Our Team

Christopher Riley, CEO

Founder

Christopher Riley has more than 30 years’ experience owning and operating over a dozen businesses in the hospitality, real estate, technology, social media, financial services, automotive, fabrication, private equity and consulting industries. His personal experiences buying and selling businesses, negotiating transactions, overseeing dozens of accountants, attorneys and other professionals, combined with his investment banking work with Drake Star Partners, brings creative deal construction and experience to a volatile industry of mergers and acquisitions.

 He created the Equity Revitalization™ system 25 years ago when one of his family’s businesses was under-valued.  Chris sold that business for 66% more than the prior offer in 14 months.  His customized incentive programs and proprietary organizational psychology system, coupled with his financial management skills, allows him to turn companies from modest/flat profits, to robust earnings and optimum enterprise values. He has tripled EBITDA while doubling compensation to employees and executives in one of his companies while creating double-digit enterprise value increases for many clients prior to an exit.

 With degrees in Finance and philosophy and a Master's in Organizational Psychology, Chris was educated at Santa Clara University and the London School of Economics. Chris is Series 79 investment banking licensed through FINRA and the SEC, has ten board certifications in cyber intelligence and is a licensed investigator.

Dr. Abhay Trivedi, Strategic Growth Consultant

Ph.D., PMP, CSSBB, PMI-RMP, PMI-ACP, CSM

Dr. Trivedi is a seasoned consultant with over 25 years of experience assessing complex business problems, evaluating alternatives, coaching CEOs, and implementing technology solutions in multiple industries: automotive, healthcare, oil & gas, transportation, entertainment, consumer, electronics and manufacturing services.

His list of clients has included Xerox, BP, Emory University, Robert Bosch, ABB, Siemens, Intel, Motorola and BMW/MG Rover. Aside from his decades of consulting in the US, he has consulted in China, Japan, Malaysia, Singapore, Mexico, Canada and Europe. Considered as one of the leading consultants in the country, Dr. Trivedi's strength is helping organization build lean infrastructures to effectively convert strategy into desirable results and products.  His unique ability to leverage people, process and technology to align with requirements dictated by the market and delivering it faster than the competitors, makes him a consultant in high demand. 

Dr. Trivedi has also been a principal investigator on research for the National Nuclear Security Agency (NNSA).He is highly skilled at formulating business systems strategies to leverage technology investments. In recent years, he has focused on business process assessment, strategic planning, product life cycle management, profit assessment, and six sigma. Dr. Trivedi is PMP certified by PMI; Risk Management Certified, Agile Certified, Six Sigma Black Belt certified and holds a Professional Logistics/Supply Chain Certification from The Logistics Institute at the Georgia Institute of Technology. Dr. Trivedi is also a NASA and Oak Ridge National Labs Research Fellow.Dr. Trivedi is also the author of a highly successful project management book called "The Clueless Project Manager."

Jesse Phelps, Chief Technology Officer

Technology | Software

Jesse is a passionate problem solver focused on guiding organizations to identify key objectives and address them through strategic planning, value alignment, and risk management. As a featured speaker at conferences throughout the United States and the world, Jesse has championed positive team dynamics, SOLID development practices and deep technical understanding. Jesse provides coaching and leadership to technical and business teams on ways to modernize, improve efficiency and deliver better offerings to the market as United Cutwater grows our technology clients towards an optimal exit.

Jesse has worked for multiple organizations, most recently Express Scripts, with $100 billion in revenues when it was acquired by Cigna. He led the Web Engineering team, a team of 100 engineers, through improvements in process, reliability and resiliency, and modernization. Through this, he created a culture of ownership, craftsmanship, and excellence.

Looking to inspire engineers and share his experience with others, Jesse speaks at software engineering conferences around the world on topics such as new programming languages and frameworks, agile methods, cloud adoption, resiliency, and IoT devices. As the vision for our technology clients unfolds, Jesse guides the innovative differentiators to ensure that we maximize the value to the eventual strategic acquirer.

Ben Moll, Strategic Partner, Engagements

Manufacturing | Fabrication | Real Estate

Ben has owned and operated his own businesses from an early age.  He has built several manufacturing businesses from scratch based on the high demand and lack of quality supply in various industries.  Ben sees it as it is and reacts accordingly.  He has advised various business owners on delicate circumstances how to maintain sustainability and competitive advantage in light of critically adverse situations.

Ben’s work in the stone fabrication/installation, steel fabrication and various manufacturing environments allows him to step in to any similar industry and help construct and implement an optimal exit strategy.

Ben focuses 50% of his time consulting for larger manufacturing companies that have faced challenges during the pandemic of 2020 and now face a difficult 2021 economic climate.  He focuses the remaining time on real estate acquisitions, renovations and developments.

Doug Petitt, Executive Vice President

Energy | Technology | Transportation

Doug Petitt has 35 years’ experience in Business in multiple disciplines; primarily in the energy space, manufacturing, B to B Finance and Railcrew Transportation industries. Doug’s roles as President, Executive Vice President and Chief Information Officer have allowed Doug to focus on the growth of a company and paving the road for such growth.   

As the Chief Information Officer for one Energy Holding Company, he was responsible for the technology transformation and creation of a 10-year technology roadmap, which encompassed the move to fully-supported, secure and tightly integrated applications. Doug has also served as the President of a Natural Gas Utility in the Midwest and led the Government Affairs function for an Energy Holding Company where he was responsible for all local, State and National legislative efforts. He also led the customer functions for the Energy Holding Company and its one million customers across two States.

Doug currently serves as the Executive Vice President for the United Companies, the managing partner of United Cutwater, and is a member of the company’s Steering Committee and board of advisors.  United Companies has multiple entities, is made up of nearly 5,000 team members, operates in all 50 states, and Canada and are leaders in the transportation, leasing and financing industries.

Doug’s focus with United Cutwater is to steer engagements across the finish line after a lucrative enterprise value increase.  Either personally filling a key/executive role in the process, or leading a team of specialists accomplishing such, Doug’s diverse and transformational background makes him an integral part of United Cutwater.

Doug earned an Economics degree from the University of Louisville and an MBA from the University of Dayton.He also went through the Tuck Leadership Program at Dartmouth College. He has and does serve in leadership roles on many non-profits, including regional economic development organizations.Additionally, he helps to lead and operate a Professional Golf Tournament – The Korn Ferry Tour Championship Presented by United Leasing & Finance.

Robert Hagnauer, Jr., Vice President

Marketing & Strategic Relationships

Bob Hagnauer has spent more than 30 years developing, implementing and managing brands, brand management platforms and strategic marketing communications programs in both corporate and agency roles across a broad spectrum of business-to-business and consumer business sectors and enterprise sizes.  Bob is an expert in helping guide firms in developing and propagating powerful, revenue-driving value propositions, market positioning, brand identities, message platforms and communications programs.  Working with agency, corporate and institutional organizations, Bob has extensive experience in strategic marketing campaigns and driving revenues in the $100 million range and above for firms including Anheuser-Busch, Monsanto, Kraft Foods, Ralston-Purina, and Maritz, Inc.  

As an outgrowth of his Strategic Marketing role for United Cutwater and its clients, Bob guides our relationships with key strategic partners as we identify the optimum value and optimal timing of exit strategies for middle-market businesses.  We overcome business threats and enterprise value challenges as we bring capital and investment banking expertise to maximize the exit value of our clients’ assets.