Best Startup
At Best Startup US we track over 1,000,000 US startups and over 3 million people who hold key positions in these companies. We use this directory of startups to highlight top employees, founders and board members we think deserve more appreciation than they are currently getting.
This list showcases the top United States based COO’ operating in the Finance space. If you think a COO’ is missing from this list, feel free to contact our editor on editor@beststartup.us.
The individuals on this list have been included because of exceptional performance in one of the following categories:
- Innovation – Operating as a key part in an extremely innovative business or startup.
- Growth – Operating as a key figure in the growth and upscale of a market leading business or startup.
- Management – Showing exceptional management skills.
- Societal impact – Putting their business on the map for their positive societal or environmental impact.
Our Data – We source our data from OSINT (open source intelligence) and public directories such as Crunchbase, SemRush and many more. The data from these sources should be treated with a degree of caution and verified yourself.
Brian Murray
Partner & COO of Craft Ventures
Brian leads Craft’s investment team. As one of the first employees at Craft, Brian built the infrastructure that powers the firm’s investment process and hired a talented team to expand Craft’s growing portfolio. Prior to joining Craft, Brian was the VP of Business Operations at Zenefits where he led many of the company’s largest, cross-functional initiatives. Brian spearheaded Zenefit’s transition to a pure SaaS business, established the company’s most important channel partnerships, and led the compliance overhaul of its benefits management product. Previously, Brian was the VP of Sales and Customer Success at Cotap (acquired by ServiceMax) where he led sales, marketing, and post-sales efforts.
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About Cabal, Craft Ventures: Craft Ventures is an early-stage venture fund specializing in the craft of building great companies.
Tracy Sedlock
Chief Operating Partner of Accel
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About Accel: Accel is an early and growth-stage venture capital firm that helps a global community of entrepreneurs.
David Baga
Chief Operating Officer of Lightspeed Venture Partners
David Baga is Lyft’s Chief Business Officer, overseeing the fast-growing Lyft Mobility Solutions enterprise team. David joins Lyft after serving as Chief Revenue Officer at Rocket Lawyer for four years, during which he grew revenues from $2 million to over $40 million. Prior to Rocket Lawyer, David spent seven years building and overseeing record-setting sales teams at Oracle. In addition to his recent appointment at Lyft, David also actively advises startups on go-to-market strategy.
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About Lightspeed Venture Partners: Lightspeed Venture Partners is a venture capital firm that engages in consumer, enterprise, technology, and cleantech markets.
Andriy Mykhaylovskyy
Managing Partner and COO of Fifth Wall
Andriy is a Principal and COO at Fifth Wall. Previously, Andriy was a Principal and member of the founding team of Evergreen Coast Capital, a technology focused private equity group of Elliott Management Corporation. Prior to Evergreen Coast Capital, Andriy was a Vice President at The Gores Group, an operationally focused private equity fund, and before The Gores Group, Andriy was CFO of Identified, a data and analytics company focused on workforce optimization that raised $33 million of venture capital and was acquired by Workday (NYSE: WDAY) in 2014. Andriy started his career at Morgan Stanley in the global industrials investment banking group. He then worked as an Associate at Francisco Partners, a technology focused private equity firm. Andriy grew up in New York City and is originally from Ukraine. He graduated with honors from Princeton University where he studied at the Woodrow Wilson School of Public and International Affairs. Andriy received his MBA from the Stanford Graduate School of Business.
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About Fifth Wall: Fifth Wall is a venture capital firm that focuses on technologies for the global real estate industry.
Michael D. Daffey
Co-Chief Operating Officer of Goldman Sachs
Michael Daffey is Global Co-Chief Operating Officer of the Equities Franchise. He is a member of the Management Committee, Securities Division Executive Committee, Firmwide Client and Business Standards Committee and the European Management Committee. He previously served on the Partnership Committee and the Business Standards Committee. Since joining Goldman Sachs in 1994, Mr. Daffey has held a number of sales management roles across businesses and regions. Prior to assuming his current role, he was Global Head of Equities Sales and Head of Fixed Income and Foreign Exchange Sales for EMEA. He was named Managing Director in 2000 and Partner in 2002. Mr. Daffey serves on the UK Trust Board of Trustees for The Global Fund for Children.
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About Goldman Sachs: Goldman Sachs is a multinational financial services firm providing securities, investment banking, and management services.
Paul M. Russo
Co-Chief Operating Officer of Goldman Sachs
Paul Russo is Global Co-Chief Operating Officer of the Equities Franchise. He is a member of the Management Committee, Securities Division Executive Committee, Firmwide Risk Committee and the Firmwide New Activity Committee. Mr. Russo first joined Goldman Sachs in New York in 1989 as a summer associate in Trading and Arbitrage. He rejoined the firm full time in 1990 in US Equities Derivatives, ultimately becoming responsible for the Portfolio Trading business and the Index Volatility business and co-heading the US Volatility product. In 1997, he moved to Hong Kong to assume responsibility for the Asia Ex-Japan Equity Derivatives business. In 2000, he became Co-Head of the Fixed Income, Currency and Commodities Division in Asia Ex-Japan. In 2002, Mr. Russo transferred back to the Equities Division in London to head the Equity Derivatives business in Europe. In 2003, he was named Co-Head of European Equity Product Group Trading. In 2004, he returned to New York and later became Co-Head of Global Equities Derivatives. Prior to assuming his current role, Mr. Russo was Head of US Equities Trading and Head of Global Equities One Delta Trading. He was named Managing Director in 1998 and Partner in 2000. Mr. Russo is a member of the Advisory Board of the Carnegie Mellon University Computational Finance (MSCF) Program.
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About Goldman Sachs: Goldman Sachs is a multinational financial services firm providing securities, investment banking, and management services.
John Waldron
President and Chief Operating Officer of Goldman Sachs
John Waldron is a President and Chief Operating Officer at Goldman Sachs.
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About Goldman Sachs: Goldman Sachs is a multinational financial services firm providing securities, investment banking, and management services.
Nina Labatt
Chief Financial Officer & Chief Operating Officer of Section 32
Nina Labatt is the Chief Financial Officer and Chief Operating Officer at Section 32.
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About Section 32, The CFO Leadership Council: Section 32 is a venture capital fund that invests at the cutting edge of technology, healthcare, and life sciences.
Jennifer Kercher
COO and General Counsel of Section 32
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About Section 32: Section 32 is a venture capital fund that invests at the cutting edge of technology, healthcare, and life sciences.
Peter Buckland
Partner, Managing Director, & COO of Khosla Ventures
Peter is a Partner, Managing Director and COO at Khosla Ventures. Peter has spent the last 20+ years advising founders and entrepreneurs through the full lifecycle of their companies. Prior to joining Khosla Ventures, Peter was a Partner at WilmerHale LLP, where he led the firm’s emerging growth technology practice and was responsible for building their West Coast corporate practice. During his time there, he grew the practice by 3X, completed hundreds of financing transactions and, mostly importantly, developed deep and long term relationships with amazing entrepreneurs and their teams. Peter holds a bachelor’s degree from the University of California, Santa Barbara and a J.D., magna cum laude, from the University of San Francisco. In his spare time, Peter enjoys spending time with his wife and three daughters, skiing, sailing, mountain biking and reading.
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About Khosla Ventures: Khosla Ventures is a venture capital firm that focuses on environmentally friendly tech, internet, computing, mobile, and silicon tech.
Jonathan Gray
President & COO of Blackstone Group
Jonathan (“Jon”) Gray is President and Chief Operating Officer of Blackstone, and is a member of Blackstone’s Board of Directors. He sits on its Management Committee and most of its investment committees, including serving as Chairman of the Real Estate group’s investment committee. Jonathan Gray previously served as the firm’s Global Head of Real Estate, which he helped to build into the largest real estate platform in the world with $120 billion of investor capital under management. He joined Blackstone in 1992. Jonathan Gray currently serves as Chairman of the Board of Hilton Worldwide. He also serves on the board of Harlem Village Academies and Trinity School. Jonathan Gray and his wife, Mindy, established the Basser Center for BRCA at the University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine focused on the prevention and treatment of BRCA related cancers. They also established NYC Kids RISE in partnership with the City of New York to accelerate college savings for low income children. Jonathan Gray received a BS in Economics from the Wharton School, as well as a BA in English from the College of Arts and Sciences at the University of Pennsylvania.
