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 Financial Services 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.
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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.
Ian Sandler
Managing Director, Chief Operating Officer of Insight Partners
Ian Sandler is the Managing Director and COO of Insight Partner.
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About Insight Partners: Insight Partners is a private equity firm that invests in growth-stage technology and software companies.
Joe Bae
Co-President and Co-Chief Operating Officer of Kohlberg Kravis Roberts
Currently, Joe Bae is on the boards of directors of Oriental Brewery and Intelligence. Prior to joining KKR, Joe Bae worked for Goldman, Sachs & Co. in the Principal Investment group, where he was involved in a broad range of merchant banking transactions. He holds a B.A., magna cum laude, from Harvard College. Joe Bae is actively involved in a number of nonprofit organizations, such as Asia Art Archives and Yaddo and is a member of the Investment Committee of Phillips Academy.
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About Kohlberg Kravis Roberts, Kohlberg Kravis Roberts: Kohlberg Kravis Roberts is a global alternative asset manager focusing on private equity, fixed income, and capital markets.
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.
Steven Becker
President and COO of MakerDAO
Steven Becker is President and COO of the MakerDAO Foundation. MakerDAO is a unique dApp that generates Dai, the world’s first decentralized stablecoin that facilitates economic growth on the blockchain and economic empowerment with the blockchain. Steven is responsible for the strategic business operations, risk management, partnerships, and marketing. An alternative investment professional with 20 years of experience. Steven is Chartered as an Alternative Investment Analyst (CAIA) by the CAIA Association and certified as a Financial Risk Manager (FRM) by the Global Association of Risk Professionals and is a member of both associations.
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About MakerDAO: Maker is a decentralized autonomous organization on the Ethereum blockchain.
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.
Jim Stewart
Chief Operating Officer of True Ventures
Jim joined True Ventures as CFO in 2012, bringing substantial operating and financial experience in venture-backed technology and biotechnology companies. Jim oversees the financial and administrative tasks of True, provides operating support to True’s portfolio companies, and maintains close relationships with True’s Limited Partners. Jim began his career in a traditional financial role with Ernst & Young, where he spent three years as a Partner, leaving to join a venture-backed technology company. In the years following, Jim held numerous operating and CFO positions in a variety of industries and raised significant venture and public capital, leading four companies through their IPO process. Jim brings his perspective of raising capital—from the entrepreneur’s point of view—to his role with True. Jim holds a BS in Business Administration from the University of Southern California. When he is not focused on financial matters, Jim is likely dreaming with Jon Callaghan about airplanes, planning for a racetrack day on his Aprilia, or planning an Angels’ Flight mission with his wife Vikki.
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About True Ventures: True Ventures is a venture capital firm that invests in early-stage technology startups.
Jim Stewart
Chief Operating Officer of True Ventures
Jim joined True Ventures as CFO in 2012, bringing substantial operating and financial experience in venture-backed technology and biotechnology companies. Jim oversees the financial and administrative tasks of True, provides operating support to True’s portfolio companies, and maintains close relationships with True’s Limited Partners. Jim began his career in a traditional financial role with Ernst & Young, where he spent three years as a Partner, leaving to join a venture-backed technology company. In the years following, Jim held numerous operating and CFO positions in a variety of industries and raised significant venture and public capital, leading four companies through their IPO process. Jim brings his perspective of raising capital—from the entrepreneur’s point of view—to his role with True. Jim holds a BS in Business Administration from the University of Southern California. When he is not focused on financial matters, Jim is likely dreaming with Jon Callaghan about airplanes, planning for a racetrack day on his Aprilia, or planning an Angels’ Flight mission with his wife Vikki.
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About True Ventures: True Ventures is a venture capital firm that invests in early-stage technology startups.
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.
Hadas Sparfeld
COO & CFO of Group 11
Hadas is Chief Operating Officer and Chief Financial Officer at Group 11. She is responsible for all of the firm’s day-to-day operations and also oversees Group 11’s financial activities, including financial reporting, accounting, forecasting and budgeting, as well as tracking financial performance of portfolio companies.
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About Group 11: Group 11 is a venture capital firm focused on financial 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.
Josh Hershman
Chief Operating Officer of UBS Investment Bank, Americas & UBS Securities, LLC of UBS
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About UBS, UBS, UBS: UBS is a global financial services company that engages in the provision of financial management solutions.
Jeff Arnold
COO & Founder of Pilot
Jeff Arnold is a Past Founder & CEO at Ksplice.
