Meet the Team
Michael G. Cain, J.D., Partner
Michael Cain is a founder and managing partner of Guardant Partners, LLC an investment management partnership and also a general partner in special situations funds located in Greensboro, North Carolina. He is the founder and managing partner of the Wilmington Investor Network, LLC (WIN), located in Wilmington, North Carolina, an angel investment fund he formed in July 2004. He is an investor and manager of Emergent Growth Fund II of Gainesville, Florida. He is a member of the Board and Treasurer of the Angel Capital Education Foundation Inc, a non-profit angel research and education foundation originally created and funded by the Kauffman Foundation. He remains Vice Chairman of The Atlantis group, a fully invested angel group based in Durham, North Carolina. Michael also serves on several non-profit boards. Michael received his Juris Doctor degree from Syracuse University School of Law and his Bachelor of Arts in Political Science from the University of Vermont.
D. Troy Knauss, PartnerTroy Knauss is a founder and managing partner with Guardant Partners, an administrative company that organizes and manages private angel investor funds, and a member and former fund executive for the Piedmont Angel Network (“PAN”), a series of committed capital angel funds with over $15 million under management located in Greensboro, North Carolina. Troy has over 18 years of experience in family and start-up businesses. Troy’s current direction with Guardant focuses on private investments in high-growth, high-technology firms with deal sizes between $250,000 and $2.0 million. Since 2007, Troy has successfully led and completed a number of life science, medical device, and technology syndication deals, with multiple funds across the Southeast United States and with multiple funding rounds. In addition to the fund activities, Troy is an exited entrepreneur and an active investor in multiple companies and funds. In 2007, Troy was named one of the Triad’s Impact Entrepreneurs by Business Leader magazine. He speaks frequently to entrepreneurs and investors on private investing, is a faculty member for the North Carolina SBTDC’s Investor-Ready Entrepreneur seminar series, an adjunct professor at Wake Forest University, and serves on a number of boards. Most recently, Troy was elected to the national Angel Capital Association board and co-Chairs the Syndication & Collaboration Committee responsible for co-investment activities throughout North America. He holds an undergraduate degree in Business Administration from Susquehanna University and a Masters of Business Administration degree from Wake Forest University.
Greg A. Pool, J.D.Greg Pool is a serial entrepreneur with a number of successful launches to his credit. Greg's expertise includes social networking game development, eCommerce, online advertising and marketing, and Internet technologies. Greg holds an undergraduate degree from the University of South Carolina, a Masters of Business Administration degree from Wake Forest University, and a Juris Doctor degree from Wake Forest University's School of Law.
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