Investment Professionals
Michael P. Schulhof, CEO and General Partner, started GTI in 1996. Mr. Schulhof was previously President and CEO of Sony America and Sony Media and Entertainment from 1993 to 1995. Mr. Schulhof joined Sony in 1968 and rose to senior management in 1979. In 1989, he was named to Sony's Board of Directors, becoming the first American on the Board of a major Japanese corporation. He is credited with transforming Sony's US operations into a global entertainment company. During his 25 years at Sony, Mr. Schulhof had responsibility for: (i) Sony Electronics; (ii) Sony Software Corporation including Columbia/Tristar Pictures, Inc., CBS Records, as well as the electronic publishing, and signatures divisions; and (iii) Sony Retail Entertainment including theatres and location-based entertainment centers across the United States. Mr. Schulhof serves on the boards of several companies and charitable organizations including ColdWatt, J2Com, the Brookings Institution, the Center on Addiction and Substance Abuse at Columbia Unversity, the American Hospital of Paris Foundation, and New York University Medical Center. He is also a member of the Council on Foreign Relations. A native of New York, Mr. Schulhof is a solid-state physicist with 27 published papers and one patent to his credit. He received a B.A. from Grinnell College, a M.A. from Cornell University, a Ph.D. from Brandeis University, and the Chevalier de la Legion D'Honneur by the French Republic.  return to top
Jonathan Schulhof is a partner in the New York office. Since joining GTI in 2002, Mr. Schulhof has forged commercialization partnerships with The Energy Resources Institute, Rockwell Scientific Company and Thales Group, and has led fund raising efforts for several of GTI's investments. Mr. Schulhof is a co-founder of ColdWatt, Inc. and Glori Oil Limited. Before joining GTI, Mr. Schulhof was a Director of Business Development at Tellme Networks, Inc., an IVR systems startup founded by Kleiner Perkins and Benchmark Capital. At Tellme Networks, Mr. Schulhof developed company strategy and business plans, and executed strategic sales. Of note, Mr. Schulhof completed a $50 million sale of services to AT&T and secured Sabre, Inc. as a reseller of Tellme IVR services to the airline industry including Southwest Airlines. Prior to joining Tellme Networks, Mr. Schulhof was a corporate associate at Schulte Roth & Zabel LLP, a 250 professional law firm specializing in mergers and acquisitions, bankruptcy, securities, structured finance, and investment management services. Mr. Schulhof holds a B.A. from Dartmouth College and a J.D. from Stanford Law School, and is a member of the New York State Bar. return to top Suresh Soni is based in Los Angeles. Mr. Soni has over fifteen years of front line experience in sales and marketing, business development, product innovation, and manufacturing for global organizations including Emerson Electric, Lucent Technologies and Natel Engineering. Mr. Soni began his career in 1989 as a Marketing Manager at Abbott Technologies where managed marketing activities for 7 offices worldwide. In 1997, Mr. Soni became a sales and marketing manager at Natel Engineering where he held P&L responsibility for a large division that he grew 4x in three years. In 1999, Mr. Soni joined Lucent Power Systems as a Sales and Marketing Director with a global sales team of 27 people. In 2001 Mr. Soni joined Emerson Electric as a Director of Business Development doing acquisitions and helping to start an R&D facility. Most recently, Mr. Soni was Vice President of Business Development at Brock Consulting, an industrial partner of Ripplewood Holdings LLC, where he assisted Ripplewood with new acquisitions and their management. Mr. Soni received a B.E. in engineering from Maharishi Dayanand University, an MBA from the Indian Institute of Foreign Trade, and an M.S. in Industrial Engineering from the University of Alabama. He also completed the Advanced Management Program at Harvard Business School. return to top Mitchell Cannold is a venture partner based in GTI Group's New York office, leading media investments for the firm. Mr. Cannold brings 30 years experience to GTI Group as a senior executive, operating a wide range of media businesses and divisions at Sony Corporation, NBC, CBS, ABC and Disney. As President of Sony's New Media and New Technologies divisions for 7 years, he founded and led the corporation's internet division, strategic marketing partnership team, online and pc games groups, location based entertainment center development, IMAX film production and distribution businesses and managed the corporation's media investments in internal and external venture portfolios. Previously, Mr. Cannold produced Emmy and Dupont award winning documentaries, coverage of all the Apollo flights