Neil Keegan

Neil P. Keegan is the CEO, Co-Managing Partner, and Co-Founder of Marlinspike.

Prior to founding Marlinspike, for eleven years he was the CEO and Chief Investment Officer for Roanoke Capital Management (RCM), a single-family office based out of Los Angeles, CA. Neil has deep investment expertise in portfolio management and alternative asset investing, to include private equity, venture capital, and real estate. In the venture space, he has led minority General Partner investments in one venture debt fund and two venture equity funds, as well as an early co-investment in SpaceX.

Before he began his role at Roanoke, Neil spent seven years at Goldman, Sachs & Co. At Goldman, he worked in the Equites Division in New York and in the Investment Management Division in Los Angeles. Neil joined Goldman after earning his MA in International Relations with a concentration in International Finance from The Johns Hopkins University School of Advanced International Studies (SAIS) in Washington, DC. Preceding graduate school, Neil served for six years on active duty as a Surface Warfare Officer in the United States Navy.

Neil graduated from the United States Naval Academy in Annapolis, MD, with a BS in History. Neil was a defenseman for the Division I Varsity Lacrosse team from 1991-1994. Neil is a Board Member for Yellow Ribbon Fund, a charitable organization which provides support to injured service men and women and their families upon return from the battlefield. Neil is also a trustee for the U.S. Naval Academy Foundation (Athletic and Scholarship Program). Neil holds his Series 7 license and is a registered representative with Roberts & Ryan.  Neil resides in Chevy Chase, MD and is the proud father of twin girls.

Mislav Tolusic

Mislav brings a wealth of deal sourcing, due diligence, negotiations, and portfolio management experience to the team. He has extensive experience working with management teams, taking corporate actions, and driving strategic outcomes for shareholders. He has served in various capacities on boards of Hoverfly Technologies, Trinity Cyber, WhiteFox Defense Technologies, and PreVeil.

Mislav’s prior work experience comprises of roles as a Chief Investment Officer (CIO) and Partner at AIM13|CVP Partners, an investment vehicle co-managed by Crumpton Global and AIM13, Chief Financial Officer (CFO) for the Crumpton Group, Senior Portfolio Analyst with Highland Capital Management, a Dallas, TX-based alternative asset manager, Strategy consultant for Dalekovod, a Croatia-based transmission and distribution line manufacturer, and Internal Strategist at Airbus UK.

He has been involved in many notable transactions including FusionX (sold to Accenture), Orbis Operations (sold to McNally Capital), Hoverfly Technologies, Chainalysis, PreVeil, Trinity Cyber, Slingshot Aerospace, National Resiliency, Penda Bedliners (sold to Resilience Capital Partners), Moll Industries (sold to Riverbend Industries), NexTech Aerospace and creation of UniDal, a joint venture between Dalekovod (a Croatia-based transmission and distribution line manufacturer) and Unior Group.

He also launched an investment arm for the Crumpton group and pioneered a hands-on approach to venture investing.

Mislav has a BS Degree in Aerospace Engineering from the University of Zagreb, Croatia. He graduated first in his class and was awarded a Dean’s Medal. He came to the United States in 2003 and received his MBA from Vanderbilt University. He is a proud American citizen, currently living in Alexandria, VA with his wife and two young boys.

Chip Walter

Chip brings a combination of unmatched private enterprise and public sector expertise to the Marlinspike team. He is a recognized expert in the Intelligence Community for leveraging start-up technology and bringing innovative initiatives to impact a wide array of mission areas within the Federal government.

Chip’s previous work experience includes roles as a Senior Director of Northrop Grumman’s Ventures and Partnerships program, lead for CIA’s innovation and technology sourcing strategy from the venture capital and startup community via In-Q-Tel (the strategic investment arm of CIA), and Senior Executive and Director of Congressional Affairs at the CIA.

He managed enterprise-wide technology investment and sourcing programs focused on investments in AI, cyber, data analytics, processing and compute, new space economy, aerospace, low-cost sensors, and unmanned air and undersea vehicles. As a direct report to Director of CIA, he also served as the primary interface for CIA with Senate and House Intelligence Committees, Senate and House Appropriations Committee, and Congressional leadership.

Chip is a Naval Aviator and graduate of the United States Naval Academy. He holds a master’s degree in National Security and Strategic Studies. His senior aviation operational tours included command of Maritime Patrol and Reconnaissance Squadron ONE (VP-1) and U.S. SIXTH Fleet Task Force SIXTY-SEVEN (CTF-67). Additionally, he deployed to Kabul, Afghanistan as the Legislative Advisor to the ISAF Commander, General David H. Petraeus. Chip’s shore tours included Office of the Chief of Naval Operations, Joint Chiefs of Staff, and U.S. Central Command.

An avid cyclist, Chip and his wife, Kim, reside in Damascus, Maryland.

Tim Buzby

Tim brings his financial experience, a keen attention to detail, and a thorough understanding of accounting and regulatory reporting, compliance, and internal controls to the Marlinspike team.

