ADVISORY
VENTURE CAPITAL ADVISORY BOARD:
Deborah Farrington is a founder and general partner of StarVest Partners, a New York City-based venture capital firm founded in 1998.
for a venture backed company since Google. Other noteworthy investments where Ms. Farrington served on the board include Fieldglass, acquired by Madison Dearborn, and Insurance.com, bought by QuinStreet. Prior to founding StarVest, Ms. Farrington held positions including: President and CEO of Victory Ventures, LLC, a New York-based private equity investment firm where she also served as chairman of Staffing Resources, Inc.
Ms. Farrington currently sits on the Boards of NetSuite, where she is lead director and chairman of the Compensation Committee, Xignite, Host Analytics, and PivotLink on behalf of StarVest. She is also a director and chairman of the Compensation Committee at Collectors Universe, Inc. (NASDAQ: CLCT). She was named to the Forbes Midas 100 List of top venture capitalists in the United States in 2008, 2009 and 2011.
She is a graduate of Smith College and holds an MBA from Harvard Business School, where she is a member of the Dean’s Visiting Committee. She is also a member of the President’s Advisory Council and investment committee of Smith College; a board member of the Harvard Business School Club of New York City; a member of The Committee of 200 and the Economic Club of New York; and a board member of Opportunity International, a leading international microfinance organization.
Jim Robinson is a Co-Founder and Managing Partner at RRE Ventures. He has been active within the technology community for nearly 30 years as a venture capitalist, entrepreneur, banker, and futurist. Jim received his B.S. in Business Administration from Antioch College, and his M.B.A. from Harvard Business School. He is an MBA program lecturer at Columbia Business School and Stanford Business School, and a PhD / Master’s program lecturer at CUNY Baruch and The New School.
Joshua Ruch is a managing partner of Rho Capital Partners and Rho Ventures, co-founder of Rho and serves on the Investment Committee of Rho Fund Investors. With more than 30 years in private equity, Joshua has experience investing in all of Rho’s active sectors. His investing philosophy is driven by a perspective that the human factor, common to all investment sectors, is the single most important determinant for successful investment outcomes. He most enjoys interacting with, supporting and mentoring his investment companies’ management teams.
His philanthropic activities include serving as a trustee of Second Stage Theatre and the American Friends of Beit Issie Shapiro. He received an M.B.A. from the Harvard Business School and a B.S.E. from the Technion, Israel Institute of Technology.
David Teten is a serial entrepreneur and Partner with ff Venture Capital. ff VC has made over 200 investments in over 70 companies since 1999. David has advised clients such as Goldman Sachs Special Situations Group, Icahn Enterprises, LLR Partners ($1.4b fund), Birch Hill Equity Partners (C$2B fund), and other institutional investors. David led the first study of best practices of venture capital and private equity funds in originating new investments and the first-ever study of VCs in creating portfolio company value. He is a published author and frequent keynote speaker.
ELLIE WHEELER,
PARTNER, GREYCROFT VENTURES
Ellie focuses on investment opportunities across the digital ecosystem, with an emphasis over the last few years on next-generation commerce, consumer mobile, and associated SaaS solutions. Ellie manages several investments for Greycroft, including BaubleBar, Flashpoint Intel, Eloquii, and Plain Vanilla Games (QuizUp).
Prior to joining Greycroft, Ellie worked in a similar role evaluating investment
Jason E. Klein is an experienced media CEO and builder of digital and traditional businesses who has led two successful turnarounds. He is founder and CEO of On Grid Ventures LLC , an advisory and investment firm in digital media, marketing, and information; a Managing Director at Empirical Media; and a mentor at several NYC-area incubators. Mr. Klein was previously CEO of Newspaper National Network LP, and CEO of Times Mirror Magazines/Time4 Media.
Ex-Officio members:
Meet the Committee:
Matt Gorin is a co-founder of Contour Venture Partners and has experience in technology operations, start-ups, venture capital and turnaround management. He is passionate about helping to build early stage companies, with a focus on the financial services, internet and applied technology sectors. Contour invests in seed and early stage technology companies in the northeast United States with a focus on the financial services, digital media and the internet sectors.
