SwitchingGears Partners

Aaron “A.J.” McCann, Managing Director

Aaron "AJ." McCann has over 15 years of expertise in general management, business development and financing, especially in the clean tech and energy sectors, with early stage, established and public companies alike. AJ brings deep executive experience leading business development and heading R&D for multiple companies as they attacked new markets with industry-leading products & services.

He is currently Managing Director of SwitchingGears. Since its founding, AJ has developed a deep clean tech network, working with some of the most influential corporations in the industry to develop and finance clean tech companies and renewable energy projects throughout the nation.

He previously held executive-level positions with Fortune 500 companies such as Wells Fargo Bank (NYSE:WFC), in their financial services division, and Electronic Data Systems (NYSE:EDS), as Director, Financial Services and Technology.

In addition to those experiences, McCann has also served as CEO or C-level executive for other companies, sometimes to execute a turnaround, and each time to support the business and technology development of emerging products. It has allowed him to develop and repeatedly prove his proficiency at identifying sales channel opportunities, developing appropriate funding options and crafting business strategies that have consistently produced market results and bottom line progression.

J-F Gauthier, Partner

Mr. Gauthier is a management and finance expert with 20 years of experience in defining and executing growth strategies, M&A and financing deals, both in the USA and Europe. Before joining SwitchingGears he was Managing Partner of VC Negotiators, a firm focused on advising CEOs of technology and clean tech startups, helping them define more effective strategies and growth plans and get access to the capital required to execute. He also founded MyPathology, a non-profit bringing cancer diagnostics and enabling technologies to under-served patients around the world.

He was previously CEO of Iscopia Software, a 15-year-old technology company he turned around from a 5-year decline to 3 consecutive years of 100 to 150% revenue growth, then financed it through premier VCs Garage and Rho. Prior to that Mr. Gauthier was a partner of TSG Partners/ScientiaAdvisors, providing corporate finance, M&A, and strategic advice to CEOs of startups and public Life Sciences companies.

The breadth of his experience includes leading the stealth strategy team advising the Department of Justice and its key witnesses against Microsoft, completing the acquisition of the #1 Italian law firm by McDermott, a top-10 US firm, and advising the executives of IBM, Cisco, Agilent, J&J, Abbott and many others on technology strategy, new product development, sales & marketing, financing, and licensing & acquisitions. He is recognized as a top negotiator, a reputation that started in 1995 when he ranked #1 of 810 in a 4-month Harvard Negotiation program.

Mr. Gauthier started his career in finance with Royal Bank and CIBC World Markets, then worked in strategy consulting for Booz-Allen & Hamilton and Integral, the firm founded by Kim Clark, the godfather of innovation management and ex-Dean of Harvard Business School.

He has an MBA from Harvard Business School and undergraduate degrees (summa cum laude) in both Marketing and Finance.

Tim Lipton, Partner

Mr. Lipton has 20 years of experience as an executive and finance expert working with early-stage companies and on Wall Street as an equity analyst and investment banker with public and private companies.

Prior to joining SwitchingGears he was Managing Partner of LVP, a boutique consultancy firm focused on technology startups. Additionally, he is the co-founder and CFO of ECCOgen, a payment card startup targeting the education market.

Life after Wall Street has been focused on helping early-stage companies focused on green and other technologies. He has provided strategic, operational, and financial guidance to companies seeking critical mass and seed funding from angel investors.

Mr. Lipton was previously VP Consumer Technology with Morgan Keegan & Company, a subsidiary of Regions Financial (NYSE:RF), where he executed several IPOs and PIPEs. He started his career on Wall Street with Morgan Stanley Dean Witter after receiving a BA in Economics from Vanderbilt University.