He held many key leadership positions including serving as a CFO and CEO of Breakout Capital, Controller, CFO and CEO of Federal Agricultural Mortgage Corporation, also known as Farmer Mac (NYSE – AGM), auditor and financial services consultant with KPMG, and CFO for two additional regional residential mortgage companies.

During his tenure, Tim was instrumental in Famer Mac’s growth from $3 B in assets to more than $17 B and under his leadership as a CEO, the company experienced a stock price appreciation from $3 to $75.

Tim received his Bachelor of Business Administration degree in Accounting from James Madison University and earned his Certified Public Accountant license from the State of Virginia. Tim lives in Alexandria, VA with his wife, their three children and the family dog.

Nick Snoad

Nick leads due diligence and valuation underwriting processes, manages deal flow, and supports the development of research, analysis, strategy, and marketing for Marlinspike.

Prior to joining Marlinspike, he worked as a management consultant for West Monroe Partners (who acquired the consultancy firm Pace Harmon, where he was an employee). As a consultant for West Monroe and Pace Harmon, Nick worked with the Carlyle Group in their Global Portfolio Solutions team.

Nick played a pivotal role in creating value of over $3B in cost and performance improvement functional areas such as Healthcare, Commercial Real Estate, Supply Chain, Procurement, Insurance, and IT optimization as part of this team. As a commissioned U.S. Army officer, in response to the Russian invasion of Ukraine beginning 2014, he played a critical role in enabling increased collaboration and collective deterrence missions across the NATO alliance.

Nick led units and teams in the 44th Expeditionary Signal Battalion (ESB as a commissioned officer in the U.S. Army Signal Corps).

Nick is a graduate of United States Military Academy at West Point and received his MBA from the University of Virginia Darden School of Business. He lives in Alexandria with his wife, Emily.

Charles Carmakal

Charles is Mandiant Consulting’s CTO and oversees a team of incident responders, analysts, and security consultants that have helped thousands of organizations respond to complex security breaches orchestrated by foreign governments and organized criminals. Charles led the teams that discovered and responded to some of the most impactful security events, including the SolarWinds supply chain attack and the Colonial Pipeline cyber disruption. Charles has over 20 years of experience helping organizations become more resilient to cyber attacks.

Charles has significant experience helping Fortune 500 organizations build and enhance security programs to combat advanced attacks.  He provides strategic security guidance to executive leadership and boards of directors.

Charles has testified before Congress on multiple cybersecurity topics. He is regularly interviewed by mainstream media organizations and has been included in hundreds of television and print stories on cybersecurity topics.

Prior to joining Mandiant, Charles served in various leadership roles within PwC in the U.S. and Australia.  He received Bachelor’s and Master’s degrees in Decision and Information Sciences from the University of Florida.

Phil Cooper

Founder of Pine Island Capital Partners, Phil has over 30 years of experience in investment management and private equity as an entrepreneur, principal investor, fund investor, and secondary investor and a co-holder of US patents in investment technology. Phil conceived, founded, and led the Goldman Sachs Private Equity Group to over $11 billion in assets and international prominence. While a Partner of Goldman Sachs, he served on the Goldman Sachs Asset Management Risk Committee, Operating Committee, and Technology Committee. Phil has advised investment firms and fiduciary investors on investment policy, governance, strategy, and tactics including asset allocation, risk management, and alternative investments.

George Covucci

George is a retired partner of the Arnold & Porter law firm. His practice focused in the areas of real estate transactions, bankruptcies and workouts, tax matters, and financial matters. He assisted domestic and international clients with high-end real estate transactions, including sales and purchases of commercial real estate, distressed assets, development and leasing projects, structuring of joint ventures and limited partnerships involving tax, partnership, and financial issues. In addition, he handled disputes among owners of real estate-based assets.

Since his retirement, he has served on a number of for profit and not-for-profit Boards and has provided consulting services for two long standing clients.

Sample Representative Matters:

• Gudelsky Group. Representation in connection with various real estate and other financial investments, including tax-free division of assets with other family members; merger of two family-owned real estate entities; tax-deferred sales and other services. He now serves as the trustee or manager for all assets and entities owned by a branch of the Gudelsky family valued in excess of $150 million.
• Danjaq. He serves as a trustee and consultant for the family which owns the rights to the James Bond film franchise.
• The Beach Company. Serves as an independent director for this Charleston, SC-based family-owned real estate company which owns a portfolio of real estate in the southeast region of the U.S. and is engaged in the development of numerous apartment projects.
• Snell Construction Corporation. Serves as an independent director of this Arlington, VA-based real estate company which owns a portfolio of multi-family apartment complexes in the DC metropolitan area, Raleigh, Tampa, Sarasota and Orlando, together with several development sites.

Andrew Makridis

Andrew Makridis retired from the Central Intelligence Agency at the end of 2022 after four years as its Chief Operating Officer—the number three position at CIA–culminating a thirty-seven year career at the center of the key national security challenges facing our nation.