John is the co-founder and CEO of the Validea family of companies (Validea Capital Management, Validea.com and the ETF VALX). A twice published author and sought after speaker, his proprietary investment strategies employ proven wealth-building philosophies by integrating computerized models with artificial intelligence. John is a regular contributor for TheStreet.com, Forbes.com and Seeking Alpha.
Margaret E. Miao is an experienced marketing, strategic planning and new product development executive who has advised and led new product launches, marketing and business development initiatives while in various management positions at Booz, Allen & Hamilton, J.P. Morgan Chase, Thomson Financial Corporation and IBM Corporation. She is Founder and Principal of Rock Ridge Advisors, an investment and advisory firm.
Mason is co-founder of Benbria, a B2B SaaS company started in 2007. Benbria works with some of the largest institutions in the world, and won multiple awards such as Profit Hot 50. A programmer since 9, Mason studied Software Engineering at University of Waterloo. Mason has extensive history investing and advising early-stage companies. Mason is also the software Co-Sector Lead with Dan Delmar at HBSAANY.
Sharjeel Kashmir works as an advisor on transformational and disruptive initiatives in Goldman Sachs’ Investment Management Division. He has worked on a number of acquisitions and different aspects of the hedge fund, private equity, pension fund advisory, and 40 Act business at Goldman Sachs. Sharjeel has also advised other leading global financial institutions and asset managers on deal sourcing, due diligence, and post-merger integration. In addition, Sharjeel counsels the executive teams, CEOs, and boards of a number of early stage companies on product strategy & development, capital structure, and the journey from negative to positive EBITDA.
Trevor Bond is the Founder and Principal of Maidstone Investment Company, an investor in real estate and early stage companies. Until 2016 he was the CEO of W.P. Carey Inc., an $11 billion global public REIT/investment manager with Assets Under Management of $12 billion and a footprint spanning 20 countries. Prior to W.P. Carey he held roles in finance, development, asset management and principal investing at Goldman Sachs, Credit Suisse (First Boston) and Tishman Realty and Construction.
Dan Delmar is a consultant, corporate executive, entrepreneur and investor. Dan consulted on breakthrough growth at Bain, Accenture and for many years, including currently, his own firm, Corporate Strategy Consulting. Dan was an executive at Carrier Corporation and from 2003-2009 at IBM in the Corporate Strategy department. He has founded three businesses and helped two others to get funded by venture capital funds.
Betsy Odita is a business strategy and operating leader with over 15 years of experience in the asset management industry. Most recently, she served as Head of Investment Risk Assets Oversight & Special Projects at AIG Investments, where she oversaw a $7 billion alternative investment portfolio. At AIG, she also restructured investment functions, lead global business expansion planning teams, initiated new business ventures, and managed deals for division-level strategic investments, alliances, and joint ventures.
Humphrey has spent the last two decades evangelizing and marketing whatever he’s been focused on. He founded Verizon Wireless’ 4G Venture Forum, comprised of leading VC firms Charles River Ventures, Kleiner Perkins, Mayfield, NorthBridge and Sequoia Capital. He also founded Verizon’s 4G Venture Forum for Connected Cars, which included BMW, Honda, Hyundai, MIT and Toyota.
Richard Kane’s career in financial services included senior positions at Citicorp, Bank Leumi and Marsh & McLenan then retired as CAO of the American Red Cross in NY. He was CEO of an insurance related startup and Chair of a finance information company with a very successful exit. He is now involved in investing and providing advice to early stage companies.
Anthony is the President and Founder of Livingston Capital Management, an investment partnership based in New York City. Prior to his founding of Livingston Capital, he covered healthcare services and industrial services at Cobalt Capital Management and before that was an analyst at Kingdon Capital Management.
