The Mad River Associates team is comprised of experienced and successful professionals who average more than 20 years of in-depth experience. Our successful results are largely due to the synergies we capture having such high quality professionals working together on our clients' behalf.

Bob Sahlman
Managing Partner

Bob Sahlman is President and Founder of Mad River Associates.   Prior to 1998, Mr. Sahlman managed a team of seventeen professionals for Coldstream Real Estate Advisors, a commercial real estate brokerage firm in Bedford, New Hampshire. After retiring from that business in 1993, he went on to manage real estate investment entities in New England. After successfully selling the Sahlman family's rural telephone business, Topsham Telephone Company in 1998, Mr. Sahlman joined a thirty-year old main street brokerage firm called Country Business. The primary objective of joining Country Business was to find a manufacturing investment opportunity for the Sahlman family interests. After locating a suitable opportunity, Mr. Sahlman left Country Business in late 1998 to start Mad River Associates.   He has a B. S. in finance from George Washington University with three years of additional graduate studies in real estate and urban development at American University.

Brian Degen
Managing Director

Brian Degen joined Mad River Associates as a Managing Director in October, 2006. He has an accomplished and diverse general management background in senior leadership roles with large multi-national corporations and small entrepreneurial start-ups. Brian has over twenty-four years of operating experience in a wide variety of industries and functional areas including operations, finance, sales and marketing, business development, information technology, and corporate administration. Prior to joining Mad River Associates, Brian founded a management advisory business working with companies to identify and overcome their major constraints to growth and profitability. He’s been the Chief Operating Officer of two Vermont companies, was a founding member of an Internet-based start-up company, launched the eCommerce division of International Data Corporation, and built the electronic publishing division at Fidelity Investments. Brian began his career with six years in high-tech manufacturing at Data General Corporation where he held numerous corporate and plant-level positions. Brian earned an MBA degree and a BS degree in Operations Engineering - both from the University of Michigan.  

John Freyhof
Managing Director

John Freyhof has over fifteen years of direct investment and advisory experience and joined Mad River Associates as a Managing Director in June 2003. Prior to joining Mad River Associates, Mr. Freyhof co-founded TRF Urban Growth Partners, a $50 million fund specializing in socially responsible investments in middle-market manufacturing and service businesses.   Mr. Freyhof has been involved in assisting companies with fundraising, business plan development, strategic marketing and new product development as an advisor, board member and investor. From 1997 - 2003, Mr. Freyhof was responsible for originating and managing investments in a portfolio of fifteen technology, manufacturing, software and service companies as a Managing Director at PNC Capital Markets and TRF Urban Growth Partners. From 1987 - 1997, he served as an advisor to nearly 300 early stage technology companies who subsequently went on to raise over $500 million while serving as Director of Venture Development at a Carnegie Mellon University spin off called the Enterprise Corporation of Pittsburgh. Mr. Freyhof holds a BS in accounting, cum laude, from Syracuse University and an MBA from the Graduate School of Business at the University of Pittsburgh. He is also a registered investment representative.  Mr. Freyhof manages the Mad River Associates Philadelphia office.

Stephen Gill
Managing Director

Stephen Gill joined Mad River Associates as a Managing Director in November, 2008. Steve has an accomplished career in technology software and hardware business development spanning 25 years.  He brings a wealth of experience in growing businesses from early stage startups through liquidity events.  Mr. Gill has been involved in assisting companies with early stage investment, development and growth funding and successful exit strategies, M&A activity, MBOs and LBOs.  Prior to joining Mad River Associates Mr. Gill held executive management positions with Atreus Systems Corp., Ubiquity Software Corp., Anda Networks Corp. and Newbridge Networks, Inc.  Mr. Gill has a B. S. degree in Economics from Northwestern University.

David Parsons
Managing Director

David B. Parsons, Managing Director, is based in the Hanover, NH office.  He is a futures and options industry veteran, who joined Mad River Associates to lead its expansion and to increase overall deal flow. Before joining MRA, David held senior executive positions focusing on managing and building trading and investment firms focusing on trading of futures and options. Throughout his career David founded and led several investment firms to success. He was a founder and President of Tuscarora Trading, LLC, a Chicago Board of Trade member firm, that specialized in the trading of US Treasury options based upon a proprietary pricing model that he developed.  He also was a founder and President of Tuscarora Capital Management, LLC, a commodity trading advisor.  David formulated this companies guiding investment philosophy, raised management capital and directed the organization to operational excellence.  He was also a founder and President of Augustan Capital Management, LLC, a commodity trading advisor firm. David co-formulated, articulated and implemented a structured, discretionary trading methodology that traded up to 12 future markets. Additionally, David was responsible for the firm’s capital raise from both institutions and high net worth individuals.

David has a BS in Industrial Engineering from Northwestern University and a MBA from the University of Chicago. David is a published author and noted expert in commodities trading. David is married, is an active coach of youth sports and views sports as fundamental tool for teaching and imparting lifelong skills.

Chris Nesbitt
Managing Director
 

Christopher S. Nesbitt, Managing Director works from the Boston office, is a veteran entrepreneur and a former commercial banker. At Mad River Associates, Chris devotes his energies to building relationships with clients in the manufacturing and medical markets. Prior to joining MRA, Chris owned and successfully grew a series of middle market companies and was a co-founder of the Flagship Bank (Worcester, MA).  He is an active private investor. Drawing upon this broad and diverse background he has held senior leadership positions for over 25 years.

• President of SciTech Plastics Group, LLC, Chris was President, CEO and a Director of this $60 million revenue, vertically integrated manufacturer of medical and commercial devices which he successfully sold and is now part of Vaupell Plastics.
• As founder and owner of the Brookfield Group, Chris led it to more than 10 years of annual growth and profits while transforming it from a small single facility into a multiple facility, precision manufacturing firm located throughout New England.
• While Chief Operating Officer of Nanlo Publishing, a regional community newspaper printing and publishing firm, Chris led the firm into new markets and managed all acquisition activities.
• Chris has also been a Senior Vice President at Shawmut Bank, a multi-billion Boston-based bank holding company (now part of Bank of America), a COO of the leading medical device manufacturer of flexible components and a President of a consulting firm.

Chris is a graduate of Boston University with a BA and a graduate of the Stonier School of Graduate Banking. Chris holds two patents for flexible, medical dispensing devices, is a published author and an active community volunteer. He is married and enjoys running, mountain biking and skiing.