Partners & Leadership Team

In addition to their leadership team, TechTurn has assembled a world-class board of directors to provide additional company guidance.

Senator Bill Bradley (www.billbradley.com)

Senator William W. Bradley is a Managing Director of Allen & Company LLC.

From 2001-2004, he acted as chief outside advisor to McKinsey & Company’s nonprofit practice. He was a Senior Advisor and Vice Chairman of the International Council of JP Morgan & Co., Inc. from 1997-1999. During that time, he also worked as an essayist for CBS evening news and was a visiting professor at Stanford University, University of Notre Dame and the University of Maryland.

Senator Bradley served in the U.S. Senate from 1979 – 1997 representing the state of New Jersey. In 2000, he was a candidate for the Democratic nomination for President of the United States. Prior to serving in the Senate, he was an Olympic gold medalist in 1964 and a professional basketball player with the New York Knicks from 1967 – 1977 during which time they won 2 NBA championships. In 1982, he was elected to the Basketball Hall of Fame.

Senator Bradley holds a BA degree in American History from Princeton University and an MA degree from Oxford University where he was a Rhodes Scholar. He has authored six books on American politics, culture and economy, including his latest book The New American Story. Currently, Senator Bradley hosts American Voices, a weekly show on Sirius Satellite Radio that highlights the remarkable accomplishments of Americans both famous and unknown.

Michael J. Farello, Partner, Catterton Partners (www.cpequity.com)

Michael is a Partner of Catterton Partners, the leading private equity firm exclusively focused on providing equity investments to growing middle market consumer companies in North America. Prior to joining Catterton, Michael held several executive operating positions at Dell including general manager of Dell’s multi-billion-dollar consumer electronics and direct stores businesses, vice president of consumer marketing and e-business, and executive assistant to the Office of the Chairman.

Previously, Michael spent 12 years at McKinsey & Company, most recently as a partner focusing on the firm’s retail, hospitality, media, entertainment and consumer clients facing growth or customer service challenges. Michael left McKinsey to serve as senior vice president of sales and marketing at Escalate, a privately held software company serving specialty retail customers.

Nikhil (Nik) Thukral, Partner, Catterton Partners (www.cpequity.com)

Nik is a partner at Catterton Partners. Prior to joining Catterton, he was a vice president at MidOcean Partners, a New York- and London-based private equity firm. Prior to MidOcean, he spent three years with DB Capital Partners, the private equity arm of Deutsche Bank and the predecessor entity to MidOcean. While at MidOcean and DB Capital, he helped originate, evaluate, and monitor both control and minority investments in middle market companies in the consumer products and general industrial sectors. Prior to joining DB Capital, Nik was an associate in the Healthcare group at JP Morgan and Co., where he focused primarily on mergers and acquisitions and capital-raising mandates for clients in the pharmaceutical and healthcare services sectors, respectively.

Nik received a BS in Finance with High Honors from the University of Illinois at Urbana Champaign, and an MBA from the University of Chicago.

TechTurn has assembled a strong leadership team focused on growing and expanding our company and capabilities. If you are interested in joining our team, please visit our careers section and fill out the online form.

Jeff Zeigler – Founder, Chairman and CEO

In 1999, Jeff saw an emerging need to deal with the replacement of millions tech devices as “Y2K” approached, and founded TechTurn in Austin, TX. Jeff partnered with some of the largest computer resellers in the world and established a global trading organization that could bridge the digital divide and extend the life of discarded electronics. By forging long term supply partnerships with the leading PC manufacturers, leasing companies, and systems integrators, Jeff guided TechtTurn to fifty percent annual growth, and established TechTurn as one of the leading service providers. In 2006, Jeff secured $50m of growth capital for TechTurn with Greenwich based Catterton Partners so that the company could continue to expand its services and global reach. Jeff is responsible for the strategic growth of the company, and continues to work closely with the leadership of the returns management, leasing services, and recycling industries. Jeff won the Ernst & Young Entrepreneur of the Year award in 2007 and the YPO Corporate Social Responsibility award in 2009.

Jeff Zeigler may be contacted at jeff.zeigler@techturn.com.

Jake Player – President

Jake Player joined TechTurn in the summer of 2006 after serving as the leader of Worldwide Asset Recovery Services for Dell, Inc. One of Dell’s fastest growing services businesses, the Asset Recovery Services group grew 82 percent under Jake’s leadership. In addition to this role, he worked in Marketing, Mergers & Acquisitions, Professional Services and Strategy through his nearly 10 years at Dell. In addition to Dell, Jake also worked in Finance at Ford, and the banking industry as a financial analyst.

He also serves on the Board of Directors of the largest industry association representing electronic recyclers and refurbishers, ISRI. In this role he works closely with the U.S. EPA, computer manufacturers and state and local governments to help drive and implement new stringent industry standards.

He earned a BA from Hampden-Sydney College and an MBA from the University of Texas at Austin. He is also a member of TechTurn’s Board of Directors. Jake may be contacted at jake.player@techturn.com.