During his career, Doug served as CEO of property-casualty insurance companies for over 25 years, responsible for the turnaround, repositioning and implementation of new visions for these challenged companies. The companies are highly profitable today. Prior to that, Doug was General Counsel and Managing Director of L.F. Rothschild, a technology-orientated investment bank responsible for the IPO’s of many technology companies. Doug grew up in Youngstown, Ohio, part of the rust belt, so he understands the impact of technological change!
David Teten is a serial entrepreneur and Partner with ff Venture Capital. ff VC has made over 200 investments in over 70 companies since 1999. David has advised clients such as Goldman Sachs Special Situations Group, Icahn Enterprises, LLR Partners ($1.4b fund), Birch Hill Equity Partners (C$2B fund), and other institutional investors. David led the first study of best practices of venture capital and private equity funds in originating new investments and the first-ever study of VCs in creating portfolio company value. He is a published author and frequent keynote speaker.
Meet the Board:
LEADERSHIP
Our board... Describe the board here...
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Jason E. Klein, Chairman
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Margaret E. Miao, Membership Chair
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Mason Du, External Relations Co-Chair
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John Reese, External Relations Co-Chair
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Sharjeel Kashmir, Screening Co-Chair
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Trevor Bond, Screening Co-Chair
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Dan Delmar, Chief Mentor
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Betsy Odita, Deal Chair
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Humphrey Chen, Marketing Chair
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Richard Kane, Governance Chair
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Anthony Gellert, Treasurer
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Doug Libby, Secretary
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David Teten, Founder and Chairman Emeritus
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Katherine Bahamonde, President, HBS Club of NY (Ex-Officio)
BOARD:
Jason E. Klein is an experienced media CEO and builder of digital and traditional businesses who has led two successful turnarounds. He is founder and CEO of On Grid Ventures LLC , an advisory and investment firm in digital media, marketing, and information; a Managing Director at Empirical Media; and a mentor at several NYC-area incubators. Mr. Klein was previously CEO of Newspaper National Network LP, and CEO of Times Mirror Magazines/Time4 Media.
The Venture Capital Advisory Board for HBS Alumni Angels of New York is comprised of leading, senior-level, NY-area venture capitalists who are advising HBSAANY on its growth and development.
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Chip Austin, Co-Founder & General Partner, i-Hatch ventures
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Deborah Farrington, Founder & General Partner, StarVest Partners
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Matt Gorin, Co-Founder & Managing Partner, Contour Venture Partners
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Rick Heitzmann, Managing Director, FirstMark Capital
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Jim Robinson, Managing Partner, RRE Ventures
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Joshua Ruch, Managing Partner, Rho Ventures
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David Teten, Partner, ff Venture Capital
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Ellie Wheeler, Partner, Greycroft Ventures
SECTORS
SECTOR LEADS:
HBS Alumni Angels of Greater New York has a number of Industry Sector Groups to serve as bridges to the NY entrepreneurial community. The Sector Leads are listed below, along with links to their profiles.
During his career, Doug served as CEO of property-casualty insurance companies for over 25 years, responsible for the turnaround, repositioning and implementation of new visions for these challenged companies. The companies are highly profitable today. Prior to that, Doug was General Counsel and Managing Director of L.F. Rothschild, a technology-orientated investment bank responsible for the IPO’s of many technology companies. Doug grew up in Youngstown, Ohio, part of the rust belt, so he understands the impact of technological change!
Dan Delmar is a consultant, corporate executive, entrepreneur and investor. Dan consulted on breakthrough growth at Bain, Accenture and for many years, including currently, his own firm, Corporate Strategy Consulting. Dan was an executive at Carrier Corporation and from 2003-2009 at IBM in the Corporate Strategy department. He has founded three businesses and helped two others to get funded by venture capital funds.
Mason is co-founder of Benbria, a B2B SaaS company started in 2007. Benbria works with some of the largest institutions in the world, and won multiple awards such as Profit Hot 50. A programmer since 9, Mason studied Software Engineering at University of Waterloo. Mason has extensive history investing and advising early-stage companies. Mason is also the software Co-Sector Lead with Dan Delmar at HBSAANY.
