Meet 50 people who have the ability to change your life – hopefully for the better. You’ve heard them on panels. You’ve seen them mentioned in the press. They opine. They prognosticate. They found. They fund. They do make themselves available to entrepreneurs. Tap them for their insights, their contact and their connections. But first thing’s first: get to know who they are and the sorts of investments they like to make. For your edification, the Cliff Notes on 50 investors you need to familiarize yourself with.
Founder’s note: AlleyWatch does not have a financial relationship with any of those included. This list is in no particular order nor is it a ranking. In fact, the =RAND() function on excel was used to determine order. By our count, there are over 250 VCs in New York and this is certainly not a comprehensive list.
Alessandro Piol
Partner and Co-founder, AlphaPrime Ventures
Alessandro Piol has been involved in the technology industry for over 30 years, first as a software developer, then as a marketing and business development executive at both a large corporation and in a startup, and finally as an investor. As a venture capitalist, Piol has been focused on software, new media, communications technologies and infrastructure. He’s a big fan of new technologies and new ideas, and an even greater fan of working with brilliant engineers and talented managers.
An angel investor, mentor and advisor to a number of companies in the New York area, he also co-authored the book, Tech and the City: The Making of New York’s Startup Community, about the birth of Silicon Alley and its entrepreneurial ecosystem. He should know: he was one of the driving forces who helped to launch this community!
He also recently launched AlphaPrime Ventures, an early stage fund investing in big data and enterprise software.
Select Investments/Boards: Rockerbox, Offerpop, Insparq, Canary, Javelin, Dash
Keep up with Alessandro:
Twitter
LinkedIn
Image credit: AlphaPrime
Chris Fralic
Partner, First Round Capital
A Partner at , Chris Fralic’s focus has been on areas such as advertising technology, social media, ecommerce and gaming. He also serves as a board member for the Frances Hesselbein Leadership Institute (formerly the Peter F. Drucker Foundation for Nonprofit Management).
Some of Fralic’s impressive employment history includes six years at eBay, Vice President of Business Development at del.icio.us, Vice President of Business Development at Nextron, Director of Business Development at America Online and Account Manager at Oracle.
Fralic has attended and been involved with the TED Conference since 1994 and helped launch , which have been viewed over a billion times. Fralic is a co-inventor of two US Patent for listing goods for sale.
An avid skier/snowboarder, tennis player and runner, he has finished four marathons with his wife – and swears he will never run one again. Yeah, we’ll see.
Selected Investments/Boards: Adaptly, Aereo, Beyond Games, Chloe & Isabel, DoubleVerify, FlightCar, HotelTonight, Influitive, LiveIntent, Nomi, Percolate, Poppin, Ringly, Roblox, Solve Media and Warby Parker
Keep up with Chris:
Twitter
LinkedIn
Blog
Nihal Mehta
Founding General Partner, ENIAC Ventures
Nihal Mehta is an entrepreneur with more than a dozen years of experience in innovating marketing technologies. He has founded five startups to date. Mehta is a founding general partner at the first venture fund to focus exclusively on mobile technologies.
Mehta is a noted expert in emerging mobile technologies for media properties and consumer brands. He was previously the CEO and co-founder of (now Qualia), a company that helps marketers respond to real-time consumer intent. Before developing LocalResponse, he founded ipsh!, one of the first full-service mobile marketing agencies, in 2001.
He is also a founding partner of the India Internet Group, which invests in Indian startups, and is an active angel investor in dozens of companies.
Mehta’s work in the startup ecosystem, both as an investor and a founder, has led to several recognitions. Business Insider named him as one of the “25 People Every New Founder Should Meet in the New York Tech,” and he was included on the list of “Top 25 Up-and-Coming Startup CEOs in New York,” in 2012. In a 2010 New York Enterprise Report, he was one of the “Top 10 NYC Game Changers,” and one of AdAge’s “Top 20 Marketers in Their 20s,” in 2005.
Selected Investments/Boards: TigerTrade, Tapad, Neverware, Koding, Uber, MindSnacks, OnSwipe, Fitocracy, AppHero, Wefunder, AdMob (sold to Google), Ipsh (sold to Omnicom) Instinctiv (sold to SoundCloud), Fondu (sold to Airbnb)
Keep up with Nihal:
Twitter
LinkedIn
Marissa Campise
Partner, SoftBank
Marissa Campise joined just this year and focuses on internet, connected devices, and mobile consumer and enterprise investments from the firm’s New York office. Previous investments include Klout, Trumaker, Burner, Livefyre. She also worked on and observed on the boards of Netsertive, Dataminr, sat on the Board of Slideshare, and helped source Ctera. Camprise was previously a Vice President at Venrock, Principal at Greycroft, and began her career in structured finance as a collateral analyst at Deloitte & Touche.
She is also certified instructor in Hatha Yoga at the 200 hour level. Om my!
Selected Investments/Boards: MakersKit, Klout, Livefyre, Dataminr
Keep up with Marissa:
Twitter
LinkedIn
Image credit: LinkedIn
Ben Lerer
Managing Director, Lerer Hippeau Ventures
Ben Lerer is the co-founder and CEO of , a daily email targeted to men, and which also includes Thrillist Rewards and , an online ecommerce store. Of course, he’s also Managing Partner at .
Lerer was among Ernst & Young’s 2013 Entrepreneur of the Year Award Winners, Vanity Fair’s Next Establishments, Crain’s “40 under 40”, Forbes list of “Most Powerful CEOs Under 40”, AdWeek’s “Young Influentials,” Entrepreneur Magazine’s “Top 5 Entrepreneurs of the Year” – and Silicon Alley Insider’s “100 Coolest People in Tech” for six years running (full disclosure: Lerer Hippeau are investors in SAI).