to the moon, national political convention and election night coverage at NBC News and series with Charles Kuralt, Bill Moyers and The CBS Morning News. He has executive produced or produced 5 IMAX 3D films and 20 feature films, including 'Dirty Dancing', the then most successful independent film. Most recently, as CEO of MaxWorldwide, Mr. Cannold completed the successful turnaround of this publicly traded internet advertising and direct marketing company, sold to IAC. He is a graduate of UCLA in Film, Television and Journalism and serves as a trustee on The Eastman (Kodak) Museum Board and The Carl Sagan Foundation. return to top Ruzgar Barisik is based in New York. He has seven years of M&A and corporate development experience. Before joining GTI, Mr. Barisik was Director of Corporate Development at Key Components, Inc., an industrial LBO. At KCI he lead acquisitions and divestiture transactions, managed cost improvement initiatives and supported portfolio companies in making strategic and operational decisions. Prior to that, he served as Assistant Treasurer and Financial Analyst. Mr. Barisik graduated from Cornell University with a B.A. in Mathematics and Economics and holds an MBA from the Columbia Business School. return to top Andrew Shapiro is Venture Partner. Andrew currently serves as Founder and CEO of GreenOrder, a sustainability strategy and marketing firm. Since founding GreenOrder in 2000, Andrew has developed the firm into a trusted advisor to some of the largest enterprises in the world. He is perhaps best known for working closely with General Electric's senior management on the creation and implementation of its award-winning, multi-billion dollar "ecomagination" initiative. Other GreenOrder clients have included Allianz, Coca-Cola, Duke University, DuPont, General Motors, Morgan Stanley, Office Depot, Pfizer, Pitney Bowes, Silverstein Properties (WTC redevelopment), Tishman Speyer, Vornado Realty, and Warner Bros. Studios.
Andrew has written two books that have been published in five languages. His most recent book, The Control Revolution, was an Amazon.com bestseller named one of the ten most important books of the year by Industry Standard magazine and favorably reviewed in the New York Times, L.A. Times, Washington Post, and other publications. He has hosted an interview program on PBS, appeared on NPR, CNN, and The Today Show, and written for publications ranging from Wired, Spin, and The Nation to Foreign Policy, the New York Times, and the Washington Post.
In 1999, he was named by MIT's Technology Review magazine as one of 100 young innovators who will shape the future of technology. A term member of the Council on Foreign Relations, Shapiro serves on the boards of Reboot and the Southern Center for Human Rights and on the advisory board of Meetup.com. He is a graduate of Brown University (Phi Beta Kappa) and Yale Law School. He served as a law clerk to Judge Pierre N. Leval of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit and is a member of the New York State bar. His legal experience includes arguing a voting rights case in the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit. return to top Robert W. Francess is Chief Financial Officer based in the New York office. Mr. Francess has over 12 years of investment management experience. Before joining GTI, Mr. Francess was Director – Global Controller for Ramius Capital Group, a 200+ person multi-strategy global alternative investment firm. Mr. Francess was responsible for the management of 15 professionals in administering over $10b of hedge fund assets under management. Previous to Ramius, Mr. Francess was Senior Vice President - Chief Financial Officer for M.D. Sass Investor Services, Inc., a 120 person multi-faceted investment advisory firm focusing on traditional and alternative investment strategies in private equity and hedge fund products. While at M.D. Sass, Mr. Francess was responsible for all back office operations including finance and accounting, trade support and operations, client services, technology, facilities and human resources. Mr. Francess was instrumental in the successful incubation of numerous private equity and hedge fund strategies as well as Sass’ joint venture alliance with Macquarie Investment Bank. Prior to joining M.D. Sass, Mr. Francess was an Assistant Controller at Moore Capital Management as well as Vice President of Finance for Zurich Scudder Investments. Mr. Francess started his career at KPMG LLP. Mr. Francess is a Certified Public Accountant and holds a B.B.A. in Accounting from Iona College. return to top