Manicube is a new service that delivers manicures to your Manhattan office.
Plated, a meal-kit startup based in New York, delivers recipes and pre-measured ingredients so that customers can cook their own meals in 30 minutes or less.
Locality is an information platform providing a local marketplace that compares prices, hours and reviews on local services in the U.S.
PORTFOLIO HIGHLIGHTS:
Chip has advised and built companies in Technology and Media for his entire career. In addition to founding BOL.com, Bertelsmann’s E-commerce division, Chip was a member of the senior executive team leading the buyout and restructuring of Prodigy, and was a co-founder of McKinsey’s Interactive Practice, where he spent seven years advising Fortune 500 companies on their media strategies.
Most recently, Chip was President and CEO of Bertelsmann Online, where he was responsible for building Bertelsmann’s global e-commerce business. Chip was the first employee at BOL, and built parallel services in the UK, Germany, Spain, Netherlands, France (via joint venture with Vivendi/Havas), and the US (via Bertelsmann’s 50% investment in BarnesandNoble.com). Chip served as Chairman of the Board of BOL France, and was a Board Member and officer of Doubleday Direct, BCA, BOL, Inc., and Bertelsmann’s E-commerce Control Board. BOL has been the recipient of several industry accolades, including CeBIT Innovation of the Year Winner and the highest rated European e-commerce site by a Forrester Research.
For the launch of BOL, Chip secured internal capital of over $400 million, built a world class team totaling over 200 people in six countries, partnered with strategic vendors such as Oracle, Don Peppers, Ogilvy & Mather, Fleishman-Hillard, Net Perceptions, Cambridge Technology Partners, USWeb and Sun, negotiated major strategic and marketing alliances with major Internet portals such as AOL, Compuserve, DoubleClick, EMS and Earthlink, and established back-end operations, including call centers, fulfillment, logistics, financial clearing, and warehousing, in each country of operation.
Chip maintains an advisory and investor relationship with Bertelsmann Ventures, an independent venture capital fund capitalized by Bertelsmann. Chip also served as Acting CEO of European-based DealPilot.com, a Bertelsmann Ventures portfolio company. DealPilot.com, the first commercial Internet-based comparison shopping service, subsequently sold a majority of its shares to Bertelsmann and then merged into Shopping.com (NASDAQ:SHOP).
Prior to Bertelsmann, Chip was a member of the management-led buyout of Prodigy, where he was SVP of Sales and Business Development and General Manager of Prodigy’s first Internet Service. While at Prodigy, Chip built an ISP from scratch, launched Prodigy Internet, which replaced Prodigy’s Classic proprietary service, and was responsible for all customer acquisition and subscription revenue. In addition, Chip was responsible for all major account relationships, including OEM channels such as Packard Bell/NEC, and technology/distribution providers, such as Microsoft, Netscape, and Excite. Prior to sale to SBC, Prodigy’s initial public offering had a market capitalization that had exceeded $3 billion dollars.
Before joining Prodigy, Chip spent seven years at McKinsey in the Media and Interactive practices advising clients out of New York, Los Angeles, Australia and various European offices. While at McKinsey, as a co-founder of the Interactive Practice, Chip shaped the New Media strategies of the world’s largest media companies in the fields of newspapers, magazines, yellow pages/classifieds, cable programming, network TV and film studio production.
Chip is a frequent keynote speaker and panelist on Technology, Media, and Angel Investment-related topics as well as serving on the boards of several public and private companies. Chip has also worked at Morgan Stanley’s Investment Banking division and IBM’s Personal Computer division during the launch years of the IBM PC. Chip has a degree in Computer Science and Economics from Duke University, and an MBA from Harvard Business School.
Rick Heitzmann, a founder and managing Director of FirstMark Capital, focuses on investments in the media, adtech, gaming, and mobile sectors. Prior to founding FirstMark Capital, Rick was a Partner with Pequot Ventures. Rick also serves on the Board of Directors of the New York Venture Capital Association.