He chairs the Board of Directors for the East River Development Alliance, a New York non-profit organization, and is an Associate Member of the International Academy of Digital Arts & Sciences (IADAS) and an active mentor for NYC Venture Fellows, TechStars and E[nstitute].
Select Investments/Boards: Warby Parker, RapGenius, SailThru, Namely, GroupMe, Makerbot, Everlane, BuzzFeed, PandoDaily, betaworks, chartbeat, Canvas Networks, Simple, gdgt, Greplin, Scoutmob, and Venmo
Keep up with Ben:
Twitter
LinkedIn
Image credit: CC by
Ben Sun
General Partner, High Peaks Venture Partner
Entrepreneur, investor and General Partner at High Peaks Venture Partners, Benjamin Sun has been profiled by Crain’s New York Business as one of the top under-40 executives to watch. He is co-founder and partner of LaunchTime LLC, an incubator focused on digital media and e-commerce. Previously, he served as President and CEO of Community Connect Inc, which he co-founded in 1996 in his Manhattan apartment and grew by raising over $20 million from notable investors, including Comcast and Sandler Capital. Additionally, he is responsible for developing the largest online diversity recruiting service, in partnership with Monster Worldwide Inc., to allow corporations to source a more diverse candidate pool.
Selected Investments/Boards: Coupang, Makespace, SimpleReach, Jet, and FashionProject
Keep up with Ben:
Twitter
LinkedIn
Blog
Image credit: BenSun
Ben Lin
Co-Founder & Managing Partner, Great Oaks Venture Capital
Shortly after completing his undergraduate studies, Ben Lin began his career as an analyst with Goldman Sachs in the Global Investment Research division for a year. In that time, he and Andrew Boszhardt, Jr. founded , a seed and early-stage investment firm focused on startups, mainly in technology sector, with investments ranging from $50K to $500K.
At Great Oaks, Lin invests in E-commerce and education technology such as Modcloth.com, Twice, and CourseHero. The firm has been largely successful, thanks to investments like the one in Invite Media, which was acquired by Google for $81 million.
Currently, he serves on the board of Olapic, a Visual Commerce platform for crowdsourced photos and videos.
Lin is also a Venture Partner at IDG Capital.
Selected Investments/Boards: Modcloth.com, Invite Media (acquired by Google), Trulia.com, FanIQ, Stitcher, 33Across, Eversave.com, Zimbio.com, Progress Financial, Bellbrook Labs, Tenka.com, HealthTap, StyleTrek.com, CourseHero, CarWoo, CardPool, Movity, Mertado, Warby Parker, LuxDeluxe, Twochop, StreeViewLabs, RiseArt.com, iTiage, Icon Aircraft, Exercise.com
Keep up with Ben:
Twitter
LinkedIn
Image credit: Twitter
Pedro Torres-Picon
Founder, Quotidian Ventures
came to the United States from Venezuela and founded in 2010. It is a seed stage fund, and Picon’s passion lies in “helping founders create technology products that modernize large industries in which they have deep domain expertise.”
He is also the reFounder (sic) of Matchbook, an app designed to help you remember the places you come across.
The fund focuses mostly on Big Data, Location Based Services, and Mobile Commerce and invest in companies with technology products that modernize large existing industries and in founding teams with unique and proprietary knowledge of the industry they are modernizing. They also tend to focus on the earliest stages of a product’s development, when it’s often pre-product and pre-VC, and on products that represent a radical efficiency leap when compared to existing alternatives, and they prefer New York City-based companies. Gotta love that!
Selected Investments/Boards: Admittedly, Moveline, Comprehend, Tapad, Circa, FieldLens. Locu, Bench
Keep up with Pedro:
Twitter
LinkedIn
Image credit: Quotidian Ventures
Managing Director, Insight Venture Partners
Peter Sobiloff joined in 1998 as Managing Director, bringing 20 years of operational experience in executive leadership positions, sales management and worldwide operations to the firm. Before joining Insight, he was president of Think Systems, and when it was acquired by i2 Technologies, he served as the Vice President of Business Technologies. Sobiloff was also President of Datalogix, a vendor of enterprise application software for process manufacturers, and held senior executive roles at Ross Systems, a provider of financial application software. He was part of the management teams that executed IPOs for both companies. As President of Datalogix, he led the sale of the company to Oracle Corporation.
Sobiloff is well known in the software industry and often speaks on industry panels. At Insight, he invests in B2B and Application Software development.
Selected Investments/Boards: Achieve3000, Anaqua, Drilling Info, Filmtrack, Kinnser Software, Kony Solutions
Keep in touch with Peter:
LinkedIn
Image credit: Insight Venture Partners
David Tisch
Co-Founder & Managing Partner, BoxGroup
Yes, he is one of those Tisch’s, from the real estate family, and you have to give him a lot of credit: David Tisch is not only a very active investor, which makes him hugely supportive of the New York startup community: he was co-founder of before he decided to found with Adam Rothenberg. With a focus on early stage technology startups, Tisch’s typical investment ranges from $50,000 to $250,000.
Selected Investments/Boards: ClassPass, Splice, Nestio, Blue Apron, Warby Parker, Grand Street, YieldBot, 42Floors, Art.sy, Boxee, Fab, GroupMe, SkillShare
Keep up with David:
Twitter
LinkedIn
Blog
Image credit: CC by TechCrunch
Howard Morgan
Managing Partner, First Round Capital
Managing partner at , Dr. Howard Morgan spent quite a bit of time in academia as Professor of Decision Sciences at the Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania and Professor of Computer Science at the Moore School at the University of Pennsylvania, Visiting Professor at the California Institute of Technology and the Harvard Business School. As a result of his early participation in the internet, he advised many corporate and government agencies on the uses of electronic and voice mail, implementing it throughout the Wharton School in the mid 1970s.