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About Blackstone Group: Blackstone is an investment and advisory firm providing financial solutions for investors and clients.
Kathleen McCarthy
Sr. Managing Director and Chief Operating Officer of Blackstone Group
Kathleen McCarthy is a Senior Managing Director and Global Chief Operating Officer of the Blackstone Real Estate group. She is based in New York. Kathleen McCarthy oversees Real Estate Investor Relations and Business Development, Human Resources, Legal & Compliance and Finance. Previously she was responsible for marketing Blackstone’s real estate private investment funds. Before joining Blackstone in 2010, Kathleen McCarthy worked at Goldman Sachs, where she was a Vice President focused on investments for the Real Estate Principal Investment Area. Kathleen McCarthy began her career at Goldman Sachs as an Analyst in the Mergers & Strategic Advisory Group within the Investment Banking Division. Kathleen McCarthy received a BA with Distinction from Yale University.
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About Blackstone Group, Skyhawk Therapeutics: Blackstone is an investment and advisory firm providing financial solutions for investors and clients.
Brian Gavin
Senior Managing Director and COO of Blackstone Group
Member, Board of Directors at New York City Investment Fund.
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About Blackstone Group, Partnership Fund for New York City: Blackstone is an investment and advisory firm providing financial solutions for investors and clients.
Anthony Merhige
Sr. Managing Director and Chief Operating Officer of Blackstone Group
Anthony Merhige is a Senior Managing Director of Blackstone, serving as the Chief Operating Officer of Harvest Fund Advisors, Blackstone’s publicly traded MLP and Yield-Oriented Investment Platform. Having joined Blackstone in 2017, Anthony Merhige oversees the business development and investor relations functions of Harvest, as well as the day-to-day management of Harvest’s operations. Before joining Harvest in 2005, Anthony Merhige was the Chief Operating Officer of the Vivum Group. Prior to that Anthony Merhige was an Associate at the law firm of Pepper Hamilton LLP, where his practice focused on a wide variety of commercial matters, including antitrust mergers and acquisition counseling for national and multinational corporations. Anthony Merhige holds a BA from Johns Hopkins University and a JD from the Temple University Beasley School of Law.
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About Blackstone Group: Blackstone is an investment and advisory firm providing financial solutions for investors and clients.
Patrick Cammarata
Chief Operating Officer of Elephant
Pat is currently the Chief Operating Officer of Elephant, a venture capital firm focused on consumer internet, mobile and software. Previously, he was the General Counsel at Highland Capital Partners, with responsibility for managing the firm’s diverse legal affairs, including the negotiation and execution of investments. Prior to joining Highland, Pat worked in the Boston and London offices of the law firm Wilmer Cutler Pickering Hale and Dorr LLP, where his practice was focused primarily on venture capital transactions, mergers and acquisitions and public offerings for technology and life sciences companies. Pat also previously served as Associate General Counsel for DoubleClick, where he advised the company on a variety of domestic and international transactions, including mergers and acquisitions, investments, and strategic partnerships.
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About Elephant: Elephant is a venture capital firm focused on the enterprise software, consumer internet, and mobile markets.
Joseph Naccarato
Chief Operating Officer, Chief Credit Officer and Senior Managing Director of Cerberus Capital Management
Joseph Naccarato joined Cerberus in 2000 and is Chief Operating Officer and Chief Credit Officer of Cerberus Business Finance, Cerberus’ middle-market direct lending platform. He provides operational oversight for Cerberus Business Finance, which includes over 70 professionals across three offices in the United States. Additionally, in his role, he is responsible for overseeing the business’ credit function and is active in the turnaround positions for the portfolio. Cerberus Business Finance has become a recognized leader and innovator in the leveraged financed industry, with one of the largest origination platforms in the United States. The business has provided financing to more than 225 financial sponsors as well as completed loan transactions with over 900 borrowers.
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About Cerberus Capital Management: Cerberus Capital Management is a private investment firm that focuses on operational private equity investments.
Mark Neporent
COO, Senior Legal Officer and Senior Managing Director of Cerberus Capital Management
Mark Neporent joined Cerberus in 1998 and serves as Cerberus’ Chief Operating Officer and Senior Legal Counsel. He, together with other members of the senior executive team, is responsible for the day-to-day management of Cerberus and its global operations. He is also a member of several Cerberus committees, including the Firm’s Operating/Management Committee, Private Equity Committee, Cerberus Business Finance Committee, Compliance and Risk Committee, Valuation Committee, Broker Selection Committee, and Allocation Committee. Prior to Cerberus, he was a Partner in the Business Reorganization and Finance Groups at Schulte Roth & Zabel, LLP where he practiced from 1986 until he joined Cerberus. He has held board memberships at public and private companies across a variety of industries, including transportation, real estate, technology, financial services, and leisure. Notably, he has served on the board of directors at SSA Global Technologies, AMC Corporation, SUPERVALU, Ally Financial (formerly GMAC), and Chrysler Holdings (parent of Chrysler Financial Corp.), among others. He also has extensive experience on creditors’ and bondholders’ committees, including serving as Co-Chair of the WorldCom’s Official Creditors Committee, where he helped lead the company’s restructuring efforts, and following its emergence from bankruptcy, was appointed to the Board of Directors of MCI, its successor. He has authored and contributed to legal and business publications and has lectured on insolvency, bankruptcy, and reorganization matters. He has lectured at the Syracuse University College of Law’s continuing legal education program.
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About Cerberus Capital Management: Cerberus Capital Management is a private investment firm that focuses on operational private equity investments.
Paul Zurlo
Partner & COO of Bain Capital Ventures
Paul joined Bain Capital Ventures in 2007. Prior to Bain Capital Ventures, Paul was COO of Mercer Outsourcing, a $750M division of Mercer focused on benefit plan administration. Prior to that, he was the president of GoldK (acquired) and CFO of MCK Communications, a Summit Partners portfolio company that he helped take public. At Summit Partners, he made numerous other investments, including: SeaChange Int’l (NASDAQ: SEAC); DSET (NASDAQ: DSET), and Omtool (NASDAQ: OMTL). Paul started his career as a consultant with Bain & Company.
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About Bain Capital Ventures: Bain Capital Ventures invests in seed to growth-stage startups that uses tech to disrupt existing markets or create entirely new ones.
Matt Bochenek
Chief Operating Officer of Avant
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About Avant: Avant is an online lending platform that offers alternatives to its clients with safe financial products.
Pete Williams
Partner & COO of Cota Capital
Pete Williams is a Partner, COO, and CCO at Cota Capital. Pete is responsible for overseeing the Firm’s operations, finance, legal, and compliance matters. Pete also serves on the Firm’s Investment Committee. Leveraging his operational, financial, and legal experience from serving as a public SaaS company CFO and as a Corporate Finance Partner at a preeminent law firm, Pete is involved in structuring and negotiating the Firm’s private company investments as well as providing operating support to portfolio company executive teams. Prior to Cota, Pete served in a number of executive positions at Saba, including CFO, EVP of Corporate Development, and General Counsel. Previously, Pete was a Partner at Morrison & Foerster LLP, a leading international law firm. Pete has extensive experience representing entrepreneurs and technology companies as well as venture capital and investment banking firms on venture financings, public offerings, and M&A transactions. In addition to private and public financings and acquisitions, Pete specialized in intellectual property development, licensing, and distribution transactions. During his tenure at Morrison & Foerster LLP, Pete was recognized as one of the top 20 lawyers under 40 in the state of California. Pete has a B.A. in Economics and Psychology from the University of California, Los Angeles and a J.D. from Santa Clara University.
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About Cota Capital: Cota Capital is an SEC-registered multi-stage investment firm focused on private and public enterprise technology companies.
Neeta Rastogi Singh
COO of Activant Capital
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About Activant Capital: Activant is a global investment firm that partners with high-growth companies that are transforming commerce.
June Ou
COO, Co-Founder of Figure
Founder and CEO of CCO Solutions, a firm that provided outsourced middle and back office solutions to the hedge fund industry. Co-founder, VP of Product Management and Engineering at Finaplex, a leader in wealth management solutions (sold to Broadridge NYSE: BR), responsible for both enterprise and cloud solutions. MS from UC Santa Cruz; MS from Stanford Graduate School of Business.