Andy started his career as a graduate fellow in the Directorate of Science and Technology.  He spent four years in the Directorate of Operations and over a decade in the Directorate of Intelligence working and then leading the technical analysis of Russian, Chinese, Iranian, and North Korean strategic weapons and space capabilities.

After 9/11 Andy was selected by CIA Director George Tenet to be President Bush’s daily intelligence briefer, serving in that capacity for three years.  In 2004 he was chosen to lead the Agency’s worldwide nuclear threat analysis.  Andy held senior positions for both Director Michael Hayden and Director David Petraeus; first leading the Agency’s East Asia, Africa and Latin America analysis office and then running the Agency’s foreign weapons analysis center.

Andy served on Director John Brennan’s Agency modernization panel, leading to the most sweeping CIA reorganization in fifty years.  He became the first Director of the Weapons and Counter Proliferation Mission Center—one of the largest and most complex organizations at CIA and the Intelligence Community’s premier center for the analysis of nuclear, chemical, and biological weapons threats.

In 2017 Director Mike Pompeo asked Andy to run the investigation into the CIA WikiLeaks data breach (aka Vault 7)—the largest and costliest security breach in Agency history.   His work led to a significant restructuring of CIA’s cybersecurity posture.  Later that year he was named CIA Associate Deputy Director for Science and Technology.

In 2018 Director Gina Haspel selected Andy to be the Agency’s Chief Operating Officer.  In that role Andy led the day-to-day running of an agency equivalent to a Fortune 200 company.  His responsibilities included planning and managing CIA’s budget, personnel, resources, security, information technology, and its multi-year strategy.  Andy successfully navigated CIA and its workforce through the complexities of COVID while maintaining the Agency’s primary mission as the US first line of defense. As a result of Andy’s work CIA was the first federal Agency to acquire vaccine for its workforce.

Andy is known within CIA for being an outstanding leader and mentor.  He was the first recipient of CIA’s George H.W. Bush award for leadership. Andy received the John A. McCone award for engineering excellence.  He is a recipient of the CIA Intelligence Medal and three CIA Directors each honored him with the Director’s award.  Andy is a three-time recipient of the Presidential Rank Award— the nation’s highest honor for civilian service.

Andy is from Rochester New York, the son of Greek immigrants.  He has a B.S. in engineering from the University of Buffalo.  His computer science M.S. work was done at the Rochester Institute of Technology.  Andy will serve as a Kissinger Senior Fellow at Yale’s Johnson Center for the Study of American Diplomacy in 2023.  He is involved in charity work and is on the board of the Council for Intelligence Issues.  Andy is married and has two children.

James Rooney

Jamie brings over two decades of experience working in wealth & asset management, investment banking and private equity.

Most recently, he served as Chief Executive Officer of Corient Capital Partners one of California’s leading RIAs with over $5 billion of AUM. Jamie led Corient in its sale to CI Financial, a Canadian public company consolidator, in 2022. While at Corient, Jamie led the development of its entry into the alternative investment space and over four years deployed approximately $2 billion into select investments across the alternative investment space.

Prior to Corient, Jamie was CEO of Freestone Capital Management, Seattle’s leading RIA which currently manages over $9 billion of AUM. While at Freestone he oversaw the investment of $300 million in a variety of commercial real estate opportunities for a series of distressed real estate private equity vehicles.

He has worked for and with several private and public companies in the U.S., United Kingdom, France and Spain. He has been involved in multiple public and private financings and M&A transactions that have represented over $1 billion in transaction size. Additionally, he has led numerous principal investment transactions totaling over $2 billion in private operating companies, real estate and other investment opportunities. Jamie also has served on the Board of Directors of multiple companies throughout his career.

Jamie earned an MBA from UCLA’s Anderson School of Management and a BA magna cum laude in Economics and History from Washington University in St. Louis.

Jamie resides in Rancho Santa Fe California.

Darryl Smith

Darryl is a Managing Director, Operations at Pacific Avenue Capital Partners, a middle market private equity firm.

In his role, Darryl assists in acquisition due diligence, carve-outs and provides oversight of new investment opportunities. He works alongside PACP deal teams as well as portfolio company senior leadership to ensure maximum value creation. Finally, Darryl develops overall process and procedure for PACP operations.

Prior to PACP, Darryl was the President, Portfolio Operations of Skyview Capital, where he led Skyview’s operations team and served on the investment committee. Darryl began his private equity career as Vice President, Operations with Platinum Equity where he led diligence, carve-outs and portfolio operations for several investments. Darryl began his business career as a Senior Manager with Accenture where he advised clients on a broad range of strategy and supply chain issues.

Prior to starting his business career, Darryl served his country as an officer in the U.S. Marine Corps. He currently services as the Chairman of the Salvation Army Dallas Shelter Advisory Board, USA Boxing Board of Directors and U.S. Naval Academy Athletic and Scholarship Board of Trustees.

Darryl has an MBA in Finance from Wharton and BS in Economics from the US Naval Academy.