The Team.

Brian Kritzer is the Founder and Managing Partner of BlueFin Research Partners, an independent equity research boutique headquartered in Boston, Massachusetts. Founded in 2002, BlueFin specializes in technology research to institutional investors.

Prior to founding BlueFin, Brian spent several years in research and institutional sales roles at sell-side investment firms, including Fechtor Detwiler, Pacific Growth Equities, and Van Kasper, where he developed expertise in technology sector coverage and cultivated relationships with institutional clients across the country.

Brian holds a Bachelor of Science in Business Administration from Le Moyne College and a Master of Science in Finance from Boston College's Carroll School of Management.

Paul Peterson is President and Director of Research at BlueFin Research Partners, which he joined in 2008.

Prior to joining BlueFin, Paul spent several years in semiconductor sales-management roles, building extensive expertise across multiple end-markets — compute, communications, automotive, mobile, networking, industrial, consumer, and military. His industry background includes serving as Vice President of Sales and Marketing at Semtech from 2000 to 2007, and 13 years at Advanced Micro Devices (AMD), where he last served as Director of Sales. He began his career at Texas Instruments as a Field Sales Engineer.

Paul holds a Bachelor of Science in Electrical Engineering from Cornell University and an MBA from Pepperdine University.

Steve Mullane is Vice President of Research covering the Semiconductor Capital and Material sectors.

Prior to joining BlueFin, Steve spent over 24 years in both technical and executive management positions in the front-end semiconductor manufacturing, equipment, and critical semiconductor material sectors. His experience includes the start-up of three fabs as a lithography process engineer and in management, global management responsibilities at KLA, FSI, and SCREEN, and roles at several semiconductor material suppliers including AZ Photoresist (EMD), General Electric MicroSi (Shin-Etsu), FujiFilm Electronics (ARCH), and a CMP polishing-pad start-up (NexPlanar).

Steve holds a Bachelor of Science in Mechanical Engineering from Arizona State University.

Gary Smith comes to BlueFin with a comprehensive background in technical and sales management across the semiconductor and networking-software markets. At BlueFin, Gary focuses on technical research into the latest industry trends and architectures.

Prior to BlueFin, Gary spent 11 years at IP Infusion, a networking-protocol and whitebox-OS supplier, culminating as Worldwide VP of Sales, where he managed sales and business-development activities and global strategic partnerships. Before IP Infusion, he held senior sales and technical-marketing positions at numerous venture-funded and public semiconductor companies, including AMD, Fujitsu Microelectronics, NEC, and Vitesse Semiconductor (Microchip).

Gary holds a Bachelor of Science in Electrical Engineering from Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute.

Barry Danaher is a seasoned technology-industry executive with deep expertise in electronic-component distribution, EMS, and semiconductor markets.

Prior to joining BlueFin as a research analyst in 2008, Barry spent 24 years at Arrow Electronics in senior leadership roles, overseeing North American operations, building high-performance teams, and managing nearly a billion dollars in global sales.

Barry holds a B.S. in Business Administration from Central Connecticut State University, with executive-level training from the University of Chicago Booth School of Business and Harvard Business School, and a certification in Materials Management from Merrimack College.

Mike Rodensky joins the BlueFin team after an extensive career in the semiconductor industry, bringing deep industry expertise and a broad network of relationships to the firm's research.

Most recently, Mike spent 17+ years at Semtech, where he began by leading the North America and EMEA sales teams and culminated as Global Senior Vice President of Sales & Marketing. Prior to Semtech, he was Vice President of Worldwide Sales & Marketing at Vitesse Semiconductor, and has held VP of Global Sales roles at several public and private semiconductor companies — among them Maker Communications, SolarFlare Communications, and Telephotonics — as well as senior sales-management positions at Philips, AMD, and Conexant Systems.

Mike holds a Bachelor of Science in Electrical Engineering from Tufts University.

Jay Battista is a founding principal of BlueFin Research Partners, where he serves as Chief Compliance Officer and Head of Sales.

Prior to founding BlueFin, Jay was Vice President of Sales & Trading with Fechtor, Detwiler & Co. from 1996 to 2001. He also held specialist financial roles within John Hancock Clearing Corp. and Tucker Anthony & Co.

Jay holds a Bachelor of Business Administration and Aviation Science from Salem State University.

Warren Forman is Vice President of Institutional Sales at BlueFin Research Partners, which he joined in 2011. He brings 25 years of engineering and technology sales experience to the firm.

Warren started his career as a thin-films engineer at Texas Instruments before joining the company's semiconductor sales organization, where he managed the New England distribution network and covered major accounts in the region. Prior to joining BlueFin, he was Northeast Director of Sales at Luminus Devices, an LED start-up.

Warren holds a Bachelor of Science in Optics Engineering from the University of Rochester and an MBA from the University of Dallas.

Conor Connaughton works in equity sales at BlueFin Research Partners, which he joined in 2022.

Prior to BlueFin, Conor spent several years working for international and domestic global shipping companies and freight brokers.

Conor graduated from Massachusetts Maritime Academy in 2020 with a Bachelor of Science in International Business.