Gregory Stavros

Director, Corporate Development at Brightwater Foods | CBS MBA '19 | Alumni admissions interviewer New York, New York, United States · 500+ connections

About

I help a consumer food company decide which brands to buy, build or sell. Before that I spent three years in private equity, and before business school I was a credit analyst who learned that the footnotes matter more than the headlines. Columbia Business School changed how I think about value, and since 2021 I have interviewed applicants for the Admissions Office, mostly over coffee in Midtown or on Zoom. I enjoy hearing how people got to where they are, especially when the path was not straight.

Experience

Brightwater Foods (packaged foods, about 2,200 employees) - Director, Corporate Development · Mar 2023 - present · New York, NY Lead acquisitions and divestitures; closed three acquisitions of regional snack brands totaling $410M. - Senior Manager, Corporate Development · Jan 2022 - Feb 2023

Halcyon Ridge Partners (lower-middle-market private equity) - Associate · Jul 2019 - Dec 2021 · New York, NY Worked on consumer and food-service deals; sat on the board of a portfolio bakery chain as an observer.

Crestline Bank (regional commercial bank) - Credit Analyst, Commercial Lending · Jul 2013 - Jul 2017 · Boston, MA Underwrote loans to manufacturers and distributors in New England.

Education

Columbia Business School - Master of Business Administration (MBA) · 2017 - 2019 Activities: Value Investing Program, Food and Beverage Club (VP Treks), Follies cast, Cluster D.

Tufts University - BA, Economics and History · 2009 - 2013

Volunteering

Columbia Business School Admissions - Alumni interviewer · 2021 - present About 15 interviews per cycle.

Astoria Community Food Pantry - Board treasurer · 2020 - present

Interests

Greek cooking (my grandmother's recipes, slowly), New York Mets, running the Brooklyn Half every May, history podcasts.