Team

Michael Metcalf

Mr. Metcalf is a co-founder and principal of Appian Way.  Michael started his career in financial services with Morgan Stanley and JP Morgan Chase, and has now spent over 15 years in and around the lower middle market.  He spent five years at Independent Bankers Capital Funds, providing equity and mezzanine capital to established lower middle market companies primarily based in Texas.  After that, Michael has served on the internal M&A team at Alcon Labs (Novartis), working directly with the C-Suite in evaluating potential acquisitions and partnerships.  Independently, Mr. Metcalf led the purchase of an industrial automation company and served as management post-close.  Additionally, he helped launch a healthcare platform.

Mr. Metcalf is a past director of the Texas Business Hall of Fame and is involved with multiple charities around Dallas.  

Michael received a BS from the University of Texas at Austin and an MBA from Vanderbilt University.

Adam Tauzel

Mr. Tauzel is a co-founder and principal of Appian Way.

Previously, Adam was CFO of one of the nation’s leading single-tenant real estate developers and it's construction management & general contracting sister company.  

Prior, he was a part of Deloitte Consulting’s Strategy and Operations - Finance service line where he advised CFOs and Finance executives on the creation of strategies and capabilities to support enterprise-wide decision-making, improve finance operations, and enhanced business partnering.  Adam specialized in post-announcement integrations and divestitures.  Prior to joining Deloitte Consulting, he was the head of operations for Cogent Partners' (now Greenhill Cogent) consulting practice where he oversaw fund analysis, due diligence, and portfolio valuations for private equity interests of institutional investors and possible related secondary sales. Prior to Cogent Partners, he consulted at FTI Consulting, providing corporate restructuring, bankruptcy, performance improvement, and corporate finance services.  Adam began his career at KPMG in the audit practice, serving private equity, real estate, financial services, and oil & gas clients.

Mr Tauzel currently sits on the board of the SMU Mustang Club.  

Additionally, he is a licensed CPA in the state of Texas, and has his CIRA certification.  Adam holds a MSA and a BBA from Southern Methodist University.

Andrew Finn

Andrew Finn has spent the balance of his 25 years of professional operational and management experience in the aerospace and defense industry. He is called upon to provide highly analytical guidance to companies both domestic and international. An Empowered Official, he is quite knowledgeable about ITAR having worked extensively with the US Department of State and Department of Commerce related to import and export of products including firearms, ammunition, electro-optic payloads, sensors, aircraft, and armor among other products. Mr. Finn has designed and executed international business expansion strategies for several companies with countries in the Baltics, Middle East, Europe, and Asia. Mr. Finn’s previous work experience includes operating within the International Defense Group at PricewaterhouseCoopers LLP, providing financial guidance to US and foreign federal entities including NATO.

Mr. Finn has longstanding personal and professional relationships on Capitol Hill and has affected several Congressional Plus-ups and engages directly with numerous foreign embassies.

As the Chief Operating Officer of Fraser Optics, the largest supplier of stabilized binoculars to the US DoD, Mr. Finn negotiated and partnered with 28 new partners of which 10 were international, expanding the company’s global reach.

With his extensive investment banking experience holding positions at Merrill Lynch, Prudential Securities and Quarterdeck Investment Partners, Mr. Finn led numerous complicated merger and acquisition transactions in the aerospace and defense industry for DRS, L3, Boeing, and Raytheon, among others.

His operational experience also includes serving as President, Officer, Director, CFO and Chief Operating Officer for manufacturing and service companies in various stages of growth from inception to global expansion. He possesses Six Sigma education, is a certified Project Management Professional, maintains familiarity with CMMi and holds an active Secret-level Security Clearance. Mr. Finn achieved the rank of Captain in the United States Marine Corps and sits on the Board of the United States Navy League National Capitol Council.  Mr. Finn holds a BS from the University of California at Berkeley, where he played on the soccer team.

Barrett Jenkins

Barrett has almost 30 years of production and operations experience.  Currently he serves as the President of Gemco Manufacturing.  Previously, he has been an senior executive at two of the largest precision manufacturing companies in the DFW area, each of which had sizeable machining operations that supported the aerospace & defense sector.   He has led the effort to stand up business lines across the US as well as in Mexico and China. Additionally, he has served as the President of American Locker, an iconic brand for over 100 years, where he was instrumental in growing the smart locker and smart kiosk lines.  He was also an executive at Skyways, a Landscape Structures Company, where he stood up an entirely new division for a $200 million revenue company.  Barrett earned a BS from Austin College, where he played on the football team.