Our firm
Innovation.
Growth.
Commitment.
For 20 years, Mountain Group has been built around a set of values that makes us a unique venture partner:
WE LIKE TO COME EARLY AND STAY LATE
We take a long-term approach to venture investing.
WE ARE BUSINESS BUILDERS, NOT FINANCIAL ENGINEERS
We take pride in our background as operators and like to roll up our sleeves.
WE INVEST IN THE AREAS WE KNOW, OFTEN WHERE OTHERS WILL NOT GO
Our sectors of focus are often underserved or underappreciated.
Our belief in these values traces back to our family office roots. Today, we remain the largest investor in our funds to maintain true alignment with our investors in our mission to develop technologies that improve the lives of others.
OUR TEAM
Joe Cook, III
Managing Director
Expertise: Diagnostics, MedTech
Joe Cook, III, a recovering investment banker, is not your average Joe. He brings an earnest energy that seeks to make everything and everyone he works with better and has the uncanny ability to see the big picture and to dive deep into numbers and details. No matter the issue, strategic or tactical, he has the expertise and demeanor to help find the best solutions.
Joe took his Davidson liberal arts education into investment banking at the storied Nashville firm, J.C. Bradford and then to Baird where he led their efforts in Private Equity deal-making, IPOs, capital markets, and understanding what it takes to make a company work. When push comes to shove, he knows that the story matters – but so does the punctuation.
Rob Readnour
Managing Director
Expertise: Animal Health, Drug Development
Rob Readnour has a PhD in Analytical Chemistry from the University of Illinois and leads our large, growing Animal Health sector. Since COVID, lots of ink has been used writing about the incredible importance of animals in our lives, but Rob was way ahead of the curve! He’s spent his entire 30+ year career understanding companion animals (you call them dogs and cats), and protein production animals (chickens, cattle, and pigs). If it barks, purrs, clucks, oinks, or moos, Rob knows what it needs and how to develop it.
Rob had a long and impressive career at Elanco Animal Health, one of the world’s largest animal health companies. He headed their innovation and acquisition of companies like Novartis Animal Health, Lohmann Animal Health, ChemGen, and Janssen Animal Health. Within Elanco, he led efforts to invest in early-stage companies and partner with external funding sources.
The fun thing about Rob is that, while he is a little nerdy, if you join him at an animal health innovation conference, you’ll think you’re with Elvis. Rob knows animal health, and EVERYONE knows Rob. We are glad Rob was ahead of the curve because now, we are too.
Byron Smith
Managing Director
Expertise: Disruptive Technologies
Byron Smith brings a bag of skills that are of high value in early-stage venture capital investing: knowing “what you have to believe” for a startup to be successful, how and when to scale winners, an incredible understanding of consumers, and finally… the ability to blend creativity, strategy, and listening to find a solution where one doesn’t seem possible.
From his strategic planning studies at the University of Chicago, training as an economist at MTSU, and a wealth of industry background from consumer products to the best pizza in town, and from the launch of cell phones to the creation of broadband internet, Byron has an innate ability to find the answer to “what do you have to believe?”. After companies launch, Byron is highly sought after for his expertise in marketing (P&G and Pepsico) and scaling fast-growing companies (Verizon Wireless and broadband internet over cable TV infrastructure). And finally, when stuck in a ditch, as early-stage companies often are, our portfolio company CEOs say that Byron’s creative and strategic mind finds solutions where none seem to exist. It’s no wonder that Vanderbilt’s Owen School had him teach classes such as Launching the Venture and Small Business Management.
Joe Cook, Jr.
Managing Director
Expertise: Drug Development, Diagnostics
Joe Cook, Jr.’s horsepower, common sense, and all-round expertise are unmatched in or out of the venture capital world. When we are meeting with big companies to discuss multiple ideas from disparate fields, they bring in a half dozen experts to cover wide-ranging technologies. We bring Joe. A Rocky Top engineer by training, Joe’s intellectual curiosity and dogged determination have led us to turn failures into successes and to find flaws where others see a perfect picture. A former CEO (Amylin) and a serial founder (Corcept Therapeutics/Ironwood), Joe has successfully led multiple companies to the NASDAQ. But in early-stage venture, not everything works: Joe’s vast experience helps us understand when it’s time to push, and when it’s wise to stop.
Joe grew up at Eli Lilly, and even though he retired early, important parts of the Lilly culture stayed with him and came to us. When Joe opens with “Mr. Lilly used to say…”, we know it’s time to listen. These stories of fairness, faith, company as family, and doing well by doing good have become the bedrock of everything MGP does.
