Thomas J. Strauss
Managing Director
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Tom Strauss, founder of Strauss Capital Partners LLC, has over thirty years of investment banking and operational experience. Before establishing Strauss Capital, Mr. Strauss was for two years the Chief Financial and Corporate Development Officer of MaxMD, a global provider of .md domain names. Prior to his leading operating role at MaxMD, Mr. Strauss was a Managing Director of Rosetta Partners LLC, a New York private investment/merchant bank. From 1989 to 1995, Mr. Strauss was Co-Head of the Mergers and Acquisitions Group of Barclays de Zoete Wedd, Inc., the U.S. investment-banking arm of Barclays Bank PLC, and from 1983 to 1989, he was in the Investment Banking Division of Lehman Brothers. In those capacities, Mr. Strauss has been involved in identifying, structuring, and executing transactions, including financings, acquisitions and divestitures, whose aggregate value exceeded $4 billion. Mr. Strauss also acted as Chairman of Abaris Books, Inc., a New York based publisher of art reference books.

Mr. Strauss is a graduate of the University of Rochester (Cum Laude) and received a Juris Doctor degree from American University Law School, where he served as Senior Editor of the Law Review.



Richard M. Cohen
Managing Director
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Richard M. Cohen’s career as an investment banker has spanned over 20 years, during which time he has played major roles in both public and private companies. Since 2003 Mr. Cohen has served as a director of Dune Energy, Inc. a publicly traded energy company (AMEX:DNE) for which he served as Chief Financial Officer from November 2003 to April 2005. He is also currently serving as Secretary of Dune. In addition, Mr. Cohen has served as a director of Helix Biomedics (OTCBB: HXBM) and as the Chief Financial Officer of ABC Funding (OTCBB: AFDG). During 1999 Mr. Cohen served as the President of National Auto Credit, a publicly traded sub-prime auto finance company. From 1992 to 1995 Mr. Cohen was the President of General Media, then a $150 million international diversified publishing and communications company. At General Media, Mr. Cohen managed 300 employees; raised $200 million in public and private financings; and secured international licensing rights for General Media. From 1984 through 1992, Mr. Cohen was an Investment Banker at Henry Ansbacher, Furman Selz, where he specialized in Mergers & Acquisitions, Public Equity Offerings, and Restructurings. From 1980 through 1983, Mr. Cohen was a Vice President of Corporate Development at Macmillan.

Mr. Cohen is a Certified Public Accountant (New York State). He received a BS from The University of Pennsylvania (Wharton) and an MBA from Stanford University.



Michael Bruynesteyn
Senior Advisor
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Mike Bruynesteyn is a 20 year veteran of the automotive industry. In 2006 Mr. Bruynesteyn joined Lehman Brothers as a Managing Director in its proprietary investment group. His focus was on automotive-related investments, including rental companies, suppliers, automakers, trucks and energy storage. His particular emphasis was on new technologies and vehicle electrification, and he oversaw a portfolio of Chinese automotive suppliers. For eight years prior to his buyside experience at Lehman, Mr. Bruynesteyn was the senior sellside research analyst for the automotive group at Prudential Securities. In this role, he received numerous awards for stock selection and research quality from publications such as the Wall Street Journal, Fortune Magazine and Institutional Investor. The foundation for Mr. Bruynesteyn’s automotive investment career was built during eight years with General Motors, spent in overseas and domestic assignments spanning pricing, sales, budgets, capital planning and investor relations. He started his career in 1986 and gained his first exposure to alternative powered vehicles working as an engineer with the British Columbia Research Corporation.

Mr. Bruynesteyn graduated as a Mechanical Engineer from the University of British Columbia. He earned an MBA from the London Business School and also studied at the Ecole Des Hautes Etudes Commerciales outside of Paris. Mr. Bruynesteyn is an active member of the Society of Automotive Engineers.



Bradley C. Burde
Senior Advisor
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Brad Burde has over a decade of experience in investment management and corporate America. He has seven years of experience in investment analysis and portfolio management, most recently at Sandler Capital Management and previously at Sanford C. Bernstein & Company. In the mid-nineties he co-founded Netcast Communications, a pioneering internet media company which he also served as Chief Financial Officer. He holds an MBA from The Tuck School of Business at Dartmouth (Tuck Scholar) and a BA, magna cum laude, from The University of Pennsylvania.



Jeffrey Lehman
Senior Advisor

Jeff Lehman has over 20 years of investment banking experience. Mr. Lehman is the founder of Aramar Capital Group, LLC, a boutique financial advisory firm. Until 2000, Mr. Lehman was a member of both the Board of Directors and Executive Committee, and Director of Corporate Finance, of JWGenesis Financial Corp., an investment bank acquired by Wachovia Corporation. Before joining JWGenesis in 1996, Mr. Lehman was a Managing Director in the Corporate Finance Department at Ladenburg, Thalmann & Co. Inc., where he served as the Director of Mergers and Acquisitions and was a member of the firm's Board of Directors, Management Committee, and Commitment Committee.

Mr. Lehman holds an M.B.A. with distinction from the Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania, as well as a B.S. in Economics, summa cum laude, from Wharton.



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