Kirk Wawrzyniak

Kirk Wawrzyniak is a Vice President at Gridiron Capital, a private equity firm founded in 2004 and headquartered in New Canaan, Connecticut. He joined the firm in 2019 as an Associate, was promoted to Senior Associate in 2022, and was elevated to Vice President on April 9, 2024. In his role he focuses on identifying new investment opportunities, conducting due diligence, and driving value creation across the firm's portfolio companies.

Before joining Gridiron, Kirk worked as an Analyst at J.P. Morgan Securities, LLC, where he covered the Consumer & Retail sector. That consumer/retail grounding aligns closely with Gridiron's emphasis on branded consumer and consumer-services businesses.

Kirk holds a B.A. in Finance from the Broad College of Business at Michigan State University. He is a supporter of Detroit and Michigan State sports teams. When asked to describe Gridiron in one word, he chose "Principled."

At the firm, leadership has publicly praised his portfolio work: Co-Founder and Managing Partner Tom Burger noted Kirk's "commitment to creating value through his dedication to achieving high performance at his portfolio companies," and Managing Partner Kevin Jackson cited his growth and promotion of the firm's "culture of getting better every day."

• Invests as a control private equity buyer, typically acquiring a controlling interest in founder- and family-owned businesses rather than taking minority/venture stakes.
• Sectors: business services, consumer products & services, and niche/specialty industrial (the firm frames these as branded consumer, B2B/B2C services, and niche industrial).
• Company size: established, cash-flow-positive businesses — Gridiron targets roughly $150M–$600M enterprise value and $10M–$75M EBITDA (public sources cite acquisitions of companies with EBITDA up to ~$60M).
• Value-creation orientation: Kirk's own mandate centers on due diligence and hands-on value creation at portfolio companies, consistent with Gridiron's operationally focused, "partner with founders/management" approach.
• Geography: North America (United States and Canada).