Meet the Investors — A Networking Night at Crestone Capital

Liz Kramer Myslik

Liz Myslik is driven by her desire to help mission-driven brands and the people who create them. Leveraging her operating and leadership experience, she serves as a trusted advisor to entrepreneurs, helping them navigate the challenges of building great brands.

After starting her career in banking and management consulting, Liz pursued her passion for natural products starting in 2001 when she joined mind-body health company Gaiam and helped the company grow to over $140 million in four years. She then founded a brand management firm which served entrepreneurial brands like Rudi’s, Eco-Products and 34 Degrees and helped global giants such as Georgia Pacific and J&J to develop health and sustainably focused brands. She joined the ownership team of Fresca Foods and transformed it from small co-packer into a vertically integrated natural foods leader. In 2020, she joined us to double down on her passion for helping purpose-driven brands grow.

Liz has been named a Kingmaker in Consumer & Retail by Forbes, one of the Most Influential Woman in Food & Drink by Fortune and a Wonder Woman in the Natural Products Industry by New Hope Media.

Eric Haddenhorst

Eric is CEO of No Cow, an emerging plant-based nutrition brand. He has been working with the founder since 2016, first as an investor and Board Member, and then in operating roles as President and CEO. Prior to No Cow, Eric has been an advisor and investor to CPG and retail companies during stints in private equity, investment banking, and accounting.

Luke Vernon

Luke Vernon is a Managing Partner of Ridgeline Ventures, investors in healthy living consumer brands. As part of Ridgeline, Luke sits on the board of Bobo’s, Cotopaxi, The Pro’s Closet, and Joyfull Bakery.

Prior to Ridgeline, Luke was involved in a number of ventures, including as the COO of Eco-Products, the nation’s leading brand of sustainable foodservice packaging. Luke is also the founder of Luke’s Circle, a site that helps emerging companies find talented professionals.

TJ Mcintyre

From the early 90’s to now, TJ has worked with passion in the Boulder Natural Foods Industry. His path includes a variety of companies big and small: Frontier Natural Products Co-op, White Wave, Pixie Mate, Pekoe Sip House and Boulder Brands. Now CEO at BOBO’S, his absolute favorite part of the journey, TJ is witnessing the power of selling truly delicious baked goods and working with enthusiasm and love alongside the best team in the industry.

Megan Bent

Megan Bent is the Founder and Managing Partner at Harbinger Ventures. As a lifelong investor and entrepreneur with deep expertise in consumer brands, Megan has spent the majority of her career working to identify and scale high-growth, early-stage companies in the consumer sector serving as a lead director, problem solver, operator, strategic thinker and confidant to emerging entrepreneurs. In launching Harbinger in 2016, Megan began also leveraging a model that emphasizes female leadership and fosters close collaboration among entrepreneurs and investors to accelerate value creation. Prior to founding Harbinger in 2016, Megan served for a decade as co-founder and Managing Director of Revelry Brands, a unique consumer-centric direct investment platform for a multi-time entrepreneur.

Max Dichter

Max is the CEO of 4th & Heart, where he and his team strive to inspire you to live your best life by only enjoying the highest quality and most delicious food products. They are facilitating this by modernizing an ancient ingredient – ghee. Prior to 4th & Heart, Max was in tech at a publicly traded consumer internet company, TrueCar. However, he was first exposed to food CPG when at Piper Jaffray in their Consumer Investment Banking Group. In his free time, Max loves to spend time with his girlfriend and 8-month old mini dachshund, Billy, in LA.

Tyler Morgan

Tyler has been with BFG since inception, in 2014. Prior to working with BFG, Tyler was employee number three at MicroBiome Therapeutics, a natural supplement startup in Boulder, CO focused on improving health status by interacting with the human microbiome.

Tyler currently holds a Board seat at BFG Portfolio companies Fat Snax and CAULIPOWER, and serves as Board Observer to Cartograph and Vacation.

Kristy Lewis

Kristy, a Boulder mom of three boys, launched Quinn Foods just three days after her first son, Quinn, was born, back in 2010. Out of frustration with the chemicals and artificial ingredients in her favorite childhood snacks, Kristy set out on a mission to revolutionize the food industry. She invented and patented their Pure Pop® microwave popcorn bag, which is the first bag to use paper that does not contain any synthetic chemicals or plastic coatings, such as PFOAs and PFCs. She continued her mission of making better-for-you classic snacks by launching a line of gluten-free pretzels; the filled pretzel nuggets were a first in the category.

For the past 12 years, Kristy’s learned everything she can about agriculture, farmers, packaged food, the planet, and how they all connect. Quinn’s ‘Farm-to-Bag’™ Policy was created with the idea that transparency is the most powerful force for good in food and their ‘Be Better. Do Better.’™ mission takes these sourcing relationships a step further by partnering with growers to improve agricultural practices that will not only benefit them and their families but also the planet.

Kristy was chosen by Whole Foods as one of the ‘Women Makers: Raising the Bar’ highlighting women and industry leaders who inspire and motivate others to create new and better products. She was honored as one of the ‘Most Promising Women Entrepreneurs’ by Fortune Magazine, and Quinn Snacks was named ‘Snack Producer of the Year’ by Snack Food and Wholesale Bakery.

At Quinn, it’s our mission to make real change to our food system by knowing that as a company, as humans, we can always be and do better.

Ally Patterson

Ally is Managing Director & CCO at Manna Tree, a Vail, CO-based private equity firm that makes growth equity investments in companies that improve human health through nutrition. Since joining the firm in 2019, Ally has been integral in the development, management, and optimization of key firm functions and infrastructure enabling Manna Tree’s 11 portfolio company investments and ~ $500M in AUM. Ally graduated from the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign, and her past experience includes Morgan Stanley, Zayo Group, and the Blackstone Entrepreneurs Network.

Eric Haley

In 2009, Eric Haley co-founded Gotham Greens, a pioneer in indoor agriculture and a leading fresh food company, where he serves as the Chief Financial Officer overseeing the company’s financial operations. A Certified B Corporation™, Gotham Greens farms with the future in mind, delivering long-lasting and delicious leafy greens, herbs, salad dressings, dips and cooking sauces all year round to retail, restaurant and food service customers.

Eric began his career in finance specializing in Planning, Reporting and Analysis at JP Morgan Chase and then M&A, capital raising and strategic consulting at Corporate Fuel Partners. He received an MBA from the University of Notre Dame and a bachelor’s degree in economics and finance from the University of Wyoming, where he also played Division I football. In 2021, he was recognized as Ernst & Young’s Entrepreneur Of The Year® New York. Gotham Greens has been awarded Inc. Best in Business Award and Greenhouse Grower “Operation of the Year,” and more. Eric lives in Denver and enjoys exploring new restaurants, cooking at home and spending time with his family.