In fact, he’s currently a consultant for HBO’s hit show .
Morgan was also the director and founding investor of Idealab in the ’90s, nurturing early stage companies and taking them from seed stage through initial public offerings
Select Investments/Boards: BlueApron, GroupMe, Mint, Tremor Video, Fab.com, Axial Markets, PublicStuff, Pandora, Yummly, Idealab
Keep up with Howard:
Twitter
LinkedIn
Image credit: CC by
Roger Ehrenberg
Founder & Managing Partner, IA Ventures
Roger Ehrenberg was an active angel investor before becoming founder and managing partner at . Prior to the formation of the IA Ventures, he had invested in 40 companies through IA Capital Partners, a firm focused on digital media and finance technology.
Boasting around $155 million in investments, Ehrenberg works with early-stage startups from beginning to end. He helps build their businesses and then follows through with a hands-on approach to develop each company.
His blog is also one you’ll want to follow.
Selected Investments/Boards: BillGuard, Digital Ocean, Kinsa, Yipit, NewsCred, PlaceIQ
Keep up with Roger:
Twitter
LinkedIn
Blog
Image credit: TechStarsNYC
Ken Lerer
Manager, Lerer Hippeau Ventures
Ok, he’s Ken Lerer and who doesn’t know , where he’s manager of the fund. He was the Chairman and Co-Founder of The Huffington Post, is Chairman of Betaworks and Buzzfeed, and Vice-Chairman of Bedrocket. He is also a member of Pilot Group LLC, a private investment firm.
But wait! There’s more! He’s Chairman Emeritus of the Public Theater in New York City and serves on the boards of directors of several nonprofit organizations, including Association to Benefit Children (ABC), and the Bank Street College of Education. In 2008-09, Mr. Lerer served as the Hearst New Media Professional-in-Residence at Columbia Journalism School.
What can you say? He’s Ken Lerer.
Selected Investments/Boards: Business Insider, BuzzFeed, Huffington Post, Hot Potato, Birchbox, Pando Daily, RebelMouse
Keep up with Ken:
Twitter
Image credit: CC by
James D Robinson III
Co-Founder & General Partner, RRE Ventures
James D. Robinson III is a Founding General Partner at Prior to RRE, Robinson served as Chairman & CEO of American Express, a position he held for 16 years. As CEO, Robinson helped the company acquire additional companies, a business strategy that Businessweek reported as, “Widely considered the most successful financial services diversification drive of the 1980s.” After faring many tumultuous years with the company, Robinson left in 1993.
In 1994, Robinson founded RRE. The firm currently has $850 million in assets under management.
Robinson has stayed active in the technology and venture capital industries, serving on the boards of investment firms On Deck Capital, PrimeRevenue, Inc., Revolution Money, SkyGrid and all private companies in RRE’s portfolio.
Robinson is a member of the Business Council, the Council on Foreign Relations and the Committee for Economic Development. He is a chairman of the Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center, Business Roundtable and the Advisory Committee for Trade Policy and Negotiations. Robinson is also Chairman Emeritus of the World Travel and Tourism Council and an honorary trustee of the Brookings Institution.
Selected Investments/Boards: SkyGrid, Archex, Visiprise, American Express, K2 Global
Keep up with Jim:
Twitter
LinkedIn
Image credit: RRE Ventures
Joshua Siegel
General Partner, Rubicon Venture Capital
Joshua Siegel is a General Partner at , a venture capital fund backed by a unique global community of entrepreneurs, angels, corporates and institutional investors: each time the fund invests in a company, the investors may choose to allocate additional personal funds to the opportunity, if they believe that they can add real value to the company. For founders, this means direct access to successful entrepreneurs-turned-investors, as well as to large corporates and institutions that can support their business from seed through IPO.
Siegel himself has experience in technology, real estate, digital media and consumer products, and oversees the day-to-day activities of Rubicon. He is involved in the evaluation of early stage tech companies, as well as in assisting current companies with development.
Selected Investments/Boards: Backplane, Dealflicks, Navdy, 1-Page, NodePrime, TodayTix, Partender, Lenda
Keep up with Joshua:
Twitter
LinkedIn
Image credit: Rubicon Venture Capital
Eric Hippeau
Managing Director, Lerer Hippeau Ventures
Eric Hippeau, Managing Director at , has successfully transitioned from publishing to investing. He worked at International Data Group as publisher of InfoWorld Magazine until 1989, when he joined Ziff-Davis and became publisher of PC Magazine.
Hippeau took over the company in 1994 after the Ziff family decided to sell, and continued running Ziff, even after it was acquired by SoftBank Capital in 1995, until it was sold in 2000. A native Frenchman, Hippeau established and globally expanded the international private equity funds at SoftBank Capital, where his language skills (French, Portuguese, English and some Spanish) came in handy.
Hippeau left SoftBank in 2006 after becoming one of the first businessmen to invest in The Huffington Post, where he became a board member, and then CEO. After The HuffPo was sold to AOL in 2011, Hippeau joined the Post’s co-founder, Ken Lerer, in his startup investment firm. He typically invests in 30 startups at $200,000 a year.
Selected Investments/Boards: Starwood Hotels, The Huffington Post, Thumbplay, Yahoo, RebelMouse, and Buddy Media.
Keep up with Eric:
Twitter
LinkedIn
Image credit: CC by
Ross Goldstein
Co-Founder & Managing Director, Gotham Ventures
Ross Goldstein’s path to venture capitalism began at Morgan Stanley, where he rose to become a senior banker in charge of equity financing for technology, telecommunications and media clients.
His life changed when he went to work for the Internet advertising company Interactive Imaginations Inc., as the executive vice president and chief financial officer, where he helped guide the company into its successful merger and IPO as 24/7 Media.
