18th Annual
Private Equity & Venture Capital Symposium Yale School of Management | New Haven April 6, 2018
presented by the PEVC Club | yale-pevc.com
Yale SOM PE/VC
18th Annual
Private Equity & Venture Capital Symposium Yale School of Management | New Haven April 6, 2018
sponsored by
presented by the PEVC Club | yale-pevc.com
Table of Contents
2 Welcome
3
Symposium Schedule
4
Introductory Remarks
5
Opening Keynote
6
Value Creation in Private Equity
12
Search Funds
16
Geopolitical Keynote Panel
20
Successfully Raising Capital from VCs
22
State of Venture Capital Investing
26
Leveraged Buyouts
28
Venture Investing in Emerging Platforms
32
ESG Factors in Private Equity Portfolio Management
34
State of Growth Equity Investing
36
Closing Keynote
37
Final Remarks
38
Conference Team Members
Yale SOM – 18th Annual Private Equity & Venture Capital Symposium
1
Welcome Thank you for joining us at the Yale School of Management’s 18th Annual Private Equity and Venture Capital Symposium. We are delighted to carry on the tradition of bringing in top industry leaders, professionals, graduate students, and undergraduates to discuss and learn about the alternative investment space through focused panel discussions and keynote speeches. This year’s conference includes topics and panels of ESG Factors in PE Portfolio Management, Successfully Raising Capital from VCs, and Venture Investing in Emerging Platforms, which are new in 2018. We will continue the tradition of including recurring favorite panel topics of Value Creation in Private Equity and Search Funds. Our lineup of panels includes: Value Creation in Private Equity
Search Funds Successfully Raising Capital from VCs State of Venture Capital Investing
Leveraged Buyouts Venture Investing in Emerging Platforms ESG Factors in PE Portfolio Management State of Growth Equity Investing
The agenda contains many topics we find most relevant to the alternatives investment landscape today and we expect the inclusion of speakers from a variety of backgrounds to bring forward diverse perspectives from across the industry. Our goal is to provide a high-touch forum for discussion and education around private equity, venture capital, and investing generally while providing a networking opportunity for all participants. We would like to express our sincere gratitude for the participation of each of our speakers, the support of the Yale School of Management’s faculty and administration, the support of our sponsors, the support of active SOM alumni interested in furthering student interest in private equity and venture capital, and the Yale International Center for Finance. This conference is the result of months of planning and dedication from a variety of SOM and non-SOM individuals, and we appreciate everyone’s contribution of their personal time to organize and participate in such a wonderful event. On behalf of the Yale School of Management’s student-run Private Equity and Venture Capital club we welcome you to this year’s exciting event! Regards, 2018 PE/VC Conference Team Case Carpenter ’18 – PEVC Club Co-Chair Carmina Mancenon ’18 – PEVC Club Co-Chair Edoardo Pasinato ’18 – Second Year Leader Sergio Munoz ’18 – Second Year Leader Grant Silow ’17 – First Year Leader Martha Xiang ’17 – First Year Leader
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Kwasi Kyei ’18 – PEVC Club Co-Chair Andres Penaranda ’18 – PEVC Club Co-Chair Pauline Chan ’18 – Second Year Leader Tejas Kataria ’18 – Second Year Leader Mario Ruiz ’17 – First Year Leader Ryan George ’17 – First Year Leader
Yale SOM – 18th Annual Private Equity & Venture Capital Symposium
Symposium Schedule 8:30–9:20 AM
Registration | Next to The Forum
9:30–9:45
Introductory Remarks, Anjani Jain | Zhang Auditorium*
9:45–10:30
10:40–11:30
Value Creation in Private Equity | Zhang Auditorium*
10:40–11:30
Search Funds | Room 2400
Opening Keynote, Ravi Viswanathan | Zhang Auditorium*
11:40–12:30 PM
Geopolitical Keynote Panel | Zhang Auditorium*
11:40–12:30 PM
Successfully Raising Capital from VCs | Room 2400
12:30–1:20
Lunch | Courtyard
1:30–2:20
State of Venture Capital Investing | Room 2400
1:30–2:20
Leveraged Buyouts | Zhang Auditorium*
2:30–3:20
Venture Investing in Emerging Platforms | Zhang Auditorium*
3:30–4:20
ESG Factors in Private Equity Portfolio Management | Room 2400
3:30–4:20
State of Growth Equity Investing | Zhang Auditorium*
4:30–5:15
Closing Keynote, James B. lockhart III | Zhang Auditorium*
5:20–5:30
Final Remarks, William N. Goetzman | Zhang Auditorium*
* No food or beverages (coffee, water, snacks, etc.) are allowed in Zhang Auditorium.
Yale SOM – 18th Annual Private Equity & Venture Capital Symposium
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Opening Remarks
Anjani Jain Acting Dean & Professor in the Practice of Management Yale School of Management Dean Jain’s research interests include the analysis and design of manufacturing systems, optimization algorithms, and probabilistic analysis of combinatorial problems. He has published in the professional literature on telecommunications network design and his more recent work has investigated the impact of growing product variety on the manufacture and design of families of products, especially in the automobile industry. He holds a bachelor’s degree in physics and mathematics from Indore University in India, an MBA from the Indian Institute of Management, Ahmedabad, and a PhD in operations research from the University of California, Los Angeles. He joined the faculty of the Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania in 1986 and served for 26 years before joining Yale SOM.
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Yale SOM – 18th Annual Private Equity & Venture Capital Symposium
Opening Keynote
Ravi Viswanathan General Partner New Enterprise Associates
Ravi joined NEA in 2004, where he is a General Partner on the technology team; he focuses on investments in the software, internet, and fintech sectors. Ravi works closely with several private companies including: BloomReach, Forter, Gladly, Plaid, Reltio and others. Ravi’s prior investments include: Braintree (acquired by PayPal), Cyence (acquired by Guidewire), MuleSoft (acquired by Salesforce), and Tele Atlas (acquired by TomTom Prior to NEA, Ravi was co-head of the private equity technology practice at Goldman, Sachs, & Co., and has worked for McKinsey & Co., and Raychem Corp., where he focused on research and product development in various materials systems. Ravi received an MBA from Wharton, a PhD in Chemical Engineering from UCSB, and a BS in Bioengineering from the University of Pennsylvania. He remains actively involve with Wharton, and serves on the Wharton Entrepreneurship Advisory Board.
