Michael Steinmetz

Our brand Le Zuc outgrew the third party factory that manufactured our raw materials and we had to vertically integrate and start producing to ensure the volume requirements we needed. We built this factory in 2012 and quickly brought it to 15 people between General Manager, Scientists, QA and machine operators. It gave us the control over production that we needed to ensure we could launch the brand on a global scale. Currently Sweet Valley SAS, sells the brand in Colombia, Venezuela (though Distribuidora DanMic) and Chile. Our current plans are to expand beyond these countries to other latin american regions and Mexico.

Distribuidora DanMic, CA is a brand management company that distributes food products all over Venezuela. We successfully built and positioned 3 brands that grew in popularity as innovative, unique, value added products and quickly became the leaders in their categories. Our flagship product Le Zuc (www.lezuc.com), is a stevia based zero calorie sweetener, that took over "the sugar free" category beating Equal, Splenda and Truvia. Our unique marketing around seeing the "sweet side of life" positioned us as a lifestyle brand out beating the other brands who focused on selling facts and attributes and got into constant pricing wars. We bootstrapped the business and grew it over 4 years to 40 employees all over the country with a run rate of several million dollars before stepping down from the day-to-day, handing over the reins and becoming an active board member. Brand Management Company, focusing on developing food brands in Latin American Companies.

I worked in the office of Los Angeles, which unlike its NYC counterpart where everyone is focused on one industry or one particular vertical, gave me the opportunity to work across different industries and different disciplines. I advised clients on debt financings, share repurchases, initial public offerings, mergers, reverse mergers, acquisitions, divestitures and leveraged buyouts. Developed comprehensive modeling experience including leveraged buyout, discounted cash flow, accretion/dilution, merger, divestiture and IPO models Selected Transaction Experience: - Approximately $415 million Leveraged Buyout of EL Pollo Loco, Inc. by Trimaran Capital Partners - Sale of Telmar Network Technology, Inc. to Warburg Pincus

Multimission Data Management Support Team: - Verified that division deliverables were well planned, staffed, and adequately funded - Assessed cost and scheduling progress with emphasis on meeting those commitments - Provided operational and analytical support for the Multimission Data Management Team - Supported data accountability, database audits, and project archival on JPL critical missions - Worked on the testing bed of the Mars “Rover” and worked directly with senior engineers on testing of software