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About Pilot: Pilot is a platform that offers bookkeeping, tax, and CFO services for growing businesses.
Asya Bradley
Founder & COO of First Boulevard
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About First Boulevard: First Boulevard is a fintech startup that aims to address the generational wealth gap for Black Americans.
Matthew E. Zames
Chief Operating Officer of JP Morgan Chase
Mr. Matthew E. Zames is a Board Member at States Title. Matt has been the Chief Operating Officer of JPMorgan Chase & Co. since April 28, 2013.Mr. Zames served as Co-Chief Operating Officer of JPMorgan Chase & Co. until April 28, 2013. He served as Head of US Rates Trading at Credit Suisse First Boston of JP Morgan Fleming American Investment Trust. since December 2, 2004. Mr. Zames served as the Chief Investment Officer of JPMorgan Chase & Co. and served as its Co-Head of Global Fixed Income and Head of Capital Markets. He served as Head of proprietary trading at CSFB and also Managing Director and co-head of US rates trading. He graduated from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology in 1993.
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About JP Morgan Chase, JPMorgan Partners (JPMP): JP Morgan Chase is a global financial services provider that offers investment banking, asset management, treasury, and other services.
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.
Corey Rudzinski
SVP – Chief Operating Officer for the Enterprise Framework Office of Wells Fargo
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About Wells Fargo: Wells Fargo & Company is a diversified financial services company with $1.3 trillion assets providing banking, insurance, and investments.
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.
Stacey Giard
COO and Partner of Tola Capital
Stacey Giard is an expert in the marketing and sales of software. She has spent her career scaling software businesses with a focus on delivering global go-to-market strategy, positioning, customer-targeted offers, technical partner and developer ecosystem enablement, and enterprise selling models. She applies her software marketing and sales expertise to portfolio companies to strengthen their strategy and execution across marketing, sales, and partner ecosystem. For over ten years at Microsoft, Ms. Giard held roles within the Server and Tools business. She established and managed a cross-company team to deliver a unified message and global marketing and business plan to drive premium enterprise IT offerings across products, support, and services focused on mission-critical customer needs. She created a marketing and sales campaign to drive premium developer tools revenue and adoption with enterprise and high-end mid-market customers. Ms. Giard was responsible for growing the Microsoft development tools partner and developer ecosystem. She managed partner marketing to drive tools adoption and developed a program to engage developer community influencers. Prior to joining Microsoft, Ms. Giard held a marketing and community engagement role with an online education startup.
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About Tola Capital: Tola Capital is a venture capital firm that invests globally in enterprise software companies across multiple stages.
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.
Michael Page
Chief Operating Officer of Cowen Group
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About Cowen Group: Cowen Group is a diversified financial services firm and, together with its consolidated subsidiaries, provides alternative investment
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.
Alejandro Chouza
COO and Co-Founder of Arrived Homes
Alejandro Chouza is the Co-Founder and Chief Operating Officer of Arrived Homes.
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About Arrived Homes: Arrived Homes provides rental home investment services to help people become financially independent.
Jason Miller
Chief Operating Officer of Point72 Ventures
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About Point72 Ventures: Point72 Ventures is an every-stage global VC fund focused on fintech, deep tech, and enterprise investments led by Steven A. Cohen.
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.
Roger Jewkes
Co-Chief Operating Officer of Fidelity National Financial
Roger Jewkes is Co-Chief Operating Officer of Fidelity National Financial, Inc., and President of Western Operations for Fidelity National Title Group. He has overall responsibilities for all FNTG business units in the Western U.S., and also manages FNTG title direct operations located in Arizona, California, Colorado, Nevada and New Mexico. During his 30 year career with the Company, Roger has served in many capacities including operations manager, county manager, regional manager and division manager. He was appointed to his current position in 2005. Roger and his wife have two children.
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About Fidelity National Financial: Fidelity National Financial, Inc. (NYSE:FNF), is a provider of title insurance, mortgage services and diversified services.
Nicole Houston
President, Chief Operating Officer of Fluid Credit
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About Fluid Credit: Fluid Credit provides university students with credit and personal finance education.
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.
Shobin Uralil
Co-founder & COO of Lively
Shobin Uralil is Co-founder & COO at Lively.
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About Lively: Lively is a modern Health Savings Account (HSA) platform for employers and individuals.
Michael McFerran
COO, CFO, Treasurer and Executive Vice President. of Ares Management
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About Ares Management: Ares Management is a global alternative asset manager focusing on credit, private equity, and real estate.