MODERATOR
Moderator Jeff Hoffmeister Head of East Coast Technology Investment Banking Morgan Stanley Jeff Hoffmeister is a Managing Director in Morgan Stanley’s New York office where he leads Morgan Stanley’s East Coast Technology Banking team. Previously, Jeff served as head of Morgan Stanley’s European Tech Banking franchise. He joined the firm in February 2000. Prior to joining Morgan Stanley, Jeff worked at Raymond James Financial, Anheuser-Busch Inc.’s M&A department, and in the auditing and consulting divisions of PricewaterhouseCoopers LLP. Jeff received his undergraduate degree from Georgetown University. Yale SOM – 18th Annual Private Equity & Venture Capital Symposium
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Value Creation in Private Equity In the current private equity landscape, mere financial engineering is rarely enough to consistently realize attractive returns. Private equity firms are increasingly implementing new strategies to generate fundamental value in portfolio companies, building out operations teams and taking a more active role in day to day portfolio company activities. With increased sourcing and fundraising competition among private equity firms, providing robust operations and value creation strategies serves as an attractive differentiating factor. This panel will explore through the perspectives of investment and in-house operations teams the various strategies used to create portfolio company value and how the landscape may look moving forward. How do private equity firms’ identify and implement operational and other value-creating initiatives throughout investment lifecycles? In what situations is value more easily created through financial engineering vs. operational improvements? How has the use of technology and big data changed the way private equity firms identify metrics for improvement and how is this data then used during implementation?
MODERATOR
Hal Polley Managing Director and Head of the Strategic Finance Practice Accordion Partners Hal Polley is a Managing Director and head of the Strategic Finance practice at Accordion, the go-to partner to the private equity community. Accordion drives value creation through a range of financial consulting services and portfolio operations technology. With over 25 years’ experience in finance, as both a private equity investor and an operating executive, Hal has been involved at the GP and management levels in transactions at companies from growth stage to mature businesses. Representative Accordion engagements include leading budgeting efforts at a new entity in pharmaceuticals formed by combining a corporate carveout and a publicly traded entity taken private; building an activity-based view into SKU and customer-level profitability at a well-known branded consumer products manufacturer; and executing
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Yale SOM – 18th Annual Private Equity & Venture Capital Symposium
merger integration plans after a merger of equals in the cloud computing industry. Hal has led engagements for portfolio companies of Permira, Hellman & Friedman, JLL, New Mountain Capital and others. Before joining Accordion, Hal split his career between private equity investing in operating roles. In the decade before joining Accordion, Hal worked at privatelybacked companies in roles including head of Corporate Development, General Manager, and most recently, Head of Finance at MDx Medical, Inc. Hal began his career at Donaldson, Lufkin & Jenrette as a Generalist where he did LBO work with the merchant banking group in addition to M&A, IPOs and bond offerings. He then went on to become an Associate at the Carlyle Group and, after business school, a Principal at Bessemer Partners. Often representing Accordion at private equity CFO/CXO conferences, Hal presents on topics ranging from FP&A Best Practices to Measuring Value Creation to Zero-Base Budgeting. Hal graduated Magna Cum Laude from Georgetown University and holds an MBA from Stanford University.
Dave Averett Managing Director Summit Partners Dave Averett is a Managing Director at Summit Partners, a Boston-based growth equity fund with $20bn+ under management. Dave joined Summit in 2010, and is the head of Summit’s Peak Performance Group (PPG). In this capacity, Dave works with management teams to identify and execute growth strategies that build long-term value. He oversees day-to-day management of PPG engagements across all geographies and currently serves as a director of MedOptions. Prior to Summit, Dave held operational and strategic leadership roles at a variety of companies, including Immco Diagnostics (acquired by Trinity Biotech in 2013) and George Group (acquired by Accenture in 2007).
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Value Creation in Private Equity Dave has partnered with numerous portfolio companies on growth acceleration initiatives. Representative engagements include: sales force expansion and optimization for online payment services company; Manufacturing and supply chain improvement for a radio frequency semiconductors and components company; Supply chain optimization for a broadband wireless network provider; New product evaluation and introduction to drive same-store sales growth for a network of hospitals He holds a BS in mathematical sciences from the U.S. Military Academy at West Point and an MBA from Goizueta Business School, Emory University.
Seth Brody Partner, Head of the Operational Excellence Practice Apax Partners Seth Brody is a partner and Global Head of the Operational Excellence Practice at Apax Partners. He has been with Apax since 2008 based in the New York office. Prior to joining Apax, he held several executive operating positions in digitally focused enterprises including roles as Executive Vice President and General Manager at Razorgator Interactive Group, Group Vice President and General Manager at Orbitz Worldwide, Director of Marketing at priceline.com, and Product Manager at Netmarket Group, Inc. During his time at Apax, Mr. Brody has served in interim management positions across the Apax portfolio including roles as the Chief Executive Officer of FULLBEAUTY Brands, Chief Marketing Officer at Trader Canada Corporation, and Chief Information Officer at Netrada Management GmbH. Mr. Brody currently serves on the Boards of Directors for FULLBEAUTY Brands and Aptos, Inc, and was previously a director at Bankrate, Inc. (NYSE:RATE). He also has served as an investor, director and advisor to numerous growth companies in the digital space. He received his B.A. from Yale University and his M.B.A. from Harvard Business School.
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Yale SOM – 18th Annual Private Equity & Venture Capital Symposium
Kelley Morrell Managing Director The Blackstone Group, Tactical Opportunities Kelley Morrell is a Managing Director and Head of Asset Management in the Tactical Opportunities group. In that role, she is involved in the ongoing management and oversight of the group’s investment portfolio, and creating and driving value-added initiatives alongside the investment team. Before joining Blackstone, Ms. Morrell served as Executive Vice President and Chief Strategy Officer at CIT. At CIT, Kelley helped shape the company’s strategic direction following its emergence from bankruptcy, and led numerous strategic transactions that contributed to CIT’s transformation to a bank. Prior to that, Kelley served as senior director of the U.S. Treasury’s Automotive Industry Financing Program during the Obama Administration, where she had primary responsibility of overseeing the taxpayers’ investments in Chrysler Financial and Chrysler Group. Kelley graduated magna cum laude from Harvard College and received her MBA with distinction from Harvard Business School.
Yale SOM – 18th Annual Private Equity & Venture Capital Symposium
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Value Creation in Private Equity
Deran Taskirian Director KKR Capstone Deran Taskiran (New York) joined KKR Capstone in 2017. She is currently a Director focusing on value creation efforts for KKR’s portfolio companies in the retail and consumer segments. Before joining KKR Capstone, Ms. Taskiran served as the CEO of Boyner Buyuk Magazacilik, a large department store chain business in Turkey, where she led a transformation effort. Prior to that she was a Partner and managing director at Boston Consulting Group focusing on branding, portfolio, growth and turnaround strategies within the retail and consumer segments. She holds a B.A. from Middle East Technical University and a PhD in Economics from Yale University.
