TEAM

DAVID OLSON

  • As the Founder of Wind River Capital, David leads the company’s vision with a strategic approach to building, nurturing and serving client and investor relationships. His insights on investment banking and private equity are honed from a series of high-profile positions held at world-renowned firms before establishing his own.

    Previously, he was the Vice Chairman of the Financial Services Group of Piper Sandler where he led initiatives across investment banking, fixed income and equities. Before that, David was Founder, Chairman and CEO of River Branch Capital which was sold to Piper Sandler in 2015. 

    David was also the Chairman and CEO of Guggenheim Merchant Banking, the private equity arm of Guggenheim Capital in New York and Chicago.

    His financial expertise spans the globe. He was a partner of The Yucaipa Companies, an investment firm with holdings in Asia, Europe and the Americas and a founder of Primus Pacific Partners, a private equity fund that invests in financial services companies in Asia. David was Credit Suisse First Boston’s (CSFB) Chairman of Investment Banking for the AsiaPacific region. Prior to CSFB’s merger with Donaldson, Lufkin & Jenrette (DLJ), Mr. Olson held a number of senior executive positions at DLJ, most recently serving as Chairman and CEO of the firm’s Asia-Pacific region, co-head of DLJ’s Financial Institutions Group, and the firm’s Chicago investment banking office for most of the 1990s. He worked on several landmark transactions in corporate finance in Asia from IPOs of state-owned enterprises to complex M&A transactions involving international alliances, and continues to maintain a strong network across that continent.

    He was a board member at the Shirley Ryan AbilityLab and now sits on the board of the Brain Research Foundation in Chicago. David holds a J.D. from Northwestern University School of Law, where he is a Life Trustee and a B.A. from Wesleyan University, where he is a Trustee Emeritus.

PATRICK KELLY

  • Pat is a financial strategist who turns ideas to action. He brings significant leadership experience, having served in a variety of CEO- and Board-level advisory capacities as well as a principal investor. He began his career with David in the investment banking group at Donaldson, Lufkin & Jenrette and rejoined him at the founding of River Branch Capital in 2010. Their dynamic work together at Wind River Capital now proves that three is a charm.

    Prior to joining Wind River Capital, Pat served as a Managing Director in investment banking and fixed income services at Piper Sandler after its 2015 acquisition of River Branch Capital. There he was responsible for identifying and executing new product initiatives across its financial services clients and fixed income product platform. Prior to its acquisition, he oversaw River Branch Capital's execution of capital markets and strategic advisory assignments for depository institutions, specialty finance and financial technology companies. 

    Pat’s investment banking experience includes leveraged finance and equity capital markets at DLJ and the Global Industrials group at Credit Suisse. His investing experience includes work at Sagard Capital, an investment subsidiary of global insurance holding company Power Corp. of Canada, and Aragon Global Management, an investment fund previously affiliated with Tiger Management. 

    He received his undergraduate degree in Mechanical Engineering at Yale University and his MBA with Honors from The University of Chicago Booth School of Business. He is also a CFA Charterholder.

KAREN GRECO

  • Karen has dedicated her legal career to practicing at the intersection of law and financial strategy. Before becoming co-owner of Wind River Capital with David, she served as General Counsel and Member of CM Wealth Advisors, a multi-family office providing investment, consulting, tax and estate planning services to ultra high net worth clients. Previously, she was in private practice, developing wealth transfer strategies with particular emphasis on complex tax planning and business success planning. As part of this discipline, she also focused on corporate governance and planning for clients with closely-held businesses.

    Karen holds a J.D. from Cleveland Marshall College of Law and received a B.A. in Political Science from John Carroll University in 1979. 

    ​​Karen currently serves on the Rainbow Babies and Children’s Hospital Foundation Board of Trustees where she is a member of the Executive Committee and chairs the Advocacy Committee which lobbies in Washington DC and Columbus, OH for funding for children’s hospitals. She has served on the Board of Trustees of St. Martin de Porres High School, an inner-city coeducational Catholic school in Cleveland. Karen holds the national designation of Accredited Estate Planner™ which was awarded during her years of private practice.

KWONSIK PARK

  • Kwonsik brings an emphasis on analytic finance and accounting strategy to his work with Wind River Capital. Prior to joining Wind River Capital he gained extensive experience at the nation’s top public accounting firms and financial institutions including Ernst & Young and PriceWaterhouseCoopers, where he was an audit manager focusing on various industries including financial services, manufacturing, and retail clients. Kwonsik began his banking career at Wells Fargo Securities, where he was an investment banking associate in its financial institutions group as well as a compliance audit lead for Wells Fargo’s wholesale banking division.

