John Bova is a multi-industry operating executive with 30+ years of experience in private equity, specializing in growth strategy, go-to-market execution, and business transformation. He has served as an independent Operating Partner for firms including HIG Capital, Trivest, THL, Egeria Group, and Emigrant Capital, delivering on critical strategic and growth initiatives across the full investment lifecycle — from diligence and deal sourcing to integration and rapid value creation.
John currently leads Corporate Development and Strategy at Ondas Networks, applying his PE value-creation approach to building a durable business operating model.
Before Ondas, John spent 15+ years in professional services as a strategy and practice leader driving value-creation services for Private Equity, with firms including CohnReznick, RGP, AWS, and Wipfli.
Earlier in his career, John was a senior executive at five privately held middle-market industrial and capital equipment manufacturers, leading global growth and go-to-market strategy — four of which were later acquired by industry strategics.
John holds a BA in Economics and International Relations and an MBA in Marketing and Finance. He is a member of ACG CT, iGlobal, and the Private Directors Association, and serves as a board trustee of the Aloha Foundation. John lives with his family in Fairfield County, CT.
John E. Spencer is a commercial executive, fractional CRO, and founder of Clear Direction, where he works with founder-led and investor-backed companies to build revenue organizations that can grow beyond the founder. His background combines more than 10 years as a U.S. Air Force officer with more than 20 years of commercial leadership across GE, Hubbell, IDEAL Industries, Cree Lighting, FC/SSL Lighting, and Illumitex. He has led sales, distribution, channels, marketing, and broader commercial organizations ranging from emerging businesses to several hundred million dollars in revenue, including managing $450 million in channel sales at Cree and a $238 million distribution business at Hubbell.
John founded Clear Direction Sales Development in 2019 after serving in both large corporate environments and private equity-backed businesses. Today, his work focuses on helping founders, CEOs, boards, and investors strengthen the commercial side of the business: reducing dependence on the CEO or a small number of relationships, establishing a more disciplined sales operating system, developing sales leadership and teams, and creating a revenue organization that is more predictable, scalable, and transferable. His operating experience includes delivering 55% year-over-year growth at Illumitex, 38% annual growth at FC/SSL, increasing Cree stock sales by 86%, and increasing cross-business engagement at GE by 800%.
John lives in Austin, Texas, with his wife of 36 years, and they have three adult children. He serves as President of ACG Austin/San Antonio, has led the ProVisors Downtown Austin group for more than five years, and leads the University of Cincinnati alumni community in Central Texas. He is also active with redM Austin, supporting its work to increase awareness of and combat human trafficking. Across these roles, John remains closely involved in the Central Texas business, investment, professional services, and nonprofit communities.
Steve Hollingsworth is a private equity operating executive and GTM transformation leader with more than 30 years of experience driving commercial excellence and portfolio value creation across technology growth companies and PE-backed organizations. He has been engaged by Riverside Capital Management, Bain Capital, Court Square Capital, and Crosspoint Capital to lead GTM transformation at the company and portfolio level — including a firm-wide mandate at Riverside as Managing Director of Sales Excellence, where he conducted enterprise GTM assessments across the RMCF portfolio, built prioritized value-creation roadmaps, and drove measurable EBITDA improvement across multiple holdings.
As Interim CRO, Steve has stabilized and transformed commercial organizations at four PE backed technology companies — most notably at BioCatch (Bain Capital), where he reversed a significant performance decline, rebuilt the commercial organization from the ground up, and delivered record revenue and EBITDA. His full-time operating track record includes growing K12 Inc. from $36 million to $330 million in revenue through a successful 2007 IPO and delivering 19% year-over-year revenue growth at Neustar during the 2009 recession — while simultaneously improving revenue per sales headcount by 66% and revenue per customer by 28%.
Steve is the founder and principal of Ottimizzi LLC, a GTM advisory firm with 15 years of engagements spanning private equity, cybersecurity, FinTech, EdTech, manufacturing, and professional services. He holds an MBA in Marketing from Regis University and a B.S. in Marketing from Frostburg State University, both Magna Cum Laude.
Scott Hackett brings extensive expertise in go-to-market (GTM) strategy, revenue operations, and private equity partnerships. With over a decade of experience partnering with C-suite executives and portfolio company leadership, he has advised on a wide range of growth initiatives—enhancing commercial effectiveness, unlocking new revenue opportunities, and delivering measurable impact across the value-creation lifecycle.
Hackett most recently served as Principal in the Private Equity Practice at SBI, The Growth Advisory, where he partnered with leading private equity firms and portfolio companies on GTM strategy, commercial diligence, and value-creation initiatives. In this capacity, he served as a trusted advisor on inbound GTM best-practice requests, led SBI’s Private Equity Help Desk—advising 250+ executives across 75+ portfolio companies—and completed 20+ due-diligence engagements with comprehensive financial modeling and strategic recommendations. His performance earned him SBI’s 2022 Full Potential Value Award.
