Meet Our Management Team
James Marciano,
CEO
James is the Founder of Tuck Advisors. Like all CEO's, his job is to set the strategic direction of the company, hire the best people, give them the tools they need to be successful, and then get out of their way.
​
Early on in his career, James worked as a management consultant. Then, in 1995, at the dawn of the commercial Internet, he sold everything he owned and moved onto his brother’s floor in NYC to start TheSquare, one of the first social networks on the web. In 1997, he went on to found Refer-it, the first directory of affiliate/ associate programs for e-commerce companies, which was acquired by internet.com in 1999. He then founded Return Path, a global email solution services company acquired by a private equity firm in 2019.
​
In 2001, James became a hands-on angel investor and funded a dozen startups from 2001-2015. Disappointed with the Silicon Valley M&A advisors he’d hired, James actively managed the sale of two of his portfolio companies, HurryDate and GigMasters, to public companies (Spark Networks and XO Group, respectively). In 2016, he decided to use his experience selling companies to help other entrepreneurs by forming Tuck Advisors.
​
James graduated from Harvard College (’88) and Dartmouth Business School (‘93). He’s been quoted in the Wall Street Journal and New York Times and has spoken at business schools, including Harvard, Wharton, and Columbia. He enjoys life in New Hope, PA, with his wife, two children, two convertibles, and three motorcycles.​​​
Cindy Lee,
​​Chief of Staff
Cindy ensures operations run smoothly at Tuck Advisors.
She brings over a decade of leadership experience in the education space, leading school operations at a high performing NYC charter school. Cindy was also formerly a management consultant at Bain & Company.
Passionate about mission-driven work, Cindy is dedicated to helping Tuck Advisors' clients scale impactful ideas. She has a B.S. in Management Science and Economics from MIT. In her free time, Cindy enjoys traveling, meditation and volunteering with NYC-based nonprofits.
_edited.jpg)
Kashif Ilyas,
Director of Technology
Kashif oversees all technical aspects at Tuck Advisors and is passionate about building software systems that scale effortlessly and perform reliably under pressure.
With over a decade of experience at technology companies, he brings deep expertise in scalable web applications, distributed systems, cloud-native software, and high-performance computing. He is committed to writing clean, dependable code and designing robust, future-ready solutions.
Kashif holds a Master’s degree in Distributed Software Systems from Technische Universität Darmstadt, Germany. Outside of work, he enjoys traveling, hiking, mountain biking, discovering new cuisines, and occasionally unwinding with Latin dances.
Brendan Balthis,
Client Team Leader
Brendan works with sell-side clients at Tuck Advisors and is passionate about helping entrepreneurs receive the recognition and reward they deserve for building their businesses.
He previously worked in Boston conducting health policy research at Harvard Medical School and Massachusetts General Hospital, where he co-authored a paper published in the Journal of the National Cancer Institute.
Before that, Brendan graduated as Valedictorian from Dartmouth College, earning degrees in Economics (with High Honors) and Biology modified with Mathematics. He now lives in Nashville, where he enjoys reading, running, and serving in his local church.
Khunsha Javed,
Communications Manager
Khunsha handles communications at Tuck Advisors and is passionate about all things digital media.
Before​ working at Tuck, she worked at various incubators and accelerators in Turkiye and Pakistan, working closely with tech startups in different industries including health, holistic wellness, and edutainment.
​
She received her Master's degree in Film, Media, and Communication Studies from Beaconhouse National University while interning and mentoring at PlanX and MIT Enterprise Forum in her home country.
Our Advisors
Dr. Mike McKenna
Dr. Mike McKenna has over 20 years of experience in public education and currently serves as the Chief Academic Officer in one of Pennsylvania's largest school districts. He is a former teacher, reading specialist, and principal and his school leadership has earned prestigious accolades, including the National Blue Ribbon Award and Title 1 Distinguished School recognition.
Mike also has significant experience in higher education, having created and taught courses for various universities focusing on leadership development and instructional innovation. Additionally, he has served as an advisory board member for various educational start-ups and non-profits.
At Tuck Advisors, Mike leverages his diverse expertise and entrepreneurial mindset to drive client development for both buy-side and sell-side clients. He is passionate about building strategic partnerships with founders and leaders in the education sector, tailoring and personalizing the M&A process to meet their unique needs.
Manjit Sareen
A serial entrepreneur and EdTech leader, Manjit co-founded Natterhub, an award-winning platform for children's online safety and education, now part of the £500M+ Twinkl Group.
Under her leadership, Natterhub reached 80+ countries and won multiple accolades, including a BETT Award for Transformational Impact.
With deep expertise in EdTech, HealthTech, longevity, and impact-driven investments, Manjit brings a wealth of knowledge in startup strategy, advisory, and consultancy. Manjit is very aligned to our vision and misson working with startups having a positive social impact, especially in education and holistic wellness.
Rich Steinle
In a 30-year career spanning enterprise and entrepreneurial ventures, Rich has served as CEO and/or co-founder of multiple organizations committed to healthcare transformation - with primary emphasis in challenge/turn-around roles.
Rich has led start-ups through a wide continuum of funding strategies from “boot strap” to corporate strategic funding to Angel and institutional venture capital. He has partnered with founders to steward their vision through restructuring, recapitalization and growth journeys and built de novo capabilities for large corporate parent organizations.
​
Prior to focusing on entrepreneurial ventures, Rich began his career in
Accenture’s Government Services portfolio, serving in leadership roles for new client development and turnaround/rescue for solutions in Child Protective Services, Benefit Eligibility and Workforce Development.​
Contact
We want to help you execute your M&A options. Let's connect. (The password is our company name, all lowercase, no spaces.)
Or, talk to us here:
confidential @ tuckadvisors.com