Mike Patton

Michael T. ("Mike") Patton is the founder of Longwood Ventures, Inc., a small advisory and M&A-intermediary firm he established in 2001. Longwood Ventures describes itself as a troubleshooting practice that helps businesses with organizational structure, strategic planning, mergers/acquisitions/divestitures, and operational execution — deliberately "asking not how best to do what you're presently doing, but instead asking whether you should be doing it at all." The firm currently emphasizes environmental services and has broader experience across service industries. Since founding it, Patton has personally filled COO roles at startups in telecommunications, advertising technology, environmental services, manufacturing, and healthcare services.

Before Longwood, Patton served in 2000–early 2001 first as Chief Operating Officer and then as CEO/CFO of Trilog Group, Inc., an enterprise software vendor. From 1997 to 1999 he was Vice President and Chief Information Officer of Waste Management, Inc. in Houston, TX — during a period when the company averaged roughly one acquisition per business day (including six publicly traded companies) — where he was responsible for the rapid integration of business systems and staff rationalization across hundreds of acquisitions.

From 1987 to 1997, Patton was Vice President and Chief Information Officer, as well as Vice President of Investor Relations, at Mid-American Waste Systems in Columbus, OH. There he selected, deployed, and managed the company's business systems and infrastructure, and after its IPO added investor presentations, Wall Street analyst relations, and stockholder communications to his responsibilities. Earlier in his career he spent eight years at GBQ, a regional accounting, auditing, and advisory firm in Columbus, OH, the last five as manager of its management advisory services department.

His stated present focus is on "scalable service businesses, on-line and off, primarily within the publishing, environmental services and health care industries," and he devotes time to mentoring entrepreneurs — noting his "several scars can provide object lessons of some value."

• Oriented toward scalable service businesses, both online and offline, concentrated in publishing, environmental services, and healthcare — his own stated focus areas.
• Values that he brings operational and integration expertise (CIO/COO/CFO experience, acquisition integration, financial reporting and investor relations) rather than purely writing checks.
• Aggregator profiles list him as an angel / seed-stage investor, though Longwood Ventures publicly presents primarily as an advisory and M&A-intermediary firm rather than a formal fund.
• Prefers discrete, targeted engagements where he can act as a "troubleshooter," and explicitly does not validate a company's existing practices — he pressure-tests whether the business should be doing what it does at all.