Alan Dean Moore

Alan D. Moore is the founder and president of Red Oak Capital, a private equity and venture-capital firm he founded in 1995. Red Oak describes itself as using a “blended venture capital and private equity approach,” and public profiles place the firm in Highland Park, Texas.

Before Red Oak, Moore was a co-founder of Fossil, Inc. and served as its chief financial officer from 1985 to 1995. Applied Optoelectronics’ 2020 proxy statement says Moore’s board qualification was based on his business and financial management background and his role as co-founder of a public company.

From March 1998 to October 1999, Moore was CFO of Window on Wall Street, an internet financial software and market-data company sold to TradeStation Group in 1999. He also co-founded Silver Tree Partners, a real estate development and investment company, and served as treasurer from 1999 to 2016; from 2007 to December 2017 he was a manager of Silver Tree Fund II Management, LLC.

Moore served on the board of Applied Optoelectronics from March 2013 until 2020 and was a member of its audit committee. He earned an M.S. in Accounting and a B.A. in Business Control Systems from the University of North Texas.

• Red Oak Capital’s stated positioning is: “Home of the blended venture capital and private equity approach where dreams and expansion goals become reality.”
• The firm appears to favor expansion-stage situations rather than classic seed-only investing: public profiles describe Red Oak as providing growth and later-stage capital, with investment size up to $10 million.
• Moore’s investing pattern is operator-heavy: his own background includes CFO, co-founder, board, M&A, franchising, retail expansion, and public-company governance experience.
• Sector fit appears broad but practical: high-tech, retail, manufacturing, services, internet software, semiconductors, franchising, distribution, and real estate are all cited in public profiles.
• Red Oak’s strongest documented case study is Palm Beach Tan, where Silver Tree says Red Oak was the first private-equity investor and helped the chain grow from eight stores to over 400 locations.