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Yale SOM – 18th Annual Private Equity & Venture Capital Symposium
Yale SOM – 18th Annual Private Equity & Venture Capital Symposium
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Search Funds A Search Fund is an investment vehicle through which a pool of investors support an entrepreneur’s efforts to locate, acquire, and operate a privately-held business. The first search funds were launched in 1984 and are now structured to mitigate many of the risks associated with purchasing a small to medium sized business. The Search Funds panel will feature some of the most seasoned investors in the industry, as well as a CEO, and a searcher, who will be sharing experiences from their individual perspective.
MODERATOR
A.J. Wasserstein Eugene F. Williams, Jr. Lecturer in the Practice of Management Yale SOM A. J. Wasserstein is a private investor, with a long-term orientation, interested in lower middle market businesses and philanthropic organizations, where he can be positively impactful by using his experiences, time and capital. Mr. Wasserstein was the President of Onesource Water, the third largest bottleless water service business in the U.S. Onesource Water was sold to Water Logic, a UK based strategic acquirer, in 2016. Previously, A.J. was the founder and CEO of ArchivesOne, the third largest records management company in the U.S. He successfully built ArchivesOne into a superregional records management company employing 400 people before selling to Iron Mountain (NYSE: IRM) after 17 years of operation. The U.S. Small Business Administration has recognized A. J. as the Small Business Person of the Year in Connecticut. A. J. was featured in the book, Leadership Secrets of the World’s Most Successful CEOs. A. J. wrote a book on young adulthood that was a gift to his three children. The book’s title is What Matters Most: A Young Adult’s Roadmap to Life. A.J. received a B.A. from Colgate University and an MBA from New York University.
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Yale SOM – 18th Annual Private Equity & Venture Capital Symposium
Alex De Pfyffer Managing Partner Heritage Holding Alex is managing partner at Heritage Holding, a private equity firm that has made 4 acquisitions to date focused on telecom services and data infrastructure. After graduating from HBS in 2015, Alex launched a self-funded partnered search with Ross Porter. After 18 months, they acquired Maicom LLC a company that specializes in installation and maintenance of network infrastructure for telecom companies. Maicom has grown organically and through acquisition to 175 employees doing work across 35 states supported by 9 office locations. Prior to Heritage Holding, Alex covered industrials as an analyst for Barclays’ investment bank and then moved on to become an account manager covering global institutional clients. Alex also has experience working at hedge funds and investment management firms in New York, Hong Kong and Switzerland. Alex holds an MBA with honors from Harvard Business School and a BS in international affairs from Georgetown University’s School of Foreign Service.
Jason Pananos Co-Founder & Partner The Nashton Company Jason Pananos is a co-founder of The Nashton Company. The Nashton Company is a holding company investing in recurring revenue services businesses. Nashton builds leading companies in niche markets over a very long period of time. Prior to
Yale SOM – 18th Annual Private Equity & Venture Capital Symposium
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Search Funds cofounding the firm, Jason served as the President of Vector Disease Acquisition, a holding company that provides vector-borne disease prevention programs and lake management services. Under Jason’s leadership, the company made 14 acquisitions and grew at a CAGR of 43%. Vector Disease Acquisition was acquired by Rentokil Initial (FTSE: RTO) in November of 2017. Jason obtained a Master in Business Administration degree from Harvard Business School and a BBA in finance from the University of Massachusetts Amherst. Jason and his wife Danielle have four children and live in Longmeadow, MA.
William P. Egan Alta Communications and Marion Equity Partners Founder and General Partner Bill is founder and General Partner of Alta Communications and Marion Equity Partners, Massachusetts-based venture capital firms. He founded Alta’s predecessor firm, Burr, Egan, Deleage & Co. in 1979, and has identified and backed several of America’s leading growth companies in the information technology, life sciences, and communications industries including Fedex, Continental Cablevision, Cephalon and Asurion. Prior to founding Burr, Egan, Deleage & Co., Bill was a Partner at TA Associates. He began his career as a Manager of Venture Capital for New England Enterprise Capital Corpora tion. Bill is an owner of the Boston Celtics professional basketball team and the Pawtucket Red Sox, the Triple A affiliate of the Boston Red Sox. He is past President and Chairman of the National Venture Capital Association, a former trustee of Fairfield University and the University of Pennsylvania and a former member of the Board of Overseers of The Wharton School. Bill received a degree in Economics from Fairfield University and an MBA from The Wharton School.
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Yale SOM – 18th Annual Private Equity & Venture Capital Symposium
Judd Lorson Founder Klaxon LLC Judd Lorson was educated as a mechanical engineer at Drexel University in Philadelphia. After finishing his degree he spent 9 years in the Navy as a submarine officer and completed multiple deployments around the world. Judd recently graduated with an MBA from the Yale School of Management in 2017. He is now at the Search Fund Accelerator in Boston pursuing the goal of purchasing an existing privately-owned business to operate for the long-term.
Martin S. Steber Managing Director & Co-Founder Relay Investments Mr. Steber is the co-founding Managing Director of Relay Investments and based in the Boston office. During his early tenure, Mr. Steber was CEO of two prefund investments in Birmingham, Alabama, Automatic Detection Systems Inc., an electronic security company, and AccuDocs LLC, a billing services company. Both of these entities were eventually sold to larger industry leaders. Martin currently serves on the boards of the following Search Fund Operating Companies: Alert Protective, Chronus, Kivuto, MST, NCFDD, Subatomic, and UCIT. Mr. Steber completed his BSc in Computer Engineering from Imperial College at the University of London and his MBA degree at the Graduate School of Business at Stanford University.
Yale SOM – 18th Annual Private Equity & Venture Capital Symposium
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Geopolitical Keynote Panel At a moment of geopolitical transitions in developed and developing economies alike toward increasingly protectionist policies what will the future bring for investment flows globally? This panel will discuss both the opportunities and threats that volatility in the macroeconomic environment will bring in the private equity and venture capital realms.
MODERATOR
Tom Easton American Finance Editor The Economist Tom Easton is the American finance editor. Tom joined The Economist in 2000, and was New York bureau chief before being appointed the Asian business editor in 2007. Previously he was the New York and Tokyo Bureau Chief for The BaltimoreSun, and a senior editor of Forbes. He has done regular television and radio spots with most of the world’s major networks. Tom writes on finance, law and capitalism.
