FAST II Team
Management Team
Doug Jacob
Founder
Doug Jacob, lives by the power of the brand, seeking to build businesses that transform commercial brands into cultural icons.
Read More
Early in his career, Mr. Jacob leveraged his business savvy into hospitality success as the lead investor and operator at EMM Group’s Tenjune nightclub. Recognizing the emergence of food and celebrity chefs, he collaborated with James Beard award winners Ken Oringer and Jamie Bissonette to expand the Toro brand from Boston to New York City, Bangkok and Dubai in January 2013, which is when Mr. Jacob co-founded Toro. Mr. Jacob sold his position in the group in 2016. Along the way, Mr. Jacob focused on the art of creating immersive experiences and began looking for new opportunities to merge design and business in fresh and rewarding ways. In 2010, Mr. Jacob partnered with Mr. Lastoria and Charlie Walk to found JWALK, a full-service creative agency that integrated design with strong business strategy. As the agency evolved, Mr. Jacob stayed dedicated to preserving its small-by-design, nimble-by-nature ethos that earned its identity as a creative disrupter, serving as the company’s Chief Creative Officer and Chief Executive Officer from January 2014 to February 2017. Together, Mr. Jacob and Mr. Lastoria shaped JWALK into an industry leader that flew in the face of tradition, specializing in building cult-favorite brands with a bold digital presence. Creatively led and anchored to the bottom line, JWALK grew into a multi-million dollar-a-year business with lifestyle-driven clients. Shiseido Corporation acquired JWALK in March 2017 to bolster the group’s creative excellence and enhance its digital agility, and Mr. Jacob served as Chief Creative Director of Shiseido until mid-2018. In 2019, Mr. Jacob, along with Mr. Lastoria, founded and became Chief Executive Officer of &vest, a hybrid venture fund and branding agency focused on opportunities in the consumer lifestyle space. &vest acquired the second largest position in &pizza, which Mr. Jacob helped to launch with Mr. Lastoria in 2010. Mr. Jacob is also the founder of FAST Acquisition Corp (NYSE: FST) and Velocity Acquisition Corp (NASDAQ: VELOU).
Sandy Beall
Ceo
Sandy Beall is a restauranteur and hospitality founder, investor, operator and executive with a dynamic background that spans nearly six decades, dozens of highly successful concepts, and serving as the Chief Executive Officer of a public company for over 25 years.
Read More
Mr. Beall founded Ruby Tuesday while in college in 1971, growing the concept to 15 units and ultimately selling it to Morrison Inc. in 1982. Post-acquisition, he remained the President and Chief Operating Officer of Ruby Tuesday, ultimately working his way up the organization to becoming Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of Morrison Inc. by 1995. In 1994, he was named Operator of the Year, won the Golden Chain Award from MUFSO, and was named Executive of the Year by Restaurants & Institutions. Under Mr. Beall’s recommendation and guidance, he oversaw the split of Morrison into three public companies, including Ruby Tuesday, Sodexo, and Morrison Health Care. Mr. Beall remained as Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of Ruby Tuesday, overseeing an operation that had grown to more than 800 locations in 46 states, 14 foreign countries and approximately 30,000 employees when he retired from the company.
Mr. Beall also co-founded Blackberry Farm in 1975, steadily growing it with his family over the following five decades into one of the premier luxury resorts in the world. It has been recognized by Relais & Chateaux since 1994, as well as named to the Conde Nast Traveler Gold List, Wine Spectator Grand Award, the James Beard Foundation, as well as a number of other highly regarded awards and by industry groups. Mr. Beall is an investor and member of the board of directors of a number of high-growth restaurant and consumer brands, including &pizza, The Meatball Shop, Mexicue, Beyond Sushi and Chow Daddy’s. He is also the Principal of Beall Investments LLC, an investment company. Mr. Beall also serves as Chief Executive Officer of FST.
Garrett Schreiber
CFO
Garrett Schreiber is a partner at &vest, overseeing all investment, SPAC, fundraising, and creative agency operations, and currently serves as the Chief Financial Officer of FAST Acquisition Corp (NYSE: FST) and Velocity Acquisition Corp (NASDAQ: VELOU)
Read More
In 2012, Mr. Schreiber joined RBC Capital Markets as an investment banking analyst. In 2014, Mr. Schreiber joined Enhanced Capital, a middle-market credit fund, working on fundraising, underwriting, and reporting efforts both to the limited partners and to government regulators. In June 2018, he helped launch &vest, overseeing all investment, SPAC, fundraising, and creative agency operations. Mr. Schreiber also serves as Chief Financial Officer of FST and Velocity. Mr. Schreiber received a Master of Business Administration from MIT Sloan and a Bachelor of Science in Business Administration from Washington University.