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About Figure, Provenance Blockchain: Figure is a financial services company leveraging blockchain technology.
Troy Cichos
COO & Partner of Madrona Venture Group
Troy Cichos serves as Chief Operating Officer & Partner at Madrona Venture Group. He joined Madrona in 1999 and previously served as Administrative Partner and Chief Financial Officer. In this role, Mr. Cichos oversees the operations, finance and administration for Madrona and the venture funds under Madrona’s management. He also serves as Board Member at The W Fund. Mr. Cichos was formerly with Deloitte & Touche in Seattle where he served for six years as an associate and then tax manager. Mr. Cichos also worked for three years as a manager at ITT Financial. Troy is on the Advisory Board for the Center for Innovation and Entrepreneurship at the Michael G. Foster School of Business which promotes entrepreneurial learning and discovery to students-from undergraduates to PhD candidates-across the University of Washington.Troy received his bachelor’s degree in Finance from the University of Utah. He earned his law degree from Seattle University School of Law, where he graduated magna cum laude and was an editor of the Seattle University Law Review.
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About Madrona Venture Group: Madrona Venture Group is a venture capital firm that invests in early-stage technology companies.
Abigail Johnson
Chief Operating Officer & Partner of Sapphire
Abigail Johnson is the Chief Operating Officer and Partner at Sapphire Ventures.
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About Sapphire: Sapphire is a venture capital firm that partners with visionary teams and venture funds to build companies.
Gary Weinstein
COO of Providence Equity Partners
Gary Weinstein is the Chief Operating Officer of Providence Equity. Prior to joining Providence in 2008, he was a Managing Director and Global Chief Administrative Officer of investment banking at Lehman Brothers. Before assuming this role, he was Managing Director and Head of the healthcare, consumer/retail and industrial global industry groups within investment banking at Lehman. During his tenure at Lehman, he also served as Global Head of Capital Markets, Head of Equity Capital Markets for North and South America, Head of European Equities and Global Head of Convertibles. He was CEO of Thermotrex Corporation from 1996 to 1999. He received a Juris Doctor from the Emory University School of Law and a Bachelors of Business Administration from Emory University.
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About Providence Equity Partners: Providence Equity Partners is a private equity firm that focuses on media, entertainment, communications, and information investments.
Kirby Bartlett
Chief Operating Officer and Chief Compliance Officer of ACME Capital
Kirby Bartlett is the Chief Operating Officer and Chief Compliance Officer for ACME. Prior to ACME, Kirby was COO & CCO for Sherpa Capital. He previously held a similar role at Bay City Capital, a venture capital firm that raised eight venture capital funds representing $1.6 billion in capital commitments. With more than 20 years in venture capital, including over 15 years managing operations, Kirby is a highly experienced venture capital executive capable of managing all aspects of a VC firm. Over his tenure, he has led efforts in fundraising, marketing, investor relations, recruiting, regulatory compliance, portfolio management, and investing. His early investment activities include championing three investments that led to IPOs. His overall experience makes him ideally suited to manage operations and support the investment team. Prior to his 18 years at Bay City Capital, Kirby worked for a business consulting firm where he advised companies in various corporate development strategies. Kirby also worked at BAbCO (acquired by Covance) for six years where he managed a majority of its contract research services. Kirby holds an MBA from University of San Francisco, graduating 1st in his class, and received a BA in Molecular Biology from the University of California, Berkeley. Kirby, along with his wife and two kids, is deeply rooted in the Bay Area, having lived here almost his entire life.
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About ACME Capital: ACME Capital invests in breakthrough technologies that fuel platform shifts and disruptive business models that capitalize on new platforms.
Josh Targoff
Partner, COO & General Counsel of Third Point Ventures
Josh Targoff joined Third Point LLC in 2008. Prior to joining Third Point, Josh was the General Counsel of the Investment Banking Division of Jefferies & Co. Josh Targoff spent seven years doing M & A transactional work at Debevoise & Plimpton LLP. He graduated with a J.D. from Yale Law School and holds a B.A. from Brown University.
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About Third Point Ventures: Third Point Ventures is an investment firm that focuses on enterprise, fintech, mobile, and healthcare innovation.
Amy Oldenburg
COO Emerging Markets Equity of Morgan Stanley
Amy Oldenburg is an Executive Director and Chief Operating Officer of Emerging Markets Equity for Morgan Stanley Investment Management. Before moving to the investment team, Amy was an emerging markets equity and foreign exchange trader. She has also worked with Investment Management’s product development and strategic acquisitions group. Before joining Morgan Stanley in 2001, Amy was involved in business development for the marketing agency Arc Worldwide. She holds a bachelor’s in finance from Fordham University and also studied finance at the University of San Francisco.
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About Morgan Stanley: Morgan Stanley is a financial services company that offers securities, asset management, and credit services.
Sophie Chandauka
Global COO, Shared Services and Banking Operations of Morgan Stanley
Sophie Chandauka is a Co-Founder of Black British Business Awards. She is a corporate lawyer and an entrepreneur. She also works as a Global Chief Operating Officer at Morgan Stanley’s Shared Services and Banking Operations. She was the Head of Group Treasury (Legal) at Virgin Money for four years. Sophie is a Rotary International Paul Harris Fellow and has served on a number of charitable boards including Sentebale, Prince Harry’s charity for children in Africa. Apart from her professional achievements, Sophie is recognised in Britain for her community work as an advocate for education, equality, diversity, and inclusion and also as a mentor for young entrepreneurs and aspiring lawyers.
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About Black British Business Awards, Morgan Stanley: Morgan Stanley is a financial services company that offers securities, asset management, and credit services.
Joel Backman
Chief Operating Officer of Meritech Capital Partners
Joel Backman joined Meritech as its Chief Financial Officer in 2003 and has subsequently added the title of Chief Operating Officer. He is responsible for investment execution, investor relations, financial reporting and other operating and administrative functions.
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About Meritech Capital Partners: Meritech Capital provides late-stage venture capital to technology companies.
Jonathan Kaplan
Chief Operating Officer of Next Coast Ventures
Jonathan Kaplan is the chief legal officer of RetailMeNot, Inc. He manages all aspects of the company’s global legal and government affairs, including corporate governance, compliance, labor and employment, litigation, contracts, and M&A concerns. Jonathan has broad experience advising private and public companies in matters related to corporate governance, public company compliance, mergers and acquisitions, and capital markets transactions. Prior to joining RetailMeNot, Jonathan was a corporate and transactional attorney at the international law firms DLA Piper LLP, Vinson & Elkins LLP and Latham & Watkins LLP. Jonathan has a J.D. from the University of California at Davis, King Hall School of Law (Order of the Coif) and a B.A. with honors from the University of California at Santa Barbara.
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About Next Coast Ventures: Next Coast Ventures is a venture capital firm founded by entrepreneurs, for entrepreneurs in ‘Next Coast’ markets.
Peter T. Smith
Co-foudner, COO, and CCO of Akkadian Ventures
Peter Smith is Co-founder & COO of Akkadian Ventures and an experienced securities lawyer. Peter practiced corporate securities law previously at Cooley LLP, Morrison and Foerster LLP, and Bryan Cave HRO LLP. He focused on venture capital financing, private equity, M&A, securities law compliance, corporate governance, equity compensation as well as commercial agreement negotiation and preparation. As an entrepreneur, Peter spent over three years as the COO of a real estate development company specializing in large mixed-use projects. He received his BA, cum laude, from Cornell University and his JD from the Boalt Hall School of Law at the University of California, Berkeley.
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About Akkadian Ventures: Akkadian Ventures is a direct secondary investment firm that offers liquidity to early employees and investors of venture-backed businesses.
Mark Flickinger
Chief Operating Officer of BIP Capital
Mark Flickinger is the General Partner and COO at Panoramic Ventures.
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About BIP Capital, Panoramic Ventures: BIP Capital is a venture capital firm that seeks early-stage and growth investments.
Darren Morris
COO and Co-Founder of Gradient Cyber
Darren Morris is the Co-Founder and Chief Operations Officer of Gradient Cyber.