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Yale SOM – 18th Annual Private Equity & Venture Capital Symposium
Peter Cornelius Managing Director The Carlyle Group Peter Cornelius is a Managing Director responsible for analyzing the economic and financial environment for private equity markets and examining the implications for AlpInvest Partners’ strategic asset allocation. Mr. Cornelius joined the firm in 2005 from Royal Dutch Shell, where he was Group Chief Economist. Previously, he was chief economist and Director of the World Economic Forum’s Global Competitiveness Program. Prior to that, he was head of international economic research at Deutsche Bank and a senior economist with the International Monetary Fund. He also served on the staff of the German Council of Economic Advisors. Mr. Cornelius was a visiting professor at the Vlerick Business School, an adjunct professor at Brandeis International Business School and a Visiting Scholar at Harvard University. He serves on the Board of Directors of the BTI Institute and is a research fellow of the Emerging Markets Institute at Cornell University. He also serves on the advisory boards of the Private Capital Research Institute at Harvard Business School and the Institute of Private Capital at the Kenan–Flagler Business School of the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill as well as on EMPEA’s Latin American Council. Mr. Cornelius studied at the London School of Economics and Political Science and received his doctorate in economics from the University of Göttingen. He is the author of International Investments in Private Equity (Elsevier, 2011) and a co-author of Mastering Illiquidity (Wiley, 2013).
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Geopolitical Keynote Panel
Roger Leeds Founding Chairman Emerging Markets Private Equity Association (previously) Current Professor at the Johns Hopkins SAIS Roger Leeds is a Professor at the Johns Hopkins School of Advanced International Studies (SAIS). He was founding Chairman of the Emerging Markets Private Equity Association and serves on the board of directors. Previously, he was an international finance practitioner for 25 years, including positions with a Wall Street investment bank, the International Finance Corporation, and a private equity firm. He has served on numerous boards, been published widely in his field, and is a member of the Council of Foreign Relations. He received his undergraduate degree from Columbia University, his PhD from SAIS.
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Yale SOM – 18th Annual Private Equity & Venture Capital Symposium
Yale SOM – 18th Annual Private Equity & Venture Capital Symposium
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Successfully Raising Capital from VCs
Cliff Sirlin Managing Director Launch Capital Cliff Sirlin is a Managing Director at Launch Capital, a venture capital firm that specializes in early stage and seed investments. Career entrepreneur, Cliff has created marketplaces and disrupted supply chains across industries. His businesses have spanned energy (mdenergy, sold to EnerNOC), drycleaning (Cleaner Options, sold to Zoots), real estate, and publishing (Domino Media Group). Most recently, he served as the CEO of Domino. An active investor, Cliff’s investments include Seamless, InVision, Pond5, Living Social, Atlas Obscura, greatist, Transactis, Big Fuel, and many others. Cliff received his law degree from The New York University School of Law and an undergraduate degree from Colgate University.
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Yale SOM – 18th Annual Private Equity & Venture Capital Symposium
Gus Warren Managing Director Samsung Next Ventures Gus Warren is a Managing Director at Samsung NEXT Ventures. Based in New York, Gus focuses on early stage investments in software, services, and media. Prior to Samsung, Gus was a Venture Partner at FirstMark Capital and Co-Founder and COO of Disconnect, a leading consumer privacy software company. Prior to FirstMark and Disconnect, Gus spent 4 years as a VP, SVP, and GM at Spot Runner, a digital video advertising platform whose investors included Battery Ventures, Index Ventures, WPP, and CBS. Prior to Spot Runner, Gus was a venture capitalist at Granite Ventures and Time Warner Ventures, where his portfolio included InfoGear (acquired by Cisco), Speakeasy (acquired by BestBuy), Digital Fountain (acquired by Qualcomm), Arroyo Video Solutions (acquired by Cisco), BigBand Networks (acquired by Arris Corporation), and SkyStream Networks (acquired by Ericsson Television). Earlier in his career, Gus was VP of Marketing and Business Development at NetMarket (acquired by Cendant) and Product Manager at Internet Profiles (acquired by Engage Technologies). Gus graduated with a BA in Government from Cornell University and serves on the advisory board of Red Bear Angels, a network of alumni that invest in Cornell-affiliated start-ups.
Yale SOM – 18th Annual Private Equity & Venture Capital Symposium
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State of Venture Capital Investing As new developments appear in different industries and regions, the venture capital industry usually reacts to take advantage of those rising investments opportunities. The State of Venture Capital panel will explore recent issues affecting the VC industry. 2018 topics will include: (1) Impact of SoftBank and large venture funds on industry valuations and exits, (2) Initial coin offering and its implications for the industry, (3) Investing in minority and female founders, as well as creating diverse workplaces in venture portfolio companies, (4) The role and growth of corporate VCs in the VC universe, (5) Increasing blurred line between venture and growth investing, (6) Effective venture fund strategies: sector vs. non-sector focused growth, AI/data-driven approaches, (7) VC portfolio management, and (8) Quantitative and qualitative approach to unicorn valuations. These topics will be tackled during this panel, with the purpose of letting the audience understand where the venture capital industry currently stands, and where it might head during the next few years.
MODERATOR
Grant Son CEO Greater Good Ventures Grant Son is a successful entrepreneur, senior lecturer and an investor, board member and advisor to early stage ventures. As CEO, Grant grew a previous startup into a top 10 sports website acquired by ESPN. Grant’s teaching experience includes graduate-level courses in Entrepreneurship and Sports Marketing at Columbia and Yale. Grant is CEO of Greater Good Ventures, a firm he founded serving nonprofits, charities, academic institutions, and expanded to include startups, growth ventures and established corporations. A longstanding, current client includes Cornell University where he works with startups out of Cornell and Cornell Tech. Grant’s education includes a BA from the University of Pennsylvania and an MBA from Columbia Business School. He has served as Entrepreneur in Residence and mentor
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Yale SOM – 18th Annual Private Equity & Venture Capital Symposium
g for The Wharton School at the University of Pennsylvania, Wharton Social Impact, Columbia Business School, Cornell, Johns Hopkins and Princeton University.
Anthony Xu Partner New Ground Ventures Anthony Xu is a Partner at New Ground Ventures. Prior to joining New Ground, Anthony was a managing director at Reservoir Capital where he made private equity investments in the insurance & financial services, healthcare, energy & power, and clean tech industries. Before Reservoir, he was an investor at Bain Capital Credit focused on technology and media. Anthony graduated from Yale University where he majored in Biology and Economics.
Lisa Cuesta Principal NextGen Venture Partners Lisa is a Principal at NextGen Venture Partners, an early-stage venture capital firm bringing a service mentality to venture. NextGen is made up of a core group of seasoned VCs and a network of hundreds of part-time Venture Partners that drive the growth of its portfolio companies. Lisa previously worked in strategy and product roles at Google and the ecommerce team at Pepsico. She graduated with honors from the University of Pennsylvania and holds an MBA from Harvard Business School.
