Erik de Vries
Cobalt Founder & Principal
As the real estate principal of Cobalt Medical Development, Mr. de Vries manages all strategy, financing, investments, new business and operations.
Recently, Mr. de Vries served as VP of Business Development at Rainier Medical Investments, LLC, managing the company’s capital platforms, fundraising strategies and new business real estate development, and was also responsible for opportunity analysis, building teams, infrastructure and investor relations.
Some of Mr. de Vries equity accomplishments at Rainier include the acquisition of Baylor Grapevine medical office building and ambulatory surgery center, an 84,000 sq. ft. MOB physically attached to THR Presbyterian Hospital of Flower Mound, Texas, a Reliant Healthcare 60 bed IRF in South Austin, and the management of a $10MM fund exclusively for Physicians.
Prior to Rainier, Mr. de Vries managed a healthcare development team that created 50 -75 bed post-acute care inpatient rehabilitation and skilled nursing hospitals throughout Texas averaging 65,000 square feet with real estate transaction costs that totaled over $100MM. Mr. de Vries earned a Bachelor’s Degree in Art from Furman University, received his Master’s Degree in Communications in 1999 from Virginia Commonwealth University and is also licensed by the Texas Real Estate Commission.
Thad Bydlon
Principal & CFO, Bridge Industries, TEAM International
With more than 25 years of experience in finance and operations - both domestically and internationally - within oil & gas, advanced telecommunications technologies, and other vertical markets, Mr. Bydlon has led numerous emerging and Fortune 100 companies through early-stage funding, IPOs, and mergers & acquisitions. Currently, he is a principal and officer of Bridge Industries, and chief financial officer for TEAM International Services. Prior to this, Mr. Bydlon served as CFO for F4W, Inc. (a communications provider to first responders, public safety and remote operators, including the oil & gas industry), raising approximately $10 million in private equity and over $3 million in secured debt. Before F4W, he was CFO for Caerus, Inc. and Volo Communications, Inc., (a VoIP telecommunications wholesale carrier and service provider), and TeleComputing ASA, (a complete IT-outsourcing Application Service Provider for small to medium size businesses). At TeleComputing, he raised more than $90 million through private equity placements and an IPO during a down market.
Mr. Bydlon has held numerous corporate and senior operating positions for ARCO, a Fortune 100 energy company, and was responsible for leading ARCO’s record-size $3 billion IPO spin-off on the NYSE, managing a $400 million international commercial paper program, and heading up the corporate mergers & acquisitions team. Mr. Bydlon spent 19 years with ARCO, living in Denver, Dallas, Anchorage, Los Angeles, Moscow and Caracas before leaving the company when BP acquired ARCO in 2000.
Matthew Moore
Principal & CEO, Bridge Industries, TEAM International Services
Mr. Moore brings tremendous value to the Cobalt team through his experience at Bridge Industries (a private equity investment firm that specializes in providing needed capital to early stage companies) and TEAM International Services, Inc., (an offshore software development company). As the founder of Bridge Industries, Mr. Moore focuses on helping early stage companies that have unique proprietary or competitive market advantages grow. In 1991, Mr. Moore established TEAM Information Services in Orlando, which has grown into one of the largest IT consulting and services firm in Florida. TEAM aligned with Cobalt to better serve our international customers by providing customized, offshore-developed, software solutions.
Prior to TEAM and Bridge Industries, Mr. Moore joined Marathon Oil as a programmer supporting field operations in Texas and Louisiana, eventually transferring to Marathon’s corporate headquarters in Ohio, where he also worked as a Programmer/Analyst and EDP auditor. Leaving Marathon to pursue an entrepreneurial career, Mr. Moore opened the first branch office for System One Technical in Orlando. After building this office up to 100 technical employees, including drafters, designers, technicians, engineers and architects, he sold it in 1992.
Mr. Moore holds a Bachelor’s Degree in Computer Science, as well as an MBA. He is the founding President of the Florida Chapter of the National Association of Computer Consulting Businesses (NACCB) and also served as the national NACCB Government Affairs chair from 1998 to 2001, President in 2002 and Chairman in 2003.
Richard Fiske
Cobalt Chief Executive Officer
Mr. Fiske’s impressive career began at Johnson & Johnson before he served in the Vietnam War. Upon returning home, he joined the Acquisition and Development department at American Medical International serving 4 years, followed by 3 years with National Medical Enterprises, 10 years with Continental Medical Systems, and 9 years with Tenet Healthcare as VP of Acquisition and Development. As of January 2004, he became CEO and Co-Founder of Everest Health Partners, a healthcare marketing and consulting organization.
Born and raised in Portland, Oregon, Mr. Fiske obtained his Bachelor’s degree in Business Administration as well as his Master’s degree in Marketing at Lewis and Clark College.
Mr. Fiske enjoys baseball, flying and mountain climbing, which lead him to accomplishing Mount Everest in 1999 and Mount Kilimanjaro in 2010. Mr. Fiske presently resides in Dallas, Texas, traveling often as a registered speaker for Stonecroft Ministries as well as several Fortune 500 companies.
Bob L. Smith
Interim CEO of Parkland Health & Hospital System, Mr. Smith is a health care executive with a varied background in complex teaching, urban and rural health care settings. Before joining Parkland, Smith served as Senior VP of the Central Region of Tenet Healthcare from 2003 to 2011, where he was responsible for 21 acute care facilities across five states. From 2000-2002, he managed multi-state regions for Universal Health Services and served as CEO of Clarent Hospital Corporation in Houston. Mr. Smith also served as VP of Division Operations for CHRISTUS Health in Dallas from June 1995 to March 2000 and held a variety of leadership positions at National Medical Enterprises from 1984 to 1995 as well as Methodist Hospitals of Dallas from 1979 to 1981. Mr. Smith holds a Master of Health Administration Degree from Washington University School of Medicine and a Bachelor of Science Degree in psychology from the University of Missouri. He completed an administrative residency at Iowa Methodist Medical Center, and in 2011, he was the recipient of the Texas Hospital Association’s Earl M. Collier Award for Distinguished Health Care Administration, the highest award bestowed by the organization.
Ron Taylor
As VP and Special Counsel for Business Development for Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Texas, Mr. Taylor assisted with various aspects of sales and marketing, including establishing new business relationships and enhancing existing ones. Prior to his role, Mr. Taylor served as General Counsel for BCBSTX for more than twenty years. Mr. Taylor serves as a Director and Officer of several subsidiary and affiliated corporations of BCBSTX, including the Caring for Children Foundation of Texas and TriWest Health Care Alliance. Mr. Taylor also served on the Board of the Texas Association of Health Plans, Texas Association of Life and Health Insurers and is a member of the Board of Directors of North Texas Commission and a member of the Dallas Citizens Council. Mr. Taylor is also a past Board member of the Texas Association of Business and the past Chairman of the Board of the Richardson Chamber of Commerce. Mr. Taylor remains active in the Texas legal community, where he is a board member of both the Statewide and DFW Chapter of the General Counsel Forum. He also serves on the Corporate Counsel Advisory Board to the Texas Access to Justice Commission. His community service commitment is also reflected by his Board participation in charitable organizations, including Friends of Wednesday’s Child and Home for the Holidays Mr. Taylor holds a Bachelor’s Degree in Economics and Business Administration from Cornell College and a J.D. from Southern Methodist School of Law. He retired as a Lt. Col in the U.S. Army Reserve.