John Grafer
John is a member of Satori’s investment committee, a board member of ALS, Formulife, Hobo, Lovesac (Nasdaq: LOVE), and Zorch, and a former board member of California Products Corporation, FWT, Longhorn Health Solutions, and SunTree Snack Foods.
Prior to joining Satori in 2009, John was senior vice president at Giuliani Partners, where he executed middle-market private equity investments in a strategic alliance with Bear Stearns Merchant Banking (now Irving Place Capital). Prior to joining Giuliani Partners in 2003, John was a member of the mergers and acquisitions group at Credit Suisse First Boston, a member of the proprietary trading group at J.P. Morgan Chase, and a team member at Ernst & Young, where he earned his C.P.A. John has also assisted a family office with early stage investments in sustainably managed companies, including Honest Tea.
John has embraced entrepreneurial and operational roles throughout his career and “knows what it’s like to make payroll.” At Giuliani Partners, he served in a senior operations role and advised the chairman regarding all issues typically managed by a chief operating officer. He also served as the firm’s chief financial officer. John co-founded a wide-area networking company, where he developed infrastructure to scale the business from an entrepreneurial organization to a professionally managed enterprise, and served in a lead operations role at a startup joint venture.
John is an elected member of the board of directors and executive committee of Americans For Fair Taxation® (FairTax®) and a first-round judge for the McCloskey Business Plan competition at the University of Notre Dame. John received a B.B.A. from the University of Notre Dame and an MBA in finance from the University of Chicago Booth School of Business.
John enjoys unique and adventurous challenges. He rode his bicycle from New York City to Montreal, earned his HAZMAT certification to remediate an anthrax-contaminated building, and survived a physical fitness course designed to simulate SEALs Hell Week.