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About Gradient Cyber: Gradient is a cybersecurity products and services company that visualizes an organization’s cybersecurity health.
Mark Wassersug
Senior Vice President, Operations & Chief Operating Officer of IntercontinentalExchange
Mark Wassersug is Senior Vice President of Operations at Intercontinental Exchange (NYSE: ICE). Wassersug is responsible for overseeing ICE’s global trading and clearing platforms and technology including all IT infrastructure, data networks, data center engineering and operations. Prior to joining ICE in 2001, Wassersug worked as a strategic planning and technology consultant in Internet infrastructure and ecommerce for Exodus Communication.
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About IntercontinentalExchange: Intercontinental Exchange is an operator of regulated exchanges and clearing houses serving the risk management needs of global markets.
Jason Bender
Executive Vice President, Chief Operating Officer of First Republic Bank
Bender has been with First Republic since 1999, and managed the Bank’s finance department for over a decade before being appointed Chief Administrative Officer on January 1, 2013. Effective January 1, 2016, he was appointed Chief Operating Officer and is responsible for the overall operations of deposits and lending, strategic planning, enterprise data, online banking and related digital activities, and secondary loan marketing. He oversees banking activities in the Orange County and San Diego regions. B.A., 1992, Swarthmore College; M.B.A., 1999, Stanford Graduate School of Business; Harvard Business School Advanced Management Program, 2014.
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About First Republic Bank, First Republic Bank: First Republic offers banking for individuals and businesses, wealth management and more with a focus on tailored services and solutions.
James Beck
Chief Operating Officer of NewView Capital
Chief Operating Officer at NewView Capital (NVC).
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About NewView Capital: NewView Capital has developed a new model in venture capital to drive sustainable growth for entrepreneurs.
Rebecca Lucia
Partner, Chief Financial Officer & COO of 5AM Ventures
Rebecca joined AMV in 2010 and brought 15 years of experience in finance. She is responsible for accounting, finance and investor relations. Prior to AMV, Rebecca was Director of Finance at CV Therapeutics (“CVT”) until the acquisition of the company by Gilead Sciences in 2009 for $1.4B. At CVT, she oversaw the financial planning function for the company’s Commercial organization, which had a $120M operating budget and 270 employees. Prior to CVT, Rebecca was CFO at CareandHealth in the UK where she managed all finance, legal, HR, and operational functions of the firm. Previously, Rebecca was Director of Investor Relations at Chiron Corporation until its acquisition by Novartis in 2006 at a value of $8.8B. She began her career at Deloitte where she progressed through various positions in audit and financial consulting, most recently as a Senior Manager in the Financial Advisory Services group. Rebecca has an MBA from Kellogg School of Management, a Chartered Financial Analyst designation, and in 1997 she earned a Canadian Chartered Accountant designation.
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About 5AM Ventures: 5AM Ventures is a venture capital firm that aims to finance seed and early-stage life sciences companies.
Matt Bonner
Chief Operating Officer and Legal Partner of DCM Ventures
As Legal and Operations Partner, Matt Bonner is responsible for all legal matters with respect to DCM’s investments, fund operations and domestic and international regulatory compliance. In addition, Matt oversees the firm’s global operations and administration. Matt is actively involved with the structuring, planning, negotiation and execution relating to DCM’s investment activity and various transactions involving the firm’s portfolio companies. Matt serves in an advisory capacity to DCM’s portfolio company management teams regarding legal and regulatory matters. Prior to joining DCM, Matt spent 8 years working as a corporate and securities attorney with Gunderson Dettmer Stough Villeneuve Franklin & Hachigian LLP, focusing on the representation of venture capital funds, venture and institutional investors, emerging growth private and public companies. Previously, Matt spent 5 years with Ernst & Young working in their tax department in both the Securities Group (New York, NY) and Financial Services Group (San Francisco, CA). Matt is a member of the State Bar of California and is also a Certified Public Accountant (California). Matt lives in Woodside with his wife and two daughters and is an active member of the community, including serving on the Board of Directors of the Woodside School Foundation.
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About DCM Ventures: DCM Ventures is an early-stage venture capital firm that invests in the mobile, consumer internet, communications, and service sectors.
Eric Thompson
Chief Operating Officer of Greenspring Associates
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About Greenspring Associates: Greenspring Associates is a platform focused on fund, direct, and secondary investments within the venture capital asset class.
Harsha Srinivas
COO of Possible Finance
Harsha Srinivas serves as the Chief Operating Officer at Possible Finance.
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About Possible Finance: Possible Finance provides financial tools needed to manage day-to-day lives.
Carolyn Campbell
Managing Director, Founding Partner & COO of Emerging Capital Partners (ECP)
Carolyn Campbell is a Managing Director and Founding Partner of Emerging Capital Partners (ECP). Having raised over $2.5 billion for investment, ECP is a leading private equity manager focused exclusively on Africa. ECP has seven offices across Africa and over 15 years of investing experience, having made over 60 investments and 30 exits with operations in over 40 countries on the continent. Ms. Campbell provides management oversight of the firm’s operations and investments. Ms. Campbell is also a member of ECP’s Executive Committee and of the Funds’ investment committees. Prior to joining ECP in 2000, Ms. Campbell was a Senior Associate at White & Case LLP in the firm’s Warsaw, London, and Washington, DC offices. She was also an Associate Professor at George Washington University National Law Center, lecturing on international negotiations. Ms. Campbell is a member of the Council on Foreign Relations. She obtained a PhD in Politics from Oxford University and a JD from the University of Virginia School of Law. Ms. Campbell also graduated summa cum laude from the University of Connecticut with a bachelor’s in economics and French and a master’s in economics. Ms. Campbell has served on the boards of Eranove (West Africa), Maarifa Education (East Africa), Wananchi Group Holdings (East Africa), and Société Générale Assurance Méditerranéenne (Algeria). She also serves on the Advisory Council for the Millennium Challenge Corporation.
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About Emerging Capital Partners (ECP): ECP is a private equity group dedicated to investing in Africa.
Grant Horejsi
COO of Honest Policy
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About Honest Policy: Honest Policy enables consumers to make informed decisions about insurance purchases.
Robert Riemer
Chief Operating Officer of Artis Ventures (AV)
Robert Riemer is the Chief Financial Officer and Chief Compliance Officer for ARTIS. Rob was previously the Chief Operating Officer for Fort Point Capital Management, an investment adviser, the Controller of Blum Capital Partners, a private equity firm, and the Corporate Finance Officer of Merritt Capital, a real estate investment syndicator. Prior to that, Rob worked at the senior level in public accounting in Chicago, serving clients in the equity syndication industry. He obtained a BS in Accounting from Bradley University. Subsequent to attaining his CPA, he studied business law at DePaul University, College of Law in Chicago where he earned his JD. Rob is a member of the Illinois Bar
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About Artis Ventures (AV): ARTIS Ventures is a financial services firm that finances early-to-late stage venture investments.
John Good
President and Chief Operating Officer of Jernigan Capital
John Good has over 28 years working with senior management teams and boards of directors of public companies in the REIT and financial services industries on corporate finance, corporate governance, merger and acquisition, tax, executive compensation, joint venture and strategic planning projects. As a nationally recognized corporate and securities lawyer, he was lead counsel on over 200 securities offerings raising in excess of $25 billion over the past 25 years, with more than 125 of those deals being in the REIT industry. Good began his association with the REIT industry in 1993 with the initial public offering of RFS Hotel Investors and since then has served as outside general counsel to over 10 NYSE-listed REITs, including CubeSmart, Mid America Apartment Communities, Education Realty Trust, Quadra Realty Trust and AmREIT. He most recently was a partner and co-chair of the REIT practice group of Morrison & Foerster LLP, a global law firm. From 1999 to 2013, Good was a partner, multiple term executive committee member and head of the REIT practice at Bass, Berry & Sims PLC and prior to that was a shareholder and chair of the securities and M&A practice groups at Baker Donelson. Good graduated from the University of Memphis with a BBA in accounting, cum laude, in 1980, attained his CPA designation and practiced with a large regional CPA firm until entering University of Memphis School of Law, where he received his J.D with honors in 1987. He has been nationally ranked by Chambers USA as a leading lawyer to the REIT industry and has been active in NAREIT since 1994.