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.
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.
John Kramer
COO & Board Member of HoneyBook
John Kramer is COO at HoneyBook.
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About HoneyBook, Salsa: HoneyBook is a business management platform creating tools to help creative entrepreneurs run their business on their own terms.
Dominick Colabella
President & Chief Operating Officer of Retriever Medical/Dental Payments
Dominick C. is the Chief Executive Officer at Rectangle Health.
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About Rectangle Health, Retriever Medical/Dental Payments, Retriever Medical/Dental Payments: Retriever Medical/Dental Payments is a provider of payment technology and merchant services to healthcare providers
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.
Zev Wexler
CFO and COO of Core Innovation Capital
Zev Wexler is the COO and CFO at Core Innovation Capital.
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About Core Innovation Capital: Core Innovation Capital is a venture capital firm investing in companies committed to empowering small businesses.
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.
Guri Walia
Co-Founder and COO of Cointopia
After completing his computer engineering degree from UC San Diego (Magna Cum Laude), Guri worked as an engineer for Hughes Aircraft on satellite communication projects and developing one of the first cellular phones which was installed in all high-end GM vehicles including Cadillac. After graduating from Wharton Business School with an MBA (Director’s List), he continued his career in Management Consulting with A.T. Kearney working for C-level executives of Fortune 50 companies on strategic and growth projects. He was then recruited to join Scient, one of the fastest growing systems innovation company with a $8 Billion market cap in 3.5 years from formation. Guri was a Managing Director at Scient and his responsibilities included delivering some of the innovative internet based technologies from concept to reality. He also headed Scient’s accelerator program and Scient Capital leading investments in various top-tier venture funds including Sequoia and Benchmark Capital and several companies alongside these funds including Hotwire (acquired for $663 Million by IAC). After Scient, Guri started a security software company, ID Matrixx to solve the problem of identity theft. The company acquired several approved patents in less than 18 months, and was sold 3 years later. Guri is currently an active angel investor with investments in several high-tech companies, and serves on the board or is an active advisor to several of these companies including GetAround (raised over $100 Million, investors include Menlo Ventures, Toyota, Marissa Mayer and Eric Schmidt), Top Tal (current valuation $500 Million, investors include Andreesen Hortowitz), Style-end (recently featured in Good Morning America), SendHub, and Curebit.
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About Cointopia: Cointopia is a comprehensive solution for token sales and post-ICO management, as well as a dynamic marketplace for service providers.
Balwinder Kaur
COO of Soleil Capitale
Balwinder is directly responsible for coordinating the various businesses of the group encompassing of banks, finance, private equity, broker dealer and car production. Balwinder plays an active role in assisting the Group CEO and managing clients of Soleil Capitale. Balwinder has masters in Economics.
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About Soleil Capitale: Soleil Capitale is the firm believer and originator of the group slogan that “Trust is the Cornerstone of Every Relationship.”
Bryan Wolff
CFO/COO of Staircase
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About BBQ Holdings, Staircase: Staircase is an API marketplace for residential mortgage.
Jason Klarreich
Managing Director, CFO, COO, & CCO of JW Asset Management
Jason Klarreich is the managing director, CFO, COO, and CCO at JW Asset Management. Before joining JWAM, Jason was a director and trader at Heartland Securities. He previously worked in fixed income sales at Morgan Stanley and at Smith Barney as a financial analyst in the asset management division. Jason serves on the board at Arbor Pharmaceuticals. He graduated from Emory University with a bachelor’s degree in finance.
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About JW Asset Management: JW Asset Management is a New York-based investment firm that primarily invests within the healthcare sector.
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.
Glenn A. Youngkin
Chief Operating Officer of The Carlyle Group
Mr. Youngkin is a Managing Director, Chief Operating Officer of Carlyle and serves on Carlyle’s Management Committee. He is based in Washington, DC. From October 2010 until March 2011, Mr. Youngkin served as Carlyle’s interim principal financial officer. From 2005 to 2008, Mr. Youngkin was the Global Head of the Industrial Sector investment team. From 2000 to 2005, Mr. Youngkin led Carlyle’s buyout activities in the United Kingdom and from 1995 to 2000, he was a member of the U.S. buyout team. Prior to joining Carlyle in 1995, Mr. Youngkin was a management consultant with McKinsey & Company and he also previously worked in the investment banking group at CS First Boston. Mr. Youngkin received a B.S. in mechanical engineering and a B.A. in managerial studies from Rice University and an M.B.A. from the Harvard Business School, where he was a Baker Scholar. Mr. Youngkin currently serves on the Boards of Directors of several Carlyle portfolio companies: PQ Corporation, Ri-Happy Brinquedos S.A. and Scalina S.A. Mr. Youngkin also serves on the Board of Trustees of the Langley School and AlphaUSA and the Board of Directors of the Rice Management Company.
