Redwood City, California, United States
I’m an entrepreneur, operator, and investor. I cofounded my first internet company in 1997 (eToys.com), which went up (and then came down) really fast. I’ve founded two other companies and have been CEO of four companies. Through these experiences, the truth for me is that start-ups are hard. I wish I knew then what I’ve learned through blood and sweat, through failure as much as success. I’ve transitioned from starting and running companies to helping others as an advisor, consultant, or investor. There are many blindspots on the start-up road. I help CEO’s/founders anticipate them and prepare. Raising money is challenging for many and it’s easy to get lost in fundraising. While I’ve raised over $150 million from VCs, I know it was hard for me and hard on me. By helping teams understand the venture capital process and be economical with their efforts, they can achieve better outcomes. I generally engage as a founder-friendly advisor and confidante. Whether it’s managing the board and having productive board meetings OR thinking through whether to shoot for growth vs. unit economics OR how to deal with management team issues OR planning for an economic downturn, these are all things I’ve had to navigate, often multiple times. I like to think of myself as a high-integrity, low-ego personality and hope I’m pretty easy to build trust with. I’m a passionate golf enthusiast as well as a hardcore music and movie nerd. I served on the board of the Stanford Golf Course’s Men’s Club and am a Course Rater for Golf Digest Magazine. I've tried to catalog every movie I can remember seing on Letterboxd (love Letterboxd!) and I'm up to 1,700!
Serve as trusted advisor and confidante to Founders/CEOs and help them to navigate the start-up journey and avoid potholes and roadblocks.
FOG Ventures was created to invest and support innovative founders that are helping create toolbox 2.0 for the modern day operator. We’re backed by the world's top COOs & CFOs at tech’s most prominent startups.
Replit Lovable Island Neuralink Puzzle.io Fathom Radiant Minted Airbase (acquired) Gamefly (acquired) MyPerfectSale (acquired)
Innovative remote patient monitoring solution (software and services) for chronically ill elderly patient populations. Sold into medical providers and payers. I was introduced to the first-time founders by the seed round VC and started as a consultant. I transitioned to full-time COO, which evolved into the CEO role. Despite the challenge of COVID, we successfully raised $10 million Series A financing.
Tech-enabled food delivery business allowing companies below cafeteria scale to offer their employees fresh, interesting, prepared meals delivered to the office. After an introduction by a seed round investor to the first-time founders, I joined as CEO and employee #11. Grew from $250k to $60 million in ARR and 200 employees. We raised Series A and B financings (August Capital/Trinity Ventures). Major accomplishments included figuring out how to be profitable in the price-conscious world of food delivery, developing a delivery methodology to safely move many thousands of meals, both hot and cold, to hundreds of destinations within a 45 minute window, and scaling from a few hundred to 20,000 meals per day. EAT Club built incredible competency in logistics and tight operations. I departed after 6 years. The company became a casualty of COVID, as workplace food delivery was decimated by office closures.