The People Behind the Work.

Dr. Greg Waller advises clients on complex business valuations and on buy-side and sell-side M&A transactions. He is the son of a “Blue-Collar Entrepreneur” and was raised in (and now owns) his family’s industrial painting equipment distribution company. He owned and operated an industrial painting company that specialized in painting elevated structural steel infrastructure like bridges and tanks, has been a partner in a real estate development firm and, until recently, was a partner in a restaurant operating group. Greg holds a Ph.D. in finance from Purdue University and until May 2025 was a tenured finance professor at Virginia Commonwealth University, where he taught and published research on corporate finance, mergers & acquisitions and corporate governance. He is the Managing Partner of Middle Market Value, and Cornerstone Valuation is his legacy valuation firm. Given his academic and entrepreneurial backgrounds, he jokingly refers to himself as a “Blue-Collar Scholar.”

Steve co-founded Windward Advisors in 2006. He was formerly a growth and acquisition finance lender with Fleet Bank and GE Capital, and was part of the senior management team that led Capital One through its initial public offering from Signet Bank, where he was instrumental in building the corporate infrastructure. Steve began his career in public accounting with KPMG and has more than 30 years of experience in financial management, operations management, mergers, acquisitions and corporate development.

Barry co-founded Windward Advisors in 2006. He was formerly a General Partner and Managing Director with Legg Mason Capital Partners, which acquired and built businesses in diverse industries throughout the U.S. and Canada. Before that, he held senior positions as a growth, merger and acquisition finance lender with NCNB, Barclays and Fleet Bank. Barry has more than 35 years of experience in mergers, acquisitions, finance and corporate development.