Our Team & Leadership
All successful entrepreneurs and investors with a great track record: 50+ investments, 9 exits, and $3.5B in market capitalization and exit values.
Leadership Team
Brian Doughty
Brian entered the med/tech world with Johnson & Johnson where he won numerous sales and leadership awards. Next, he joined Medtronic where he created an evidence-based sales process for a new division that grew from $0 to over $800M in annual revenue. After Medtronic, Brian held executive positions in 3 straight successful start-up companies, one of which sold for over $320M and the other 2 went public with a combined market capitalization of $2.1B. Brian started Delta Force Group Inc. to leverage his unique talent for moving from Current State to Desired State across multiple firms and industries. He has created a unique process of “cracking the code” to solve problems, reach goals and install the systems and processes along the way to make the solutions stick. A gifted speaker and educator, Brian speaks on each of the topics and tools. Brian earned his Masters Degrees in Business Administration, Public Administration and Psychology from Michigan State University and Oakland University.
Eric Dobson
Eric Dobson is a seasoned entrepreneur and investor who has raised over $25 million in capital for multiple projects. He leads the Sheltowee Angel Group, which operates as a syndicate of angel groups in the Southeast and Midwest. Dr. Dobson has lead investments in 25 companies in the last eight years with several successful exits. Dr. Dobson started his career in geography, computer science, wireless technology, and big data analysis.
Dr. Dobson founded two transportation security companies that performed extensive work for the Homeland Security Advanced Projects Agency under the Department of Homeland Security and was recipient of the National Laboratory Technology of the Year for 2004. He was awarded the 2011 Pinnacle Business Award for Innovator of the Year. He was a founding member of the Appalachian Investors Alliance, a syndicated network of eight microventure funds from New York to Mississippi that invested $9M in 27 companies that created $90M in co-investment between 2017 and 2020.
Dr. Dobson received his Bachelor of Arts from the University of Tennessee, his Masters of Science from the University of South Carolina, and his Doctoral degree from the University of South Carolina.
Alex Day
Alex Day is a serial entrepreneur who has assisted in raising over $100 million in capital for multiple projects. He has managed two venture capital funds, including the Commonwealth Seed Capital Fund and the Owensboro Emerging Ventures Fund. Under Alex’s management, both of these funds provided positive returns for their investors. Alex’s academic background is in physics, mathematics and Russian Language. Alex started his professional career as a Technical Liaison with Audax, Inc., a pharmaceutical research and discovery company. Alex went on to serve as Vice President of Business Development and President of Audax, where he assisted in the development of pharmaceutical and nutritional products and dramatically increased the sales of the company. In 2000, Alex founded Sheltowee LLC and assumed the management of the Commonwealth Seed Capital Fund, which invested over $100 million in the Commonwealth. Alex was instrumental in securing $50M in capital for Kentucky BioProcessing Corporation, which developed plant-based pharmaceuticals utilizing tobacco as production platform to express therapeutic proteins. KBP was purchased by RJ Reynolds and provided a substantial return for its investors. He served as the Economic Development Liaison for the Ambassador of Cambodia to the United States and Mexico. Alex received a Bachelor of Science from Western Kentucky University and attended the Leningrad Polytechnic Institute.
Jon Ricketts
Jon Ricketts, MBA, JD is the Vice President of Business Development for Integrity Laboratories and a seasoned veteran of the medical device industry. He previously held positions with EnteroMedics, Medtronic, and 3M Health Care. Jon brings 12 years of experience in leadership roles within medical device and biotechnology organizations. His specific areas of expertise in commercial strategy, healthcare economics, regulatory and compliance, and value based systems make him uniquely suited for his role evaluating commercialization of medical devices for Sheltowee. In addition to his industry experience, Jon is an active angel investor and venture capital partner with an emphasis on emerging healthcare technologies. Jon received his Bachelors of Arts from Middle Tennessee State University, his Masters of Business Administration from Bethel University, and his Juris Doctor from Lincoln Memorial University.
Scientific Advisory Board
Fund I has created a Scientific Advisory Board that will assist the Leadership Team in the evaluation of potential Portfolio Company investments.