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About McKinsey & Company, The Carlyle Group: The Carlyle Group is a global private equity firm that caters to early and later stage companies.
Sarah Bergstrand
COO of BitBull Capital
Sarah Bergstrand is the COO at BitBull Capital.
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About BitBull Capital: BitBull Capital is the first cryptocurrency fund of hedge funds.
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.
Cate Rung
COO of Pngme
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About Pngme: Pngme, they believe everyone deserves equal access to finance.
Jennifer Bronzo
Co-founder and COO of Doorstead
Jennifer Bronzo is the co-founder and COO of Doorstead.
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About Doorstead: Technology-operations brokerage that provides full-service property management and cash-flow certainty to residential property owners.
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.
Tomo Matsuo
Co-Founder, COO & President of Yardline
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About Yardline: Yardline is an offering Capital-as-a-Service technology for e-commerce platforms, marketplaces, and direct capital providers.
Don Coleman
Chief Operating Officer of Intapp
Don Coleman is the COO at Intapp.
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About Intapp: Intapp is a provider of industry-specific, cloud-based software solutions that enable connected professional and financial services.
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.
Nandan Sheth
President & Chief Operating Officer of Acculynk
Nandan Sheth serves as President and COO of Acculynk. Mr. Sheth’s responsibilities cover corporate development, business development, alliances, product strategy and operations. Before joining Acculynk, Mr. Sheth co-founded Harbor Payments where he served as the Chief Operating Officer. Harbor Payments was sold to American Express in December 2006 where Mr. Sheth served as a Vice President & General Manager within the Global Commercial Card group. Prior to Harbor Payments, Mr. Sheth started a payment technology company which served the credit and receivables industry. Mr. Sheth has also worked at major banks, professional service firms and Fortune 1000 corporations across North America and Europe. Mr. Sheth has held senior positions at Goldman Sachs, Deloitte & Touche, AT&T, IBM and has worked with clients such as JP Morgan Chase, Bank of America, Citigroup, HSBC, LloydsTSB and National Westminster Bank. Mr. Sheth holds a Bachelor of Science Degree with Honors in Computing Science from City University (London, UK) as well as an MBA from Cass Business School (London, UK).
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About Acculynk, Creative Destruction Lab (CDL), First Data, Splitit: Acculynk provides software-only services that secure online payment transactions for issuers, merchants and payment processors.
Matt Stapleton
Chief Operating Officer of Spiff
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About Spiff: Spiff is a compensation platform for revenue and sales organizations that helps automate complex commission processes and motivate sales.
Michael Ward
Managing Director, COO and CFO of Bain Capital
Michael Ward joined Bain Capital in 2003. He leads our investor relations team and is our Chief Operating Officer and Chief Financial Officer. Prior to joining the firm, Michael Ward worked at Digitas for five years and was responsible for day-to-day management as President and Chief Operating Officer, among other roles. Prior to Digitas, Michael Ward spent four years with Bain & Company and nine years with Price Waterhouse. Michael Ward received an MBA from The Amos Tuck School of Business Administration. He earned a BS in Accounting and Finance and a BAS in Chemical Engineering from the University of Pennsylvania.
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About Bain Capital: Bain Capital is a global alternative investment firm specializes in private equity, venture capital, and credit products.
Nancy Lotane
Chief HR Officer & PE COO of Bain Capital
Nancy Lotane is the Chief HR Officer at Bain Capital.
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About Bain Capital: Bain Capital is a global alternative investment firm specializes in private equity, venture capital, and credit products.
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.
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.
Derek Brigham
Co-Founder & Chief Operating Officer of Clearcover
Derek Brigham is a co-founder and chief operating officer at Clearcover.
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About Clearcover: Affordable car insurance that’s smarter, faster & puts your needs above all else, helping you make informed decisions every step of the way.
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.