Yale SOM – 18th Annual Private Equity & Venture Capital Symposium
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State of Venture Capital Investing
Aaron Miller Managing Director & Co-Head of Venture Capital Commonfund Capital Aaron Miller is Co-Head of Venture Capital and is responsible for the firm’s direct and secondary investments in addition to manager selection and portfolio construction in the global venture capital, emerging markets and private equity programs. Aaron brings over 15 years of private equity, M&A, capital markets and management consulting experience. Prior to joining Commonfund Capital, Aaron was a Vice President at Lazard in the mergers and acquisitions department in New York. During his tenure at Lazard, he counseled companies and institutions in the technology, media and telecom industries (TMT) advising on strategic, financial, takeover defense and capital structure matters. As an investment banker, he completed investments and executed transactions in North America, Asia, Europe and Latin America. Aaron also worked in the corporate finance department at Barclays and Lehman Brothers. Prior to investment banking, Aaron began his career as a management consultant, where he advised a broad range of clients on strategy, sales force effectiveness and organizational design matters. He is presently a member of the advisory boards of several private capital limited partnerships. Aaron earned a B.A. from University of Michigan and an M.B.A. from Yale University.
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Andrew Schoen Principal New Enterprise Associates Andrew Schoen is a Principal at New Enterprise Associates. Andrew joined NEA in 2014 and is a Principal focused on enterprise and consumer technology investments and has worked across NEA’s US and China investment practices. Andrew sits on the boards of CCP Games, Qadium, and IonQ. He is actively involved in NEA’s investments in Code42, Curalate, Duolingo, Pentaho (acquired), Pocket (acquired), RocketChat, Tamr, ThreatQuotient, and ZeroFOX. Prior to NEA, Andrew was an Analyst at Blackstone in New York. In addition, Andrew co-founded digital media company Flicstart (acquired). Andrew completed his Master’s degree as a Schwarzman Scholar at Tsinghua University in Beijing. He completed his Bachelor’s degree at Cornell University, where he graduated with Phi Beta Kappa honors in both Economics in the College of Arts and Sciences and Science of Earth Systems in the College of Engineering. Andrew serves on the Advisory Council for Entrepreneurship at Cornell and is President Emeritus of the Cornell Venture Capital Club. He also serves on the board of the Diyalo Foundation focusing on sustainable development and education in rural Nepal, and on the board of the National Udall Scholarship Association focusing on issues related to environmental sustainability.
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Leveraged Buyouts The Leveraged Buyout panel will explore the relationship between limited partners (LPs) and general partners (GPs), as well as various market issues that affect their business models. Our panel, which consists of an LP and a GP will discuss market valuations and return expectations, exit options, the emerging role of family offices and sovereigns as competitors versus investors, the emerging trend of GP’s selling interests to third parties, the increasing use of substantial EBITDA add-backs in LBO transactions and their attendant impact on EBITDA valuation metrics, and the use of fund level leverage. The panel will also discuss the current state of fund structures and explore traditional and emerging fee structures, fundraising strategies, hurdle rates, etc. The panel will also touch on the impact of the U.S. tax reform on their businesses.
MODERATOR
Robert Davis Founder and Managing Partner Nebrodi Partners Bob is a founder and Managing Partner of Nebrodi Partners, a Connecticut-based private equity firm. At Nebrodi, Bob is responsible for evaluating, executing, and monitoring private equity investments in both companies and limited partnerships. Over the years he has served on the boards of numerous portfolio companies and on the advisory boards of many private equity funds. Bob also serves as a board member for Flyte Scholastics, an organization that serves the New Haven community by providing free, volunteer-based tutoring to local middle and high school students. Early in his career he worked in the fixed income division of Lehman Brothers and for Merrill Lynch. Bob holds a BA from Amherst College and an MBA from The Yale School of Management where he is a member of the Board of Advisors for the International Center for Finance.
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Yale SOM – 18th Annual Private Equity & Venture Capital Symposium
Monica Spencer Senior Portfolio Manager Andrew W. Mellon Foundation Monica Spencer is a Senior Portfolio Manager at the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation, a private foundation with assets of over $6 billion. In her role, Monica works with the chief investment officer to manage the Foundation’s investment portfolio, with a focus on private equity assets, including buyouts, growth equity, and venture capital. She also shares responsibility for the diversified strategies portfolio. Prior the Mellon Foundation, she was an investment banker at Merrill Lynch & Co. in New York. Monica holds a BA in English language and literature from Yale College and an MBA from the Darden Graduate School of Business Administration at the University of Virginia, where she was a Shermet scholar.
Bernard Buonanno III Managing Director Nautic Partners Bernard Buonanno III is a Managing Director at Nautic Partners, a middle-market private equity firm with AUM of over $2.5 billion, where he focuses on industrial products and outsourced services industries. Prior to joining Nautic Partners, Bernie worked for Fleet Equity Partners. Before that, he was with Prudential-Bache Capital Funding and Prudential Equity Group. He serves on the Board of Directors of Applied Consultants, CWS Holding Company, NLS Holdings, IPS Group, and PEP Industries. Bernie also serves as a Director of Commerce Corporation of Rhode Island. He serves as a Director of RevJet, Inc. and Clarkston Consulting, Inc. Bernie is also President of the Brown University Athletic Hall of Fame. Bernie holds an AB from Brown University and an MBA from Harvard Business School. Yale SOM – 18th Annual Private Equity & Venture Capital Symposium
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Venture Investing in Emerging Platforms and Technologies As many traditional industries mature, venture capitalists are exploring new emerging platforms that will carry us into the next era. AI, machine learning, robotics, blockchain, driverless vehicles and flying cars, VR/AR, 3D printing, drones, and other emerging technologies have the potential to disrupt all parts of today’s society: health care, education, finance and insurance, transportation, manufacturing, etc. Our panelists will discuss how they think about and evaluate the next generation of disruptive startups.
MODERATOR
Claudia Reuter Managing Director Stanley+Techstars Additive Manufacturing Accelerator Claudia Reuter is the Managing Director for the Stanley+Techstars Additive Manufacturing Accelerator. Recognized by the Boston Business Journal as a 2016 Women to Watch in Science and Technology, and as a Changemaker by HUBWeek, she is an experienced entrepreneur and executive. Prior to joining Techstars, she served as the SVP of Digital Services & Labs for Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, and was the cofounder and CEO of SchoolChapters, Inc. She also currently serves on the Board of Directors at Lessonly, and as a member of the Advisory Board at Greenfig.
