The team at Vaughan Capital Advisors combines decades of M&A transaction experience with an uncommon perspective on what is required to close deals. In short, we think differently. The result of our

expertise and perspective is an innovative, product-oriented, and highly successful approach to closing transactions. To learn more about any of our team members, contact us.

Craig Vaughan
Chief Executive Officer
Craig Vaughan is the Chief Executive Officer of Vaughan Capital Advisors. He has spent 19 years executing commercial and strategic transactions at the intersection of media and technology.

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Craig Vaughan is the Chief Executive Officer of Vaughan Capital Advisors. He has spent 19 years executing commercial and strategic transactions at the intersection of media and technology. He has closed over $5 billion in transaction volume during his career.

Craig began his investment banking career with Goldman Sachs in the Communications, Media and Entertainment group. Before founding VCA, he was a Senior Executive at Creative Artists Agency (“CAA”), executing M&A and fund formation transactions.

Prior to joining CAA, Craig held strategic transaction roles at 21st Century Fox and Sony Pictures. Mr. Vaughan was a founding advisor to the Queens Bridge Fund. Craig began his career in middle-market debt financing at Nations Bank (now Bank of America).

Craig holds an M.B.A. in Finance from Michigan’s Ross Business School and a B.A. in Finance from the University of Texas at Austin. He is registered with FINRA with Series 79, 62, and 63 licenses.

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Keith Merrill
Platform and Transaction Operations - Los Angeles
Keith’s focus at Vaughan Capital Advisors includes optimizing the client service and transaction process through operations management and the use of technology platforms. Keith has 20 years of experience managing complex, time-sensitive, transaction-oriented operations in senior executive positions at London based MICE Group, PLC, Ybrant Digital (Lycos), AdDynamix, Universal Studios and Universal Music.

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Keith’s focus at Vaughan Capital Advisors includes optimizing the client service and transaction process through operations management and the use of technology platforms. Keith has 20 years of experience managing complex, time-sensitive, transaction-oriented operations in senior executive positions at London based MICE Group, PLC, Ybrant Digital (Lycos), AdDynamix, Universal Studios and Universal Music.

Keith’s transaction experience includes managing over $400 million of design and engineering contracts for the $2.1 billion Universal Studios Japan Project. Keith also served as the Global Asset Manager for Universal Music Group IT services managing relationships with Equant, Oracle, British Telecom, and AT&T. In 2016 he worked with the Clear View Group out of Austin, TX to advise on digital operations planning after the private equity firm’s acquisition of Ebony Magazine.
Keith graduated with a B.S. in Communications from Bridgewater State University.

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Ella Vaughan
President, Marketing and Operations
Ella Vaughan is the President of Marketing and Operations at Vaughan Capital Advisors. She has over 15 years of experience in consumer, brand, integrated and digital marketing across media and entertainment industries.

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Ella Vaughan is the President of Marketing and Operations at Vaughan Capital Advisors. She has over 15 years of experience in consumer, brand, integrated and digital marketing across media and entertainment industries.

Prior to VCA, Ella was a marketing executive at FremantleMedia where she led digital, social media, and integrated marketing strategies for FremantleMedia’s major television programs, including American Idol and America’s Got Talent. Key digital and integrated marketing executions included live Facebook integrations for American Idol, fan voting via Google, and coordinating digital content sales on Apple’s iTunes.

Prior to FremantleMedia she held roles planning, developing and executing film, TV, and online marketing programs at Nickelodeon, E! Entertainment, The Style Network, Fox and Sony.

Ella holds an M.B.A. from Pepperdine’s Graziadio School of Business and a B.A. in Psychology from the University of California, Los Angeles.

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Channing Johnson
Board Advisor
Channing Johnson is a Board Advisor to Vaughan Capital Advisors. Mr. Johnson advises the leadership team at Vaughan Capital Advisors with respect to corporate strategy and corporate development.

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Channing Johnson is a Board Advisor to Vaughan Capital Advisors. Mr. Johnson advises the leadership team at Vaughan Capital Advisors with respect to corporate strategy and corporate development.

Mr. Johnson is a partner at Loeb & Loeb where he represents public and private companies in a variety of industries, including music, film and television production and distribution, animation, manufacturing, retail (clothing, food and beverage), internet commerce, software and investment banking.

Mr. Johnson has extensive experience advising entertainment and media clients. His entertainment and media clients are involved with all modes of distribution (broadcast, cable, broadband, theatrical and internet), and seek legal advice in connection with the issuance of securities, mergers and acquisitions, joint venture and financing agreements, production agreements, distribution agreements, affiliate carriage agreements, publishing and co-publishing agreements, production deals, endorsements, co-branding and sponsorship deals, and talent contracts. Mr. Johnson has significant experience representing successful independent film and television production companies, music publishers, and record companies with respect to their day-to-day legal needs, financings and strategic acquisitions.

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Susan Casey Stone
Transaction Sourcing and Development
Susan Casey Stone is a senior transaction advisor at Vaughan Capital Advisors. She is the founder of Sierra Wasatch Capital (“SWC”), a venture capital firm investing in digital media start-ups in the Los Angeles area.

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Susan Casey Stone is a senior transaction advisor at Vaughan Capital Advisors. She is the founder of Sierra Wasatch Capital (“SWC”), a venture capital firm investing in digital media start-ups in the Los Angeles area. She also is on the Board of Directors of Iris.TV in L.A., Thumzap in Tel Aviv, and Ubiquitous Energy in Redwood City, CA. Prior to SWC, Susan managed venture capital investments for Los Angeles-based family office Riverhorse Investments, Inc., where she invested in the digital media and cleantech sectors.

Before joining Riverhorse, Susan was a Senior Vice President in the Media and Entertainment Group at Houlihan Lokey in Los Angeles, where she provided strategic advice on buy-side, sell-side, leveraged buyout, and minority investment transactions. Susan began her career at J.P. Morgan Securities in New York, where she was a Vice President in the Technology, Media and Telecommunications Group and an Associate in the Mergers & Acquisitions Group.

Susan is a graduate of Yale University and earned her M.B.A in Finance with honors from Georgetown University’s McDonough School of Business.

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Derek Peachey
Transaction Sourcing and Development
Derek Peachey is a Senior Advisor to Vaughan Capital Advisors, where he focuses on emerging digital content, advertising, and distribution companies. Derek has over 14 years of experience in the digital content industry, including executive level positions at leading mobile solution providers Handango and July Systems.

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Derek Peachey is a Senior Advisor to Vaughan Capital Advisors, where he focuses on emerging digital content, advertising, and distribution companies. Derek has over 14 years of experience in the digital content industry, including executive level positions at leading mobile solution providers Handango and July Systems. He previously served as Director of the Americas, Content & Software Aggregation at Nokia.

Derek has signed and managed key partnerships with leading companies in the media, sports, and entertainment sectors, including broadcasters and leagues. He also is a Managing Partner at Cathcart Ventures, LLC and Floodlight Digital. Past and present clients include Expedia, Sabre, Cars.com, the Semper Fi Fund, Everyday Health, and National Geographic. Most recently, Derek positioned social media engagement platform Arktan for a successful exit with Janrain. Derek also maintains extensive international business development experience.

Derek graduated from Dickinson College with a B.S. in Geology and a minor in Economics, and earned an M.B.A. from the Neely School of Business at Texas Christian University. Derek currently serves on the Board of Governors of Blair Academy and is active in numerous charities. He and his wife and two sons reside in the San Francisco Bay Area.

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As our customers, small and mid-sized companies come away from our closed transactions with a clear sense of goals achieved.