To land a role in venture (according to traditional wisdom) you need to have been a startup founder or an engineer. That is not Geri Kirilova’s story. Her career path into venture is one of networks and fortunate discovery. As she shares it, Kirilova accidently fell into venture while in college. On the recommendation of a friend (fellow member of the Undergraduate Stern Women in Business (USWIB) club), she pursued an internship at a seed and Series A fund during her semester abroad in Prague, and was immediately hooked. Working with passionate founders, learning about new technologies, and brainstorming monetization strategies for products - it was unlike anything Kirilova had been exposed to through her studies.
Highlights: Venture Education Symposium In Retrospect
In 2018, we began hosting educational breakfast roundtables for family offices focused on the benefits and challenges of tackling the venture asset class with discipline and strategy. This event series revealed a strong demand for more in-depth educational content, leading us to embark on a full-day symposium to decode the asset class and make it more accessible.
Often when ambition meets reality, the results can be disastrous. So, on the morning of our inaugural Venture Education Symposium, the stakes were high. With name cards of 24 family offices carefully arranged, materials prepped, coffee & tea piping hot, and pastries on deck, we prepared to see which would win out – ambition or reality. By day’s end, after much engaged discussion and discovery, ambition indeed carried the day.
Venture Within Asset Allocation | Professor Ian D’Souza
Ian D’Souza, Adjunct Professor of Finance, NYU, kicked things off and laid a strong foundation for the day’s agenda, noting that venture is a “difficult asset class requiring skill, patience, and a bit of luck”. Skill and patience were the resounding themes of the morning session, which offered a deep-dive into due-diligence on venture funds and direct investments. Given the nature of private investments, and varying degrees of available information, doing the “homework” and leveraging experience and expertise were highlighted as critical to driving better investment decisions and outcomes in the venture asset class.
Strategy, structure, expertise, and deep due-diligence are key to this unique and challenging asset class
Entrepreneurs Roundtable
The afternoon session transitioned into a working lunch and an engaging panel, featuring a candid exchange with VC-backed entrepreneurs. Symposium attendees got a glimpse into the mind of an entrepreneur, their unique path, and what they deem important in building a business and fundraising. What was extraordinary – beyond the remarkable authenticity and candor on display – was the diversity of paths these entrepreneurs followed on their journeys and the common theme of the importance of people and teams coalescing around a shared vision.
Successful entrepreneurs recognize the value of teams coalescing around a shared vision
Tax Considerations When Venture Investing | CohnReznick
After lunch, the discussion shifted to the legal and tax complexities of the asset class - ranging from standard vs non-standard LP term negotiation to Section 1202 tax exclusion, which provides significant tax relief for entrepreneurs and angels. A NextGen panel offered insight into how next-gen family members are integrated into the existing family office, shedding light on emerging trends, learnings, and the connection between financial returns and measurable social impact.
Legal structure and appropriate tax planning to manage complexities inherent in venture require resident expertise or an adept service partner
Shark Tank: Three Minute Quickfire Pitches | Led by Quake Capital
With cocktails and canapes in sight, we capped off the day with a fun “Shark Tank” session. Founders delivered 3 minute mini-pitches, allowing the audience to put their newly acquired knowledge to the test and serve as judges.
Venture is the front end of the innovation curve that provides insight into public markets and touches every part of our lives. Investors endowed with the luxury of time have the latitude to include venture in their asset mix, and it should not be entered into lightly, but with eyes wide open. Strategy, structure, expertise, and deep due-diligence are key in decoding this unique asset class and collectively can position the investor to separate the wheat from the chaff.
Special thanks to our sponsors, @LowensteinLLP, @FirstRepublic, @CushWake, @i(x)invests, and @Clade_Co for their support in making this event possible.
Ocrolus and inFactor Partner to Drive End-to-End Automation for Merchant Cash Advance Lenders
NEW YORK, May 6, 2019 /PRNewswire/ — Ocrolus, the industry leader in data verification and cash-flow analytics, today announced a partnership with inFactor, the innovative financing platform that brings clarity and security to small business financing. This partnership combines two powerful technology solutions to drive end-to-end underwriting automation for Merchant Cash Advance (MCA) lenders
ExecVision Named American Association of Inside Sales Professionals (AA-ISP) Service Provider of the Year for the Second Year in a Row
ARLINGTON, Va., April 22, 2019 – ExecVision, the only conversation intelligence platform built for driving behavior change through coaching, was once again recognized at the AA-ISP (American Association of Inside Sales Professionals) Leadership Summit in Chicago last week. ExecVision took home two awards, including Service Provider of the Year for Conversation Intelligence for the second year in a row. Enterprise Account Executive, Jacquie Bigot, was also recognized as one of twenty-five top inside sales representatives.
Doubling Down: Sales Acceleration & Operational Execution
With the new year well under way, we’re eager to share some exciting developments on the horizon. In addition to fresh capital to deploy, 2018 brought us four new portfolio companies, numerous Laconia family get-togethers, and a brand new office (come visit!). Whether it’s on the fundraising, operations, or business development front, we look forward to continuing to open doors for our founders as our ecosystem grows.
As operators and entrepreneurs ourselves, we know that building an enduring company is no small feat. Beyond providing funding, we are focusing our efforts on increasing our accessibility, leveraging our experience, and building a supportive community to help you navigate the challenges of startup life. As always, we are all ears if anyone needs feedback or a shoulder to complain on.
In working with early stage companies for 9+ years now, we have found that revenue and operational guidance are the lifelines for early stage companies. As a result, we are doubling down on supporting companies with sales acceleration and operational execution. To bolster these efforts, we have invested in a number of tools that will enable us to better leverage our existing relationships, further expand our networks, and operationalize our business development initiatives as “Executives in Residence” for founders.
To increase our bandwidth on operations, we are excited to announce some team changes. Geri Kirilova’s promotion to Principal will allow her to take on a more investing-centric role and remain more readily available to our founders. As we continue to strengthen and build a support network, we’re also growing the Laconia family, bringing on Garry Duncan as our Managing Director of Market Development and Padma Rao as our Head of Community.
Garry brings a unique breadth of experience across capital markets, corporate banking, and institutional asset management. At Laconia, Garry will help build deep institutional relationships that support both Laconia and our portfolio companies.
With a background in business development and strategic communications in international development and tech, Padma will be developing Laconia’s communication and engagement infrastructure to meet our portfolio companies’ needs.
These team changes will provide us with additional bandwidth to help founders navigate the ups and downs of their entrepreneurial journeys, enabling us to increase our own “partner availability” and launch new events, content series, and community initiatives - more to come soon.
Though it’s a new year, our investment focus remains the same: pre-Series A b2b software companies headquartered in Northeast major markets. Within b2b, we are sector-agnostic, with a particular focus on companies that make existing markets or workflows more efficient. If you are a founder, investor, or industry executive working on the digitization of legacy industries, please don’t hesitate to reach out!