Partner
Dr. Martin Lautman served as the former Chairman and CEO of GfK Custom Research North America (Nuremburg, Germany), at that time a public company on the DAX and the fourth largest information company in the world, with offices in over 60 countries. While at GfK, Dr. Lautman was responsible for the integration of one of the largest acquisitions in the history of the information industry, NOP Worldwide, into GfK North American Custom Research operations.
Dr. Lautman also served as the President of Numex Corporation, a public company which marketed health care products through infomercials and helped found Stonemor in an LBO, a master limited partnership which he and his partners took public (NYSE: STON) and that has since gone private. Recently, Dr. Lautman has focused on real estate, private equity, and venture capital. He works as a Venture Partner for several early-stage venture funds, as a Managing Partner for Musketeer Capital (www.musketeercapital.com), a venture capital fund which he founded with other Wharton faculty and alumni and as a Managing Partner of the Athena Aurora Fund (www.athenaaurorafund.com), a unique philanthropic venture fund benefiting students of the University of Pennsylvania and The Wharton School. During his career, Dr. Lautman has served on multiple boards of public and private companies both for PE-funded and independent companies and has managed multiple succession plans for both large and small family-owned companies.
Dr. Lautman received his B.S. degree in Political Science from Brooklyn College and Ph.D. degree in Mathematical Psychology (Behavioral Economics) from The Pennsylvania State University. He is a graduate of the Executive Education Program of The Harvard Business School and is a member of Young President’s Organization (YPO) and Chief Executives Organization (CEO).
For ten years, Dr. Lautman has taught startups Entrepreneurial Marketing in The Wharton School MBA and undergraduate programs. All three of his sons either have or are attending Wharton/Penn and he is the proud funder of six Wharton/Penn degrees. He has lectured at Columbia University, Cornell University and Princeton University.
Philanthropically, The Lautman Family Foundation is involved in funding Education and the Arts. Dr. Lautman also has served as the Chairman of the University of Pennsylvania Penn Hillel and has been active in supporting Jewish and Israel-related activities on college campuses. He was also a member of the local hospital board, Moss Rehab which was acquired by Albert Einstein hospital.