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About Jernigan Capital: Jernigan Capital is a commercial real estate finance company.
Nathan Sanders
COO of TCV
Nathan Sanders joined TCV in 2014, bringing a combination of investment, technology and management experience. At TCV, Nathan serves as general partner and head of investor relations. In this role, he leads the firm’s engagement with limited partners and spearheads the firm’s strategy and execution around raising capital. Prior to joining TCV, Nathan was a director at Bain Capital, with roles on both the private equity investment team and the investor relations team. Previously, he was an associate principal at McKinsey & Company Palo Alto where he was a leader in its high-tech practice, advising technology clients on a range of strategy and finance-related priorities. In the tech industry since 1994, he held positions at Accenture and a startup technology company prior to joining McKinsey. Nathan received an MBA with distinction from Harvard Business School and a BS in MIS and Entrepreneurship from the University of Arizona.
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About TCV: TCV provides investment capital to growth-stage private and public companies in the technology industry.
Thomas J McHugh
Chief Operating Officer of Sterling Payment Technologies
Prior to joining Sterling in 2010 as COO, Mr. McHugh was Executive Vice President and Chief Operating Officer of Genpass, the second largest ATM processor in the United States. At Genpass, Mr. McHugh managed a staff of 300. His responsibilities included managing the company’s networks, leading its research and technology groups, coordinating strategic merger and acquisition activity, and managing compliance and audit efforts. Prior to joining Genpass, Mr. McHugh was Group Executive Vice President of STAR Systems Network, Inc., where he managed the information services division. STAR Systems Network is the largest processor of ATM and POS transactions in the United States. Mr. McHugh was responsible for all technology and operational aspects related to the strategic acquisitions of the Most and BankMate Networks, as well as the merger of the Honor and STAR Networks.
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About Sterling Payment Technologies: Sterling Payment Technologies is one of the most innovative, customer-focused payment processors in the industry.
Artur Schaback
COO – Co-Founder of Paxful
A native of Estonia, the land of Skype. Artur earned his stripes building out the tech around financial infrastructure.
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About Paxful: The global peer-to-peer platform building a financial system for the 100%— one Bitcoin at a time.
Jillian Griffiths
Chief Operating Officer of CD&R LLP
Chief Operating Officer at Clayton Dubilier & Rice.
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About CD&R LLP: Clayton, Dubilier & Rice is a global private equity manager that invests in and builds valuable businesses.
Anu George
COO – Technology & Transformation of Morningstar
Anu George is the Head – Morningstar Excellence at Morningstar, Inc., a leading provider of independent investment research. Her responsibilities include providing a strategic direction to the continuous improvement, quality & excellence initiatives at Morningstar. She has successfully led the LEAN transformation at Morningstar & is now focused on institutionalizing an Agile culture in her organization. Anu has more than 20 years of experience in reputable organizations such as Unilever, GE, and Morningstar. She has global experience through her extensive work in Asia, North America, and Europe. Her strengths lie in operations management and LEAN Six Sigma. She is a frequent speaker on topics such as business process excellence and leadership. Anu holds a bachelor’s degree in economics and accounting from the University of Mumbai, India, and a master’s degree in business administration with a specialization in marketing from the University of Mumbai.
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About Morningstar: Morningstar provides independent investment research to investors worldwide.
Paul Strange
COO & General Counsel of Learn Capital
Paul Strange currently works as the COO and General Counsel for Learn Capital. He previously worked at Summit Powder Mountain as the COO and General Counsel.
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About Learn Capital: LearnCapital is a venture capital firm focused exclusively on funding entrepreneurs with a vision for better and smarter learning.
Fred Licon
Chief Operating Officer of ePlata
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About ePlata, Plata Pay: ePlata is a mobile platform that enables its users to conduct online and peer-to-peer transactions.
Robert May
Managing Director, COO & CCO of Industry Ventures
Robert is the Chief Operating Officer and Chief Compliance Officer for Industry Ventures. Prior to joining Industry Ventures, Robert worked as a Consultant for Standish Management and led the Palo Alto office. Robert has over 25 years of experience in Finance, Operations and Management with 17 of those years specifically in Venture Capital. Previously, Robert was the COO and CFO for Founders Fund in San Francisco, CA. Prior to Founders Fund, Robert spent four years as the CFO of Thomas Weisel Venture Partners. Robert started his career in Venture Capital as the Controller for Mohr, Davidow Ventures. Robert was also a Senior Financial Analyst at Hewlett-Packard and Production Control Analyst at Drexler Technologies. Robert had earlier careers as both a commercial pilot and studio guitarist. Robert graduated from San Jose State University with a BS in Business Administration, emphasis in Finance. He is a current member of the Board of Directors for the Financial Executives Alliance and past original member of the Board of Directors for the Private Equity CFO Association (PECFOA), an agency comprised of senior finance executives.
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About Industry Ventures: Industry Ventures is an investment firm that makes venture capital investments and manages over $3.5 billion of institutional capital.
M. Avi Epstein
Managing Director – Chief Operating Officer, General Counsel & Chief Compliance Officer of Sterling Partners
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About Sterling Partners: Sterling Partners is a private equity firm with a history of generating extraordinary returns for their investors.
Maria Miller
COO and Co-Founder of Spot Insurance
Maria Goy is Co-founder and COO of Life by Spot, a company dedicated to redefining life insurance by building a consumer-centric experience and bringing customers a product that suits their means and lifestyle. Prior to founding Spot, Maria served as Vice President, Technology Strategic Partnerships at New York Life, driving sourcing and relationship strategy for one of the largest life insurance companies in the US. Having started her career at Anderson Consulting (Accenture) and living across Europe, Asia and the US Maria comes with a wealth and breadth of industry and global market experience.
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About Spot Insurance: Injury insurance designed to protect against unexpected medical expenses
William Porteous
General Partner and COO of RRE Ventures
William D. Porteous is a General Partner with RRE Ventures. He was previously a principal, having joined the firm as an Associate in 2000. Before joining the venture capital industry, he held senior management positions in marketing and product management with SupplyWorks and NetMarket, the e-commerce pioneer now owned by Cendant Corp. William Porteous is a director of Coldwatt, Electric Cloud, NTM, Softcoin, and Trusted Data and a former director of Frictionless Commerce (acquired by SAP) and Tacit Networks (acquired by PKTR). In addition, he is actively involved in the firm’s investments in Ember and PrimeRevenue. He also serves as an Adjunct Associate Professor at Columbia Business School and as a Director of the Software Division of the Software and Information Industry Association.
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About BuzzFeed, Columbia University, Columbia University in the City of New York, RRE Ventures: RRE Ventures is a venture capital firm that offers early-stage funding to software, internet, and communications companies.
Matthew Strottman
Executive Vice President and Chief Operating Officer of In-Q-Tel
Matthew Strottman currently serves as Executive Vice President and Chief Operating Officer of In-Q-Tel, Inc., the independent strategic investment firm that identifies innovative technology solutions to support the mission of the CIA and broader U.S. Intelligence Community. In that role, he is responsible for overseeing investment and portfolio analysis and for managing all corporate functions such as finance, accounting, corporate operations and human resources. Prior to taking on the CFO responsibilities, Mr. Strottman served as the Senior Director of Investment Analysis at In-Q-Tel where he managed the vetting and due diligence of all potential investments as well as portfolio management involving tracking the financial performance and valuations of In-Q-Tel’s investments. Prior to joining In-Q-Tel, Mr. Strottman worked in the Technology Investment Banking Group at Friedman Billings Ramsey & Co, Inc (Nasdaq: FBCM). During his four years at FBR, Mr. Strottman executed public and private equity financing, merger and acquisition, restructuring, and venture capital transactions totaling over $3 billion. Mr. Strottman began his career at PricewaterhouseCoopers, LLP in Los Angeles where he focused primarily on the real estate and technology industries.
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About In-Q-Tel: In-Q-Tel identifies and partners with companies developing cutting-edge technologies to help deliver solutions.
