TEAM

Scott is a Founder and Managing Partner of the Lancer Group, a Private Equity-focused executive search firm and human capital consultancy providing private equity clients and their portfolio companies high-impact C-suite talent who drive exceptional value creation. Scott has instilled a culture of exceptional client-focus and search execution at Lancer. He has also been instrumental in the firm’s development since 1998, overseeing over 350 C-suite searches predominantly for private equity-backed software companies. Scott has led Lancer Group’s focus on software, and personally recruited out of more than 100 industry verticals as well as led the firm’s Value Creation Services effort – linking C-suite executives with actionable deal ideas to the firm’s PE clients. Notably, one of those introductions led to a $200 million equity check “in” and over $800 million back to the PE fund.

Prior to founding The Lancer Group in 1998, Scott worked in the Silicon Valley office of Heidrick & Struggles as a member of the firm’s International Technology Practice. Before entering the Search industry, Scott was Director of Business Development for a Mexico City based holding company where he oversaw the company’s equity investments and served in interim management roles for various portfolio companies. Previously, he was a special projects consultant to Ford Motor Company’s Venezuelan subsidiary and a Corporate Development Analyst with FNRS Financial Corporation, a former subsidiary of Wells Fargo Holding Company. He is also the Executive Producer of the Emmy-nominated documentary, The Matador.

Scott received his B.S. in Business Administration with an emphasis in Finance from the University of Southern California in 1988 and his MBA from The Kellogg School at Northwestern University in 1995.

Dashan is a Partner with The Lancer Group and is responsible for successfully placing C-level executives into key leadership roles for the firm’s public and private equity clients. He has worked on numerous C-level searches and competitive intelligence projects while taking an active role in refining research techniques and best practices used by the firm to identify top-tier executive talent.

Prior to joining the Lancer Group, Dashan served as Project Manager in the Mauritian Energy Industry for several years; prior to his time in Mauritius, he was based out of Malaysia where he served as General Manager for a 25-year-old post-press business unit.

Dashan earned a Bachelors’s in Economics from the University of San Francisco and holds an LLB with honors from the University of Hertfordshire. He is fluent in Bahasa and Tamil.

Christopher is a Senior Consultant with The Lancer Group and is responsible for supporting the firm’s search execution and business development initiatives through research. Since joining The Lancer Group, he has been involved in a number of C-Suite searches for leading private-equity-backed portfolio companies across the tech, software, business services, healthcare, and consumer space.

Christopher recently received his Master’s degree in International Affairs from the University of California, San Diego. Christopher studied International Business at San Francisco State University. He is intermediate in Mandarin Chinese.

Simon Villata joined The Lancer Group in 2019, performing business development and executive search duties ever since.

Prior to his concurrent family office position – involving investment management focused mainly in the property sector – Simon worked at ANZ Bank Equity / Linwar Securities developing business with local fund management groups for Institutional Australian Equities.

Between 1998 Simon business developed Institutional Japan Equities with European and USA funds for Commerzbank in Frankfurt and New York, having done the same for Deutsche Bank in Tokyo between 1991 and 1997, working on accounts such as Fidelity, Alliance Capital and UBS IM.

Simon studied Economics at Sydney University between 1982 and 1986.

Adam is a Consultant with The Lancer Group and is responsible for supporting the firm’s search execution and business development initiatives.

Since joining The Lancer Group, he has been involved in numerous C-Suite search engagements for both public and leading private equity-backed portfolio companies across the tech, software, business services, healthcare, and consumer space.

Adam received his Bachelor’s degree double majoring in Communications and Sociology from the University of Washington.

Haydon is a Consultant with the Lancer Group and is responsible for driving the firm’s executive search operations and business development initiatives. He has worked on numerous C-level searches and competitive intelligence projects while taking an active role in refining research techniques and best practices used by the firm to identify top-tier executive talent.

Earlier in his career, Haydon served in the Australian Army as a Commissioned Officer and worked in the Department of Emergency Services & Disaster Management for over 11 years in Brisbane Australia.

D.J. is a marketing coordinator responsible for developing promotional campaigns, content creation, and web presence management.

He received his Bachelor’s degree in Modern Literary Studies from the University of California Santa Cruz.