precision Converting).
He graduated from the University of Strathclyde and is a member of the Institute of Chartered Accountants of Scotland. Ian holds both US and UK citizenship. His hobbies include business writing (seven books and 600 blog posts) and athletics (continually ranked over the last 15 years in the top masters athletes in the world at 400m and 800m). Ian’s book on acquisitions, the Acquirer’s Playbook was published in 2015 on Amazon and contains the essential framework for M&A Playbooks he has successfully implemented across several industries.
Kevin Young, BA, MBA
Kevin is a global senior executive who has had P&L responsibility in multinational Fortune 500 companies including Mondi, Avery Dennison, Sony, and Gillette. He has over 40 years of experience in industrial manufacturing, materials, specialty chemicals, medical products, and consumer packaging industries.
Kevin’s final role before joining Ian at TPP was Vice President of Corporate Development and Board Director at Web Industries one of the largest ESOPs in the US. Ian and Kevin worked closely on the successful European expansion of Web’s aerospace division with the acquisition of a leading French competitor.
Previously to Web, Kevin was President of Mondi Americas with responsibility for their Advanced Materials, Consumer Products, and Industrial Bags Business Units where he more than doubled the business from $375 million to over $800 million with several successful acquisitions. Prior to Mondi, he held leadership positions in Polyonics, Inc., a privately held specialty materials and coating company, and at Avery Dennison he led the $350 million Performance Tape Division, residing in Belgium during this four-year assignment. Also, with Avery he executed one of the most successful new business development projects, developing a line of Heat Transfer Labels and Printed Fabric Labels, expanding their geographic footprint from one location to ten locations worldwide, and growing the business from $25 million to $100 million in three years. Kevin also served as President of Sony Chemicals.
A true operator, Kevin has held the title of President, COO, Senior Vice President, Vice President & General Manager, and Vice President of Corporate Development with organizations exceeding $500 million in sales, one thousand employees, and multiple global manufacturing locations.
Kevin earned an MBA from Babson College and a BA in Economics from Boston College. He is a certified Green Belt in Design for Six Sigma.