Sofya Pogreb
Chief Operating Officer of Next Insurance
Sofya led an accomplished career before landing at Next Insurance, including previously running the Risk group at PayPal for both North and South America. In her personal time, Sofya is hoping to get back into ballroom dancing after having been a nationally-ranked dancer in the past. Sofya has a Masters in Computer Science and BA in Management, MIT.
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About Next Insurance: Next Insurance is an online-based insurance company for entrepreneurs and small businesses.
Tom Dennedy
Partner & Chief Operating Officer of Artiman Ventures
Tom Dennedy focuses on both early and later-stage technology investments. Prior to joining Artiman Ventures in 2007, Tom was a Managing Director at Telesoft Partners, where he played an active role in more than 40 multi-stage investments and 30+ acquisitions and IPO’s. Before joining Telesoft Partners, Tom was an attorney in the Business & Technology Group of Brobeck Phleger & Harrison, LLP. At Brobeck, Tom’s general corporate and technology practice represented clients in networking, electronic commerce, software, and semiconductor industries, including venture capital and merger and acquisition work for companies such as Cisco Systems and E*Trade. Prior to Brobeck, Tom was a Captain in the U.S. Air Force, serving as a Project Officer in the Milstar Communication Satellite Joint Program Office. Tom received a J.D. from Stanford Law School, an M.S. in Electrical Engineering from MIT, and a B.S. in Electrical Engineering from the U.S. Air Force Academy. Tom has led the following investments: BayPackets (GENBAND), empower Tel (IPUnity), OnFiber (Qwest), Provide Commerce (IPO:PRVD), Xpedion Design Systems (Agilent).
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About Artiman Ventures: Artiman is an early-stage venture fund that seeks to invest in entrepreneurs that have the potential to disrupt multi-billion markets.
Mike Dutton
Private Equity COO of Capital Group
Michael J. Dutton is the chief operating officer of Capital Group Private Markets. He has 20 years of investment industry experience and has been with Capital Group for six years. Prior to joining Capital Group, he was a senior portfolio manager for the alternative investment management division of CalPERS, which managed approximately $50 billion of private equity exposure. Before that, Mike was at The Carlyle Group focusing on ex-USA private equity (Europe and Asia) before becoming chief financial officer for Europe. Earlier in his career, he was vice president of finance at Elsevier Science/Reed Elsevier and began his career at Arthur Andersen. He holds a bachelor’s degree in business administration from the College of William and Mary. He is also a certified public accountant (inactive) in Virginia.
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About Capital Group: Founded in 1931, Capital Group provides investment management services for long-term investors and is a private equity firm.
Michael Orlando
Chief Operating Officer of YapStone
Michael Orlando is the Chief Operating Officer at Yapstone.
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About YapStone: YapStone is a global provider of online and mobile payment solutions for global marketplaces and large vertical markets.
Ajay Nagpal
Chief Operating Officer of Millennium Management
Ajay Nagpal is a senior professional in the financial industry. Drawing on 20+ years of experience and an executive history in prominent companies, Ajay Nagpal joined Millennium as the Chief Operating Officer in 2013. He works within a senior leadership team to oversee various business areas of the firm’s global activities and to maintain a commitment to principles of integrity, discipline, and excellence. Prior to his role as COO at Millennium, Ajay was the Head of Prime Services at Barclays. He was a member of the management committee of the investment banking division and also served as senior sponsor of Barclays’ LGBT employee network. Before joining Barclays in 2008, Ajay Nagpal was Global Head of Equities Sales at Lehman Brothers. He rose to this position after four years as Managing Director and Head of Liquid Market Sales. He began his career in finance at J.P. Morgan in 1992. Ajay Nagpal attended Brown University as an undergraduate and earned his BA in International Relations and South Asian Studies. He then studied Public Policy at Harvard University’s Kennedy School of Government and earned his MPP in 1992. Ajay Nagpal supports social entrepreneurship and is active in the Executive, Development, Fellowship and Finance committees of nonprofit organization Echoing Green. In July 2017, he was appointed as a trustee for the Morristown Beard School in Morristown, NJ.
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About Millennium Management: Millennium Management is a multi-strategy investment firm and pursues a diverse array of investment strategies across industry sectors.
Andrew Benson
Co-Founder and COO of River Financial
Andrew Benson is the Co-Founder & Chief Operating Officer at River Financial.
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About River Financial: River Financial is a Bitcoin financial institution allowing long-term investors to buy, sell, and manage Bitcoin.
Lori Hoover-Simotas
COO & CFO of Floodgate
Lori is the CFO of Prospect Venture Partners. Lori has over a decade of venture capital experience and most recently served as Prospect’s Director of Finance since April 2008 where her responsibilities have included participating in financial operations, accounting, budgeting and financial reporting functions, producing quarterly and year-end limited partner financial and tax reports and portfolio company investment modeling. Previously, Lori served as Director of Finance for Opus Capital from 2006 to March 2008 and, prior to that, served as Controller and then Director of Finance for Lightspeed Venture Partners from 2001 to 2005. Prior to Lightspeed, Lori served a broad array of venture capital firms in her capacity as Western Region Project Manager for Analytx, Inc. Lori received a M.B.A. with a concentration in Health Care Administration from Golden Gate University and a BBA in Business Administration from the University of San Diego.
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About Floodgate: Floodgate caters to digital businesses with early, seed, and later stage venture, and debt financing investments.
Ed Garcia
Chief Operating Officer of Nuvei
Ed Garcia leads Pivotal’s Operations and Customer Service functions. He has more than 25 years of experience managing operations and technologies in the payments industry and is recognized for his great leadership skills, coupled with the ability to consolidate and optimize processes and systems. Before joining Pivotal, Ed Garcia led similar functions at Vantiv and Total System Services Inc. (TSYS). Prior to that, he held senior positions at Citigroup, American Express and Visa International.
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About Nuvei: Nuvei is a financial service company that provides its clients with payment technology solutions.
Keith Armstrong
Co-Founder & COO of Abe AI
Keith is the COO of Abe.ai, a bot for your money. Previously he worked as a microfinance consultant in South Africa and helped grow startup ecosystems around the world with Startup Weekend. He’s passionate about helping everyday people be better with money.
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About Abe AI: Abe builds conversational banking solutions for progressive banks.
Dustin Lucien
COO of Betterment
Dustin is the epitome of engineering effectiveness. When he walked into the Betterment office, our software development instantly became so Agile it was doing cartwheels. He’s the type of leader we all aspire to emulate ‐ one who guides us to smarter decisions and rolls up his sleeves when the development gets down to the wire. Dustin’s knack for the sciences extends beyond just his software savvy. As a Biomedical Engineering graduate student at Case Western he managed a Surgical Planning Laboratory and went on to work for a startup focused on scientific computing in gene sequence analysis. Then, after a stint in film production, he returned to engineering, with leadership roles at big name companies Oracle and The Ladders. Dustin would be happy to chat with you about his vintage motorcycle or speak “dev” to you in Java, PHP, Javascript, or Ruby. When not engrossed in engineering (whether of the software or vehicle variety), you can catch Dustin in the kitchen. He frequently recreates all-star recipes with expert finesse. His skill with a spatula makes him Betterment’s top chef.In short, Dustin’s an all-around excellent engineer whose Kanban boards and cooking creds inspire us all.
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About Betterment, SuiteMatch: Betterment is an online investment company that offers investing and retirement solutions for their current clients and clients-to-be.
Janelle Alexander
Chief Operating Officer of FilmHedge
Janelle Alexander is a former investment banker turned investor, entrepreneur in residence, and now Co-Founder and Chief Operations Officer of FilmHedge. FilmHedge is revolutionizing the business model of investing in media and making Atlanta a center for film and media investment. Along with years of experience in investment banking, technology, and financial planning, Janelle also has experience with coding (JavaScript, Python, React, SQL).
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About FilmHedge: 2-sided Fin-tech Marketplace providing financing to Film/TV
Chris Smith
COO of Verituity
Chris Smith is the COO at Verituity, Inc.
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About Verituity: Verituity is a verified digital payments platform that connects banks, businesses, and payees to first-time and on-time digital payouts.
Chris Chumley
Chief Operating Officer of CampusLogic
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About CampusLogic: CampusLogic develops tools and resources used by college officials to help students manage scholarships, loans, and other supports.
