Our Team
Our team is a diverse group of individuals that bring expertise from the intersection of investing, financial technology, and operational strategy.
ERIC TAYLOR
FOUNDER, CEO & CIO
Eric Taylor is the Founder, CEO and CIO of Trident and oversees all day to day operations. He also leads the firm’s Investment Committee and makes final decisions on all additions to the portfolio. Mr. Taylor began his career at Goldman Sachs, where he spent four years in the Special Situations Group, focused primarily on lower and middle market companies. After Goldman and prior to Trident, Mr. Taylor was a Portfolio Manager (credit) and Originator (equity) at Brightwood Capital, a lower-middle market asset manager that invests debt and equity primarily in companies with $5 million to $75 million of EBITDA. Mr. Taylor holds an AB from Harvard University with Honors and is a CFA Charterholder.
NICHOLAS WOOD
CO-FOUNDER, CTO
Nicholas Wood is the co-founder and head of technology at Trident. At Trident, Mr. Wood leads the development and integration of software to make the entire sourcing and investment process data-driven and more efficient. Prior to Trident, Mr. Wood was a product lead at Addepar. Addepar provides software to family offices and wealth advisories that service ultra-high net worth clients. While at Addepar, Mr. Wood led the team developing features and products for core product functionality around portfolio analysis, reporting and financial analytics. During that time, Addepar expanded to over $1 trillion in assets being managed on its platform. Prior to Addepar, Mr. Wood was a business designer at IDEO and a product manager at Amazon. Mr. Wood holds an MBA from Harvard Business School and Masters and Bachelors of Engineering from the University of Toronto.
ARON BETRU
CHIEF STRATEGIC OFFICER & COO
Aron Betru is the Chief Strategic Officer and Chief Operating Officer at Trident. Mr. Betru leads the Strategy & Operations Team, which includes post investment value creation and social impact initiatives for Trident and portfolio companies. Mr. Betru is also a member of Trident’s Investment Committee and its Executive Committee. Mr. Betru has more than 20 years of financial sector, strategic consulting, and social impact experience. Prior to Trident, Mr. Betru was the Managing Director of the Milken Institute’s Center for Financial Markets, leading a financial markets public policy team with a focus on financial innovations for social good. Mr. Betru was a member of the steering group for the Blended Finance TaskForce launched by the Business & Sustainable Development Commission as well as Co-Chaired the Partnership for Lending in Underserved Markets, a joint initiative with the U.S. Small Business Administration. Prior to the Milken Institute, Mr. Betru was the Co-Founder and Chief Executive Officer at Financing For Development, specializing in innovative financing solutions for international development. Mr. Betru’s extensive experience includes economic development roles at the United Nations Foundation, TechnoServe and Dalberg Global Development Advisors as well as private sector experience at McKinsey & Co. and Goldman Sachs. Mr. Betru is a member of Board of Directors for Calvert Impact Capital, National Bankers Community Alliance, African Leaders Malaria Alliance, and FHI Foundation, as well as an Senior Advisor to Milken Institute, Amazon’s Black Business Accelerator, and Wells Fargo MDI Investment Committee. He holds an MBA from Columbia University, an MA from Johns Hopkins SAIS, and a BA in Economics and International Studies from Northwestern University.
ALEXIS RATHBORNE
MANAGING DIRECTOR, INVESTMENTS
Alexis Rathborne is a Managing Director of Investments at Trident. Since joining Trident in 2019, Ms. Rathborne leads the Investment Team with Mr. Taylor. She oversees the sourcing, underwriting and acquisition of portfolio companies at Trident. Post-close, Ms. Rathborne works with the Strategy Team in implementing value creation strategies. She currently sits on the board of all Fund investments. Prior to Trident, Ms. Rathborne led direct investing at Clear River, a single-family office in New York City, with a focus on restaurant investments. At Clear River, in addition to investments, Ms. Rathborne ran strategy implementation and oversaw operational overhauls at the portfolio company level. Ms. Rathborne successfully built the largest franchisee in the northeast of a publicly traded QSR company. Previously, she was an investment banker at KeyBanc Capital Markets covering middle market consumer companies, with a specific focus on retail, apparel and personal care. Prior to Keybanc, Ms. Rathborne was at Four River Holdings, an investment firm focused on buying and building companies in frontier markets. Ms. Rathborne holds an AB from Harvard College and an MBA from Columbia Business School.
