Council Tree Investors

Council Tree invests private equity in early stage venture and growth-oriented companies. Our investments range in size from $500,000 to $2 million deploying our own capital, and more with participation from co-investors. We are flexible on the industries we consider, though we typically have a personal relationship with the management team or investor group with whom we are investing. Recent investments include:

Dive Technologies – High-tech, leading-edge manufacturer of autonomous undersea vehicles (19’ long x 4’ wide) capable of independent undersea missions of up to 10 days at depths to 6,000 meters. Dive’s vehicle has proven applications in both the defense and commercial sectors.

5x5 Technologies – 5x5 creates “digital twins” of physical infrastructure assets, and it is the leader in digital twins for wireless tower companies. There 5x5 uses aircraft drones to complete video scans of towers, following which 5x5 software translates the data into 3-D, fully manipulable high resolution digital twin images. Crown Castle, the leading tower company, is a large 5x5 customer.

AccessParks – A leader in providing high speed (25+Mbps) Wi-Fi networks in geographically remote areas. AccessParks provides Wi-Fi connectivity via fiber and microwave backhaul. AccessParks is installed in national parks such as Yellowstone, Grand Canyon and Glacier, state parks and leading RV parks.

Crave Retail – Provides an innovative technology solution to fitting rooms in retail clothing stores, including 700 Victoria’s Secret fitting rooms in 2023. Crave’s technology scans wireless RFID tags on clothing items brought into the fitting room, displays the items on a video screen, and allows the customer to request immediate, in-room delivery of different sizes / colors / styles. Proven to substantially increase fitting room sales and customer satisfaction, while also providing retailers with a wealth of actionable data.

Initially when Council Tree was formed in 1998 we worked to fund and advise media and telecom companies building out or extending their operating footprints and geographies, including larger-size companies in wireless and broadcast TV. In these efforts we worked closely with our partners, including Madison Dearbon Partners, Catalyst Investors and Doyon, Limited. Illustrative investments include:

Denali Spectrum – Acquisition of a $400 million AWS wireless license covering 60 million people at the FCC’s Auction 66. Thereafter, Denali built-out a wireless footprint with 900 cell sites covering 18,000 square miles in Chicago and southern Wisconsin. Competing against established incumbent carriers, Denali offered a then-innovative flat rate, unlimited use, prepaid wireless plan. Denali grew to a half million customers before its sale to Leap Wireless. Denali was controlled by Doyon, Limited.

Telemundo TV Affiliate Group – Initial acquisition and buildup of Telemundo TV affiliates in major markets. Eventually the stations plus additional cash were merged into Telemundo Network itself in return for a $225 million minority equity interest. Telemundo was later sold to NBC.

Securus Technologies – Investment of growth capital to support the buyout of this leading provider of secure telephone communications services in correctional institutions. After engaging with management to grow and diversify the business, the company was sold to a private equity firm.

Northstar Wireless – Investment with DISH Network and other investors, controlled by Doyon, Limited, that won approximately $8 billion of AWS-3 wireless licenses at the FCC’s Auction 97. The company has been the subject of a continuing dispute with the FCC regarding its eligibility for roughly $2 billion in designated entity purchase price discounts. The matter is now before the Supreme Court.

Thames Valley Communications – Acquisition and turnaround of a distressed cable television operator in southeastern Connecticut covering 30,000 homes. Council Tree installed new management and invested heavily, increasing Internet speeds from 17 Mbps to 1 Gbps and dramatically improving network quality and customer service. The company realized sizable market share gains vs. incumbent Comcast, driving high cash flow growth, before its sale to Atlantic Broadband.

While these growth-oriented partnerships were formative to Council Tree’s evolution, in recent years we have shifted our focus to earlier stage companies, using our own capital for funding, and informed by our experience working with successful businesses and management teams.

Our Partners

Council Tree is owned by its three partners:

George Laub, President

George joined Council Tree in 2003. Previously, from 1991-2003, George was with TD Securities as Managing Director and Head of the U.S. M&A Group. The principal sector focus was media and telecom, most notably wireless and cable television, where TD was the industry-leading banker and advisor. During his tenure George grew TD’s M&A business from startup to 25 people and completed transactions totaling over $20 billion. Clients included AT&T Wireless, Dobson Cellular, Rural Cellular Corporation, Wireless One Network, Comcast Corp., Lonestar Wireless, Charter Cable, Cablevision Systems, Cook Inlet Communications, Madison Dearborn Partners.

George received a BA from Colgate University and an MBA from the University of Virginia.

Stephen Hillard, CEO

Steve founded Council Tree in 1998. Previously, from 1984-1998, Steve held a variety of senior management positions with Cook Inlet Region, Inc. (CIRI), an Alaska Native Corporation. Initially he was CIRI’s General Counsel in Anchorage, AK. From there Steve became COO of CIRI’s Energy & Natural Resources business. Finally, Steve was appointed COO of CIRI’s wholly-owned Cook Inlet Communications business where he managed the $500+ million sale of its radio and TV stations, followed by the redeployment of a portion of that capital into new CIRI-controlled wireless partnerships, including with Western Wireless / Voicestream (the predecessor companies to T-Mobile).

Steve received a BA from Colorado State University, a Masters Degree in Philosophy from Columbia University and a law degree from the University of Colorado.

Jonathan Glass, CFO

Jonathan joined Council Tree in 2003, and during this time he also served as CFO of Thames Valley Communications from 2013-2020. Previously, from 1996-2003, Jonathan was with TD Securities as Vice President in the M&A Group. Jonathan focused on media and telecom including wireless, communications towers, cable and television and was involved in transactions totaling over $8 billion. Before TD, Jonathan worked at UBS Securities in equity research.

Jonathan received his Bachelor of Commerce from McGill University and his MBA from Columbia University.