Board of Directors
Kevin Reddy
Chairman
Kevin M. Reddy, is a Quick Service restaurant and Fast Casual restaurant veteran, serving in a variety of operational and executive roles.
Read More
He began his career with McDonald’s Corporation in 1983 as a regional controller and progressed into positions of escalating responsibility. Following McDonald’s investment in Chipotle in 1998, Mr. Reddy served as Restaurant Support Officer, Chief Operations Officer, and ultimately Chief Operating Officer for Chipotle, overseeing its growth from just 13 units to 420 units in seven years. In 2005, Mr. Reddy joined Noodles & Company as President and Chief Operating Officer. In 2006, he was named Chief Executive Officer, becoming a member of its board of directors and then Chairman in 2008. He led the company to double-digit revenue growth and positive same-store sales for 30 consecutive quarters, and oversaw the company’s initial public offering, with shares nearly doubling on the first day of trading at a valuation of more than $1.0 billion. He left his position as Chief Executive Officer in 2016. Mr. Reddy works closely with several of the largest investment funds to acquire premium brands in the hospitality sector. In the past few years, he has worked on several large transactions with some of the most sophisticated private equity and family funds. Mr. Reddy also serves on several boards of directors in a variety of roles, including as Chairman of both public and private companies. Mr. Reddy also serves as Chairman of FST.
Ramin Arani
Board Member
Ramin Arani has been the Chief Financial Officer of Vice Media LLC (“Vice Media”) since November 2019 and has decades of experience in fund management and financial operations.
Read More
Previously, Mr. Arani worked at Fidelity Management & Research Company, where he was an Analyst & Sector Fund Manager from July 1992 to May 2000 and a Portfolio Manager from May 2000 to September 2018. Most recently, he managed the Fidelity Puritan Fund, achieving top 5% performance relative to industry peers. His financial experience spans a variety of sectors, including media, technology, health care, real estate, retail, aerospace and defense. Mr. Arani has served on the board of directors of several companies, including Legendary Pictures, Rent the Runway, Goop, Rumble Boxing and Sakara Life, and currently serves on the board of directors of LiveXLive Media, Inc. and Brunello Cucinelli S.p.A. Mr. Arani also serves as a director on the board of FST and Velocity.
ALICE ELLIOT
Board Member
Alice Elliot is the founder and Chief Executive Officer of The Elliot Group, a widely respected exclusive executive search firm in the restaurant and hospitality industry.
Read More
Nationally recognized as one of the leading advisors in executive search, human resources, and leadership, Ms. Elliot has been featured in QSR Magazine’s “20 Most Influential Restaurant Leaders,” Nation’s Restaurant News’ “50 Most Powerful People in Foodservice,” and on “CBS This Morning Saturday.” In 2019, Ms. Elliot was recognized by Nation’s Restaurant News with the prestigious ‘Norman Award.’ She has also been a featured speaker on Bloomberg Radio, focusing on business trends and innovation. In addition, Ms. Elliot has spoken at many industry highlights and is the recipient of several awards, including the coveted Women’s Foodservice Forum “Trailblazer” award, and the prestigious Roundtable for Women in Foodservice “Pacesetter Award.” She sits on the Board of Trustees of The Culinary Institute of America, and was inducted into the National Restaurant Association Educational Foundation’s “College of Diplomates” in 2010 for her tireless work in bringing public awareness to the hospitality industry. Ms. Elliot also serves as a director on the board of FST.
Michael Lastoria
Board Member
Michael Lastoria is a dynamic entrepreneur with a track record of founding, scaling and exiting a variety of businesses.
Read More
In 2002, at the age of 22, Mr. Lastoria founded his first company, Innovation Ads, an advertising, technology and marketing services firm, as his first job out of college in New York City. In four years, as Founding Chief Executive Officer, he oversaw the rapid growth of the company and its sale to Seaport Capital, a New York-based private equity firm, in 2006. Mr. Lastoria remained the company’s Chief Executive Officer from 2006 to 2009. In 2010, Mr. Lastoria co-founded &pizza, where he currently serves as Chief Executive Officer. At &pizza, Mr. Lastoria has raised over $80.0 million of investment capital and has expanded the purpose-driven chain to 48 locations in six markets. Also in 2010, Mr. Lastoria, together with Mr. Jacob, co-founded JWALK, a full-service creative agency that integrated design with strong business strategy. Mr. Lastoria, along with Mr. Jacob, helped shape JWALK into an industry leader that flew in the face of tradition, specializing in building cult-favorite brands with a bold digital presence. Creatively led and anchored to the bottom line, JWALK grew into a multi-million dollar-a-year business with lifestyle-driven clients. Shiseido Corporation acquired JWALK in March 2017 to bolster the group’s creative excellence and enhance its digital agility. In 2019, Mr. Lastoria and Mr. Jacob co-founded &vest, a hybrid venture fund and branding agency focused on opportunities in the consumer lifestyle space. Mr. Lastoria is a recognized startup leader and vocal advocate in the fight to raise minimum wage to $15.00 an hour, believing that every employee should not only survive, but thrive. He speaks regularly on the value of design thinking, innovation and entrepreneurship. Mr. Lastoria was named one of the Washington Business Journal’s “40 Under 40.” In 2017, he was awarded the Mort Harris Small Business person of the year by the Small Business Council of America. Mr. Lastoria also serves as a director on the board of Velocity and as an advisor to the board of FST.
