Our Team
Dedicated to your success
Our team combines expert transactional advisors with industry partners possessing deep sector knowledge. We believe these skillsets and strategic insights allow entrepreneurs and small business owners to maximize value while finding the optimal partner for their company.
Michael Kessler
Founder & Managing Partner
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Michael’s career as an investment banker began at New York-based Smith Barney in 1985. In 1992, Michael moved to Minneapolis to join the partners of Wessels, Arnold & Henderson, an institutional investment banking firm serving high growth and emerging market companies. During his career, he has specialized in healthcare, technology and industrials; underwriting IPOs; raising private capital; and advising on mergers and acquisitions. For the past 15 years, he has focused exclusively on advising private business owners in mergers and acquisitions.
Michael served active duty in the Marine Corps in the late 1970’s and has sat on several charitable boards, including the United Health Foundation and Children’s Cancer Research Fund. He is a graduate of St. John’s College Annapolis and received his MBA from Columbia University.
Larry Gamst
Co-Founder
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Larry led DS&B, a Twin Cities-based financial and tax advisory firm, for nearly 4 decades and grew the company significantly under his leadership. During this time, Larry has been a trusted advisor to leaders and owners of public and private companies and to high-net-worth individuals, assisting with strategic planning, operations, financing, succession, and mergers and acquisitions. He and a small team of investors also acquired or invested in numerous private companies.
Larry served active duty in the Marine Corps in the 1970’s and has sat on the board of several for-profit and non-profit organizations, including the Boys and Girls Clubs of St. Paul, United Hospital Foundation, Kowalski 4 Kids and H2O Innovation.
J.D. Blank
Vice President
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Prior to joining Tamarack Partners in 2019, J.D. was the Managing Director of Treehouse Health, a Minneapolis-based healthcare venture capital firm and incubator. In this role, he was responsible for sourcing, evaluating and executing investments in seed, venture and growth- stage companies in the healthcare IT & services and medical technology sectors of healthcare. In addition to working alongside of and advising portfolio companies, he developed and managed a variety of partnerships with large, corporate partners and professional service providers.
J.D. has sat on the board of multiple organizations and currently serves on the board of directors at the Bakken Museum. He is a graduate of Miami University and received his MBA from the University of Minnesota Carlson School of Management.
Hannah Kessler
Associate
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Hannah’s career began as a digital marketer for early-stage technology startups. Most notably, she launched the automated investing app Moka in 2017, which was acquired by Mogo in 2021. In 2018, she returned to school to pursue a bilingual (French/English) program in hotel management. Her hospitality background spans multiple luxury brands in the United States and Canada, where she specialized in sales, marketing, catering and events. Hannah joined Tamarack Partners in 2021.
Hannah is a graduate of McGill University Desautels Faculty of Management and received her Diploma in International Hotel Management from the Institut de tourisme et d'hôtellerie du Québec (Montréal, Canada).
Contact Us
If you are considering an ownership transition, our transaction team would be happy to provide you with guidance.