In 2000, Goldstein co-founded DFJ Gotham (now ), an early-stage venture firm, which focuses mainly on investments in information technology startups.
Selected Investments/Boards: SailThru, Drop.io (sold to Facebook), Ingenio (sold to AT&T), Massive (sold to Microsoft), Meetup.com, Mimeo, PulsePoint, Medialets
Keep up with Ross:
LinkedIn
Image credit: Gotham Ventures
Matt Harris
Managing Director, Bain Capital Ventures
Matt Harris, Managing Director of in New York, is always on the lookout for investment opportunities in payments, specialty lending, fin tech, asset management, trading systems and insurance. Most of Harris’ investments aim to increase penetration of non-financial institutions into the financial services industry. Just so you know.
In his spare time, Harris preoccupies himself with military history and several non-profits, specifically the Williamston Theatre Festival.
Selected Investments/Boards: BlueTarp, Consumer United, Dwolla, iSend, Zipmark, Billtrust
Keep up with Matt:
Twitter
LinkedIn
Blog
Image credit: Bain Capital Ventures
Steve Schlafman
Principal, RRE Ventures
A Principal at , Steve Schlafman refers to himself an accidental VC. Previously he was a Principal at Lerer Ventures and prior to that, he was in the startup world as VP of Business Development at Stickybits Inc. / Turntable.fm.
He’s also author of the awesome , Parts 1 and 2, which is an absolutely must read for anyone in the community, or who wants to be a lot more informed about it.
Accidental VC? There’s no such thing as an accident.
Selected Investments/Boards: breather, Floored, Giphy, Hightower, Tinybop
Keep up with Steve:
Twitter
LinkedIn
Blog
Image credit: RRE Ventures
David Pakman
Partner, Venrock
David Pakman is a Partner at in NYC, which invests in and helps to build early stage internet and digital media companies. His areas of focus include ad tech, social/mobile media, consumer services, web services, ecommerce, big data, SaaS and anything else that is hugely exciting and disruptive,
An Internet pioneer and entrepreneur from way back, he co-founded the Apple Music Group in 1995, worked at N2K (one of the first online music companies), co-founded MyPlay (pioneer of the digital music locker), and was COO/CEO of eMusic for five years. Under Pakman’s watch, eMusic, which focuses on indie music, became the second largest music retailer in the world (after iTunes).
Select Investment/Boards: Dstillery (nee Media6Degrees), Smartling, Dollar Shave Club, YouNow, Burner , Klout (acquired by Lithium Technologies), Crunchyroll (acquired by The Chernin Group), Nest (acquired by Google)
Keep up with David:
Twitter
LinkedIn
Blog
Image credit: CC by
James Robinson
Co-Founder & Managing Partner, RRE Ventures
Jim Robinson is a Co-Founder and Managing Partner at and has been active within the technology community for nearly 30 years as a venture capitalist, entrepreneur, banker, and futurist.
Robinson was also ranked 45th in Forbes Midas List Top 100 VC’s.
Since becoming a VC in 1992, he has led investments in and served on the boards of more than 40 technology companies, with a current focus on software, internet-related and financial technologies. He often invests in businesses that leverage network effects or crowd-intelligence. He is currently a Director of Boom Financial, Netsertive, OLO.com, OpenPeak and Quirky, and advises several seed companies, including Admittedly, Affinity China, Amicus, Culinary Agents, PocketCoach, and TheSkimm.
Robinson is also involved with several non-profit endeavors. He is a Director of the New York City Investment Fund, the NYC Seed Program, and the National Association on Drug Abuse Problems. Robinson has been a YPO member since 1998. He is also a CERT first-responder, and a dog person.
Selected Investments/Boards: BitPay, Quirky, OpenPeak, Admittedly, GetGlue, iCrossing, Noom, Amicus
Keep up with Jim:
Twitter
LinkedIn
Image credit: RRE Ventures
Founder & Managing Partner, Tribeca Venture Partners
Brian Hirsch is co-founder and Managing Partner of and has invested across a broad number of sectors in the course of his career, including fintech, edtech, mobile, healthcare, online marketing and media/publishing.
Busy guy! Hirsch currently has board and investment responsibilities for Coinsetter, CommonBond, CrowdTap, Flat World Knowledge, FTRANS, HomeSphere, Lendio, Mobile Commons, Opternative, Pontiflex, ReachForce, RealDirect, ShopKeep, Spanfeller Media Group, Truveris and Vook. He also serves on the Board of Directors of the New York Venture Capital Association (NYVCA) and is founder of the Ingenuity Conference, one of NY’s largest annual venture events.
Selected Investments/Boards: Vook, CrowdTap, RealDirect, Opternative, Mobile Commons, Coinsetter, ShopKeep
Keep up with Brian:
Twitter
LinkedIn
Image credit: Tribeca Venture Partners
Ian Sigalow
Co-Founder & Partner, Greycroft
Here’s a great snapshot of Ian Sigalow:
Lead investor on companies that were acquired for over $1.7BN in proceeds:
Buddy Media (Acquired by Salesforce: NYSE: CRM)
Braintree (Acquired by Paypal: NASDAQ: EBAY)
Vizu (Acquired by Nielsen: NYSE: NLSN)
OggiFinogi (Acquired by Collective).
Prior entrepreneurial experience:
Founded a technology start-up in June 2004, led engineering and product design, raised seed capital from Columbia University and angels.
Future goals: Building tomorrow’s Fortune 500.
And since he’s co-Founder and Partner at Greycroft, one of New York’s leading digital media venture firm, he’ll do it. He’s already well on his way.