Sameer Gulati
President & Chief Operating Officer; Advisor (Current) of Plastiq
As Chief Operations Officer, Sameer has responsibility for Lending Club’s operations and corporate strategy, including managing customer support and our customer-facing operations. Before joining Lending Club,Sameer was a partner and leader of the Digital Banking & Consumer Credit practice at McKinsey & Company in London, UK. During his 11 years with McKinsey, he advised global and emerging financial services institutions on key initiatives in retail banking, consumer credit, digital payments, and risk management. He is a well-respected thought leader, regularly speaking at banking and fintech conferences and authoring documents on financial services and credit card issues, trends, and seminal financial service sector topics. Prior experience includes several years in technology roles at Cambridge Technology Partners and Integral, where he implemented solutions for financial services players. Sameer holds an MBA in strategy and entrepreneurship from the University of Chicago Booth School of Business and a BTech in chemical engineering and computer science from the Indian Institute of Technology in New Delhi.
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About Plastiq: Plastiq offers a bill pay service for businesses to better manage their cash flow.
Alex Kostecki
Chief Operating Officer and Co-Founder of Clair
Alex is Clair’s Chief Operating Officer and one of its three Co-Founders. He oversees the company’s banking, product, and technical operations, ultimately ensuring that Clair is able to deliver a best-in-class financial experience for its customers. Previously with Deloitte Consulting in New York City, Alex was the lead Manager on M&A deals for clients in the payments space, from ideation to close. Alex led several strategy projects for credit card launches, customer service strategies, and marketing strategies, generating upwards of $5 million in revenue. Alex has been published in the Wall Street Journal, and holds an MBA from New York University’s Stern School of Business.
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About Clair: Clair is a mission-driven digital banking platform that is breaking the paycheck-to-paycheck cycle by offering flexible on-demand pay to America’s workforce.
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.
Steve Gillan
COO and CFO of Blumberg Capital
Steve Gillan is the Chief Financial Officer of Azure. He serves as a Board Observer for Open Road Integrated Media and Rooftop Media. Prior to joining Azure, Steve was Chief Financial Officer at Mercantila, an e-commerce start-up where he was responsible for finance, human resources, administration and legal functions. Previously, Steve was a member of the Board of Directors and the Chief Operating Officer at Fathom Online, a search marketing services and technology company. Steve was promoted to that strategic operating role from the position of Chief Financial Officer and led the company through its acquisition by Geary Interactive, a full services digital marketing agency. Previously, Steve was Chief Financial Officer at Alibris, a leading online marketplace for independent sellers of books, music and movies, where he led the company’s IPO efforts. Prior to his roles at these start-ups, Steve held a number of international and senior level finance positions with publicly traded manufacturing companies.
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About Blumberg Capital: Blumberg Capital is an early-stage venture capital firm.
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.
Kathryn Rungrueng
COO of Flowcast
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About Flowcast: Flowcast provides an AI platform that automates and powers lender credit decisions.
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.
Lawrence Longo
Co-Founder & COO of Lightkeeper
Larry was a co-founder of Tamale Software, Inc. Additionally, he served as the COO of 033 Asset Management, LLC. Larry has held senior management positions for over 30 years, which have included responsibility for SEC filings, financial and treasury functions, Information Technology (including systems implementations), banking relationships, merger and acquisition activity, sales, marketing and client service, patent filings, as well as additional areas of operations. Larry graduated with high honors from Bentley College and has been involved in a number of civic organizations, including serving on the Board of Directors of the Greater Hartford Jaycees, and The Cystic Fibrosis Foundation (Connecticut Chapter). He was previously on the Board of Directors of Sunrise International Ltd. — a privately held fourth party logistics company that operates in Shanghai, China — and of Sudbury Babe Ruth Baseball. Larry and his wife live in Sudbury, MA with their three children.
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About Lightkeeper: Lightkeeper provides managers immediate and relevant information for making critical investment decisions .
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.
Qi Wang
Co-Founder & COO of DODO Exchange
Qi Wang is the Co-Founder & COO at DODO Exchange.
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About DODO Exchange: DODO is a liquidity protocol powered by the Proactive Market Maker (PMM) algorithm and built for capital efficiency.
Andrew Weisgall
COO & Co-founder of Spruce Holdings
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About Spruce Holdings: Spruce Holdings aims to improve title insurance assessment and issuance to reduce the time needed to close a real estate deal.
Jennifer Johnson
President and Chief Operating Officer of Franklin Templeton Investments
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About Franklin Templeton Investments: Franklin Templeton Investments is a global investment firm that offers mutual funds for individuals and institutions.
