About Eric Howard

Eric Howard has spent 25 years operating, advising, and investing in mid-market businesses. He has served as CFO, CEO, and COO across PE-backed and founder-led companies in manufacturing, e-commerce, financial services, professional services, and medical aesthetics. He is a CPA and completed the McCombs School of Business "Artificial Intelligence for Leaders" program at the University of Texas.

He began his career in M&A advisory at Arthur Andersen, then moved to the buy-side at Intellect Capital, where he led GP-side deal execution across four years and one completed exit. From there he moved into operating roles — CFO at Brightcube, where he led a financial restructuring and successful asset sale; CEO/COO at Erin Condren Design, which he scaled from a garage-based brand into a leading e-commerce lifestyle company; and CEO/COO at Charta Group/Permalite, where he led the acquisition and integration of a manufacturing facility.

For the past several years, Eric has held concurrent operating roles across The Marco Group, a family office portfolio of four operating companies including Marco Fine Arts, EC Design (erincondren.com), Charta Group, and Nova Color. As an operator and advisor in that portfolio, he contributed to growing the platform 50x through acquisitions, operational improvements, and financial restructuring.

Highland Venture Associates, Inc is Eric's fractional advisory practice. He works with one to two clients at a time, delivering senior operating support and applied AI implementation to companies that need both. He is based in Austin, Texas, with engagements nationwide and a particular concentration of work across PE-backed lower middle market, family office portfolios, and founder-led businesses preparing for transaction.