Selected Investments/Boards: 33 Across, App Annie, Buddy Media, Floored, Elite Daily, Makers Kit, Joyent, Plated, NewsCred
Keep up with Ian:
Twitter
LinkedIn
Blog
Image credit: Greycroft
Kirill Sheynkman
Senior Managing Director, RTP Ventures
After having founded three Silicon Valley software companies – Plumtree Software, Elastra Corporation and Stanford Technology Group – Kirill Sheynkman invested in a variety of IT, SaaS and cloud software startups, including Fab, RingCentral, Inc. and Tinfoil Security.
Sheynkman left the Silicon Valley in hopes of founding new tech ventures in the lesser tech-saturated New York City, and is the senior managing director of , a global venture firm where he focuses on developing the firm’s $750 million U.S. fund, based in New York. RTP Ventures is the U.S.-based branch of ru-Net Holdings, one of Russia’s largest Internet and technology investors
Selected Investments/Boards: Koding, Elastra, Fab, RingCentral, Tinfoil Security
Keep up with Kirill:
Twitter
LinkedIn
Blog
Alan Patricof
Founder & Managing Director, Greycroft LLC
With over 40 years of venture capital experience and a variety of successful investment firms, Alan Patricof has become one of the country’s leading authorities on public and private venture capital, which is why he is often revered as the industry’s “Founding Father of Venture Capital.”
The pioneering venture capitalist founded one of the world’s leading venture firms, Patricof & Co. Ventures, in 1969, which later became Apax Partners. Patricof was instrumental in the early stages of numerous major global companies like Apple and AOL, facilitating their start with seed funding. After years of large-scale investments, Patricof is now concentrating on a smaller investment business model.
Patricof founded in 2006, a venture capital firm focused on the digital media sector, making investments of about $500,000 to $5 million, in digital media startups.
Selected Investments/Boards: Buddy Media (sold to Salesforce.com), Maker Studios (slated to be purchased by Disney), The Huffington Post (sold to AOL), M5 Networks (sold to ShoreTel), Takkle (sold to Alloy), paidContent (sold to GigaOM), Pump Audio (sold to Getty Images)
Keep up with Alan:
Twitter
LinkedIn
Image credit: Greycroft
Ed Sim
Founder & Managing Partner, BOLDstart Ventures
Ed Sim has been a prominent force in the venture capital business for over 17 years. With a degree in economics and designation as a CFA, Sim’s success as an investor is no surprise. His professional career began in 1996 at Prospect Street Ventures, where he focused on software and technology investments. Just two years later, Sim co-founded Dawntreader Ventures, which primarily invested in seed and early stage software, Internet and digital media companies. In 2010, Sim founded and is currently the managing partner. His specific fields of interest include SaaS, cloud computing and digital media. Sim is also extremely well-connected, so making an investment partnership with him especially desirable.
Sim has led a number of important and profitable investments, including Greenplum, GoToMyPC, 24/7 Media, Rapportive, Blaze.io, GoInstant, Gizmo5, Moreover Technologies, Flashbase, and Fotolog. All of these enterprises were eventually acquired by larger companies, including Google (Gizmo5) and LinkedIn (Rapportive).
Sim also writes a widely read blog called BeyondVC, where details his own experiences, as well as tips and tricks for others involved in venture capital, entrepreneurship and the business of technology.
Selected Investments/Boards: LocalResponse (now ,), Enteproid, IndieGoGo.com, Yipit, Rapportive, GoToMyPC, 24/7 Media, Fotolog.
Keep up with Ed:
Twitter
LinkedIn
Blog
Image credit: Twitter
Habib Kairouz
Managing Partner, Rho Ventures
Habib Kairouz is a managing partner of and , and a member of the investment committees of Rho Canada Ventures and Rho Fund Investors. He has nearly 20 years experience in venture capital.
Kairouz first joined Rho in 1993 and now focuses on investments in new media, information technology and communication companies at various stages of development, from seed stage to growth equity. And if you’re ever fortunate enough to be in the position to get feedback on your company from Kairouz, pay attention: he’s opinionated – and he’s invariably dead on.
Selected Investments/Boards: Dashlane, Vidyo, JustFab, Everyday Health, Tacoda
Keep up with Habib:
Twitter
LinkedIn
Image credit: Twitter
Brad Burnham
Managing Partner, Union Square Ventures
Brad Burnham began his career in information technology by taking a job at AT&T. After working in sales, marketing and business development for several years, Burnham created and was named CEO of Echo Logic, AT&T’s first venture, which inspired the creation of the independent venture capital branch of the company, called AT&T Ventures.
When Echo Logic was sold in 1993, Burnham joined AT&T Ventures as an Executive in Residence. In 1994, Burnham became a Principal. Two years later, he went on to become a General Partner. A few notable investments that Burnham was responsible for include Argon Networks, Audible, Avesta Technologies, Classic Sports Network, Multex Systems, Physicians Online and Paytrust.
During his time with AT&T Ventures, Burnham helped co-found TACODA, Inc., which was purchased by AOL/Time Warner in 1997. Burnham enjoyed working on the progression of TACODA so much that it inspired him to form Union Square Ventures with Fred Wilson, and where he is currently a managing partner. He also currently serves on the boards of Tumblr, Stack Exchange, DuckDuckGo, DuoLingo, Flurry, GetGlue, SimulMedia, Meetup, YieldMo, Pinch Media, UpCompany and Bug Labs.
Selected Investments/Boards: Tumblr, StackExchange, Meetup, GetGlue, SimulMedia, Bug Labs, YieldMo
Keep up with Brad:
Twitter
LinkedIn
Blog
Image credit: Union Square Ventures
Shana Fisher
Co-Founder & Managing Partner, High Line Venture Partners
As the co-founder of , Managing Partner Shana Fisher brings over a decade of investing experience – not to mention a shrewd eye for spotting successful business ventures – to the world of angel investments. Most notably, Fisher put herself on the map by investing in in January of 2010—just one month after development of the site had begun.