KEVIN OBARA
DIRECTOR, INVESTMENTS
Kevin Obara is a Director of Investments at Trident, joining in 2022. Prior to Trident, Mr. Obara was Head of Corporate Development at Handshake, a high growth software company in the human capital and education spaces. In this role, he led M&A, partnerships, strategic investments and investor relations. Prior to Handshake, Mr. Obara was a Manager of Corporate Development at JUUL Labs. Prior to JUUL, Mr. Obara was a hedge fund Senior Associate at Citadel covering financial services and housing sectors. Prior to Citadel, Mr. Obara worked at the Carlyle Group focusing on growth equity and buyout investments across the major African economies. Prior to Carlyle, Mr. Obara sourced and executed growth equity investments across the financial, technology and business services sectors at FTV Capital. Mr. Obara started his career in investment banking at Goldman Sachs. Mr. Obara holds a BS in Mathematics and Finance from William Paterson University and an MBA from Harvard Business School.
BEN ROSENBAUM
VICE PRESIDENT, INVESTMENTS
Ben Rosenbaum is a Vice President on the Investment Team at Trident, joining in 2019. Prior to joining Trident, Mr. Rosenbaum was an Analyst at Vista Equity Partners in Chicago, where he executed investments across the capital structure in software, data, and technology-enabled businesses. Mr. Rosenbaum holds a BA in Philosophy, Politics & Economics from the University of Pennsylvania.
VANESSA ENI
ASSOCIATE, INVESTMENTS
Vanessa Eni is an Associate on the Investments Team at Trident, joining in 2023. Prior to joining Trident, Ms. Eni was an Investment Banking Associate in the Mergers and Acquisitions (M&A) group at Bank of America, where she was responsible for executing transactions across all industry groups. Prior to Bank of America, she was an Investment Banking Analyst at Scotiabank covering companies in the Oil & Gas and Renewable Energy sectors. Ms. Eni holds an MS from Rice University and a BA from University of Pennsylvania.
RAGINI CHAWLA
SENIOR ASSOCIATE, STRATEGY
Ragini Chawla is an Associate of Strategy at Trident, joining in 2021. Prior to joining Trident, Ms. Chawla was an Associate at the Milken Institute’s Center for Financial Markets in Washington DC, where she developed and facilitated implementation of strategies for the Institute’s Access to Capital program, specifically around strategic, innovative financing nationally and internationally. Ms. Chawla holds a BA in Economics and International Relations from New York University.
SHANA WILLIAMS
EXECUTIVE ASSISTANT
Our Advisory Board
The Advisory Board provides strategic assistance, advice and connections to resources to assist the Trident team.
RAYMOND McGUIRE
FORMER VICE CHAIRMAN, CITI
TAMEKA ALSOP
CHIEF ADMINISTRATIVE OFFICER, MOODY’S CORPORATION
SHELLEY STEWART, JR.
CHAIRMAN, BILLION DOLLAR ROUNDTABLE
MAURICE JONES
CEO, ONETEN
Richelieu Dennis
CEO and Executive Chairman, Essence Ventures
FREADA KAPOR KLEIN
FOUNDING PARTNER, KAPOR CAPITAL
CLARENCE OTIS
LEAD DIRECTOR, VERIZON & FORMER CEO, DARDEN RESTAURANTS
Interested in joining the team?
We are always looking to expand our team. If you have a background in private equity investment or building financial technology and engineering please reach out to us here.