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Yale SOM – 18th Annual Private Equity & Venture Capital Symposium
Hyuk-Jeen Suh Head of Samsung Ventures East Coast Office Hyuk-Jeen Suh is the Head of the Samsung Ventures East Coast office bringing over 20 years of industry experience in consumer electronics, biotech, and semiconductor. A selection of his investments include Callidus (acquired by Amicus Therapeutics), Carbon Design Systems (acquired by ARM), Cloudant (acquired by IBM), Jibo, Maluuba (acquired by Microsoft), Magisto, Nanophotonica, Noom, Princeton Identity, Rounds (acquired by Kik), and WellDoc. Before joining Samsung Ventures, Hyuk-Jeen worked at J.P. Morgan investment banking in the Technology, Media, and Telecom group. Prior to J.P. Morgan, he was the global senior business development and marketing manager at MEMSIC, a semiconductor startup, which had a successful IPO in 2007. Prior to joining MEMSIC, Hyuk-Jeen was a senior research engineer at Sequenom, a biotech startup. He conducted research on DNA biochips and led joint venture projects to design high-throughput bio instruments. He began his career at Intel Corporation as a process engineer. He advises startup companies and is a mentor at various startup accelerators. He is a guest speaker at universities including Harvard University, Yale University, and MIT. Hyuk-Jeen earned his Ph.D. in electrical engineering, focusing on Microelectromechanical Systems (MEMS) from University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. He earned his MBA from Yale School of Management. He holds a B.S. in mechanical engineering, B.A in economics and M.E in electrical engineering, all from Cornell University.
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Venture Investing in Emerging Platforms and Technologies
Adam Rothenberg Partner BoxGroup Adam Rothenberg is a Partner at BoxGroup, an early stage venture fund in NYC that invests in talented entrepreneurs building disruptive technology companies.. Prior to his work at BoxGroup, Adam was the Director of TechStars NY and before that, he was at an equity hedge fund in New York where he invested in the public markets. Adam received his B.S. in Finance from The Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania.
Doug Clinton Co-Founder and Managing Partner Loup Ventures Doug Clinton is a Co-Founder and Managing Partner of Loup Ventures, an earlystage venture fund that invests in artificial intelligence, robotics, virtual reality, and augmented reality. Prior to Loup Ventures, Doug was a research analyst at Piper Jaffray as part of a topranked team that covered the internet space including Apple, Google, Amazon, and Facebook. Prior to joining Piper Jaffray in 2008, Doug was an early employee in sales and operations at Enpocket, which was later acquired by Nokia. Doug’s experience at Enpocket led to his interest in startups. Doug holds a bachelor’s degree in business administration from Boston University.
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Alon Bonder Vice President Venrock Alon Bonder is a Vice President at Venrock, where he focuses on early stage investments in artificial intelligence, mobility and consumer products. Prior to joining Venrock, Alon worked on investment research and strategy at First Round Capital, while simultaneously attending the MBA program at the Wharton School of Business. Before starting at Wharton, Alon co-founded Finch15, a strategy consulting firm which provided digital product innovation and investment strategy for established brands such as BMW, General Mills, Showtime, AOL, and Visa. As of 2013, Finch15 became a fully-owned subsidiary of Publicis Groupe, where Alon concurrently held the role of Vice President of Product Innovation. Prior to Finch15, Alon spent several years as an Analyst and Associate at a boutique investment bank in New York, specializing in valuation and financial advisory services for notable emerging growth companies and venture funds. Alon also earned his B.S. in Finance and Economic Policy, summa cum laude in 2009 and proudly grew up in the non-hipster parts of Brooklyn.
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ESG Factors in Private Equity Portfolio Management MODERATOR
Adam Blumenthal Founder and Managing Partner Blue Wolf Capital Partners LLC Adam Blumenthal is Founder and Managing Partner of Blue Wolf Capital Partners LLC. The Blue Wolf Capital Funds are a family of private equity funds which focus on transformational investments in middle market companies. Blue Wolf invests primarily in health care, forest and building products, energy services companies, often focusing on building value through management of government relations, labor relations, and organizational changes, as well as core operational disciplines. He has served on the board of directors of numerous middle market companies over the course of three decades, many of which he helped create through strategies similar to those employed by Blue Wolf. He currently serves on the board of directors of several Blue Wolf portfolio companies: Finch Paper Company LLC, Twin Rivers Paper Company, Great Lakes Caring Home Health and Hospice, and StateServ Holdings, LLC. From 2011 through 2017, Mr. Blumenthal was a Trustee of, and Chair of the Investment Committee of the UAW Retiree Medical Benefits Trust, a $60 billion fund that pays retiree health benefits for over 700,000 UAW employees of Ford, Chrysler and General Motors. The trust, a pioneer in the implementation of population health management and other techniques to improve the health of its current beneficiaries, is the largest private sector purchaser of retiree medical benefits in the United States, with annual healthcare expenditures of nearly $4 billion. From 1989 to 2002, Mr. Blumenthal built and managed American Capital Ltd., a publicly-traded buyout and mezzanine fund (NASDAQ: ACAS). When Mr. Blumenthal joined ACAS in 1989, it had one other employee and had not yet raised institutional capital. In the subsequent years, he played a central role in building it into a publiclytraded buyout and mezzanine fund with a portfolio of over $1 billion invested in sixtythree middle market companies by the time he left in 2002.
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From ACAS’s 1997 initial public offering until 2002, when he left ACAS to become First Deputy Comptroller of the City of New York, Mr. Blumenthal served continuously on ACAS’s board of directors, was a founding member of its investment committee, and held positions including Chief Financial Officer, Chief Operating Officer, President and Vice Chairman. Over this time, ACAS produced a 22% IRR to investors in its initial public offering. Mr. Blumenthal served as First Deputy Comptroller and Chief Financial Officer for New York City Comptroller William C. Thompson, Jr. from 2002 – 2005. In this capacity, he oversaw the capital markets activities of the Comptroller’s office, including overseeing the City’s debt issuance, managed the assets of the New York City Retirement Systems, and issued budget, financial, and economic analyses. During Mr. Blumenthal’s tenure, the City’s pension assets increased from $65 billion to $85 billion, primarily as a result of strong investment gains. He also led a restructuring of the pension funds’ operations and investment strategies, including the establishment of multi-billion dollar allocations to private equity, real estate, and inflation-linked securities; the creation of a risk management unit; and securing, for the first time, funding from the pension funds to hire professional investment staff. Mr. Blumenthal received a B.A., magna cum laude, from Harvard College, and a M.B.A. from the Yale School of Management. From 2004 to 2007, he served on the Yale SOM’s Board of Advisors, and is currently a member of the Advisory Board for Yale’s International Center for Finance. In 2009, he was named a Donaldson Fellow at the Yale SOM. He has been a trustee of, and Chairman of the Investment Committee of, the Nathan Cummings Foundation and the Community Service Society of New York.