After earning her BA in sculpture, philosophy and linguistics from Hampshire College and her MA through NYU’s Interactive Telecommunications Program, Fisher became a program manager for Microsoft. She eventually moved on to serve as vice president and director of media and technology, mergers and acquisition, and corporate finance for . Prior to launching High Line, Shana worked in various capacities at IAC.
Selected Investments/Boards: Makerbot, ClassPass, Knewton, Pinterest, Food Spotting, Crowdtilt, Aereo, Stackpop, BeBusy, Tubular Labs, LayerVault
Keep up with Shana:
Twitter
Image credit: TechCrunch
David Aronoff
General Manager, Flybridge Capital Partners
A self-proclaimed geek Venture Capitalist, David Aronoff is General Manager of and loves all things technological.
Aronoff has held technical positions as a secure network systems developer at Bell Labs, and leading development efforts for ethernet bridges, switches and routers at Chipcom, where he held a management role. Aronoff went on to co-found the Attitude Network, an internet content startup with gaming websites HappyPuppy and GamesDomain. It was acquired by TheGlobe.com in 1999 for $43 million in stock.
An early-stage investor with Greylock Partners, some of his noteworthy investments include e-Dial (acquired by Alcatel), Sandburst (acquired by Broadcom) and Xedia (acquired by Lucent).
Selected Investments/Boards: BetterCloud, BitSight Technologies, Joulx
Keep up with David:
Twitter
LinkedIn
Blog
Image credit: Flybridge Capital
Nikhil Kalghatgi
Partner, Vast Ventures
Nikhil Kalghatgi is a Partner at , where he focuses on seed and Series A tech investments. He loves to invest in marketplaces, commerce, connected devices, mobile tech and startups with wild ideas and unfair advantages.
Kalghatgi previously led early stage investments at SoftBank Capital, and founded Partner 6 Investment Group, a hedge fund in Boston, then joined the founding team of Localytics, a mobile application analytics provider. Nikhil is a recovering engineer with several years of experience in front-end design and development focused on mobile and web UX before completing his MBA at Harvard Business School. In a past live, he was also involved with military intelligence. And UX design.
Selected Investments/Boards: BuzzFeed, Buddy Media, Huffington Post, OMGPOP, Zynga, Gilt Groupe, FitBit, FlightCar, NatureBox, Keychain Logistics, NowThisNews, and Rebel Mouse.
Keep up with Nikhil:
Twitter
LinkedIn
Image credit: Twitter
Matt Turck
Partner, FirstMark Capital
A partner at and the previous Managing Director at Bloomberg Ventures, Matt Turck is a mentor at Techstars NYC, DreamIt New York, Entrepreneurs Roundtable Accelerator, First Growth Venture Network and NYC Venture Fellows. And he also finds the time to organize of two large monthly tech community events, and .
He’s an angel investor as well, and one of the .
Selected Investments/Boards: Dispatch, SideTour, ThinkNear, Learn With Homer
Keep up with Matt:
Twitter
Linkedin
Blog
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David Teten
Partner, ff Venture Capital
David Teten is a partner with , a New York-based venture firm which has made over 200 investments in over 70 companies across the US, Canada, UK, and Israel since 1999. He is also Founder and Chairman Emeritus of , the second-largest angel network in New York and cofounder of the , which helps women and minority entrepreneurs raise venture capital from members of the HBS Alumni Angels network. He is also a Mentor with Founder Institute in New York and Singapore, Dreamit Ventures, Entrepreneurs Roundtable Accelerator, Lean Startup Machine, and Startup Leadership Program.
And he still finds time to train in parkour (“Parkour is to entrepreneurs as golf is to (some) corporate executives”) and speak on panels at New York pitching events, where he always makes himself available to entrepreneurs.
Co-author of The Virtual Handshake, which is available as a free download, Teten also made the AlleyWatch list of .
Selected Investments/Boards: Ionic, Whisk, Appy Couple, Bottlenose, CardFlight, Centzy, ClearPath Immigration, Distil Networks, Estify, Headliner, Gobbler, InteraXon, Moveline.
Keep up with David:
Twitter
Linkedin
Blog
Image credit: Jakop Nazaretyan
Josh Kushner
Founder, Thrive Capital
He may be one of those Kushners (his father, Charles Kushner, founded Kushner Companies, the diversified real estate investment company, in 1985, where Josh is a principal director), but there’s a reason why this Kushner has been featured in Forbes’ as well as Vanity Fair’s “Next Establishment.” Founder of social gaming company Vostu and Thrive Capital, an early-stage firm that invests in media (brother Jared is publisher of the New York Observer) and Internet, the firm made a name for itself by investing in Instagram – and “doubling its money in 72 hours” (Forbes).
He is co-founded Oscar, a health insurance startup “focused on utilizing technology, design and data to humanize healthcare.” Since the company’s launch last year, Oscar has enrolled thousands of New York customers and has realized tens of millions of dollars in annualized revenue. Not to worry – he’s still very much an active investor. And a good one to know!
Selected Investments/Boards: Instagram, Warby Parker, Twitch, Oscar, Codeacademy, Spotify, Nasty Gal, MakerBot, Fab.com, ResearchGate, Art.sy, Dwolla
Keep up with Josh:
Twitter
Image credit: Spletnik
Brad Svrluga
Co-Founder and General Partner, High Peaks Venture Partners
Brad Svrluga, Co-Founder and General Partner at High Peaks Venture Partners, is a totally hands-on investor, working very hard with companies on all manner of startup challenges, be it general strategic support, business model thinking, marketing strategy or capital strategy. This is where he spends the bulk of his time with his companies.
And yes, he does know that he needs to buy a vowel.
