Our Team
Big-Firm Edge, Startup Mentality.
Decades of dealmaking. Billions in transactions. A team that’s been in the trenches on both sides of the table. At Groundswell, we bring sharp expertise, real-world experience, and a practical approach.
Mark Dittrich
Partner | 📍 Costa Rica
Superpower: M&A Shaman
“We’re into getting deals done.”
Mark brings experience advising some of the largest companies in the world on industry-altering transactions in Gibson Dunn’s corporate department to entrepreneurs, searchers, and dealmakers in small- and mid-market transactions. As you’ll soon learn, he never stops talking about being a “risk assessor.”
Mark received his JD, magna cum laude, from Georgetown Law, was elected to the Order of the Coif, and served as Articles Editor for the Georgetown Law Journal. Mark received his BA from UCLA.
Mark lives in Santa Teresa, Costa Rica and San Diego, California with his wife, Kassidi, his son, Sage, and his dog, Tipsy. He can’t do anything until he’s surfed. It’s a curse.
Máuhan Zonoozy
Partner | 📍 Los Angeles
Superpower: Mental Gymnastics
“We bring solutions, not problems.”
Máuhan has sat at every seat at the table: attorney, founder, funder, and strategist (but likes his Eames reading chair best).
Over his career, Máuhan has advised some of the world’s most influential companies from white board to IPO, including as Head of Innovation at Spotify, Partner at Boston Consulting Group and BCG Digital Ventures, and as an Attorney in Orrick’s Technology Companies Group. In prior lives, Máuhan was a successful entrepreneur and venture capitalist, and - once upon a time - a plucky music journalist.
Máuhan received his JD from Georgetown Law, where he was Managing Editor of Law Journal and a published Internet Policy researcher. Máuhan is also an Ignite Graduate of the Stanford Graduate School of Business and holds a dual-degree B.S.B.A., cum laude, from Georgetown University.
Máuhan’s happy place is on a chairlift.
Terren O’Connor
Partner | 📍 San Diego
Superpower: Corporate Clairvoyance
“We build long-term client relationships.”
Terren represents private emerging companies in general corporate and transactional matters - often working with companies from formation until exit. Terren also works with leading venture capital firms on their investment transactions. Terren loves building long-term relationships with clients, guiding them through all stages of development.
Terren brings her 12 years of experience as a corporate attorney at Cooley LLP where she advised private and public companies. Before joining Cooley LLP, Terren served as a law clerk to Judge Marilyn L. Huff of the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of California.
Terren received her JD from Duke Law School and her BA from Yale University, where she played Division I volleyball.
Terren lives with her husband and four kids, and she loves skiing and hiking, especially in Sierra City, California.
Hal Stanton
Of Counsel | 📍 Detroit
Superpower: Sounding British
“We are our clients.”
Hal has spent his entire career working with the best and brightest. He cut his teeth at PA Consulting, a leading European management and technology consultancy, before later advising Fortune 500 companies at Vault 150 under 150 law firm Bush Seyferth, PLLC. Hal now brings this experience to Groundswell, helping entrepreneurs buy, grow, and sell businesses (but only once he’s been out for a morning run with his dog and had a cup of coffee).
Hal received his JD from the University of Michigan Law School, cum laude, where he served as a contributing editor for the Michigan Law Review. After law school, he clerked for the Honorable Judith E. Levy on the United States District Court for the Eastern District of Michigan. Hal received his MEng from the University of Leeds in the UK.
Currently, Hal lives in Detroit, Michigan, with his wife, son, and Leica, their rescue pit bull. They think about leaving from time to time, but then remember that Grace Lee Boggs felt “sorry for people who are not living in Detroit,” and think better of it.