Randy Myer

Mr. Myer is presently a professor at the Kenan-Flagler Business School on the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill campus. He teaches Business Plan Analysis, Launch the Venture and the PE Mentor classes in the MBA and undergraduate business programs. He joined the UNC faculty in 1999 as a part-time instructor and became a full-time faculty member in 2002. Besides his teaching activities, Mr. Myer is an active local investor and board member. He is Chair of the Board of a startup in the medical device space and has invested several other startups. He is Chair of the Board for NC Idea, which is a foundation devoted to funding early stage companies in North Carolina. In addition he is an investor in two NC venture capital funds, a private equity fund and two local angel groups as well as one in Seattle. He is a board member of the Carolina Research Venture Fund and part of the founding team for the Carolina Angel Network. He a former Board member and Exec Committee member of the NC School of Science and Math.

In 1991, Mr. Myer founded Best Friends Pet Care, a national chain of high quality luxury hotels for dogs and cats. Beginning with an idea and a business plan, he raised $3 million in seed capital to launch the company and then did three more rounds of financing raising another $45 million. He built into a large national chain that is presently located throughout the country before successfully selling his interest in the company to a private equity firm in 1997. Between 1997 and 1999 he was President of Lindblad Expeditions, a high end travel company. Before starting Best Friends, Mr. Myer was a partner with Booz, Allen & Hamilton for 13 years. He specialized in the consumer product and services industries and led consulting assignments in customer service, strategy, marketing and operations. In 1989 he authored an article in the Harvard Business Review on customer service strategy. Mr. Myer graduated with a B.A. from the University of North Carolina and received his MBA from Harvard University.