Kyle Daniel
Chief Operating Officer of Glade Brook Capital Partners
Mr. Daniel joined Glade Brook in 2011 as Director of Operations. Prior to joining Glade Brook, Mr. Daniel was at Shumway Capital Partners where he managed the middle and back office teams. Previously he worked at Moore Capital Management where he was a Derivative Operations Manager. Mr. Daniel began his career as an Analyst at Citigroup. Mr. Daniel earned a B.A. from Otterbein College.
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About Glade Brook Capital Partners: Glade Brook Capital Partners focuses on companies in the technology, media, telecom, and consumer sectors.
Jenny Bloom
General Counsel and COO of Third Prime
Jenny Bloom is the General Counsel and COO at Third Prime.
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About Third Prime: FinTech, PropTech, and Crypto sectors. We invest in world-class entrepreneurs and support them over the long haul.
Raj Patel
Co-Founder, COO & CFO of Mantl
Raj Patel is the Chief Operating Officer, Chief Financial Officer, and Co-Founder of Mantl.
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About Mantl: Mantl is a banking technology company that provides workflow management and automation tools for banks and credit unions.
Daniel Siracuse
Chief Financial Officer & Chief Operating Officer of Trumid
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About Trumid: Trumid is a financial technology company bringing efficiency to credit trading through data, technology, and innovative products.
Kathy Nelson
Chief Operating Officer of Cross River Bank
Kathleen Nelson has assumed various roles at Cross River since its inception in 2008.Kathleen possesses over 35 years of experience in the banking industry, in areas of operations, internal audit, risk, loan review, compliance, and BSA/AML compliance, and holds several certifications. Prior to Cross River, Kathleen held various management roles at Bank of New York Mellon, Wells Fargo, and other banking and savings institutions. Nelson graduated from Montclair State University with a MS in Psychology.
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About Cross River Bank: Cross River is a financial institution that offers technology and banking services to consumers and businesses.
Ryan Cleary
COO & Co-Founder of FloatMe
Ryan Cleary is the Co-Founder and Chief Operating Officer of FloatMe.
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About FloatMe: FloatMe is the fast-growing fintech app that’s helped Americans save $100M in fees since launch through “floats” and a host of PFM tools.
Chuck Doerr
President, Co-Founder & COO of OpenFin
Chuck Doerr is President, Co-Founder, and COO of OpenFin. He is responsible for the company’s technology strategy and business operations. Prior to OpenFin, Chuck was VP of CDS Technology at IntercontinentalExchange (ICE) where he was responsible for ICE’s CDS e-trading and processing technology and software development. Before ICE, Chuck served as Chief Technology Officer of Creditex where he was responsible for all technology initiatives. He architected the company’s award-winning technology platform, led software development and managed Creditex’s global technology infrastructure. Before Creditex, Chuck worked at UBS automating their front office equity trading operations. Earlier, he worked on missile system software at Raytheon. Chuck attended Carnegie Mellon University where he earned Bachelor’s and Master’s degrees in Electrical and Computer Engineering.
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About OpenFin: OpenFin enables financial desktops with the same app distribution, security, and interoperability capabilities as iOS and Android.
Tom Terbell
COO of Rise Capital
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About Rise Capital: Rise Capital is a global investment firm that focuses on making expansion-stage investments in Internet businesses in Emerging Markets.
Mary Jayne Crocker
EVP Chief Operating Officer of Bridgewater Bank
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About Bridgewater Bank: Bridgewater Bank is a full-service commercial bank where answers came quickly, opportunities were plentiful, and the culture was optimistic.
Roger C. Hochschild
President and Chief Operating Officer of Discover Financial Services
Roger C. Hochschild has served as president and chief operating officer since 2004, and was executive vice president, chief marketing officer from 1998 to 2001. From 2001 to 2004, Roger was executive vice president, chief administrative and chief strategic officer of Morgan Stanley. He holds a bachelor’s degree in economics from Georgetown University and an M.B.A. from the Amos Tuck School at Dartmouth College.
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About Discover Financial Services: Discover Financial Services is a direct banking and payment services company.
Sarah Rogers
Chief Operating Officer & Chief Compliance Officer of Glynn Capital Management
Sarah Rogers joined Glynn Capital in 2009 and is responsible for investor relations and marketing. She is also the firm’s Chief Compliance Officer. Her experience in finance, marketing, and entrepreneurship also provide insights for the investments, operations, and strategy of the firm. From 2004 to 2008, Sarah was a Lecturer on the finance department faculty of the College of Business at the University of Iowa, where she served as Director of the Hawkinson Institute of Business Finance. In 2001, Sarah co-founded West Lake Partners, a consulting business. From 1999 to 2001, Sarah worked in product marketing and marketing communications at Jamcracker, Inc. From 1994 to 1997, Sarah was an analyst at Goldman Sachs, where she was an early member of the High Technology group. Sarah received an MBA from the Stanford University Graduate School of Business in 1999, an MFA from the Iowa Writers’ Workshop at the University of Iowa in 2004, and an AB in Philosophy from Princeton University in 1994.
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About Glynn Capital Management: Glynn Capital Management focuses on investing in private and public technology growth companies.
Joseph F. Meyer
Senior Vice President; Global Chief Operating Officer, Global Investments of Aflac
Joseph Meyer received his bachelor’s degree in government and East Asian studies from Colby College in 1979. Upon graduation, he was awarded a Thomas J. Watson Fellowship. Prior to joining Aflac in March 2012, he began his career in banking with Morgan Guaranty Trust Company in New York and later held various positions such as treasurer and head of finance, administration and operations at Morgan Stanley in Tokyo and Hong Kong; managing director and chief operating officer at Deutsche Securities and Deutsche Asset Management; and chief operating officer at Shinsei Bank. He founded and was representative director of Chi-X Japan Limited, and also worked as chief administrative officer of Hong Kong Exchanges and Clearing.
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About Aflac: Aflac is a company that offers individuals and companies supplemental disability insurance.
Daniel Rochkind
COO/CFO of Marker
Daniel Rochkind is the Chief Operating Officer and Chief Financial Officer of Marker. Prior to joining Marker, Dan was a Principal at Siguler Guff & Company, LP where he was actively involved in the firm’s operational and financial processes and led the firm’s Operational Due Diligence program. Previously, Dan was a Vice President at Fortress Investment Group and Goldman Sachs. Dan earned a BS in Accounting and a BA in Journalism from the University of Maryland.
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About Lerer Hippeau, Marker: Marker is a venture capital and growth equity firm that provides investment to high-growth companies.
Zach Miller
COO of A.Capital Ventures
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About A.Capital Ventures: A.Capital Ventures is an early stage venture capital firm investing in consumer and enterprise technology companies.
Mitch Kitamura
Managing Partner and COO of DNX Ventures
Mitch launched JAIC’s US investment arm in 2000, and brings a comprehensive background in business expansion between Asia and the US, having invested across 30 startups. Prior to Draper Nexus, his investments have yielded 3 successful M&As – Solidcore (Symantec), W.I.S Technologies (Micronas), Cerberian (Blue Coat Systems), and 2 IPOs – Mediaplex and Fortinet. Mitch Kitamura serves as a Board Observer/Director at MobilePeak Systems, Analogix Semiconductor, and GCT Semiconductor. At Draper Nexus, he specializes in Consumer/ Enterprise Internet Services and Mobile in the US and Japan. Prior to JAIC, he held various positions at JETRO New York, including working closely with local/state government in expanding US companies into Japan. He has a Bachelor of Commerce degree from Curtin University of Technology in Australia and an MA in Economics from Boston University.
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About DNX Ventures: DNX Ventures is an early stage VC firm focusing on B2B Startups that are shaping industries and transforming the way we live and work.
Craig Slutzkin
CFO & COO of New Leaf Venture Partners
Craig Slutzkin is the Chief Financial Officer of New Leaf Venture Partners. Previously, Craig served as Chief Financial Officer of the Sprout Group for three years. Prior to joining Sprout in 2002, Craig spent over seven years in the assurance practices of Arthur Andersen and Ernst & Young in New York, primarily working with private equity firms, investment banking institutions, and hedge funds. Craig received his M.B.A. in Finance from Columbia Business School and received a B.A. in Accounting and Information Systems from Queens College. He is a certified public accountant and a member of the American Institute of Certified Public Accountants.
