THE FIFTH FORCE
Modern science recognizes four fundamental forces of nature that govern all interactions between objects: the strong nuclear force, the weak nuclear force, electromagnetism, and gravity.
We believe in a Fifth Force that emerges when individuals choose to live by enduring principles and willingly sacrifice ego and short-term gains for the long-term betterment of partnerships. Economic returns flow to organizations inspired by such leaders.
We invest in leaders willing to live by these principles across geographies, industries, and market cycles, and we take full responsibility for the outcomes.
THE FIFTH PARTNERS OPERATING MODEL
We take a systematic approach to building enduring, profitable enterprises
OPERATING AGREEMENT
The constitution for all stakeholders invested in Fifth Partners companies
Governance (authority and responsibility)
- Leaders empowered and held accountable to deliver results
- Supported by active councils
- Stewardship conveyed through written delegations of authority
Economics (rights and opportunities)
- Separate and distinct from governance
- Standard unit structure designed to adapt to specific company needs
- Entry and exit provisions that can be exercised at any time for any reason
CAPITAL STRUCTURE
- Fifth Partners time and capital always invested before any other party
- Capital raised through special purpose vehicles and joint ventures
- Structure avoids pitfalls of dedicated closed-end funds
TOOLS
- Cash Budgets – Weekly cash performance against projection
- Ship-Shape – standards of excellence that measure battle readiness
- Growth Grids – Individual assessments of skills, knowledge, attitudes, attributes
- EAP – Execution and Accountability Plans implemented at every company
CENTRAL SERVICES
The engine that powers every aspect of the Fifth Partners network
- Functional expertise organized and systematized by lane leaders
- Tools and processes provided to companies through lanes
- Best practices shared consistently
OUR TEAM
Jeff BrownlowCo-Founder | Managing Partner
Prior to Fifth Partners, Jeff co-founded a long-only public equity fund. Jeff attended the Stanford Graduate School of Business after working as a private equity investor at Bain Capital, Boston. While there, he was instrumental in launching a Real Estate vertical and taking Bloomin’ Brands public, including the Outback Steakhouse, Carrabba’s, Bonefish, Fleming’s, and Roy’s restaurant units. Before Bain Capital, Jeff worked in the turnaround practice at Bain & Company in Dallas, advising several clients in diverse industries; he also worked for the US Treasury in Washington in the Capital Markets Group.
Joe DrysdaleCo-Founder | Managing Partner
Joe began his career in real estate and has over 15 years of experience in building and investing across the real estate and energy sectors, as well within various early stage companies. He currently serves on numerous boards of Fifth companies. He and his wife have three children and are active members of various civic organizations in their community in Dallas, Texas.
Matt MathisonManaging Partner
Matt joined the Fifth Partners team as CFO and Lane Leader of Finance and Accounting in June 2019. He now serves as a Managing Partner of Fifth Partners. Prior to Fifth Partners, Matt served as CFO and Co-Founder of Imagination Unwired, a successful technology platform company. Before that, he served as VP of Capital Markets for NQ Mobile from July 2013 through October 2018. From 2004 to 2013, Matt served as President of Wedge Partners Corporation where he led the sales efforts of the company’s technology-focused research and trading business. He also led the formation of WP Asset Management, a registered investment advisor in the U.S., and acted as general partner of long/short equity hedge fund Proconex Partners LLC. Matt began his career as an institutional sales representative at Goldman Sachs from 2000 to 2004. He received a bachelor’s degree in finance from Brigham Young University’s Marriott School of Management.
Gregory SchulzPartner
Gregory Schulz joined Fifth Partners shortly after its formation. He serves as General Counsel to the company. Gregory is primarily responsible for designing and implementing capital structures across the Fifth Partners network. Prior to joining Fifth Partners, Gregory worked in private legal practice. He represented clients in a variety of transactions, including securities issuances, commercial real estate partnerships, and debt financing. He also litigated a variety of commercial disputes in both state and federal courts.
