The TPGI Ventures Team

Ms. Steele leads TPGI’s Cannabis, Hemp & CBD Practice. In addition to setting the strategy for the practice, she takes a hands-on role with each client in the space, As part of her work, Ms. Steele also oversees the operation of TPGI CannaCAMP including all listings on the platform and the representation of buy and sell-side clients. To provide the unique level of industry and financial expertise TPGI provides its clients, Ms. Steele draws on her extensive network across North America with the owners and operators and with the investors, lenders and institutional. TPGI’s network of operators and investors in this growing sector and the nimble, personalized client-needs centered approach of the firm’s Cannabis, Hemp & CBD practice are a direct result of Ms. Steele’s vision and commitment to long-term client relationships.

Before joining TPGI Ventures, Ms. Steele worked with her long-time business partner to establish and grow the cannabis practice and team at a New York based broker-dealer serving the investment banking needs of early stage and middle market companies where Ms. Steele served as Vice President. In her role there, Ms. Steele coordinated team activities and operations, led outreach on behalf of clients and was directly involved in over $150mm in transactions. Prior to her career in finance, Ms. Steele was a successful political, public affairs and communications consultant. She served in senior roles on numerous local and national political campaigns, led fundraising and strategy for non-profit organizations, and consulted with a variety of political, issue advocacy and grassroots organizations.

To better serve clients over the years, Ms. Steele has held a variety of securities industry licenses and is a licensed real estate agent in Colorado. Outside of work, Ms. Steele is the proud mother of two children, one of whom recently graduated high school and entered the emergency medical field and one who is now in high school. In her free time, Ms. Steele enjoys camping, spending time in the outdoors, SCUBA diving, road-trips across the U.S. and traveling to any place with a beach and warm, open water to play. Partners of almost a decade, she and Mr. Abramson are engaged to be married with plans for a small beach wedding in Hawai’i where they spend time each year.

Mr. Krakowski provides mergers and acquisitions advice to clients in a variety of sectors with a focus on clients in and those whose business has a strong technology component or need. Krakowski leads the day-to-day client engagement for. Translating Steele’s vision into an operational platform, Krakowski oversaw the development of CannaCAMP and its continued technical enhancements to meet the needs of clients and the industry. Krakowski has more than two decades of experience in California’s cannabis industry, bringing a unique perspective and understanding of the opportunities, challenges and operations in the space to TPGI client engagements. His work in technology and corporate finance spans more than 25 years at some of San Francisco’s most prestigious investment banks, as a founder, senior executive and consultant with multiple successful start-up and growth stage companies and as an IT consultant to a variety of businesses with mission critical technology enterprise operations.

Mr. Krakowski was a co-founder of TPGI Ventures’ precursor, where he played a critical role in each client engagement, led the firm’s technology research, oversaw analysis of client technology and that of the firm’s holdings. As the holdings and operated businesses of the firm grew, Krakowski led and had direct oversight of all IT, software, website and application development. Among the ventures he led were VirtualPublishing/Ebooks2Go, one of the first independent digital publishing companies and BigUp Radio, which grew to operate some of the most listened to Reggae internet radio stations in the world. Krakowski led all IT and development for SonicGarden, the firm’s fully-owned holding that rolled up and expanded multiple digital music platforms and was one of the fastest growing communities for independent artists during the nascent stages of the digital music boom. Prior to TPGI, Krakowski worked on the sales/trading floors of some of the most active firms in San Francisco including Roberston, Stephens & CO and Montgomery Securities and in his early career, he was the youngest trader on the options floor of the Pacific Stock Exchange in San Francisco. In these roles, Krakowski held a variety of securities industry licenses including General Securities Representative, General Securities Principal and Registered Investment Advisor as well as Real Estate and Insurance licenses.

When TPGI took a step back from client-facing work in 2009, Krakowski continued to lead operation of several of the digital media assets, was a co-founder of a next-generation fiber optical networking equipment developer and served as an IT consultant to a wide variety of business ranging from early and growth stage businesses to multi-site established businesses. Through all of his work, Krakowski continues to keep immersed in the latest and most cutting-edge technology from hardware and data transmission to evolving uses of blockchain technology, mobile applications & the intersection of agriculture and technology.

A native of the San Francisco Bay Area, Krakowski is active in California’s technology and start-up community and spends his free time hiking in the area’s many regional parks with his girlfriend and their dog. They also love exploring the less known corners of the Sierra Nevada foothills of California’s Gold Country, where they are slowly teaching themselves how to homestead while comfortably sheltering in place.

Mr. Abramson provides general oversight, direction and strategy for the firm’s overall operations across all sectors. He provides advice to the senior members of TPGI’s team, to associates and to clients on a wide variety of corporate finance, merger and acquisition, business growth, restructuring, divestiture and other liquidity or exit strategies as well as capital raising strategies and structures. Abramson supports the TPGI team and clients in identifying counter-parties, underwriters, placement agents and partners for a variety of transactions and with structuring, negotiating and closing those transactions. Abramson also leads the strategy, operation and partnership network for TPGIConnect drawing on his national and international network in both investment banking and among institutional investors. He brings extensive experience in corporate finance to all of TPGI Ventures’ activities, having structured and led over $1bn in transactions including $750mm in M&A transactions and over $300mm in underwritings for start-up and growth stage businesses in a variety of sectors ranging from hardware, software, e-commerce and digital media to advertising, telematics, entertainment, agriculture and mining.

Abramson was co-founder and President of TPGI Ventures’ precursor, The Phoenix Group International (TPGI) where he led all aspects of the firms growth, client engagements, investments and operations. At TPGI, in addition to advising clients and overseeing the firm’s holdings, asset operation and growth strategy, Abramson served in an acting c-level position for multiple clients including acting CEO, COO and President. He also managed a small fund and was recognized at the time as one of the Top Asset Managers in America (under $25mm) and for Best Quarterly Return (funds under $25mm). When TPGI stepped back from client engagements, Abramson continued to lead several of the entertainment ventures and shifted his attention to politics and public policy with a focus on the future of the American workforce, the public education system, the regulatory and policy environment faced by start-up and growth stage businesses and the intersection of these issues. In this work, he has advised numerous state and local officials on policy relating to public education, workforce development and fiscal policy. He continues much of this work as President of a national, non-partisan firm that brings together public, private, and civic sector leaders who have diverse perspectives but share a common desire to find lasting solutions to complex policy problems. Prior to founding TPGI, Abramson led the equities, options and commodities trading for a medium sized hedge fund in San Francisco and led the business development for MPAC Capital, a wholesale trading desk where he also worked as a NASDAQ market maker and trader, attracting dozens of broker-dealers, hedge funds and other institutional trading accounts. He began his career in finance on the institutional sales/trading floor of Robertson, Stephens & Co in San Francisco at the start of the dot-com boom. In the course of his career, Abramson has held numerous securities licenses including General Securities Representative, General Securities Principal, Registered Options Representative, Registered Options Principal and Registered Investment Advisor.

Outside of his work in corporate finance and public policy, Abramson volunteers his time to serve as a mentor to young entrepreneurs and in 2019 he was appointed by Colorado’s Governor to serve as Commissioner for Higher Education. In his spare time, Abramson is an avid skydiver, waterman, home-chef and enjoys any time he can spend on the beach, open water and outdoors. He and Ms. Steele split their time between homes in Colorado and Florida’s Treasure Coast with time each year on Kaua’i.