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About New Leaf Venture Partners: New Leaf Venture Partners is a venture capital firm focused on investments in healthcare technology companies.
Robert Pantano
Chief Financial Officer & Chief Operating Officer of Nexamp
Robert Pantano oversees Nexamp’s financial strategy and function, as well as company operations. Prior to joining Nexamp in 2011, Rob spent several years as a consultant to start-up and early stage companies in software, Internet technology, financial services, and defense fields, at the executive and board levels. Previously, Rob served as CFO of Xanalys, Inc., a private equity-funded data-mining and investigative management software firm, and as CFO of Artificial Life, Inc., a NASDAQ listed company specializing at the time in web-based intelligent agent solutions. Rob brings a broad range of financial, strategic, and operational leadership experience to Nexamp, along with an extensive legal and corporate governance background. As a CFO, he has led an IPO and several private equity financings. Rob holds a BS in Accountancy from Bentley University.
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About Nexamp: Nexamp transforms the new energy economy with proven solutions for solar energy development, ownership, and operation.
Ijaz Anwar
Co-Founder & Chief Operating Officer of Payactiv
Ijaz Anwar brings extensive experience with previous tenure at GreenDot / GoBank, Unidos Financial Services, FIS, Certegy, Chex Services, and Hyatt Hotels. From running business units generating over $200 million in annual revenue to working as a bookkeeper at Dixi Cola in Dubai, Ijaz has done it. Payactiv is not just another job; it is a new frontier for Ijaz to create and manage innovative solutions that will empower millions financially worldwide. Ijaz holds a Bachelor of Science in Hospitality Management. He also has a minor in accounting, and though he passed the CPA exam, his entrepreneurial spirit led him away from the accounting field.
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About Payactiv: Payactiv helps put financial wellness within reach.
Justin Klug
President / Chief Operating Officer of Capitolis
Justin Klug is the president & chief operating officer at Capitolis.
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About Capitolis: Capitolis is a technology provider addressing capital market constraints in equities and foreign exchange.
Somu Awatramani
Chief Operating Officer of HealthCare Ventures
Chief Operating Officer, Healthcare and Entertainment industry.
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About HealthCare Ventures: HealthCare Ventures is a life science venture capital firm that invests in early clinical stage companies which transform patient care.
James Felton Keith
COO of Accrue
James Felton Keith is currently President of The Data Union. Affectionately known as JFK, he is an award winning engineer and serial-entrepreneur that defined data as a natural resource in the book Personal Data: The People’s Asset Class. JFK has incubated the data industry via his founding of the Data Trade Association and Personal Data Week conferences. He has either written or influenced all of the global cyber policy over the past 10 years. A serial-entrepreneur, he has founded 12 companies of which 5 were successful. Most notably: Cyberfense, Accrue.com, Slay TV, and the LGBT Chamber. His expertise is in the ethnography of technology, or the study of the culture of tech. Over the past 20 years between 4 continents he has been obsessing about economic inclusion, and how to get equity in the hands of the people who have increasingly less, while the world becomes more productive from their input. JFK was the 1st Black representative of the LGBT community to run for US Congress. He says “it’s necessary to have the mind of a CEO and the heart of a Social Worker to solve real people problems”. James has been appointed to the cabinet of Elected Officials, taken over for and advised CEOs, Academics, and Non-profiteers. Keith currently serves on advisory boards at Rutgers University and the Democratic National Committee. He is a frequent keynote at global venues like the United Nations, Future Tech Congress, Money 20/20, and Hope Global Forums to name a few. Most recently he was honored as an IBM Global Entrepreneur, one of the UN’s International Young Leaders Assembly members, the United Kingdom’s Technology & Investment Financial Technology Delegation, the US Department of Homeland Security’s Commitment to Diversity, and multiple 40 under 40 notices.
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About Accrue, Cyberfense, NTGR8, nuOctave, Stall Talk: Accrue is a financial analytics company that builds deep learning technology.
Badri Nathan
Founder & COO of BancFora
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About BancFora: Bancfora is a stealth mode financial services and technology firm that seeks to bring back community banks.
Valerie Shen
Partner and Chief Operating Officer of G2VP
Valerie Shen is the Partner and Chief Operating Officer at G2 Venture Partners.
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About G2VP: G2VP invests in emerging technology companies that digitize traditional industries and drive market transformations.
Andy McElwee
President & COO of Homesite Group
Andy McElwee is the President and COO at Homesite. He is also a mentor at Creative Destruction Lab.
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About Creative Destruction Lab (CDL), Homesite Group: Founded in 1997, Homesite Group Incorporated offers a wide range of insurance products including home, renters, condo, auto and commercial.
Barry Feierstein
COO of Fundation
Barry Feierstein is responsible for overseeing multiple aspects of the business including marketing, business development, lending operations, servicing, compliance, finance and administration. Barry Feierstein is a highly experienced senior executive having spent more than 25 years operating in both financial and non-financial businesses. Prior to joining Fundation, he held executive roles with Apollo Education Group including Chief Commercial Officer and Chief Business Operating Officer. Prior to Apollo, he served as Executive Vice President of Sales & Marketing at Sallie Mae, Inc., reporting to the CEO. Among his responsibilities was the generation of over $26 billion in annual federal and private loan origination volume. Earlier in his career, Mr. Feierstein worked as a management consultant with McKinsey & Company. He holds a B.A. degree from Tufts University and an MBA from Harvard Business School.
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About Fundation: Fundation enables SMBs access to capital through our bank partners & our own balance sheet. We partner to offer embedded credit.
Souheil Badran
EVP, Chief Operating Officer of Northwestern Mutual
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About Northwestern Mutual: Northwestern Mutual delivers financial security to millions with life, disability income and long-term care insurance, and investments.
David Kang
Co-Founder & COO of Keeper Tax
David Kang is the Co-Founder and COO at Keeper Tax.
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About Keeper Tax: Discover the tax write-offs you’ve been missing
Sami Tellatin
COO and Co-Founder of FarmRaise
Sami Tellatin is a Co-Founder and COO at FarmRaise. Sami worked at the USDA Sustainable Agriculture Research & Education program and the University of Missouri-Extension before enrolling in the joint MBA/MS program at Stanford. Her prior work focused on soil health practice adoption across Midwestern row crop acreage. She has experience working on farms in both Missouri and Costa Rica and for a large agribusiness cooperative.
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About FarmRaise: FarmRaise is a digital platform that offers financial resources for farmers and ranchers to make on-farm improvements.
John Klein
CFO & COO of Eldridge
John Klein is Chief Financial Officer and Chief Operating Officer of Eldridge Industries. Before joining Eldridge, Mr. Klein was an adviser to Stone Point Capital and previously served as President of Guggenheim Investments overseeing operations, distribution, strategy, and finance. Prior to joining Guggenheim Partners, Mr. Klein was a partner and member of the Investment Committee for Citi Private Equity, a manager of capital invested in private transactions. He began his career at Bain & Company. Mr. Klein received his A.B. in Economics from Amherst College and his J.D. from the University of Michigan Law School.
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About Eldridge: Eldridge invests across Insurance, Asset Management, Technology, Mobility, Sports & Gaming, Media & Music, Real Estate, and Consumer.
CJ Halabi
COO of Investment Engineeering of Bridgewater Associates
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About Bridgewater Associates: Bridgewater manages approximately $120 billion in global investments for a wide array of institutional clients, including foreign
Andy Flaster
Managing Partner, COO & Co-Founder of Volition Capital
Andy is a Managing Partner and Chief Operating Officer at Volition Capital. Andy is responsible for all non-investment related aspects of Volition including finance, investor reporting, legal, human resources, compliance and technology. In addition, Andy is an active participant in Volition’s investments including assisting in the structuring of investments and in portfolio management. Andy currently serves on the boards of Black Duck Software and Cortera. Prior to being a founding partner at Volition Capital, Andy was a Partner and Chief Financial Officer of Fidelity Ventures. Prior to that, he was Vice President of Finance for Thomas H. Lee Company, a private equity firm specializing in management growth buyouts.
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About Volition Capital: Volition Capital is a growth equity firm that principally invests in high potential, founder-owned companies across different technology.
