Biography
Jim Collis
Founder & Managing Partner
Jim Collis is the founder and Managing Partner of Colfam Management, a private investment firm focused on growth-stage and operationally intensive buyouts. He brings over three decades of private equity experience to Colfam, with a particular emphasis on backing businesses with proven unit economics and founders worth building with.
Jim co-founded Seaport Capital in 1997 alongside Bill Luby and has served as Co-Chairman of the Seaport Capital Investment Committee since its founding. Over nearly 30 years, he has sourced, structured, and overseen investments across media, technology, and business services, serving on the boards of portfolio companies through acquisition, growth, and exit. He began his investing career in 1991 at The Chase Manhattan Bank, rising to Principal in Chase Capital's private equity group.
Before finance, Jim practiced as an engineer. He holds a BSEE from Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute and an MBA in Finance and Accounting from Columbia Business School.
At Colfam, Jim focuses on two types of investments. In buyouts, he looks for businesses with strong market position, strong unit economics, at least 20% return on invested capital, and the ability to grow revenue and expand margins over time — with additional scale through add-on acquisitions. In growth capital, he backs consumer brands at Series Seed or later with gross margin characteristics that already work for the target channel, modest EBITDA profitability, and good, smart, ethical, hard-working founders. He is comfortable owning part of a well-run business and has no interest in chasing growth at any cost.
Jim is based in Scottsdale, Arizona and Bend, Oregon, where he spends time outside the office on the river and the golf course.