“Great things in business are never done by one person. They’re done by a team of people.” –Steve Jobs

Paley Madison Partners believes that a strong corporate culture starts with a clear mission.

Our mission is simple. We choose to work with business leaders who share our values. These leaders are impeccable with their word, they don’t take anything personally, they don’t make assumptions and they always do their best.

John P. Benfield
MBA, Founder / Managing Partner

John is a seasoned senior executive with a unique combination of corporate and entrepreneurial skill sets and strategic and operational experience.

Prior to co-founding Paley Madison Partners, John and two partners founded, grew and sold StarWalk Kids Media, Inc., a cloud-based publishing and media distribution platform.  StarWalk provided next-generation reading, writing and research tools and exclusive eBook content to 3,000 primary and secondary schools and libraries in the US and Canada.  In 2016, John and his partners sold the company to Isabella Products, Inc.

Previous to Starwalk, John formed Wall & Madison, a C-level consultancy providing an “Office of the President” level of support and resources to top management at emerging startups.  In each case, John took an active management role within his clients’ companies, including 26 MGT, Best Signal Wireless, Brainy Baby, Market Vision, National Dental Advisors, and The FAM Tour.

Prior to Wall & Madison, John acquired Spar Marketing Services from the Spar Group, renamed it Coactive Marketing Group, reset the company’s strategy, and took the company public (NASDAQ Small Cap) as a full service marketing and promotion agency holding company.  Over a period of 14 years, John grew the company from $1 million to $140 million in sales through organic and acquisitional growth, serving a client base of Fortune 100 companies.  In 2006, John exited the company, which was subsequently renamed MKTG. MKTG was later acquired by Dentsu Aegis.

John began his career at the Colgate Palmolive Company as a Field Sales Executive.  He then transferred to the U.S. Household Products Marketing Division.  There, John started as an Assistant Product Manager, and rose quickly through the ranks.   As Category Marketing Manager, he managed Colgate’s U.S. detergent business, which generated $460 million in sales and $138 million in revenue annually.  Ultimately, John was appointed Director of New Business for Colgate U.S., responsible for all Colgate Palmolive new product development, as well as for new product acquisitions.

John has served on a number of corporate boards, both public and private.  He is widely recognized by his peers for his ability to identify and quantify revenue streams for new growth opportunities, and to effectively align resources to successfully monetize them.

John received a Master of Business Administration degree from Adelphi University and a Bachelor of Science in Business Administration degree from SUNY Fredonia.

Robert E. Caines
MBA, Founder / Managing Partner

Robert is a senior-level entrepreneur and finance, sales and marketing executive with over thirty years of company startup, growth and exit experience.  He is widely recognized by his peers as a leader with strong, hands-on sales, sales management, business development and organization skills.

Prior to co-founding Paley Madison Partners, Bob founded Paley Advisors, LLC (New York, NY), a buy-side intermediary, fundraiser and developer of domestic and international sales distribution channels.  Key clients include Buffalo Armory LLC (Buffalo, NY), CardioComm Solutions, Inc. (Toronto, ON) and Trident Military Equipment Trading, LLC (Abu Dhabi, UAE).

Previous to Paley Advisors, Bob served as Partner and Senior Vice President of Business Development at Paley Dixon, Inc. (New York, NY), a buy-side intermediary.  Key clients included HIG Capital, Jordan Industries, Nautic Partners and Swander Pace Capital.

Prior to Paley Dixon, Bob served as Vice President of Global Sales of the Analytic Applications Division at Hummingbird, Ltd. (Toronto, ON), an enterprise software firm.  Key companies included ABN Amro, CIBC, Fujitsu, and Quest Diagnostics.

Before joining Hummingbird, Bob served as Vice President of Business Development at Esavio (New York, NY), a provider of ASP, CRM, E-Commerce, ERM and SCM solutions.  Key clients included the The American Management Association, CapitalThinking, and TheStreet.com.

In 1997, Bob was recruited as a Vice President of Sales to join the eXPENSE Division at Automatic Data Processing (ADP) (Roseland, NJ), an intraprenurial startup within ADP.  Key clients included Dassault Falcon Jet, Philips Consumer Communications, Reader’s Digest, and William Mercer.

Prior to ADP, Bob served as Vice President of Sales at Runestone Technologies (Rochester, NY and Toronto, ON), an internet service provider.  Key clients included The Buffalo Bills, Chicago Pneumatic and Xerox.  Runestone was eventually acquired by NTT/VERIO.

Previous to Runestone, Bob co-founded Cable Channels, Inc. (Harrisburg, PA) with two senior-level cable TV executives, and served as VP of Sales.  The firm provided grid-based electronic program guide software to Top 100 cable TV MSOs.  Key clients included Comcast, TCI, and Wometco.

Bob started his post-MBA career as Sales Manager of the Program Switching Division at Monroe Electronics, Inc. (Lyndonville, NY).  Key clients included ATC, Comcast, TCI, and Time Warner.

Bob is an ethical business leader with a consistent record of leadership on both public and private boards, including:

- Paley Madison Partners, LLC, New York, NY – Founder and Member of the BOD, 2018 - Present

- Little Apple, LLC, Woodstock, NY – Founder and Member of the BOD, 2016 – 2018

- CardioComm Solutions, Inc., Toronto, ON – Member of the BOD, 2015 – 2016; Chairman of the BOD, 2016 – Present

- Paley Advisors, LLC, New York, NY – Founder and Member of the BOD, 2014 – Present

- Kensington House Owner’s Corporation, New York, NY – Member of and Treasurer of the BOD, 2013 – 2016

- Salmagundi Club, New York, NY – Member of the BOD, 2009 – 2012; Treasurer of the BOD, 2010 – 2012

- Ali Forney Center, New York, NY – Member of and Treasurer of the BOD, 2002 – 2004

- Paley Dixon, Inc., New York, NY – Member of the BOD, 2002 – 2014

- Audubon Beckwith Properties, New York, NY – Founder and Member of the BOD, 2001 – 2003

- Peccadillo Theater Company, New York, NY – Member of the Advisory Board, 1997 – 2001

- Cable Channels, Harrisburg, PA – Co-Founder and Member of the BOD, 1992 – 1995

Bob received a Master of Business Administration degree in International Management from the Thunderbird School of Global Management and a Bachelor of Architecture degree from the College of Engineering at the University of Notre Dame.