    Kwonsik is a CPA and an expert in US GAAP. Also, he is currently a CFA Level 3 Candidate. He received his MBA from The University of Chicago Booth school of Business with concentration in analytic finance, economics, international business and entrepreneurship and also holds Master’s and Bachelor’s degrees in accountancy from University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. 

    A passionate advocate for youth education, he has served in various leadership roles for Junior Achievement Chicago where he is currently a junior Board member.

FRANKIE SARANOW

  • Frankie’s decade of strength in high-end executive support and project coordination combined with her keen sense of relationship management are Wind River Capital’s secret weapon. Her sharp eye for detail oversees our human resources and daily business administration, assuring seamless business operations on behalf of our professionals and clients. Previously, she was an Investment Banking Assistant at Piper Sandler supporting the Financial Services Group and an Executive Assistant to the CEO at River Branch Capital, a boutique investment banking firm. 

    Frankie holds a B.A. from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign and lives in the Chicago area with her husband and two children.

NAHUEL MALPARTIDA

  • Nahuel brings experience in private equity, operations, and M&A across global markets. Prior to joining Wind River, he served as Managing Director at Unilode Aviation Solutions, a private equity–backed aviation services company, where he led a multi-unit P&L and drove post-acquisition integration and strategic transformation initiatives. His industry background spans aviation, fintech, healthcare, and industrial services.

    He currently serves on the boards of a fintech and a healthcare company in South America, and is a Teaching Assistant in Entrepreneurial Finance and Private Equity at the University of Chicago Booth School of Business. Nahuel holds an MBA from Booth, a Master’s in Finance, and dual degrees in Industrial Engineering.

    Passionate about macroeconomics and capital markets, Nahuel spends his personal time researching monetary policy, trading strategies, and the intersection of macro trends with asset pricing. He also enjoys playing chess, cooking, and water sports such as surfing and scuba diving. He is based in Chicago.

SENIOR ADVISORS

SCOTT MEADOW

  • Scott Meadow brings more than four decades of experience across private equity, venture capital, M&A, and entrepreneurial finance. Over his career, he has served as a General Partner or senior investment professional at William Blair Venture Partners, The Frontenac Company, The Sprout Group, and The Edgewater Funds, where he evaluated or led more than sixty investments across healthcare services, consumer products, retail, and technology-enabled businesses. His representative investments include Coventry Corporation, HealthSouth, Sunrise Senior Living, Aspen Education Services, The Sports Authority, and CompUSA.

    Scott’s experience spans the full spectrum of the deal lifecycle — from sourcing and diligence to operational oversight, value creation, and exits. He has worked through multiple market cycles and brings seasoned judgment to complex transactions, having “seen and done it all” across early-stage ventures, leveraged buyouts, and strategic M&A processes. He continues to advise private equity firms, family offices, and operators on strategy, governance, and capital allocation.

    In addition to his operating and investing career, Scott is the Kaplan McCormack Clinical Professor of Entrepreneurship at the University of Chicago Booth School of Business, where he has taught over 10,000 students in Entrepreneurial Finance, Private Equity, and Commercializing Innovation.

    He joins Wind River Capital as a Senior Advisor, bringing deep investment expertise, seasoned M&A judgment, and an extensive network across the private capital ecosystem.

CHARLIE OLSON

  • Charlie Olson is Senior Advisor to Wind River Capital and the co-founder and CEO of Pando. Charlie’s professional background spans private equity investing, policy analysis and speechwriting, and 8+ years as an operator of a venture-backed fintech company. He brings a unique perspective as an investor and CEO / operator to help Wind River Capital’s clients manage complex situations.

    Charlie’s career began working with Bob Grady at Cheyenne Capital, a $700M private equity firm based out of Jackson, WY. Concurrently, Charlie worked in search fund investing for David Dodson’s Futaleufu Partners and was a speechwriter and policy analyst for two governors.

    More recently, Charlie co-founded Pando, a venture-backed fintech company based in San Francisco, CA. Pando helps professional athletes, entrepreneurs and other high-potential individuals better manage their career risk and builds bespoke financial products and services tailored to clients’ bespoke needs. Pando has raised multiple rounds of financing, both equity and debt, from premier investors, and works with clients expected to earn over $10B.

    Charlie holds three degrees from Stanford University, including a B.A. in International Relations, an M.A. in US History and an M.B.A. Charlie was named to Forbes’ 30 Under 30 and lectures at Stanford’s Graduate School of Business. He resides in Mill Valley, CA with his wife and two young children and loves spending time outdoors skiing, mountain biking and fishing.