Meet our team
Christopher W. Hunt is Co-CEO of Hunt Scanlon Ventures and is considered a leading authority on business trends across the executive search, talent acquisition and recruitment sectors. Chris leverages his relationships with executive search firm founders and management teams as well as those within the private equity and investment banking sectors to develop effective buy and sell side strategies for firms ranging from the largest human capital providers to specialist boutiques.
With an early background in financial services, Chris works side-by-side in partnership with the firm’s ventures clients to help them scale and grow their businesses. He brings strategic advice covering capital investment, venture capital, and a myriad of acquisition consulting services, all with a singular focus on the human capital markets.
In 1988, Chris co-founded Hunt Scanlon Media, a widely respected news, market intelligence, and public relations firm that has played a major role in establishing today’s global human capital industry. His highly sought-after insights and perspectives have appeared hundreds of times in The Wall Street Journal, The New York Times, BusinessWeek, Fortune, Forbes, The Economist and in countless other major business media publications.
Apart from his business accomplishments, Chris is an award-winning journalist, having authored eight books on careers and recruitment trends, including Navigating Your Career, a best-selling business compendium published by John Wiley & Sons. Previously, Chris held senior management level positions with Xerox Credit Corporation, MLC Financial, and Datalease Capital Corporation.
Scott A. Scanlon is Co-CEO of Hunt Scanlon Ventures, which was formed to assist human capital firms realize their full investment potential. Scott has spent the last three years building the firm’s M&A advisory unit, which now offers a full range of critical solutions to guide founders and their management teams to successful exits.
Under Scott’s supervision, Hunt Scanlon Ventures has helped close more than a dozen of the most prominent M&A transactions in the human capital space, including AEA Investors’ acquisition of software recruiting leader Bespoke Partners; ZRG/RFE Investment Partners’ acquisition of culture change consultancy Walking the Talk and sports & entertainment recruiting specialist Turnkey Search; True/ LLR Partners’ acquisition of cleantech recruiting boutique Hobbs & Towne; and the deal that brought cybersecurity recruiting specialist Alta Associates and its sister company Executive Women’s Forum to ShoreView Industries/The Diversified Search Group. These represent just six of the many M&A deals that Scott has spearheaded, with numerous others in a very active pipeline.
Thirty-five years ago, Scott co-founded Hunt Scanlon Media, a widely recognized news, market intelligence, and public relations firm. He is an accomplished journalist and editor. He has co-authored eight popular business and career books and is a frequently quoted expert on recruitment issues in The Wall Street Journal, The New York Times, Crains, The Economist, BusinessWeek, Fortune, Forbes and others. Navigating Your Career, co-written with Christopher W. Hunt, was selected as one of the ‘30 Best Business Books’ of 1999.
Scott has maintained a long and successful business career. Prior to co-founding Hunt Scanlon Media, he has held roles with McLagan Partners and, later, with AON Hewitt. Scott earned a B.A. in History with a minor in Economics from Fairfield University and read Russian languages at Harvard University.
Cody Crook is a Managing Director at Hunt Scanlon Ventures. Reporting directly to the firm’s Co-CEOs, Cody is responsible for co-managing the firm’s investment portfolio, which includes executive search, talent acquisition, private equity, and investment firms. Leading the investment team, he spearheads all fund transactions and maintains portfolio developments. He is also responsible for sourcing, managing and monitoring investments and working with external portfolio managers, analysts and investors on active and prospective transactions.
Cody started his career in recruiting and later joined Accenture as a Business Strategy Manager where he developed organizational and operating models and conducted M&A commercial due diligence for Fortune 500 companies. Following Accenture, Cody served as Head of Strategy & Operations for Hirewell, where he built a modern recruiting tech ecosystem and led multiple acquisitions.
Cody earned a B.A. in English from DePauw University, where he was a member of the varsity football team. He earned his M.B.A. from the University of Chicago Booth School of Business.
Erik Boender is Chief Operating Officer of Hunt Scanlon Ventures. Reporting directly to the firm’s co-CEOs and its Managing Director, Erik is a key member of the firm’s senior management team overseeing critical functions relating to the organization’s ongoing operations and procedures.
In addition to assisting management with long-term, strategic direction, Erik supports the firm’s M&A deal team in a variety of execution and deal-related responsibilities. These include sourcing and target screening M&A deals; leading business development efforts; assisting in the creation of pitch decks to potential clients; preparing engagement letters, NDAs, confidential information memorandums, and process letters; supervising industry reports and investor deck presentations; and managing write-ups for transactions ranging from $3m to $300m in revenue.
His responsibilities cover M&A activity in the lower to middle markets, including a focus on deals with EBITDA between $1m to $60m+ across the human capital markets.
Erik serves in a similar operations role for Hunt Scanlon Media, where he plays an integral part in the day-to-day operations of the business. In this capacity, he reports directly to the firm’s founding partners and oversees the organization’s accounting and finance functions, as well as its expanding market intelligence, research, sales, marketing, industry conference, and social media teams. He has served Hunt Scanlon Media in this capacity since 2018.
Erik is a graduate of Iona College, where he earned a B.A. in Finance.