Clickable (acquired by Syncapse in 2012), Riot Games (acquired by Tencent Holdings in 2011), FirstAdvantage (acquired by First American in 2009), StubHub (acquired by eBay in 2007), and US Search (acquired by First Advantage in 2003).
Rick received a B.S. from Georgetown University and an MBA from Harvard Business School. Rick has traveled all seven continents and is a huge Philadelphia sports fan. Friends claim he has seen every movie on Netflix.
Current ventures include: dashlane, Live Gamer, Meteor Entertainment, Pinterest, Playnomics,
SneakPeeq, Sulia, Tapad, Tubular, WePlay. Historical investments include:
StarVest invests in technology-enabled business services companies with a focus on software-as-a-service, ecommerce and internet marketing. StarVest was an early investor in the software-as-a-service trend: in 2000, it invested as the only venture firm in NetSuite (NYSE: N) whose December 2007 IPO, at the time, was the highest market capitalization
Matt was previously with Promontory Financial Group, a merchant banking firm focused on the financial services sector. He was part of the launch team at Promontory Interfinancial Network, a financial services technology platform company which has subsequently grown to over one hundred employees. Prior to this, Matt worked for Red Hat in its Strategic Planning & Corporate Development group where he was responsible for starting Red Hat’s Independent Software Vendor (ISV) Partnership Program, ultimately establishing extensive business and technology partnerships with many of the top global independent software vendors. Matt also worked at Morgan Stanley in its strategic venture capital fund, concentrating on making investments in early-stage financial services companies. Earlier in his career, Matt was a turnaround consultant at PricewaterhouseCoopers, where he helped devise and implement operating strategies for troubled companies in various industries.
Matt is the Founder of StreetWise Partners, a nonprofit focused on providing low-income individuals with a path to a successful career through mentoring, job skills and professional experience. He co-authored a Harvard Business School case study analyzing the origins of free trade and a paper in the World Economic Outlook on the economic and political risks in the Middle East.
Matt received his M.B.A. from Harvard Business School and B.A. in Economics and American Studies from Brandeis University, where he was co-captain of the tennis team.
opportunities at Lowercase Capital. Before working with Lowercase, Ellie worked at Cisco in Corporate Development doing acquisitions, investments, and strategy within the unified communications, enterprise software, mobile, and video sectors. While at Cisco, she was involved in multiple acquisitions and investments, including PostPath, Jabber, Xobni, and Tandberg. Ellie’s past experience also includes working briefly at the London-based venture capital firm DN Capital, focused on early stage transactional businesses including Windeln.de and Mister Spex. She began her career in growth capital private equity at Summit Partners in Boston.
Ellie graduated magna cum laude from Georgetown University with a BA in Psychology and holds an MBA from Harvard Business School.
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We are part of the HBS Club of NY, with a strong and growing commitment to entrepreneurship and a variety of programs, fellowships, and awards.
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We are also part of HBS Alumni Angels Global, with chapters on 4 continents.
Sector Leads... Describe the Leadership Team, here...
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Brad Schrader, Business/Industrial
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Douglas Wu, Business/Industrial
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Minh-Ha Nguyen, Consumer Products
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Peter Schweinfurth, Consumer Products
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Don Burton, Education
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Lockie Andrews, Fashion
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Barbara Miller, Fashion
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Doug Libby, Finance/Real Estate
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Nyagaka Ongeri, Finance/Real Estate
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Brett Oberman, Hardware/IoT
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Antonio Mazzara, Hardware/IoT
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Roseanne Ott, Health
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Bernard Peperstraete, Health
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Rachel Brannan, Legal
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Chris Edwards, Legal
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Sherrese Clarke, Media/Advertising
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Jim Sherman, Media/Advertising
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Mark Caron, Mobile
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Gretchen Lium, Retail
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Dan Delmar, Software
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Mason Du, Software
Meet the Sector Leads:
INTRODUCTION:
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