Professional Expertise
As a coach, Eric Lee brings over thirty years of experience as a trusted partner to high-performance leaders across the US, Europe, and Asia. Eric believes that executives—like top performers in any competitive field—elevate and excel when they understand both their foundational strengths and impediments, and he helps clients advance from clear assessment and understanding to deliberate, impactful action.
Throughout his career, he has partnered with exceptional leaders to help create world-class teams and deliver sustained performance. He believes that virtuoso leaders intentionally align their values, identities, talents, and actions to catalyze organizational performance and success. His clients include CEOs, founders, and C-suite executives from early-stage ventures to global, industry-leading companies.
Experience
Eric spent twenty-seven years at Welsh, Carson, Anderson & Stowe, a leading private equity firm with over $31 billion in total assets under management. He served as a general partner and co-head of the firm’s technology investing practice, which represented 50 percent of assets invested, and served on the firm’s management, investment, and finance committees. At WCAS, his work spanned organizational and leadership development, capital raising, portfolio strategy and execution, and chairing multiple boards of directors. As a private equity partner, Eric led and co-led investments in B2B SaaS/software, data & information services, financial technology, and electronic payment companies.
Prior to WCAS, Eric spent four years in the investment banking division at Goldman, Sachs & Co., advising leading companies on mergers, acquisitions, and corporate finance. Eric spent two years in mergers & acquisitions, then served as part of the original GS Technology Investment Banking Team from 1997 to 1999, where he worked on transactions across the enterprise software, internet, communications technology, and technology services sectors. Currently serving as chairman of the board of Clearwater Analytics (NYSE: “CWAN”) and as a board director at DirectTravel, Eric also serves on the nonprofit boards of Sponsors for Educational Opportunity (SEO) and BalletCollective. He is an active member of the Council on Foreign Relations and the Partnership for New York City, where he also served as a David Rockefeller Fellow. Eric and his wife share two wonderful adult children and live in New York City. He finds inspiration and challenge through a range of physical activities, learning to play piano and guitar, and reading.
Client Sectors
- the arts
- consumer products
- education
- financial services
- healthcare
- public policy
- religious organizations
- social services
- software as a service
- technology
Education
- AB – Pre-Medical Studies & Medical Anthropology, Harvard University
- ICF Certification in Leadership Coaching – Georgetown University
- Certification in the Leadership Circle Profile