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State of Growth Equity Investing The growth equity investment strategy was pioneered by funds like TA Associates and Summit Partners. By identifying bootstrapped, profitable businesses and offering minority investments, growth equity funds blended the VC and PE models into what has become an incredible successful asset class. Now, traditional PE funds like KKR and traditional venture funds like Kleiner Perkins and Accel have moved into the growth space, increasing competition for the incumbent players. Mutual funds like Wellington and mega-funds like the Softbank Vision Fund have also added to the competition, especially given the long investment horizons they anticipate for their investments. This panel will address how the asset class has evolved, the hottest areas for growth investment today, and where our panelists see the industry moving over the next 10–15 years.
Jim Quagliaroli Co-Founder & Managing Partner Silversmith Capital Partners Jim co-founded Silversmith Capital Partners in 2015. At Silversmith, Jim focuses on investments across the firm’s two core verticals, SaaS & Information Services and Healthcare IT & Services. He currently serves on the Board of Directors of Absorb Software, Centauri Health Solutions, Impact, and RedAwning. Jim spent 15 years as a growth equity investor prior to co-founding Silversmith. Jim joined Spectrum Equity in 2002 and became a Managing Director in 2009. Jim focused on growth equity investments in the technology and healthcare sectors, with a particular emphasis on SaaS, information services, and healthcare IT. At Spectrum Equity, Jim served on the board of numerous companies, including MedHOK (acquired by Hearst), Net Health (Chairman of the Board, acquired by Carlyle), and Passport Health Communications (acquired by Experian), among others. Prior to Spectrum Equity, Jim was an associate at @Ventures from 1999-2002 and an analyst at Citizens Capital from 1997-1999. Jim first worked with his partner Todd MacLean at Summit Partners in 1996. Jim received an AB, magna cum laude, in English & American Literature from Harvard College (1997), where he was nominated by the College for a Rhodes Scholarship and awarded the John P. Reardon Jr. Award as the class’ most outstanding scholar-athlete. Since 1997, he has served on the Advisory Board of the Harvard Varsity Club. 34
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Lee Mooney Vice Presiden TA Associates Lee Mooney is a Vice President with TA Associates, a Boston-based growth equity fund with $20bn+ under management. Lee joined TA in 2011 and focuses on the healthcare and financial services sectors. Prior to joining TA, Lee worked in the public markets division of Harvard Management Corp. and Bank of America Merrill Lynch’s Global Healthcare Group. He currently sits on the boards of directors at eviCore healthcare and SoftWriters. Lee earned his MBA from Harvard Business School and his BA from Penn State University.
Darshan Prabhu Managing Director Starr Investment Holdings Darshan Prabhu is a Managing Director at Starr Investment Holdings, focused on its leverage buyout and growth equity investing activities. Darshan is also a member of the SIH Investment Committee. Prior to joining Starr, he worked at UBS Investment Bank, within the global healthcare team, and Michelin North America overseeing two strategic business units. Darshan holds a B.Eng in Chemical Engineering from McGill University and an M.B.A. in Finance & Healthcare Management from The Wharton School at the University of Pennsylvania.
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Closing Keynote
James B. Lockhart, III Vice Chairman WL Ross & Co. LLC James B. Lockhart, III has been a Vice Chairman at WL Ross & Co. LLC since joining in 2009 and serves as its Member of the Office of the Chairman. Mr. Lockhart’s responsibilities include overseeing financial services portfolio companies and sourcing new opportunities in the financial services industry. Prior to WL Ross & Co. in 2009, from 2006 to 2009, he served as the Director (Chief Executive Officer) and Chairman of Federal Housing Finance Agency and Chairman of its Oversight Board and Director of its predecessor agency, the Office of Federal Housing Enterprise Oversight. From 2002 to 2006, Mr. Lockhart served as the Principal Deputy Commissioner and Chief Operating Officer of the Social Security Administration (SSA). He served as the Director and Chief Executive Officer of the Office of Federal Housing Enterprise Oversight from 2006 to 2007. Mr. Lockhart’s private sector financial services experience includes senior positions at an investment bank, reinsurer, insurance broker, risk management firm and major oil company. He served as an officer aboard a nuclear submarine. Mr. Lockhart private sector financial services experience includes senior positions with NetRisk, National RE, Smith Barney, Pension Benefit Guaranty Corporation, Alexander & Alexander Services and Gulf Oil Corporation. He serves as Director of Shellpoint Partners. He has been a Director of Bank of the Cascades and Cascade BanCorp. Since January 28, 2011. Mr. Lockhart has been Director of Sun Bancorp, Inc. and Sun National Bank since May 12, 2017. He serves as a Director of Capital Markets Cooperative, Situs Holdings and the Bruce Museum. Mr. Lockhart serves as Independent Non Executive Director at Bank of Cyprus Holdings Public Limited Company. Mr. Lockhart served as a Non-Executive Director at Virgin Money Holdings (UK) plc from August 16, 2010 to September 11, 2015. He served as an Executive Director of Pension Benefit Guaranty Corporation. Mr. Lockhart served on the Financial Stability Oversight Board, overseeing the Troubled Asset Relief Program. He was also a Lieutenant in the United States Navy. In 2009, he received The American Financial Leadership Award from the Financial Services Roundtable. He is a Fellow of the Association of Corporate Treasurers in the UK. Mr. Lockhart graduated in 1974 from Harvard University with an MBA and in 1968 from Yale University with a BA. 36
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Final Remarks
William N. Goetzmann Edwin J. Beinecke Professor of Finance and Management Studies & Director of the International Center for Finance Yale SOM William N. Goetzmann is the Edwin J. Beinecke Professor of Finance and Management Studies and Director of the International Center for Finance at the Yale School of Management. He is an expert on a diverse range of investments. His past work includes studies of stock market predictability, hedge funds and survival biases in performance measurement. His current research focuses on alternative investing, factor investing, behavioral finance and the art market. Professor Goetzmann has written and co-authored a number of books, including Modern Portfolio Theory and Investment Analysis (Wiley, 2014), The Origins of Value: The Financial Innovations that Created Modern Capital Markets (Oxford, 2005), The Great Mirror of Folly: Finance, Culture and the Crash of 1720 (Yale, 2013) and most recently, Money Changes Everything: How Finance Made Civilization Possible (Princeton, 2016). He teaches portfolio management, alternative investments, real estate and financial history at the Yale School of Management. Professor Goetzmann holds a B.A. from Yale College, an MBA from the Yale School of Management, and PhD from Yale University.
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Conference Team
Case Carpenter Co-Chair Case is a second-year MBA student at Yale where he is Co-Chair of the Private Equity & Venture Capital Club, Co-President of the Adam Smith Society’s Yale Chapter, and former Senator on the Graduate and Professional Student Senate. Case spent last summer as an investment analyst intern at the long-short equity fund Foxhaven Asset Management. Pre-MBA, Case spent time as a TMT private equity investor at Second Alpha Partners and investment banking analyst at Houlihan Lokey. Originally from Connecticut, Case received a B.S. from the McIntire School of Commerce at the University of Virginia and is a graduate of Choate Rosemary Hall.