Jamie PanganibanPartner
Jamie leads the Tactical Operations team at Fifth Partners, which is responsible for operations, technology, analysis, and training. Since starting at Fifth Partners in 2016, Jamie has worked in almost every aspect of the business, building systems, processes, and tools that influence how Fifth operates. Prior to coming to Fifth, Jamie’s experience was in training and curriculum development. Jamie attended Brigham Young University where he received a Bachelor’s degree in English and a minor in Business Strategy.
Austin AndrusPartner
Austin leads the sales and marketing team at Fifth Partners. Before joining Fifth, Austin attended The Stanford Graduate School of Business, where he focused on entrepreneurship. Prior to business school, Austin helped launch the customer success team at Lucid Software and headed the sales and field marketing teams at EcoScraps, a lawn and garden company that sold to Scott’s Miracle-Gro in 2014. Austin graduated Summa Cum Laude with a degree in English from Brigham Young University, where he was a Presidential Scholar.
Brandon BishoffAssociate General Counsel
Brandon has advised private equity investment groups in dozens of transactions, including mergers, acquisitions, divestitures and debt and equity financings, with transaction valuations up to $2 billion dollars. Brandon began his career clerking for a federal judge in the United States District Court of the Western District of Texas, after which he worked at Kirkland & Ellis LLP. Brandon holds a Juris Doctorate from the University of Texas School of Law.
Noah WardHead of Credit and Risk
Before joining Fifth Partners, Noah spent 30 years in Institutional and Private Banking. Most recently with Bank of America Private Bank in Dallas, TX and 22 years with Deutsche Bank Capital Markets in London, New York and Hong Kong. Noah is an alumni of the OAMLP, University of Oxford, and holds a Bachelor’s degree in Business and Finance CUNY. A British citizen, Noah is married with 3 young children.
Mark KellyChief Accounting Officer
Mark has over 20 years of work experience in the chemicals, pharmaceutical and automotive industries where he held senior level executive finance roles as Vice President- Assistant Controller, Vice President- Controller, Vice President of Finance, Vice President- Divisional CFO, Vice President- Treasurer and Chief Accounting Officer for other Fortune 500 companies, including Chrysler Corporation, Bristol-Myers Squibb Company and Rockwood Holdings, Inc. Prior to Fifth Partners, Mark served as the Vice President and Controller of PPG Industries where he led the global finance transformation that created a leaner, more efficient and effective finance organization and was also responsible for internal and external financial reporting, corporate financial planning and analysis, accounting and consolidation, global shared services, internal controls and SOX compliance. Mark also worked eleven years in the international public accounting firm of Deloitte LLP, which included two years in Deloitte’s national office technical accounting and SEC practice group and nine years of audit experience supervising the audits of public and privately- held companies, including General Motors Corporation, Huntsman Chemical Corporation, Intermountain Power Agency, and Young Electric Sign Company, and Valley National Bancorporation. Mark is a Certified Public Accountant; he holds a MBA degree from Michigan State University and a BS, Accounting degree from the University of Utah.
Parker RasmussenAssociate | VP of Finance & Accounting – Fifth Real Estate
Parker serves as an associate for Fifth Partners where he assists in the underwriting, modeling, and due diligence of potential acquisition targets. Parker is also involved in the budgeting, forecasting, and operations of Fifth’s existing network companies. Concurrently, Parker serves as the Vice President of Finance & Accounting for Fifth Real Estate where he leads analysis and underwriting of various development and acquisition projects. Prior to Fifth Partners, Parker attended Brigham Young University’s Marriott School of Business where he received a Bachelor’s Degree in Finance.
Nathan DuncanAssociate
Nathan builds core Fifth Partners tools, manages programming and data infrastructure, and assists in financial modeling and analysis. He graduated from BYU in 2018 with a degree in Actuarial Science and joined Fifth Partners shortly thereafter as an analyst on the Tactical Operations team. Prior to graduation, Nathan passed five of the actuarial exams (P, FM, IFM, LTAM, SRM) while working towards the ASA designation of the Society of Actuaries.