Steve Kassin
Board Member
Steve Kassin is the founder and Managing Partner of Infinity Real Estate LLC (“Infinity”), a privately owned developer, owner, and manager of high quality real estate headquartered in New York City.
Read More
Under Mr. Kassin’s leadership, Infinity has acquired or developed commercial property representing over $1.5 billion in direct investment transactions across more than 75 projects. During Mr. Kassin’s tenure, Infinity has honed its expertise in the urban multi-family, lodging and retail sectors. His management and growth initiatives have transformed Infinity Real Estate into a national real estate investment company. In October 2015, Steve was named “Fifty Under 40” in Globe Street’s Real Estate Forum publication. He is also an active participant on various industry panels and guest lectures at New York University (“NYU”) Stern School of Business and at other educational institutions. Steve currently serves as a member of the NYU Stern Real Estate Advisory Board, chair of the NYU Alumni Council Chair, member of the NAIOP Advisory Board, member of the ICSC Next Generation Committee, member of the Executive Board, and a PREF co-founder. Mr. Kassin also serves as a member of the board of directors of FST and Velocity.
Sanjay Chadda
Board Member
Sanjay Chadda is the Co-Head of Investment Banking at Canaccord Genuity Group Inc. (“Canaccord Genuity”), which focuses on the broader media, digital advertising and marketing, commerce, information and marketing technology and services industries.
Read More
Sanjay has led more than 125 transactions during his career and has successfully completed over 50 transactions since the beginning of 2014 alone. He joined Canaccord Genuity through its acquisition of Petsky Prunier LLC in 2019. He focuses on origination, due diligence, marketing, management, and negotiation of both M&A and private placement transactions. Mr. Chadda also serves as a director on the board of FST and as Chairman of the board of directors of Velocity.
Cliff Moskowitz
Board Member
Cliff Moskowitz recently completed a role as interim Chief Executive Officer of Outdoor Voices Inc. (“OV”), a high-growth apparel brand based in Austin, Texas.
Read More
Mr. Moskowitz spent nine months at OV, where he led a successful restructuring and turnaround of the business. Mr. Moskowitz also helped OV raise approximately $20 million of equity capital during the pandemic. Prior to his role at Outdoor Voices, Mr. Moskowitz was the founder and president of InterLuxe Holdings, a platform to invest in and operate retail, apparel and fashion companies. In his six years at InterLuxe, Mr. Moskowitz reviewed over 250 investment opportunities and executed three investments totaling approximately $100 million of equity capital in the InterLuxe portfolio, including (i) Jason Wu, a luxury womenswear brand located in New York, (ii) A.L.C. an advanced cotemporary womenswear brand based in Los Angeles, and (iii) APP Group, the parent company of two Montreal-based outerwear brands, Mackage and Soia & Kyo. During his time at InterLuxe, Mr. Moskowitz also served as a consultant for SK Holdings, the second largest company in South Korea. Mr. Moskowitz sourced and assisted SK Holdings with three apparel investments totaling over $75 million of equity capital: (i) Alice & Olivia, (ii) Rails, and (iii) a co-invest alongside of InterLuxe in APP Group. In 2019, Mr. Moskowitz joined the Board of Directors of FullBeauty Brands, Inc. (“Full Beauty Brands”), a plus-size retail and apparel company owned by Oaktree Capital and Goldman Sachs. Mr. Moskowitz is also currently a member of the board of directors of Solid & Striped LLC (“Solid & Striped”), Apotheke Co. (“Apotheke”) and GL Concepts, LLC (doing business as Goodlife Clothing) (“Goodlife Clothing”). Mr. Moskowitz has previously been a member of the board of directors of Garretson Resolution Group, Archway Marketing Services, and Versapharm. Mr. Moskowitz has also previously been a Board Observer of SDI Health, Ollie’s Bargain Outlet and Targus. Prior to starting InterLuxe, Mr. Moskowitz worked for several middle-market private equity firms, including Saunders Karp & Megrue, Tailwind Capital and Harvest Partners, and as a Consultant at Bain & Company.
