Don Bates

Don has had over 25 years of operating experience, working for W.R.Grace in sales and marketing capacities early in his career, and later serving as CEO and owner of Federated Lithographers, a specialty printing and book manufacturing company he acquired from Wheelabrator-Frye. He participated in a recapitalization of Federated with Fleet Equity Partners in 1986 and later participated in the sale of Federated to Quebecor in 1990. Federated’s main focus was selling to the publishing industry, with key customers that included Houghton Mifflin, Macmillan, Dell-Doubleday,National Geographic, Time-Life, and Readers Digest. Federated was a successful turnaround, with sales increasing six fold and profits at industry leadership levels.

After leaving Federated, Don worked in private Equity, serving as an Advisor and Partner with Fleet Equity Partners with primary emphasis in the manufacturing sector. He left Fleet to acquire their interest in API, an early stage company specializing in particle sizing and drug delivery technology. Don served as Chairman and CEO of API, helping complete their sale to TSI,inc.

Don was the lead investor, consultant and a board member for Voices Publishing, an educational publishing company serving the K-5 market with character education and literacy products. He helped management complete the sale of Voices to Zaner-Boser in 2004.

Don has invested in early stage companies in the internet, media, instrumentation, and educational publishing and training industries. He is a member of Launchpad and Boston Harbor Angels.

Don is a graduate of Northwestern University and has an MBA from Michigan State. He and his wife Margie, a speech and language pathologist, live in Sudbury, Ma. They enjoy golf, boating and skiing. They have two sons and 6 grandchildren.