We pride ourselves on being partners to
entrepreneurs - bringing help, heart, and
hands-on experience to every opportunity.
Our Team
Carlo Schmid
General Partner
Carlo combines years of entrepreneurial and investment expertise, which led to the founding of Lineage Partners.
With seven and a half years of experience at Cherry Ventures, where he joined early on, Carlo worked closely with founders and is now using his insights on scaling, value creation, and financing to support Searchers and succession entrepreneurs.
His entrepreneurial journey includes managing a family business with over 80 employees (which was fortunate to find a successor within the family) and co-founding a beverage company that raised capital, created a new category, and became profitable.
In his free time, after an attempt at professional football, he now takes on Ironman challenges, loves traveling (especially to Southern Europe and the US visiting his MBA friends), and as a firm believer in Stoic philosophy, he's convinced his hometown club, Eintracht Frankfurt, will one day be national champions again—because unfulfilled dreams are part of life!
John Schanbacher
Investor
John blends venture capital, private equity, and entrepreneurial expertise. With two years in VC and operational roles in Silicon Valley and as co-founder of Link and Value PE—a diversity initiative across venture and private equity with over 100 partners and a community of over 1,000 members—he has worked closely with founders and investors, now leveraging his insights to support the search fund ecosystem.
His experience includes a stint at the family equity fund of a Co-Head of EQT. Coming from a family business specializing in software and software services, he has a strong connection to the German Mittelstand. His entrepreneurial journey also includes serving as the sports director of a German first-league American football team.
Outside of work, John loves to play all sports at any time and has traveled to 50 countries, mostly on budget close to zero. He attended HSG and completed a visiting stay at Harvard.