Selected Investments/Boards: Keychain, MakeSpace, Amicus, Flatworld Knowledge Public Stuff, Pump Audio
Keep up with Brad:
Twitter
LinkedIn
Blog
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Gil Beyda
Founder & Managing Partner, Genacast
From Day One, Gil Beyda has been engaged in technology and has been nothing but successful. He began with a BS in computer science from the California State University at Northridge, and before even completing his degree, he launched his first company in 1982, Mind Games, which designed games for the original Apple II. Combining his technology background with the entrepreneurial experience he had under his belt, Beyda went on to found a few more companies, including Real Media in 1995, the first online ad network and ad server company (acquired by 24/7, it’s now 24/7 Media), then TACODA, the first and largest behavioral targeting ad network, where he was also CTO. The company was acquired in 2007 by AOL, for $275 million. That’s when he got into investing and founded Genacast. He knows tech, and when it comes to adtech, he’s your guy.
Selected Investments/Boards: Rocketrip, DoubleVerify, YieldMo, InviteMedia, Demdex, DoubleVerify
Keep up with Gil:
Twitter
LinkedIn
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Geoff Judge
Partner, iNovia Capital
Geoff Judge started as a venture partner at iNovia Capital since 2007, then became full time Partner in 2010, and was co-founder of 24/7 Media. His self-described role is as a member of advisory boards, where he uses his networks and connections to help companies hire the right people to fill leadership positions. He also advises on strategy, business development and sales.
iNovia Capital is based in Montreal, with offices in Calgary and New York, and partners across the U.S. Judge heads up the New York office and focuses on investments related to digital media, transaction processing, ad tech and payments. He invests in 3-6 startups a year, putting in anything from $250,000 to $2 million.
In his more entrepreneurial days at 24/7Media, Judge was senior vice president and general manager of the media division. WPP acquired the company in 2007 for $649 million.
Selected Investments/Boards: Collective, Spanfeller Media, Domino, Madison Logic, PexCard, Lenddo, RouteHappy, Resonate, Chango, 33Across, WorkFusion, TiqIQ, and Global Cash Access (NYSE: GCA)
To keep up with Geoff:
Twitter
LinkedIn
Image credit: Inovia
Thatcher Bell
Managing Director, Gotham Ventures
Yes, that is Thatcher Bell whom you see almost every month at the New York Tech Meetup (who said a good investor’s hard to find?). He’s Managing Director at Gotham Ventures, and no stranger to the New York tech community.
Before joining Gotham, he was a Senior Analyst at North Hill Ventures, the venture capital affiliate of Capital One Financial, and prior to that, he worked at two different start-ups: enterprise software vendor OpenPages (acquired by IBM) and SharkTank, an online marketplace connecting lawyers and potential clients.
Although, warning: he’s a Red Sox fan.
Selected Investments/Boards: Adstruc, Boardrounds, LendKey, Placemeter, Radiator Labs, SailThru, Seen, SinglePlatform
Keep up with Thatcher:
Twitter
LinkedIn
Blog
Image credit: Gotham Ventures
Allison Goldberg
Vice President & Managing Director, Time Warner Investments
Allison Goldberg started out in investment banking at Groupe Arnault for one year and at Morgan Stanley for two years, but she had, “always wanted to work in media.”
And she does, as Vice President and Managing Director of Time Warner Investments, where she works primarily with digital media companies.
Goldberg focuses on companies seeking $2-10 million in capital. She is interested primarily in adtech, music, gaming and social media, but is open to looking at anything that fits into divisions of Time, Inc., Warner Brothers, HBO or Turner. When it comes to impressing her and Time Warner Investments, her biggest questions are, “Is the company already providing a service in something we would want to launch? Why Time Warner? Why is this an interesting company to begin with? Why is Time Warner the right investor?” Hey, best to be prepared.
Selected Investments/Boards: AdMeld (sold to Google), MediaVast (sold to Getty Images), Bluefin Labs (sold to Twitter), GetGlue, Audience Science, Everyday Health, Joyous, Visible World
Keep up with Allison:
Twitter
Blog
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Mike Brown, Jr.
Founder & General Partner, Bowery Capital
Mike Brown Jr. may well be one of the youngest players in the venture capital game. After starting his career at Morgan Stanley, Brown worked in the investment wing of Richard Branson’s Virgin Group, co-founded AOL Ventures with Jon Brod in 2010, then started his own venture capital firm, Bowery Capital, just last year.
Which was the last year he qualified for anyone’s ’30 Under 30’ List.
At Virgin, the investments were made in early stage internet startups, while at AOL, the focus was on advertising and content syndication, among other things.
Bowery Capital looks to invest in early stage startups focused on enterprise solutions and business-oriented ideas with a marketing or technology focus.
Selected Investments/Boards: Lua, Qwike (acquired by Yahoo), Gdgt (acquired by AOL) Codecademy, gdgt, Impermium, Schematic Labs, Betaworks, Socialflow, Bit.ly, Metamarkets, Solve Media, About.Me, Qwiki, Sailthru, Cruched, Voxy, QLabs.
Keep up with Mike:
Twitter
LinkedIn
Blog
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Mo Koyfman
General Partner, Spark Capital
As principal turned general partner at Spark Capital, Mo Koyfman is the first partner at the venture capital firm to be based in New York City. At Spark, he invests in Internet and mobile startups such as Skillshare, Kitchensurfing and Warby Parker, and serves on the board of several portfolio companies.
A self-described foodie and unabashed burger enthusiast, Koyfman is also an annual participant in Burger Bloodbath, a hamburger-cooking contest founded in 2007 in Amagansett, NY. He won the competition in 2008, 2010 and 2011.
