Mr. Morgenstern is the Founder and Managing Partner of Blue Mesa Partners. He serves as the Senior Advisor and/or Board member for growth companies in industries as diverse as sports entertainment, enterprise software, and social broadcasting.
He has been a director of public companies, and numerous private companies. Currently he is a Director (Chair – Strategic Planning Committee) of CardinalCommerce Corporation (a leading enabler of authenticated payments and alternative payment brands), Chair, Audit Committee for Cohesant Inc. (water infrastructure solutions), Within3 (the global leader in online business communities for healthcare), and Thuuz, Inc. (real time sports information). He is the Senior Advisor to LoungeBuddy (airline lounge app), and also serves on the Board of Advisors of Capstone Partners (a placement agent and advisor to venture capital and private equity funds).
Maxim Advisor acts as the exclusive business negotiator and structurer of individual transactions for its clients, ranging from establishing the terms of a private placement to the sale of a business. As an example, in 2011 Mr. Morgenstern served in this role for the successful sale of Phylogy (a telecom IP developer and manufacturer) to Actelis, a strategic industry buyer.
For more than 25 years as a nationally prominent corporate and securities deal lawyer, he was the principal counselor at hundreds of public and private companies’ board meetings, and deeply involved in numerous strategic planning processes. He was the Founding Lawyer for national retailers OfficeMax and HomePlace. Prior to leading the West Coast Corporate and Securities Group for a national law firm, he was the long-time Managing Partner and CEO of a midwest regional law firm focused on entrepreneurs and emerging growth companies.
He is a nationally recognized thought-leader who created the corporate finance term "invendor" (for Red Herring) and authored Off Road Capital's Definitive Deal Dictionary. Mr. Morgenstern's early comments on Sarbanes-Oxley (particularly its adverse impact on small and mid-cap issuers) have been widely and favorably quoted in business, legal, and academic publications.
His observations have appeared in national media, including The New York Times (Goldman Sachs/Facebook; board composition), CNBC's Squawk Box (private equity), Tech Republic (strategic planning), Chicago Sun Tribute (Groupon IPO), Wall Street Journal (cost of being public), Los Angeles Times (Blackstone IPO), MSNBC (MGM bidding war), San Francisco Chronicle (Sarbanes-Oxley; IPO's), Huntington Post (SEC post-Madoff), Crain's (hostile takeovers), and the San Jose Mercury News (restricted securities).
A passionate musician, he has been on the Board of the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame and Museum for almost 20 years. He also serves on the Board of the Rex Foundation, the San Francisco-based non-profit founded by the Grateful Dead.
Mr. Morgenstern serves on the Board of Advisors for the Long-Term Strategic Planning Committee for UC Berkeley’s Lawrence Hall of Science, was on the SEC's Executive Committee for Small Business Capital Formation for more than 25 years, and was a long-time member of the Dean's Technology Council for Case Western Reserve University's Medical School.