I am delighted to announce that I have joined Union Square Ventures partnership. What started a few months ago as a catch up breakfast with my friend Andy Weissman, became a series of conversations with the amazing USV team and an invitation to join their partnership. I feel very glad to be at a place in my career where I am right for USV and USV is right for me.
At my core, I am a student of companies and their leaders, and strive to learn what makes them succeed or fail in the dynamic tech world. I am excited to look at our business and portfolio through the lens of USV’s thesis of backing trusted brands that broaden access to knowledge, capital, and well-being by leveraging networks, platforms, and protocols. My business passion is trying to understand the complex story that the numbers tell about a company. I have applied this orientation to creating value over my entire career.
My path has not been typical. I have been a camp counselor (Alford Lake Camp), a sell side equity analyst (Hambrecht & Quist & Morgan Stanley), a head of M&A (Symbol Technologies), a banker and early stage investor (Allen & Company) and most recently, a public company CFO (XO Group). I have also collected important experience out of the office as a non-profit (Sweet Briar College, St Regis Foundation) and public company (Monster) board member and as an angel investor. Many days I use my CFO skills but on quite a few days the camp counselor side of me is my biggest secret weapon.
One thing that made USV particularly attractive to me was its women and the position it puts me in to help empower other women. With each year that goes by, my desire (and my platform) to make a difference grows. Meeting Rebecca, Kerri, Bethany and the other rock star women of USV made the decision to join the firm even more of a no-brainer.
At USV, in addition to evolving the underlying operations of the firm, I will be getting back to pursuing one of my passions, applying my accumulated experience to venture investing. I am excited to bring my perspective to the table.
Now… whether or not I become a prolific blogger… that remains to be seen. I look forward to jumping in… I can be reached at [email protected].