Team

Seasoned professionals applying their experience for your success.

MIC

Michael I. Connolly

Founder and CEO – Atlas

Michael’s passion is to help companies build value. He is currently the Chair and CEO of Talent Engines - a premier legal search firm with a proprietary Talent Acquisition Platform powered by AI. Talent Engines growth will be driven by a network of experienced legal recruiters. Atlas Digital Partners, serves clients by offering the following solutions: Venture Development, Corporate Revitalization, and select Strategic Advisory Services. Michael is the Co Founder of Silicon Y’All – the premier event in the Southeast for SaaS and Internet CEOs. He’s inspired by SaaS leaders and recently revitalized Varsgen – a SaaS company - that helps online merchants detect and protect online credit card fraud. Michael has led, founded and exited several digital media companies; including the sale of ElderCarelink to QuinStreet. He started his career with a leading global consulting firm McKinsey and Company where he assisted Global Fortune 500 companies with profit improvement initiatives. He later served as Vice President of Corporate Strategy and Development for American Express, where he incubated a number of key business development projects; such as American Express Tax and Business Services. Michael has led revitalizations efforts for both private and public clients such as Insignia Systems and Trammell Crow. Michael’s diverse digital and traditional experience makes him a valuable advisor to senior leaders. He has held several CEO leadership roles in Internet media, multi-unit franchising, financial services and healthcare industries including Great Clips,RegikonalCompanies, Jamba Juice Midwest, BuyerZone, ElderLife Financial Services and MarketBridge. Michael has also served as senior advisor to several AmLaw 200 firms. Michael earned a Bachelor of Arts from Pomona College in History and a Masters of Business Administration with second year honors from Harvard Business School. Michael previously served as the Executive In Residence at Birmingham-Southern College.
I am passionate about building companies and developing people.

ADVISORY BOARD

Experience. Wisdom. Trusted Advisors

About us – VFO

 

JEFFERY STIEFLER

Jeffrey E. Stiefler is a seasoned executive, corporate board leader, and investor based in Rancho Santa Fe, California. He holds a B.A. from Williams College and an M.B.A. from Harvard Business School.
Corporate Leadership:
Stiefler served as President and Director of American Express and as President and CEO of American Express Financial Advisors (now Ameriprise), holding those roles from 1990 to 1995. He later became Chairman, President, and CEO of Digital Insight, leading the company from 2003 until its acquisition by Intuit in February 2007. At Digital Insight, he recruited a new leadership team, refocused strategy on high-growth opportunities, and developed a key partnership with Intuit that led to a successful exit.
Board Experience:
Stiefler has served as Chairman, Lead Director, or Director of more than 20 corporate boards. His most notable board role was as Chairman of Vantiv (2010–2018), the payments company backed by Advent International that later rebranded as Worldpay. He continued as a director through Worldpay’s $35 billion acquisition by FIS Global—the largest fintech deal in history—and then served as Lead Independent Director of FIS until 2023. Other board seats have included OneSpaWorld Holdings, LPL Financial, VeriFone Systems, Taleo (Lead Director, prior to Oracle acquisition), and SquareTrade (Lead Director, prior to Allstate acquisition

ZANE TARENCE

Zane Tarence, Managing Director of Founders Investment Banking’s Internet and Digital Media Practice, is an experienced investment banker, entrepreneur and recognized expert on the growth and monetization of digital media, internet technology and software companies. Over the past 15 years, Zane has led and completed more than 75 technology deals, including facilitating one of the largest sales of a single-person blog in the world.Zane has more than 24 years of experience as an operator, investor and deal maker in the technology arena, and he independently and successfully created and sold two technology businesses to publicly-traded companies. Prior to becoming an entrepreneur, Zane worked at IBM.

JAMIE HUTCHINSON

Jamie Hutchinson is a partner in Goodwin Proctor’s Business Law Department and a member its Private Equity and Technology Companies Groups. Mr. Hutchinson also serves on the firm’s Executive Committee. He practices in the areas of corporate, securities and private equity transactional law, primarily on behalf of private investment funds and their portfolio companies. Mr. Hutchinson is a key contributor to the Goodwin Procter Founder’s Workbench, an online resource for start-ups, emerging companies and the entrepreneurial community. He joined Goodwin Procter in 2006.