Drew Seaman is a Managing Director at Hunt Scanlon Ventures. He is responsible for co-managing the firm’s investment portfolio of executive search, talent acquisition, private equity, and investment firms. In addition to sourcing new opportunities and managing the firm’s current investments, Drew leads the technical aspects of client engagements, including valuation and financial analysis and the preparation of investment marketing materials.
Drew began his career in wealth management before joining BMO Capital Markets as an Investment Banking Associate in the Financial Institutions Group. Drew assisted with transaction execution and prepared comprehensive valuation and financial analyses for clients in the specialty finance, asset and wealth management, and insurance sectors.
Drew earned a B.A. in Economics from DePauw University, where he was quarterback on the varsity football team. He earned his M.B.A. with concentrations in Finance and Accounting from NYU’s Stern School of Business.
Christian Franck IV is an Associate at Hunt Scanlon Ventures. Reporting directly to the firm’s Managing Director, Christian plays a pivotal role in tailoring the firm’s research and market intelligence platform to its deal pipeline.
In his professional capacity, Christian conducts expert analysis and provides financial insights on executive search firms and a host of other human capital providers. He works closely with private equity firms and investment banks actively seeking investments across the human capital space.
Christian draws on a robust body of proprietary research, unique to Hunt Scanlon Ventures. His analysis includes how market events impact forward relative returns while he conducts due diligence on industry and company related trends. Christian also provides company-specific research and assists in the preparation of financial models, field research and written reports, and the development of pitchbooks. He also provides competitive analysis valuation and other relevant information based on quantitative and fundamental factors.
Prior to joining Hunt Scanlon Ventures, Christian served as an analyst with the private equity firm Focus Acquisition Partners. He earned a B.A. in Government modified with Economics from Dartmouth College, where he competed as a member of the Men’s Varsity Heavyweight Crew.
Caleb A. Edmundson is Editor-in-Chief of ExitUp, the investment blog from Hunt Scanlon Ventures designed for professionals across the human capital M&A sector. Reporting directly to the firm’s co-CEO and its Managing Director, Caleb also serves as an associate for Hunt Scanlon Ventures, providing robust industry research to support the firm’s investment group.
Caleb also provides company-specific research and assists in the preparation of financial models, field research and written reports, and the development of pitchbooks. He also provides competitive analysis valuation and other relevant information based on quantitative and fundamental factors.
His earlier experience includes serving as a research analyst for One Equity Partners, a New York-based middle-market private equity firm with $10 billion in assets under management focused on transformative combinations within the industrial, healthcare and technology sectors in North America and Europe.
Caleb earned a B.A. in Government and Middle Eastern Studies from Dartmouth College, where he competed as a member of the Men’s Varsity Heavyweight Crew. He is currently a prospective member of the 2024 U.S. Olympic Rowing Team.
Bogdan Belincevic is an Associate at Hunt Scanlon Ventures. Reporting directly to the firm’s Managing Director, Bogdan plays a critical role developing research and investment models in support of the firm’s sell-side transactions.
Bogdan co-leads the deal team’s internal due diligence efforts, focused on overseas and international transactions. This includes analyzing industry prospects, and securing data on growth, competitors, and market share options. Bogdan focuses his efforts on company fundamentals and financial statements as well as assisting in the preparation of marketing pitchbooks, generating models for evaluation metrics, performing financial statement analysis, and building company forecast models.
Prior to joining Hunt Scanlon Ventures, Bogdan held various professional roles with ABB and Servotech in Belgrade, Serbia. His other experience includes DataArt in New York. He previously led the research team at Hunt Scanlon Media as an intern.
Bogdan is a graduate of the Thayer School of Engineering at Dartmouth College, where he earned a B.A. in Engineering modified with Economics, a B.E. in Mechanical Engineering and a Masters in Engineering Management. While at Dartmouth, Bogdan competed as a member of the Men’s Varsity Heavyweight Crew. Before that, he served as a member and Team Captain of The Kent School’s Varsity Crew, where he was twice named “Oarsman of the Year.” Bogdan is a native of Serbia and speaks three languages.
Lily Fauver is Senior Editor of Hunt Scanlon Ventures’ human capital market intelligence reports. Reporting directly to the firm’s co-CEO, Lily also serves as an associate for Hunt Scanlon Ventures, providing robust industry research to support the firm’s investment group.
Using AI-powered software, Lily creates customized content across a number of key industry sectors, including private equity & venture capital, talent acquisition, executive search, employee engagement, culture, RPO, interim solutions, and leadership consulting, with a primary focus on the human capital markets. She also plays a leading role in developing human capital surveys and analyzing proprietary data. Lily also creates robust social media marketing campaigns and works in close collaboration with the company’s conference and special events team which develops and hosts flagship human capital conferences in New York, San Francisco, and London as well as webinars and podcasts.
Her prior professional experience includes serving as a community & partnership manager with Spot & Tango as well as serving in a business development role with the venture backed AI company, IFIVEO. During her tenure at NBC Sports in 2021-2022, Lily and her team won an EMMY® Award for “Outstanding Interactive Experience – Event Coverage” for the Games of the XXXII Olympiad.
Lily earned a B.A. Cum Laude in English modified with Russian Literature from Dartmouth College.
