Collin Hathaway

Collin Hathaway is the founder of Skylight Capital, a Seattle-based micro-cap private equity firm focused on companies with less than $5 million of EBITDA. Skylight says its geographic focus is the Western U.S., with a specific emphasis on the Pacific Northwest.

Hathaway founded Skylight while he was in business school, using a converted pool house near the Stanford campus as the firm's original headquarters and his apartment. Before founding Skylight, he led the deal origination team at Alpine Investors, where he managed a team responsible for locating and evaluating new investment opportunities.

Earlier in his career, Hathaway was marketing manager at Venture Asset Group, a company involved in disposing of strategic telecommunications assets. He also worked at Telseon, a national telecommunications firm, where Skylight describes him as a leading salesperson. Hathaway earned an MBA from the Stanford University Graduate School of Business and a BA in Economics from Stanford.

In his current role, Hathaway serves as chairman of Flint Group and Guardian Roofing. He previously served as chairman of Abacus Plumbing & HVAC, Berkeys HVAC & Plumbing, Bonney Plumbing & HVAC, Parker & Sons, the Wrench Group, and Vulcan Precision Linings.

• Skylight describes itself as investing in companies with less than $5 million of EBITDA and specifically lists an investment criteria range of $500k-$5.0M EBITDA.
• The firm prefers companies with 10%+ EBITDA margins and non-cyclical industry exposure.
• Skylight is industry agnostic, stating that industry is one of the least-critical deal evaluation parameters and that management and business characteristics are the primary criteria.
• The firm has particular expertise in residential and home services: plumbing, HVAC, electrical, roofing, pest control, and landscaping.
• Skylight's stated investment approach is to work with people it likes, protect company legacy and culture, and be a strong partner to sellers, teams, and investors.
• Skylight generally prefers opportunities with continuing management and senior leadership, though it will consider investments where owner-managers transition out over a reasonable period.
• Preferred structures may include cash payment/investment for the seller, rollover equity for owners or managers who want ongoing ownership, and seller debt when third-party debt is unavailable or cost-prohibitive. Skylight states that it does not use earnouts.