Prior to SBI, Hackett held leadership roles in revenue operations and strategy at high-growth SaaS companies, including Zappi, where he helped redesign the sales process and organizational structure, resulting in a 40%+ increase, and Forrester Research, where he managed the annual $400 million quota-setting process and was selected for the Emerging Sales Leader Program. He began his career in professional services with KPMG and BerryDunn, developing deep financial acumen and client advisory skills.
Hackett’s combination of private equity expertise, revenue operations leadership, and finance background enables him to engage effectively with investment professionals, operating partners, and portfolio company executives. His ability to synthesize complex value propositions—and communicate them to both financial and operational stakeholders—positions him well to drive business development within the PE ecosystem.
Hackett holds an MBA from Boston College’s Carroll School of Management, a Bachelor of Science from Stonehill College, and is a Certified Public Accountant in Maine.
Brian Gustason is an experienced PE Portfolio Operations executive and consultant with 20+ years of growth & operational improvement experience working with independent and PE-backed B2B services and SaaS/technology businesses. As a Partner with Craig Group, Brian provides growth-focused consulting and implementation services to PE firms and their portfolio businesses. Previous experience includes commercial banking experience with Bank of America, strategy consulting experience with Booz Allen Hamilton & PricewaterhouseCoopers, and CEO/COO roles with various B2B services & technology businesses.
Brian earned a B.S. in economics from The Wharton School, University of Pennsylvania, and an MBA from the Said Business School, Oxford (UK). Professional certifications include Revenue Architecture Certification from Winning By Design & NACD Board Director Certification (NACD.US).
Approachable. Strategic. Collaborative. Results Oriented.
Craig Group Partner Ajay Joshi is a seasoned revenue operations consultant with over 20 years of experience enhancing operational and financial performance across sales, marketing, operations, and technology. His expertise spans over 20 industries, with a strong focus on private equity-backed firms in the SaaS, manufacturing, and industrial services sectors.
Ajay’s background includes senior leadership positions at Johnson Matthey, where he led large-scale operations in aerospace, medical devices, and automotive industries. A sought-after consultant, Ajay has successfully guided numerous clients through significant revenue operations improvements, earning a reputation as a hands-on change agent.
He holds a Bachelor of Engineering in Mechanical Engineering from COEP Technological University, a Master’s in Mechanical Engineering from the University of Texas at Austin, and a Master’s in Technology Management from The Wharton School at the University of Pennsylvania.
In addition to his consulting work, he serves as Chair of the Entrepreneur Circle for the Wharton Club of Southern California and mentors startups at USC’s Viterbi Startup Garage.
Ajay’s focus on getting real results and his adaptable leadership style make him a trusted partner for organizations aiming to grow and a core asset to Craig Group.
Joining Craig Group in 2020, Vice President Tricia Eaton is an integral part of the company's remarkable growth and client-focused approach. A graduate of the creative advertising program at The University of Texas in Austin, Eaton has a track record of driving innovative and strategic brand awareness as well as revenue focused initiatives.
Her focus on the synergy between advertising and its resonance with consumers led her to a pivotal role at Starcom in Chicago, managing the $3 billion General Motors account during the digital industry's infancy. Beyond her digital expertise, Eaton has an extensive background in traditional media. From overseeing multicultural media for General Motors to managing Verizon Telecom's evolving media strategy, Eaton's strategic problem-solving approach is an asset.
Additionally, Tricia serves an operations role at Craig Group - streamlining processes, allocating resources effectively, contributing to strategic planning, and ensuring cross-functional collaboration.
Outside work, Eaton balances family life with a passion for photography and community involvement.
Summer Craig is a respected commercial leader and LMM growth expert with a background leading change management and GTM strategies for both Fortune 500 and PE-backed high growth companies.
Her resume includes guiding paid media strategy following global M&As as well as steering strategic growth at HomeAway.com (later VRBO) during the completion of a successful IPO, gaining experience at two major agency holding companies (Omnicom and Publicis), and overseeing marketing and operations at one of the largest privately held distributorships under the Toyota brand.
In 2019, Summer founded Craig Group to lead portfolio companies through pivotal moments of scaled growth with data-driven sales, marketing, and customer success advisory and implementation. Her strategic vision and expertise in marketing, advertising, and behavioral economics shepherd PE-backed companies through cultural shifts and business reorganizations, generating revenue lift and operational improvements.
Summer is a dynamic partner for PE portfolio companies and proudly serves as a board observer or in a board advisory capacity for many Craig Group clients.