Jeff Kendig is the founder of Bravos Capital, an independent sponsor, where he leads the evaluation of investment opportunities, structures transactions, quarterbacks the due diligence process, and works with management teams to develop and execute operational and growth strategies.  Jeff has over 20 years of private equity experience, successfully acquiring and growing several different types of businesses. During his career, he has led acquisitions of businesses in multiple industries, including Business Services, Specialty Manufacturing, Technology Services, and Consumer Products. Jeff’s background includes extensive responsibilities for day-to-day business management, including sales growth strategies, go-to-market planning, financial reporting & analysis, identifying operating improvements, cash flow management, and other general management roles.     

Jeff has multiple years of operating experience, when he served as the full-time COO for an ingredient manufacturing business, where he led a successful turnaround of the business.  In order to generate liquidity, Jeff led the company’s divestiture of a non-core business unit, which was successfully sold to a public company.  He also led a significant cost-reduction project, eliminating any excess or unnecessary operating expenses, and right-sizing the employee headcount, ultimately enabling the company to transform itself from a $5mm net loss to a $1mm net profit. He was responsible for all cash flow management and lender reporting, as well as spearheading the company’s capital raising efforts, lender negotiations, and investor relations. While overseeing the Finance department’s day-to-day activities, he reduced the month-end closing process from 90 days down to 30 days, and re-structured the financial reporting to the BOD to improve the accuracy of gross margins and the transparency of the financial statements.

Prior to Bravos Capital, Jeff was a Principal at Caltius Equity Partners, a lower middle-market private equity firm, where he quarterbacked small business acquisitions from origination through diligence, execution, and subsequently served on the board of directors post-closing, providing the necessary support and strategic advice to his portfolio companies.  He has also served as the outsourced CFO for several of these portfolio companies, and has served as a Board Director of eight different companies, providing the necessary support and strategic advice in various aspects of the businesses.  Earlier in his career, Jeff worked at Kayne Anderson and Millennium Capital Partners. He began his career in the Strategy Group at Kearney, executing strategic and operational improvement projects across a variety of industries.  Jeff received his M.B.A. from the UCLA Anderson School of Management, where he was a Venture Fellow, and received his B.A. in Economics from Middlebury College.  While at UCLA Anderson, Jeff’s team won the Knapp Venture Competition as well as the Draper Fisher Jurvetson business plan competition.