Scott Holmstrom
Venture Partner
Scott Holmstrom has a PhD in Analytical Chemistry and has spent more than 20 years discovering, developing, acquiring, and registering products in the animal health industry. Prior to joining MGP, he led the R&D, regulatory, and external innovation efforts at United Animal Health, a privately held animal health company. Prior to that, he had a long tenure with Elanco Animal Health where he provided strategic direction for the global development of products through external and internal coordination, governance, and resourcing. He received his undergraduate degree from the University of Wisconsin and his Ph.D. from Miami University.
Jay Ferguson
Chief Financial Officer
He’s never climbed K2, but Jay Ferguson conquers a bunch of K1s every year. With a tax accounting masters from the University of Tennessee, Jay is officially our CFO. But really, he’s also our CPA, CTO, CAO, IR guy, family office manager, real estate manager, banker, accountant, controller, HR guy, the guy our Limited Partners call for everything… you get the idea. While some of your partners are off finding the next big idea, Jay is making sure that everything works perfectly. Without Jay, there isn’t a big idea to go find. He’s the oil that makes everything run and the glue that holds it all together.
Jay was an important part of the finance operation during the hyper growth years at Asurion.
Jack Slaughter
Vice President
Jack Slaughter joined MGP in 2019 and focuses on investment opportunities predominantly in the diagnostics and animal health sectors. During his time at MGP, Mr. Slaughter has successfully executed on over 50 financings and transactions across more than 20 companies.
Prior to joining MGP, Mr. Slaughter served as an Investment Banking Associate at Raymond James in Nashville where he focused primarily on the evaluation and execution of M&A transactions. Before Raymond James, Mr. Slaughter served as an Associate at Brookline Capital Markets, a merchant bank in New York focused primarily on Life Sciences. While at Brookline, Mr. Slaughter successfully executed on over 15 financings, including both public offerings and private placements, raising over $300 million of growth capital. Prior to Brookline, Mr. Slaughter started his career as an Investment Banking Analyst at Stephens in New York.
Mr. Slaughter graduated Summa Cum Laude from the University of Mississippi in 2014 with a BS and Masters in Accounting.
Gerard Franks
associate
Gerard Franks joined MGP in 2022 and focuses on evaluating and diligencing investment opportunities as well as supporting and advising existing portfolio companies on their financial, operational and strategic initiatives. Prior to joining MGP, Mr. Franks served as an Investment Banking Associate at J.P. Morgan in New York where he primarily focused on debt financings and capital structure advisory across various sectors, including healthcare, industrials, and transportation. Previous to his role at J.P. Morgan, Mr. Franks was a part of the Risk Division at Goldman Sachs where he served on both the Operational Risk and Capital and Financial Reporting teams. Mr. Franks graduated Cum Laude from Vanderbilt University in 2017 with a BA in Economics.
Joe Cook, III
Managing Director
Expertise: Diagnostics, MedTech
Joe Cook, III, a recovering investment banker, is not your average Joe. He brings an earnest energy that seeks to make everything and everyone he works with better and has the uncanny ability to see the big picture and to dive deep into numbers and details. No matter the issue, strategic or tactical, he has the expertise and demeanor to help find the best solutions.
Joe took his Davidson liberal arts education into investment banking at the storied Nashville firm, J.C. Bradford and then to Baird where he led their efforts in Private Equity deal-making, IPOs, capital markets, and understanding what it takes to make a company work. When push comes to shove, he knows that the story matters – but so does the punctuation.
Rob Readnour
Managing Director
Expertise: Animal Health, Drug Development
Rob Readnour has a PhD in Analytical Chemistry from the University of Illinois and leads our large, growing Animal Health sector. Since COVID, lots of ink has been used writing about the incredible importance of animals in our lives, but Rob was way ahead of the curve! He’s spent his entire 30+ year career understanding companion animals (you call them dogs and cats), and protein production animals (chickens, cattle, and pigs). If it barks, purrs, clucks, oinks, or moos, Rob knows what it needs and how to develop it.
Rob had a long and impressive career at Elanco Animal Health, one of the world’s largest animal health companies. He headed their innovation and acquisition of companies like Novartis Animal Health, Lohmann Animal Health, ChemGen, and Janssen Animal Health. Within Elanco, he led efforts to invest in early-stage companies and partner with external funding sources.
The fun thing about Rob is that, while he is a little nerdy, if you join him at an animal health innovation conference, you’ll think you’re with Elvis. Rob knows animal health, and EVERYONE knows Rob. We are glad Rob was ahead of the curve because now, we are too.
Byron Smith
Managing Director
Expertise: Disruptive Technologies
Byron Smith brings a bag of skills that are of high value in early-stage venture capital investing: knowing “what you have to believe” for a startup to be successful, how and when to scale winners, an incredible understanding of consumers, and finally… the ability to blend creativity, strategy, and listening to find a solution where one doesn’t seem possible.
