Mr. Dickens serves on the management committee for CDI Global, Merit Investment Bank’s sister organization, which represents cross-border merger & acquisitions in over 30 countries globally. His access to world-class buyers and capital partners is an important part of the service the company provides for all Merit Investment Bank clients.

Joel lives in Gig Harbor, Washington with his wife and four children.

Chris Barnes is a Managing Director at Merit Investment Bank with three decades of experience in investment banking, principal investing, and corporate development. He has successfully structured, negotiated, and closed over $1 billion in capital raises and $1 billion in M&A transactions.

Barnes has worked with a number of leading financial services firms including Lehman Brothers, Tucker Anthony Sutro, and Cleary Gull. He also successfully ran his own investment banking firm (Sarowdin Partners) for 10 years which focused on providing senior-level, Wall Street-quality investment banking services to companies at the lower end of the middle market.

Barnes holds the FINRA Series 7, 79, and 63 licenses.

David founded three technology companies and has extensive experience in technology mergers and acquisitions, go-to-market, commercialization and growth strategies, sales leadership, and building global alliance teams. He currently sits on the Board of Directors at Hu-GPT, which is at the forefront of AI deep fake detection and has advised various companies in the technology sector.

Gerber holds a degree in Mechanical Engineering from Penn College and an MBA in Technology Management from the University of Phoenix. David lives in San Clemente, CA with his wife of 42 years, is a one handicap, and is a very proud grandpa.

As Managing Director, David Wanetick provides clients with unique perspectives in articulating the value of their companies. His ability to communicate business strategy to our team and clients has resulted in great success. He is an expert in valuing intangible assets as he has valued thousands of patents and created the Certified Patent Valuation Analyst designation. As the author of Business Model Validation, Wanetick has a keen sense for explaining companies’ business models to investors and strategic acquirers. He has negotiated a wide variety of financial transactions and even authored The Strategic Negotiator and created The Institute for Strategic Negotiations.

Gabriele is an investment banker and advisor with experience in sell-side M&A transactions across industries such as SaaS, CPG, Retail, Professional Services, and B2B Manufacturing. He assists clients in executing transactions valued between $5 million and $200 million and provides startups and middle-market businesses with strategy and operations consulting services. Previously, he worked for boutique banks, Orca Capital and Meridian Capital, and served as an advisor at Alternative Ownership Advisors, guiding founders through feasibility studies on alternative exit strategies, including trust-ownership transitions.

Gabriele graduated summa cum laude from the University of Oregon’s Robert D. Clark Honors College with a Bachelor of Arts in Business Administration. His professional interests span energy, AI, coding, and clean tech, reflecting his commitment to innovation, sustainability, and environmental conservation. Outside the office, Gabriele is known for his love of film, food, and philosophy.

For decades, Chad has assisted various organizations in business development and supporting C-Suite to scale their efforts in support of clients.

Chad is very client-focused, helping clients learn more about the M&A process and navigating how to best achieve excellent results. Client satisfaction and enablement are Chad’s primary focus. Having worked with marquee firms such as Fortress Investment Group and US Bank, Chad can effectively guide clients successfully through the process. Chad possesses the ability to wear many hats while making everyone feel comfortable.

Miwako joined Merit as a first-year analyst following her graduation from the University of Oregon in the spring of 2024.

She studied computer science and physics prior to discovering her passion in finance, having completed a data engineering internship in London over the summer of 2023 and serving as a TA for numerous computer science courses at the University of Oregon.

She was also the TMT Sector Leader and a Senior Equity Research Analyst at the University of Oregon Investment Group, which actively manages over $2 million of the University’s endowment fund.
Miwako holds the FINRA Series 63 and 79 licenses.