Pranav Kothari started with GTI in 2007 as an Analyst. Before joining GTI, Mr. Kothari was a consultant with the Boston Consulting Group ("BCG"), where he worked with several Fortune 500 clients in the industrial, consumer and pharmaceutical sectors. At BCG, he helped clients forge their corporate strategies and worked with them to implement the necessary changes. He has worked internationally in BCG's offices in Germany, Chile and Argentina. During college, he interned with General Electric and Capital One Financial Services in various supply chain roles. Mr. Kothari graduated from Georgia Institute of Technology with a Bachelor's degree in Mechanical Engineering. return to top
Board of Advisors
Robert Belfer is Founder of Belco Oil & Gas Corp., a company engaged in the exploration for and the acquisition, exploitation, development and production of natural gas and oil. The company's operations are currently focused in four core operating areas, namely the Rocky Mountains in Wyoming and North Dakota, the Gulf Coast primarily in Texas and Louisiana, the Permian Basin of west Texas and the Mid-Continent region in Oklahoma and Kansas. Mr. Belfer is a graduate of Columbia University and the Harvard Law School. He is also Chairman of the Board of Overseers of the Albert Einstein College of Medicine, member of the Dean's Council of the Kennedy School of Government at Harvard, and member of Board of Overseers of the Weill Cornell University Medical College. return to top
Charles Fabrikant has been Chairman of the Board of Directors, President and Chief Executive Officer of SEACOR and has served as a director of certain of SEACOR's subsidiaries since December 1989. He has been President of SEACOR since 1989. For more than the past five years preceding its acquisition by SEACOR in December 2000, Mr. Fabrikant served as Chairman of the Board and Chief Executive Officer of SCF. For more than the past five years, Mr. Fabrikant has been the President of Fabrikant International Corporation ("FIC"), a privately owned corporation engaged in marine operations and investments that may be deemed an affiliate of the Company. Mr. Fabrikant is a director of Globe Wireless, and prior to the Chiles Merger, Mr. Fabrikant served as Chairman of the Board of Chiles. Mr. Fabrikant is a licensed attorney admitted to practice in the state of New York and in the District of Columbia. return to top Barry Friedberg is President and CEO of FriedbergMilstein. Prior to that, he was an Executive Vice President of Merrill Lynch & Co., Inc. and a member of the firm's Executive Management Committee. He was responsible for management of the Investment Banking Group from January 1985 until May 1993. Mr. Friedberg began his career in 1963 with Chemical Bank. In 1964, he joined A.G. Becker, which was acquired by Merrill Lynch in 1984. Mr. Friedberg is Chairman of the Board of the New York City Ballet and is currently serving as Co-Chair of the Capital Campaign to celebrate its 50th anniversary. He is also a board member of Boys & Girls Harbor, Inc., the American Hospital of Paris Foundation, and Lincoln Center for the Performing Arts. In addition, he is a member of the International & National Advisory Board of the New York Presbyterian Hospital. Mr. Friedberg received his B.A. from Princeton University. return to top
The Honorable Richard Perle has been a Resident Fellow of the American Enterprise Institute for Public Policy Research since 1987, where he directed its commission on Future Defenses. Mr. Perle is also Chairman of the Defense Policy Board and a Consultant to the Secretary of Defense. From 1981-1987, He was Assistant Secretary of Defense for International Security Policy and served on the US Senate Staff from 1960 to 1980. Mr. Perle writes frequently for the New York Times, Washington Post, Wall Street Journal, The Dailey Telegraph, Jerusalem Post, and other publications. return to top Eric Schmidt is currently CEO of Google, Inc. Before joining Google, Mr. Schmidt was chairman and CEO of Novell. Mr. Schmidt has a 20-year record of achievement as an Internet strategist, entrepreneur and developer of great technologies. Before joining Novell, he was chief technology officer and corporate executive officer at Sun Microsystems, Inc., where he led the development of Java, Sun's platform-independent programming technology, and defined Sun's Internet software strategy. Before joining Sun in 1983, Mr. Schmidt was a member of the research staff at the Computer Science Lab at Xerox Palo Alto Research Center (PARC), and held positions at Bell Laboratories and Zilog. Mr. Schmidt has a bachelor of science degree in electrical engineering from Princeton University, and a master's and Ph.D. in computer science from the University of California-Berkeley. return to top
Join the GTI Team GTI is always looking for good people. If you have an engineering or science background combined with proven business experience and the desire to work in private equity, please send us your resume by using the web submission form. return to top | 