George Adams
George Adams, MD is a board-certified Interventional Cardiologist at UNC Rex Hospital and Clinical Associate Professor of Medicine at the University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill, USA. He is currently a clinical associate professor of medicine at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill and is the Director of Cardiovascular and Peripheral Vascular Research for North Carolina Heart and Vascular Research at UNC Rex Hospital. Adams is well-published in the field of complex peripheral vascular interventions in critical limb ischemic patients, development of regional systems of care for STEMI, and nuclear cardiology techniques. He has led a robust clinical research program enrolling patients in approximately 100 peripheral, carotid and coronary trials and has served as national primary investigator in 6 trials. As an international leader in peripheral vascular techniques, he travels worldwide performing procedures and formally training physicians, bioengineers, and industry representatives. He is involved with device and biologic development for the advancement of peripheral vascular disease treatment and amputation prevention. He completed his internal medicine internship and residency at the University of Texas Southwestern and his general cardiology fellowship, interventional cardiology fellowship and master’s in health sciences at Duke University. Most recently he earned his Masters of Business Administration from the Kenan-Flagler Business School at UNC Chapel Hill.
Gerald Carlson, Ph.D.
Dr. Jerry Carlson retired as the managing partner in a consulting practice which focused on new business development, new product development, technology transfer, and intellectual property managementFrom 2001-2010, he was the Senior Technology Advisor to The Center for Advanced Technology and Innovation in Wisconsin, a unique business incubator which used strategic licensing as a development strategy. Between 2005 and 2012, he served as consulting R&D director for a chemical specialty start-up through its $220 million IPO and directed technology acquisition and product development for a variety of companies. In addition to his consulting practice, he was Vice President for Research at Venture Incite, a venture capital operating company headquartered in Oak Ridge, Tn. During his industrial career, Dr. Carlson led development teams which introduced over 70 new chemical specialty products worldwide. He was a member of S.C.Johnson’s worldwide R&D executive committee and led three of Johnson’s four R&D divisions, responsible for products such as Edge®, Pledge®, Raid®, and OFF! ® as well as a products in the food and drug categories, including Aveeno® brands. Dr. Carlson has had budget responsibility exceeding $24 million, led scientific staffs from 3 to 130 individuals, and spent 3 years in Shanghai leading Johnson’s Asian laboratories. He was the CTO of Rydelle Laboratories, a Johnson subsidiary. Earlier, Dr. Carlson was an Associate Consultant in Gastroenterology and Assistant Professor of Medicine and Biochemistry at the Mayo Clinic. Dr. Carlson is a member of the American Gastroenterological Association, the American Chemical Society, AAAS, and other scientific organizations and honoraries including Sigma Xi and Rho Chi. Dr. Carlson has been a member of the NASA Great Lakes Industrial Technology Center (GLITeC) Board of Advisors, and a mentor for the Tech2020 incubator in Oak Ridge as well as an invited lecturer at the University of Tennessee in the Law School and the Engineering MS/MBA program. He is a member of the BoD of General Graphene. His professional publications include papers in Science, the New England Journal of Medicine, Gastroenterology, the Journal of Laboratory and Clinical Medicine, the Journal of Medicinal Chemistry, and the Journal of Organic Chemistry. He is a graduate of Indiana University and the University of North Carolina.
Tony Das, MD
Tony Das, MD FACC is a board-certified interventional cardiologist specializing in complex coronary, peripheral vascular and valvular heart disease. Dr. Das is founder and CEO of Connected Cardiovascular Care, the first cardiology practice in the US dedicated to offering personalized remote physiologic monitoring for cardiovascular patients. He also serves as the Regional Medical Director, Peripheral Vascular Interventions, Cardiac Innovation and Digital Health for the Baylor Scott and White Heart Hospital, Plano, Tx. Dr. Das is an active member of the American College of Cardiology (ACC) committee for Innovation in the Wearables and Devices Section. Additionally, Dr. Das is a founding member of the VIVA (Vascular Interventional Advances) meeting and serves as consultant to several medical device startups. Dr. Das graduated from Baylor Medical School, did his medical residency at Harvard Massachusetts General Hospital and Fellowship at the Texas Heart Institute.
