Biography of David Hook

David Hook Managing Director, Private Equity David Hook is the Managing Director at Baymark Partners. This private equity firm invests in leveraged recapitalization and management buyouts of high-growth companies, middle-market services businesses, and entrepreneurial ventures. For decades, Hook and his firm have invested in over 50 early-stage high-technology companies. Many of those start-ups have completed IPOs, and five have been sold for over $165 million each. Over the span of just 15 years, David has been instrumental in the acquisition of 60 companies.

Originally from Cleveland, Ohio, Hook attended Bowling Green State University before transferring to Wittenberg University, a Lutheran-affiliated, private institution with an outstanding reputation for excellent academic standards and a dynamic student body. David graduated with a Bachelor of Science in Accounting degree. He continues his affiliation with higher-education institutions as a guest lecturer to the MBA entrepreneurial students at Southern Methodist University.

Hook is an expert in business finance and has served on the Southwest Venture Forum Steering Committee. He is often called upon to offer advice and direction to entrepreneurial ventures to help them stay aligned with strategic operating plans and identify areas for improvement in cash flow and capital funding. David is also an active participant in the DFW Private Equity Forum. This North Texas group of private equity and venture capital investment firms provides an opportunity for collaboration and forming relationships that often result in profitable business alliances.

Venture Capital Investor David Hook made a critical decision early in his career to relocate to California at a time when Silicon Valley was truly being realized. In the 1980s, companies like Atari, Apple, and Oracle were founded in this area, which is now widely accepted as the center of the computer industry.

Hook not only took up temporary residence in the Palm Desert, CA area but also made early investments and gained experience working at Mohr, Davidow Ventures. He soon co-founded the first Hook Partners Fund and has been a General Partner in seven Hook-related venture capital partnerships.

Hook is an expert in leveraged finances, a capital-raising strategy often used by start-ups, SMBs, and traditional corporations, allowing them to finance large acquisitions without committing a lot of capital. This process will enable a company to pay down its debt, which can effectively increase the amount of equity in the company. As a private equity investor since 1982, Hook has partnered with firms that have holdings of approximately $165 million under management, and he has invested in a wide range of privately held companies, of which many have gone public, and five have been sold for over $165 million each.

Financial Managing Partner David Hook has always been adept at understanding financial market dynamics and leveraging emerging trends to develop new business ventures. It was a move to Dallas, TX, in 1988 when he anticipated the early success of the Telecom Corridor (a Dallas suburban area known for its high concentration of telecommunication companies) that he got his start in venture capitalism.

He became associated with the venture capital firm Carolina Capital Corporation, where he

assisted the managing partner in the management of this small business investment company (SBIC).

Currently, David Hook serves as a Managing Director at Baymark Partners and is heralded as pivotal to many of the company's most successful tech investments, including Volterra Semiconductor (VLTR), Adaptive Solutions (ADSO), Promatory Communications (Nortel Networks), IC Works (Cypress Semiconductor), and many more. Hook has also successfully invested in several privately held companies, such as Astute Networks, Inphi, Teranetics, and Eltek Valere.

Hook is widely regarded as a thought leader in raising growth capital and leveraged financing strategies. His penchant for investing in transformative technologies is due to his ability to embrace innovation and evolve with changing market dynamics.

Philanthropy David Hook serves as the director on the boards of several portfolio companies, and he is a member of the investment committee of Genesis Campus, a Dallas-based venture capital firm.

He also serves as a Board Member at Rackmount Solutions, a provider of data center equipment and cable management solutions. David is always looking to help the next generation of financial investors learn by guest lecturing to the MBA entrepreneurial students at Southern Methodist University.

Hook has been involved with several charities for years, lending financial support to help the disadvantaged and unhoused. These include The Stewpot, the Interfaith Housing Coalition, and The Storehouse of Collin County, all nonprofits that provide the community with food, clothing, and housing resources. He also strongly supports St Andrew United Methodist Church and the Children's Medical Center. Hook is an avid golfer and tennis player in his spare time, even joining in the newest pickleball craze. When not watching his favorite sports teams, he enjoys traveling abroad.