ADVISORS
SANJAY LAMBA
Sanjay Lamba is the Principal of Buddhist Wolf LLC, a private placement firm based in New York City with extensive relationships with over 300 capital partners spanning significant single-family offices, multi-family offices, institutional asset managers, venture capitalists, private equity investors, and pension and sovereign wealth funds.
Read More
Mr. Lamba has assisted highly disruptive companies in the science, technology, healthcare, fitness, hospitality, and consumer industries. Prior to this, Mr. Lamba spent 15 years as an International Institutional Equity Salesperson with BNP Paribas, Lehman Brothers and Nomura, working in Paris, London, San Francisco and New York.
Kimberly Grant
Kimberly Grant is an accomplished chief executive and public company director with over 25 years of hospitality industry experience leading and scaling restaurant companies.
Read More
From 2014 to 2020, Ms. Grant served as Chief Executive Officer of ThinkFoodGroup (“TFG”), a premier global hospitality company which owns and operates unique dining concepts created by Chef José Andrés, including concepts in the fast casual, polished casual, food hall, and fine dining sectors. During her tenure, TFG achieved recognition as one of the leading chef-driven organizations in the world, rapidly growing global revenues as the company expanded to 29 locations across nine gateway cities and began its international expansion. In 2018, TFG was recognized by Fast Company magazine as one of the World’s Most Innovative Companies. The company’s most ambitious project to date, Mercado Little Spain, a 35,000 square foot food hall located in New York City’s Hudson Yards development, was recognized by the New York Times as the best new restaurant to open in New York City in 2019. Prior to serving as Chief Executive Officer of TFG, Ms. Grant built a strong record of operations and finance at Ruby Tuesday. She served as Vice President and Controller for the company after its spin-off as an independent public company from 1998 to 2002, and then Senior Vice President, Executive Vice President, President and Chief Operating Officer from 2002 to 2013, where she was responsible for a profits & loss statement with revenues exceeding $1.3 billion each year from 2004 to 2013. Since 2017, Ms. Grant has served on the board of Performance Food Group, a Fortune 500 publicly traded food product distribution company with nearly $30 billion in annual revenue, where she is a member of the audit, nomination, and governance committees. In 2019 and 2020, Ms. Grant was recognized by Nation’s Restaurant News’ “The Power List.” Ms. Grant also serves as the Chief Strategy Officer of FST.
Jonathan Childs
Jonathan Childs is the founder of Golden Child Holdings, a diversified investment firm that focuses on real estate and restaurant industries.
Read More
Current notable investments include Krystal Restaurants, SPB Hospitality (formerly CraftWorks Holdings) and in Pizza Hut as a franchisee. Prior to founding Golden Child, from 2009 until 2017, Mr. Childs was co-founder and Chief Investment Officer of ParkStone Capital (“ParkStone”), an opportunistic private equity firm that invests primarily in commercial real estate debt. As Chief Investment Officer, Mr. Childs was responsible for setting the strategic vision of the firm. During his tenure, he led the acquisition of nearly $500 million of distressed assets (mortgages, bonds, real estate owned (“REO”)). Mr. Childs is a member of the Commercial Real Estate Finance Council (High Yield and Distressed Assets Committee) and International Council of Shopping Centers. Prior to co-founding ParkStone, Mr. Childs led numerous real estate development projects, several of which have been featured in motion picture and print media. He has founded, co-founded or held senior leadership positions in the pharmaceutical (public, private sectors) and apparel industries.
NDAMUKONG SUH
Ndamukong Suh is an American Football Defensive Tackle and entrepreneur.
Read More
Mr. Suh was drafted by the Detroit Lions second overall in the 2010 NFL draft and was a 2020 season Super Bowl Champion with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. He has partnered with companies such as Ember, This Bar Saves Lives (TBSL), Human Ventures, Marcy Venture Partners and CourtsideVC. Mr. Suh has been heavily involved with real estate development and is an avid investor in the hospitality sector. He is the founder of Generals Restaurant Group which owns, invests in, manages, operates and provides consulting services for hospitality businesses. Through his Generals Restaurant Group, Mr. Suh is an investor in Blue Sushi Sake Grill which is run by Flagship Restaurant Group. Mr. Suh has also partnered with Micah Camden, a well-known restauranteur in Portland, OR, and together they own Bae’s Hot Chicken and Super Deluxe, a boutique burger concept.