About Me
I got my start running concerts. The chaos of showing up on an empty field at 5am, knowing the come 8pm the next day our headliner would be going on stage come hell or high water. Having to coordinate between ten different expert teams, all of whom were dependent on each other to put on a single cohesive experience.
Turns out that it’s not actually that different than startups.
I made my jump to the startup space (not counting the computers I built as a kid, my tech consulting business, or the non-profit I started) thanks to a fortuitous break as the chief of staff for Jason Calacanis. A man of 1,000 ideas who can wow a crowd, but needs someone to bring discipline to the chaos. That’s how I ended up running TechCrunch 50, launching This Week in Startups, and getting an incredible early exposure to early exposure to the fast growing world of Web 2, marketplace hits and SaaS unicorns (like the first pitches for companies like Uber ).
My time there led me to Yext and Stack Overflow. Scaling up the infrastructure of rapidly growing organizations from early Series B raises to hundreds of people. Running sales and customer success orgs. Building out HR, Legal, Finance, and IT. Launching new products like Yext Basic and Stack Overflow Enterprise to capitalize on opportunities in the marketplace. Organizing fundraises to keep the growth capital coming in. Selling 7-figure deals to the largest companies in the world like Microsoft, Apple, JP Morgan, and Bloomberg.
I’ve also spent time working with founders to establish their young companies and prepare for what’s coming next. Being married to a female founder and as an advisor for founders from a variety of backgrounds, I’ve seen first hand just how uneven the playing field can be, and how each company has its own unique challenges. I believe in the transformational outcomes startups can provide to anyone and am committed to helping more founders access the networks that made me successful.