From his strategic planning studies at the University of Chicago, training as an economist at MTSU, and a wealth of industry background from consumer products to the best pizza in town, and from the launch of cell phones to the creation of broadband internet, Byron has an innate ability to find the answer to “what do you have to believe?”. After companies launch, Byron is highly sought after for his expertise in marketing (P&G and Pepsico) and scaling fast-growing companies (Verizon Wireless and broadband internet over cable TV infrastructure). And finally, when stuck in a ditch, as early-stage companies often are, our portfolio company CEOs say that Byron’s creative and strategic mind finds solutions where none seem to exist. It’s no wonder that Vanderbilt’s Owen School had him teach classes such as Launching the Venture and Small Business Management.
Joe Cook, Jr.
Managing Director
Expertise: Drug Development, Diagnostics
Joe Cook, Jr.’s horsepower, common sense, and all-round expertise are unmatched in or out of the venture capital world. When we are meeting with big companies to discuss multiple ideas from disparate fields, they bring in a half dozen experts to cover wide-ranging technologies. We bring Joe. A Rocky Top engineer by training, Joe’s intellectual curiosity and dogged determination have led us to turn failures into successes and to find flaws where others see a perfect picture. A former CEO (Amylin) and a serial founder (Corcept Therapeutics/Ironwood), Joe has successfully led multiple companies to the NASDAQ. But in early-stage venture, not everything works: Joe’s vast experience helps us understand when it’s time to push, and when it’s wise to stop.
Joe grew up at Eli Lilly, and even though he retired early, important parts of the Lilly culture stayed with him and came to us. When Joe opens with “Mr. Lilly used to say…”, we know it’s time to listen. These stories of fairness, faith, company as family, and doing well by doing good have become the bedrock of everything MGP does.
Scott Holmstrom
Venture Partner
Scott Holmstrom has a PhD in Analytical Chemistry and has spent more than 20 years discovering, developing, acquiring, and registering products in the animal health industry. Prior to joining MGP, he led the R&D, regulatory, and external innovation efforts at United Animal Health, a privately held animal health company. Prior to that, he had a long tenure with Elanco Animal Health where he provided strategic direction for the global development of products through external and internal coordination, governance, and resourcing. He received his undergraduate degree from the University of Wisconsin and his Ph.D. from Miami University.
Jay Ferguson
Chief Financial Officer
He’s never climbed K2, but Jay Ferguson conquers a bunch of K1s every year. With a tax accounting masters from the University of Tennessee, Jay is officially our CFO. But really, he’s also our CPA, CTO, CAO, IR guy, family office manager, real estate manager, banker, accountant, controller, HR guy, the guy our Limited Partners call for everything… you get the idea. While some of your partners are off finding the next big idea, Jay is making sure that everything works perfectly. Without Jay, there isn’t a big idea to go find. He’s the oil that makes everything run and the glue that holds it all together.
Jay was an important part of the finance operation during the hyper growth years at Asurion.
Jack Slaughter
Vice President
Jack Slaughter joined MGP in 2019 and focuses on investment opportunities predominantly in the diagnostics and animal health sectors. During his time at MGP, Mr. Slaughter has successfully executed on over 50 financings and transactions across more than 20 companies.
Prior to joining MGP, Mr. Slaughter served as an Investment Banking Associate at Raymond James in Nashville where he focused primarily on the evaluation and execution of M&A transactions. Before Raymond James, Mr. Slaughter served as an Associate at Brookline Capital Markets, a merchant bank in New York focused primarily on Life Sciences. While at Brookline, Mr. Slaughter successfully executed on over 15 financings, including both public offerings and private placements, raising over $300 million of growth capital. Prior to Brookline, Mr. Slaughter started his career as an Investment Banking Analyst at Stephens in New York.
Mr. Slaughter graduated Summa Cum Laude from the University of Mississippi in 2014 with a BS and Masters in Accounting.
Gerard Franks
associate
Gerard Franks joined MGP in 2022 and focuses on evaluating and diligencing investment opportunities as well as supporting and advising existing portfolio companies on their financial, operational and strategic initiatives. Prior to joining MGP, Mr. Franks served as an Investment Banking Associate at J.P. Morgan in New York where he primarily focused on debt financings and capital structure advisory across various sectors, including healthcare, industrials, and transportation. Previous to his role at J.P. Morgan, Mr. Franks was a part of the Risk Division at Goldman Sachs where he served on both the Operational Risk and Capital and Financial Reporting teams. Mr. Franks graduated Cum Laude from Vanderbilt University in 2017 with a BA in Economics.