Our Team

Duane is the Co-founder of Author Capital Partners. He has 20 years of experience advising and investing in public and private companies large and small.

Duane serves as a Board Member at Author Portfolio Company SilverIP Communications, and serves on the Advisory Board of Author client, ESD Global.

Prior to founding Author Capital Partners, Duane was an investment professional at BDT Capital Partners, a merchant bank focused exclusively on founder- and family-led businesses. At BDT, he played key roles in the firm’s U.S. Middle Market investment and research efforts as well as diversity and inclusion initiatives. He also served as a member of BDT’s ESG working group.

Prior to joining BDT Capital Partners in 2014, Duane was a Toigo Private Equity Fellow at Vista Equity Partners, a private equity firm that exclusively invests in enterprise software and technology businesses. At Vista, he evaluated and executed investments and served in-house at a portfolio company, leading the implementation of several standard operational improvements and helping develop an M&A pipeline.

From 2011 to 2013, while pursuing his MBA, Duane worked within two separate family offices at Fireman Capital Partners and Manasota Capital, supporting each family’s direct investment efforts in the lower middle market.

From 2009 to 2011, Duane served in the Chief Investment Office for the Troubled Asset Relief Program (TARP) at the U.S. Treasury Department where he assisted senior officials in responding to the financial crisis.

Duane began his career as an investment banker at Merrill Lynch, advising clients in the financial services and industrials industries.

Duane earned an MBA from Harvard Business School where he was an MLT Fellow. He earned a BBA in Finance and International Business from the George Washington University. He has also completed several executive education courses including the Investment Banking Institute at the Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania.

He currently serves as an Investor-in-Residence at the University of Chicago Booth School of Business offering insight and advice to current MBA students and serves on the Board of Trustees of his alma mater, Lake Forest Academy. He is also a member of the Economic Club of Chicago.