About
John Ratliff joined the team in 2012, bringing his own personal experience in founding a very successful entrepreneurial business, leading a series of strategic acquisitions, and ultimately selling to a strategic buyer with the help of STS Capital Partners. John is currently leading a number of deals in a variety of industry sectors. John founded Appletree Answers in 1995 in his two-bedroom apartment in Wilmington, Del., as a traditional telephone answering service. He grew the company through a series of acquisitions to 24 US- based locations and 650 employees when it was sold to strategic buyer in June, 2012. Passionate about strategy, John used the methodologies of the Rockefeller Habits to reduce turnover at the company from the industry average of 110% to around 18% in the four years between 2008 and 2012. One key initiative was the company’s Dream On initiative, a “Make-A-Wish-Foundation” style program for employees in need. Appletree’s high retention rate allowed the company to
Position in the VCSift Database
- • 6 investors at STS Capital Partners are tracked.
- • 1,801 investors hold the Managing Director role in VCSift. John Ratliff is one of them.
- • 132 investors are based in Wilmington, Delaware, United States.
Data sourced from 410,343 investor profiles. Updated July 2026.
Investment Focus
- Stages
- seed
- Location
- Wilmington, US
Contact Information
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