Carmina Mancenon Co-Chair Carmina is a Filipino raised in Tokyo, Japan. She is in her final semester of a joint degree programme with the Jackson Institute for Global Affairs (MA in Global Affairs) and the School of Management (MBA). Prior, she worked at BlackRock in New York City. She graduated from Princeton University with a BSE in Operations Research and Financial Engineering. She has spent time at KKR, Bridgewater, and the Mexican Central Bank.
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Kwasi Kyei Co-Chair Kwasi is a second-year MBA student at Yale. At Yale, Kwasi is on the student advisory board at Tsai Center for Innovative Thinking at Yale (Tsai CITY). Before attending Yale, he was a corporate development professional at the Advisory Board Company – focused on M&A and investing in the healthcare and education industries. Before that, he was an investment banking analyst at UBS, in the healthcare group. Over the last year, Kwasi has advised two startups on fundraising and growth strategy alternatives - recently, leading corporate development at Fluent City, an NY-based ed-tech start-up focused on language learning.
Andrés Penaranda Co-Chair Andrés is a second-year MBA student at Yale School of Management where he is a Co-Chair of the Private Equity & Venture Capital Club. Prior to Yale, Andrés was a Portfolio Manager at Bricapital, a private equity fund focused in Latin America and the Caribbean. Before Bricapital, Andrés was an Associate at The Cornerstone Group, a private equity firm founded in Colombia by a major Canadian pension fund. Andrés started his career as an Investment Banking Analyst at Q&A Banca de Inversion in Bogota, where he focused in Project Finance and M&A transactions. Andrés graduated from the Universidad de los Andes, in Bogota, with a BE in Industrial Engineering.
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Conference Team
Tejas Kataria
Tejas is a second-year student at Yale SOM. Prior to SOM, he was a Senior Consultant at Deloitte Consulting’s Hospitality and Retail practice. Tejas graduated from Ohio State University with a B.S. (Honors) in Electrical Engineering and minors in Math and Economics.
Pauline Chan
Pauline is a second-year student at Yale SOM. Prior to SOM, Pauline spent more than six years in the financial services industry, at firms including Goldman Sachs, BlackRock and Barclays. Her experience includes investment banking in the Technology, Media and Telecommunications industry, asset management and prime brokerage. She is the founder of Rentsume, a platform for tenants to build profiles and track records. During the summer prior to beginning her MBA, she spent two months working for Social Venture Hong Kong (SVHK) in its Investment and Incubation team. She looks to add value to the social impact sector by contributing her investment management experience. She obtained her BBA degree in Global Business with a minor in Economics from the University of Hong Kong and is a CFA chartered holder.
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Yale SOM – 18th Annual Private Equity & Venture Capital Symposium
Edoardo Pasinato
Edoardo is a second-year student at Yale SOM. Before attending Yale, he was part of the Real Estate Structured Finance team at Société Générale, in their Italian branch. Before that, he has worked in the real estate investment management industry in Italy. He’s been Assistant Fund Manager at BNP Paribas REIM and Business Development Associate at DeA Capital, a company which manages REITs for a total assets under management in excess of €10Bn. Over the summer, he interned at Lafayette RE, a real estate private equity based in NYC and focused on residential investments. Edoardo received his BSc in Civil Engineering and MSc in Real Estate Management from Politecnico di Milano (Italy).
Sergio Munoz
Sergio is a second-year student at Yale SOM. Prior to SOM, he worked in various roles at Cisco Systems, VMware, and Pivotal Software (startup incubated at Dell Technologies and backed by GE, Microsoft, and Ford). Following graduation, Sergio will be working at Credit Suisse in their Technology investment banking group. Sergio received his undergraduate degree from the University of California, Berkeley.
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Conference Team
Mario Ruiz
Prior to attending Yale, Mario was a growth equity and real assets investor at Napier Park Global Capital. Prior to joining Napier Park, he was an Analyst to Associate promote at Barclays in New York where he focused on financial services M&A. While at Yale, Mario is an Investment Partner at the Dorm Room Fund, a student-run venture capital fund backed by First Round Capital. He is also a Research Associate for the Yale Program on Entrepreneurship. A life-long New Yorker, Mario grew up in the Bronx and received a B.A. from Baruch College with Honors. Mario is involved with a number of community-focused organizations including Sponsors for Educational Opportunity (SEO) where he is the Co-Chair of the Junior Leadership Board.
Martha Xiang
Martha began her career at Bank of America Merrill Lynch where she was an investment banking analyst on the Technology, Media and Telecom team in New York. Subsequently, Martha joined Boston-based Guidepost Growth Equity (f/k/a North Bridge Growth Equity).as an associate.
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Most recently, Martha was an assistant producer and production coordinator on a China-based film production team. She spearheaded the project’s co-production partnership development and cross border fundraising efforts while participating in research and script development, location scouting, casting, hiring, post-production coordination, and related contract negotiations. Martha has lived nine cities but spent the most time growing up in Hong Kong and Shanghai. Martha is a graduate of Wellesley College where she received her BA in Art History.
Grant Silow
Grant Silow is a first-year MBA student at Yale SOM. Prior to school, Grant worked in growth equity investing at Summit Partners and Camden Partners, where he sourced and evaluated investments in healthcare, education and business services companies. He also worked in sales and go-to-market strategy at Radius, a Salesforce/Founders Fund-backed software startup. This summer, Grant will return to the Bay Area as an intern with LinkedIn’s corporate development team. Grant received his BA from Johns Hopkins and is from Philadelphia, PA.
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Conference Team
Ryan George
Ryan George is a first-year leader of the PE/VC club at Yale SOM. Prior to Yale, Ryan worked in technology startups Coursera and Lyft in partnership management, data science, and operations management. Ryan’s main areas of interest are education technology, workforce development and upskilling, and competitive intelligence. Ryan is the creator of the First Steps workshop for early startup experimentation and worked to define the portfolio company liaison program for the Bulldog Innovation Group.
Helen Jin
An avid foodie and traveler, Helen was born in Wuhan, China and came to the United States for high school at Deerfield Academy. She pursued her undergraduate degree in Economics at Wellesley College and cross-registered at MIT Sloan to study finance. Helen launched her career in New York, where she worked at Bank of America Merrill Lynch as an investment banking summer analyst. Before coming to Yale SOM, Helen interned at KKR and will be returning next summer. She is currently a first year MBA candidate (Silver Scholar) at Yale SOM.
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