Vinoy Ventures M&A Advisory
Vinoy Ventures

About

Committed to you, driven to execute.

Anchored in
Every Relationship

Three unbreakable pillars. Required when someone hands you what they’ve spent a career building.

What this fosters is trust and confidence. What it produces is plain, straight talk so we can all be most effective in our individual and combined roles. You deserve this kind of support, especially for a decision of this significance.

Enhancing your confidence goes hand‑in‑hand with achieving your desired outcome.

We are grateful to be by your side and will work to earn your appreciation.

Respect
Genuinely honor your lifetime of hard work, sacrifice, and dedication by doing our job with a high level of diligence, accountability, and expertise.
Humility
Deeply value the trust you have placed in us and use it as our central, everyday motivator and driver.
Discipline
Rigorously apply a thoughtful, tailored, and structured process framework intended to command premium financial value that aligns with your broader goals.

You keep running the company — we’ll handle the rest.

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Unwavering advocates honoring your life’s work

Thomas Ashworth, MBA

Co‑founder
  • M&A market intelligence
  • Valuation & modeling
  • Strategy & Growth
  • Relentless execution
  • Relationship Builder
  • Process improvement

Thomas makes the complicated simple by stripping away unnecessary noise, navigating and distilling dense financial and operational complexities, and contributing to the creation of clear, actionable, and value‑maximizing strategies.

Believing that deals should not be rushed, he prioritizes clarity, precision, and thorough thinking towards designing and building structured solutions to protect your hard‑earned legacy. He contributes mightily to transform transition friction into strategic leverage.

His US and Denmark heritage fuses together a rare, valuable combination of efficiency and power. He is a graduate of the University of Charleston having earned both a BA and MBA with high honors and concentrations in business management and data analytics. During this time, he was a member of the football team elected as captain for three straight years.

“Honoring you is best achieved by putting in the work and leaving it all on the field to unlock deal value that achieves your personal goals. I let my actions speak louder than the obstacles.”

thomas.ashworth@vinoyventures.com

Doug Baker

Co‑founder
  • Strategic Storytelling
  • Dogged Advocacy
  • Decision Enablement
  • Deal Structuring
  • Relentless Execution
  • Strategy & Growth

A former business founder and multi‑industry executive with extensive M&A experience, Doug has been through simple and straightforward transactions and those that were complex and challenging. His ability to navigate to positive outcomes has been stress‑tested.

Having sat in what amounts to your seat, he’s learned that creating high‑value outcomes is rarely found in a standard, pre‑defined playbook. Every company’s uniqueness demands dedicating a significant amount of time and thoughtful, tailored thinking to craft their structured solution.

His blend of deep operational experiences and various transaction situations serves well to enhance and protect your legacy.

He has steered companies through many stages of the business lifecycle from start‑up to institutional growth and divestiture.

“Respect the person, listen deeply, and do the heavy lifting until they attest that the job is done well.”

doug.baker@vinoyventures.com
Advisory Board

Independent perspective from people who
have advised, built, led, and sold businesses

  • Gretchen M. Callas, MPA, JD

    Board Member

  • Max Knapp

    Board Member

  • Timothy J. Mitchell, GBDS, AIF®

    Board Member

  • Jeremy B. Simms, CPA

    Board Member

Gretchen M. Callas, MPA, JD

Board Member

A member of a law firm — Jackson Kelly PLLC — with extensive experience representing businesses, Gretchen’s advanced capabilities dramatically increase the defensive edge in connection with preparation and closing of a transaction. As a spotter of traps, her forensic mindset and trial‑tested perspective uncover vulnerabilities before they can be exploited. Understanding how an opposing attorney, judge, or arbitrator approaches a dispute, Gretchen can help build strategic firewalls that offer protection.

Blending commercial pragmatism with tactical aggression, her advocacy results in reducing ambiguity, strengthening certainty, maintaining leverage, and countering aggressive tactics.

Gretchen’s interlocking of highly specialized abilities in risk detection, strategic deal structuring, loophole anticipation, and courtroom calm helps in making sure the owner gets the exit they want on the terms they want.

She has been a trusted advocate and shield through complex friction points and high‑stakes representation, decision‑making, and negotiations.

“True advocacy means balancing tactical courtroom aggression with sharp commercial pragmatism to protect your hard‑earned legacy.”

Max Knapp

Board Member

A partner at Whitewater Capital Partners, a West Virginia private equity firm, Max brings extensive M&A experience with both public and private businesses. His background lets him protect an owner’s interests while helping the business realize its full value. Having worked on transactions from both sides of the table, he gives owners a clear view of how buyers think and how they will evaluate a business.

By understanding how buyers approach a deal, Max helps owners prepare for one. He works to level the playing field, build consensus between parties, help owners avoid structural pitfalls, and improve transaction outcomes.

Combining committed advocacy with practical deal‑making, he protects an owner’s core interests without putting the deal at risk.

Max draws on strategic planning, traditional financial analysis, experience with high‑growth companies, and seasoned judgment to help owners anticipate buyer concerns, reduce friction, and support a stronger valuation.

“The best outcomes require balance: protect the owner’s value while keeping the buyer at the table. A deal succeeds when the buyer feels they’ve acquired a strong business, and the owner knows they’ve made the right exit.”

Timothy J. Mitchell, GBDS, AIF®

Board Member

An owner of a West Virginia insurance and brokerage firm — Bandal Consulting — with extensive experience working with business owners and their families, Tim’s advanced capabilities dramatically increase insight and assurance in connection with preparation and closing of a transaction and strengthening financial security. As a veteran of complex transactions, he is the ultimate risk bodyguard for identifying and mitigating hidden risks. Understanding how underwriters look at financial stability, loss histories, and risk, Tim is an expert at evaluating financial stability, risk exposure, and contractual obligations to help protect enterprise value and support successful outcomes.

Blending the meticulous precision of an auditor with the analytical precision and fluency of a dealmaker, his conviction is to deliver financial freedom without lingering anxiety — prioritizing stress‑testing, contract engineering, post‑sale liability mitigation, and peace of mind.

The interlocking of Tim’s highly specialized abilities in risk assessment, insurance structuring, liability mitigation, and consultative calm helps make sure that owners preserve transaction proceeds while minimizing post‑sale exposure.

He has been a trusted advocate and navigator through complex financial decisions, structural risk transfer, sound contractual protections, high‑stakes decision‑making, and long‑term financial confidence.

“A higher price means nothing if you have to give it back down the road; the wealth you build should be the wealth you keep.”

Jeremy B. Simms, CPA

Board Member

An owner of a West Virginia public accounting firm — Simms & Company — with extensive experience working with business owners and their families, Jeremy’s advanced capabilities dramatically increase clarity, confidence, and certainty in connection with preparation and closing of a transaction. As a financial architect, he leans in with financial precision and structural expertise when it comes to valuation, optimization, and execution of a transaction. Living and breathing the tax code, Jeremy is an expert in the granular DNA of financial statements — a financial shield and sword that justifies the price.

Blending the rigorous precision of an auditor with the strategic foresight of a dealmaker, he believes the numbers tell the real story — prioritizing strong fundamentals, financial accuracy and integrity, net‑after‑tax outcome structuring, and flawless execution.

The interlocking of Jeremy’s financial precision of a CPA with the strategic aggression of a dealmaker creates a powerful compounding effect in making sure the owner receives and keeps the wealth from the asset they’ve built.

He has been a trusted aide and navigator through complex valuations, diverse transactional landscapes, high‑stakes decision‑making, and successful transitions.

“A valuation or transaction is not a game of salesmanship; it is a discipline of financial truth and structural mastery.”