Jihad Mustapha
Jihad Mustapha, MD, FACC, FSCAI is a board-certified interventional cardiologist who specialized in endovascular therapy for critical limb ischemia (CLI). Dr. Mustapha graduated from Wayne State University and St. George University School of Medicine. He went on to medical residency at Spectrum Health Hospital in Grand Rapids, Michigan from 1996-1999. He has completed Fellowships in both Cardiology (1999-2002) and Interventional Cardiology (2002-2003) at Louisiana State University School of Medicine. Dr. Mustapha currently practices at Advanced Cardiac and Vascular Centers for Amputation Prevention in Grand Rapids and Lansing, Michigan. He is the Founder and Director of the AMPutation Prevention Symposium (AMP). Dr. Mustapha is the Founder and a Board Member of the CLI Global Society. He has multiple publications, including those on critical limb ischemia and amputation prevention. He has a special interest in medical device inventions and holds many patents.
Mahamood Razavi
Mahamood Razavi, MD, FSIR, FSVM is a board certified interventional radiologist and the Chief Medical Officer of Neuravi. He is the founder or co-founder of 6 current or past medical device companies with an exit value of over $600,000,000 to date and the recipient of 39 US & International patents. He has been the Chief Medical Officer of 5 early stage companies focused on development and commercialization of medical devices. He has served on the Board of Directors and/or the Scientific and Strategic Advisory Boards of several major device and biotechnology companies. In addition, Dr. Razavi is a current or past adviser to 37 startup medical device companies to date with 14 exit/IPOs. He is a partner in two venture funds focused on early & mid-stage biotech/medtech companies and consults for several venture capital firms. He is currently the Director of the Center for Clinical Trials and Research at St Joseph Heart and Vascular Center in Orange, California. Prior to this, he was an Associate Professor at the Stanford University Medical Center and the Director of the fellowship program at the Vascular & Interventional Section. He had also served as the Acting Chief of Interventional Radiology at the Stanford University Hospital. He has authored or co-authored over 300 scientific publications, abstracts, and book chapters and has been the recipient of many honors and awards from various professional medical societies. He has been the recipient of several industry, institutional and federal grants and has given over 600 invited lectures at National & International meetings. He has served as the Global Principal Investigator in 8 sponsored clinical trials and been the site PI of another 50 multicenter studies. Dr. Razavi has served as the Editor and on the Editorial Boards of several scientific journals. His scientific work has been featured in over 100 national & international radio, television, and press news articles and programs.
Steve Tisdell
Steve Tisdell has over 30 years of worldwide experience in corporate finance, mergers & acquisitions, and business operations. Mr. Tisdell has significant public company experience as a senior financial executive including M&A transactions, corporate governance, turnaround management, debt financing (including: financing and refunding of industrial revenue bonds and hospital bonds), equity financing, syndication of multi-bank complex credit facilities, mezzanine income tax strategy and corporate compliance. Mr. Tisdell has significant industry experience in retail, real estate, healthcare, and not-for-profit higher education. Over the last ten years, since being a corporate financial executive, Mr. Tisdell has done significant consulting, representing both debtors and creditors. As CFO, he was instrumental in the turnarounds of Brooks Drug Stores (1983), Service Merchandise (1987) and Maison Blanche Department Stores (1992). Prior to founding Tisdell Associates, Mr. Tisdell was President of The Compliance Partners, Principal at Centre Health Partners, Morris Anderson & Associates and Bridge Associates. He focused on restructuring, capital raising, due diligence, corporate governance, compliance issues with SOX and healthcare, universities, real estate and retail as various roles as interim CFO and CRO, and strategic advisor to both debtors and creditors. He remains an active angel investor interested in early-stage startups. Mr. Tisdell specializes in investing or financing of public and private equity, convertible debt, public bonds both taxable and tax free, large (over $1 billion) and small bank syndications. He is proficient at tax restructuring to advantage multistate and multinational companies. He is a n investor in multiple healthcare and healthtech related startups.