Strong management consulting and hands-on revenue operations systems.
Coffee House Slip and New York Coffee House, 1856.
Fordham Manor Merchant Ventures LLC traces its company DNA to the early New York City merchants that were at the foundation of American Capitalism. Jan Arcier sailed in a ship from Amsterdam to found the Manor of Fordham in New York City. In an early example of New York City “Dutch Trader” adaptability, he changed his name to John Archer when the city was taken by the English and received a patent from Charles II. In the spirit of the take charge and plain spoken calculated risk that would come to define New York City, the ship that he sailed was called “The Merchants Hope.” He had trial and tribulations and there have been many ups and downs through the line of business people that he started. However, the ethic remains: a results oriented “merchant class” (today “business class”) that does not stand on ceremony and is focused on the successful operation of organizations, cutting edge business practices and staying in the front line of where business practices are going. The focus is on achieving the goals of all of those who toil, build and dream for their businesses with a risk taking “merchant’s hope” beating in their breast. Our team uses our deep experience to collaborate with our colleagues in order to make that hope a reality for our companies and their clients.
City Hall and Great Dock: New York Harbor, 1679.
An organization needs to know the current state of the business in order to get to where it is going. This starts with a clear eyed and frank analysis of the current state of the organization.
As we often repeat, sales and revenue are the life blood of the organization. The art of sales and marketing is too often relegated to non-scientific analysis. Putting systems and process in place that have demonstrated success in revenue growth and calibrating the organization around that is where success lies.
It is key to the current success of an organization, its ability to scale that it runs on self-executing systems and processes. This is what makes the company a going concern that is not overly reliant on the work of the founder. This gives the entire organization a playbook that all can work from to succeed without constant reactive questioning and the need for constant new input.
Mark Mapes-Ferraro is the Managing Member and CEO of Fordham Manor Merchant Ventures, where he oversees all operations of the firm, supervises the company’s investment strategy, portfolio company oversight and professional services advisory work. He helps structure transactions, develop successful growth plans for portfolio companies and develop management consulting plans for partner companies.
Mark brings more than 25 years of experience spanning law, finance, technology, entrepreneurship and corporate operations. He began his career as a corporate attorney at Debevoise & Plimpton, advising leading private equity firms and their portfolio companies on mergers and acquisitions, securities offerings, financing facilities and technology-related transactions.
He later helped build and operate a leading regional financial services lending firm with a technology-driven business model. From there Mark has run numerous ventures where he oversaw operations, legal and regulatory compliance, expense management, personnel development and digital strategy. He subsequently advised businesses, investment platforms and private equity firms on financing, technology transactions, portfolio-company risk and strategic growth.
Mark’s experience also includes work on JPMorgan’s COiN Contract Intelligence machine-learning platform. He also served as Head of Technology Vendor Management at Simpson Thacher & Bartlett, leading technology assessments, vendor negotiations, software deployments and process-improvement initiatives. His combination of business judgment, technological fluency and operating experience shapes his approach at FMM Ventures.
Mark earned his J.D. from the University of Pennsylvania Law School with a combined focus a the Wharton School in finance and venture capital, obtaining his bachelor’s degree from the University of Pennsylvania as well (where he graduated Summa Cum Laude and was elected to Phi Beta Kappa). He is admitted to practice law in New York, and his writing has appeared in national publications.
Outside of work, Mark enjoys fishing and spending time by the water. A member of the Sons of the Revolution in the State of New York, he also enjoys exploring history and paying homage to those who came before him. Mark splits his time between New York City and his home on the East End of Long Island. Mark is a direct descendant of John Archer.
There is a substantial team of dedicated professionals behind the marquee of FMM Ventures. Our team members are experts in the panoply of disciplines that make up modern corporate marketing, sales, operations, as well as management of the many departments that develop in an organization as it grows. We also support our companies and clients through the fractional work of our dedicated employees who act as an extension the teams with which they work.