Selected Investments/Boards: Storefront, Goji, Curbed Network, Art Works
Keep up with Mo:
Twitter
Image credit: Spark Capital
Will Peng
Partner, Red Swan Ventures
So, what’s a Red Swan? It’s a great company that most of us never saw coming, which is what Red Swan Ventures, where Will Peng is a partner, is all about. Since 2011, they’ve invested in 45+ companies at the seed/early stage, including Warby Parker, Birchbox, Bonobos, Hailo, and Wanelo.
As for Peng himself, he worked on product (management, UX + IxD + IA, growth + analytics, front-end dev) at drop.io (acquired by Facebook) and Hot Potato (acquired by Facebook). And in venture capital at Raptor Ventures, RRE Ventures, and Bertelsmann Digital Media Investments.
This Red Swan is a rare bird.
Selected Investments/Boards: Birchbox, Chloe + Isabel, Hailo, Warby Parker, Keychain, Hing, SeatGeek, LayerVault.
Keep up with Will:
Twitter
LinkedIn
Blog
Image credit: Twitter
Fred Wilson
Co-Founder/Managing Partner, Union Square Ventures
Again, is there anyone involved in tech in NYC (or elsewhere on planet, for that matter) who doesn’t know USV or Fred Wilson? Managing $1B across six funds, USV invest in companies from all over the world, and the first certainly knows how to pick the winners – and the disruptors.
Did you know that he has a degree in engineering from MIT?
Select Investments/Boards: Twitter, Zynga, Foursquare, Kickstarter, Etsy, Meetup, MongoDB, Stack Exchange, Duck Duck Go, Lending Club, Indeed
Keep up with Fred:
Twitter
LinkedIn
Blog
Image credit: Union Square Ventures
Marc Michel
Managing Partner, Metamorphic Ventures
Marc Michel is Managing Partner of Metamorphic Ventures, a seed and early stage fund focused on transactional media representing the convergence of digital media and transaction processing, and has more than 20 years experience as an investor, having been involved in both private equity and venture capital.
Michel has been involved in many successful companies including Coinstar, Mountain Union Telecom, CADIS Software, FrontierVision, Open Development Software, Precyse Solutions, Telemundo, Robb Report, Reiman Publishing, Alaska Native Wireless, Tritel PCS, Triton PCS, Wireless One, Brooks Fiber, Bresnan Cable, and Peapod.
And if perchance you notice that he’s speaking somewhere on a panel, go! His advice and the feedback he proffers is invaluable.
Selected Investments/Boards: Tapad, Indiegogo, SailThru, Fuze Network, Tynt (merged with 33 across.com), Nearbuy, Thinknear, OfferIQ
Keep up with Mark:
Twitter
LinkedIn
Image credit: Metamorphic Ventures
Deborah A. Farrington
Co-Founder & General Partner, Starvest
Deborah Farrington is a significant force in the world of venture capital. In 1998, Farrington, along with two other women, including Jeanne Sullivan, founded StarVest Partners, L.P., a venture capital firm that invests in technology-enabled business services companies with a focus on software-as-a-service, e-commerce and Internet marketing.
Farrington sits on the boards of several companies, including Fieldglass, which was acquired by Madison Dearborn, and Insurance.com, bought by QuinStreet. These investments and subsequent exits were no modest feat, earning her the informal title, “Queen Midas,” after being featured as the highest-ranking female venture capitalist on Forbes’ Midas List in 2011. She is also the lead director and chairman of the Compensation Committee at NetSuite Inc, and a board member and chairman of the Compensation Committee at Collectors Universe.
Selected Investments/Boards: Take the Interview, PivotLink, Xignite, Fieldglass, RAMP Holdings, Insurance.com
Keep up with Deborah:
LinkedIn
Image credit: StarVest Partners
Sim Blaustein
Principal, Bertelsmann Digital Media Investments
Sim Blaustein joined Bertelsmann’s corporate venture fund, BDMI, in January 2012, and quickly established himself as a frontrunner among investors.
BDMI is an early-stage fund whose corporate parent, Bertelsmann, is one of the leading global media companies. Blaustein focuses largely on digital media.
Before joining BDMI, Blaustein served as partner and co-founder of High Line Venture Partners, a seed fund based in NYC, backed by IAC, where he was also Senior Director of Strategy and M&A. At High Line, Blaustein worked on over 30 investments in eCommerce and digital media, including Listia, Foodspotting, HowAboutWe and SeatGeek. He can pick ‘em!
Selected Investments/Boards: Frank & Oak, BarkBox, MakersKit, The Orange Chef, Flat World Education
Keep up with Sim:
Twitter
LinkedIn
Image credit: Young Startups
Ellie Wheeler
Principal, Greycroft
A principal at Greycroft, Ellie Wheeler focuses on investment opportunities across the digital ecosystem, with an emphasis over the last few years on B2B and B2C commerce innovation, marketplaces, and mobile applications.
Prior to joining Greycroft, Ellie worked in a similar role during business school evaluating investment opportunities at Lowercase Capital with investor Chris Sacca. Before working with Lowercase, Ellie worked at Cisco in Corporate Development doing acquisitions, investments, and strategy within the communications, collaboration, enterprise software, and video sectors. While at Cisco, she was involved in multiple acquisitions and investments, including PostPath, Jabber, Xobni, and Tandberg.
If you want to know a bit more about Wheeler – and how to get a meeting with her – it’s all right here. And you’re welcome.
Selected Investments/Boards: PostPath, Jabber, Xobni, BaubleBar, MakersKit, Daily Secret, Buzz Points, NuOrder, Plain Vanilla Games, Plated and Nomi.
Keep up with Ellie:
Twitter
LinkedIn
Image credit: Greycroft
John Frankel
Founder & Partner, ff Venture Capital
Born in London, John Frankel has been an early-stage venture investor since 1999 – and was one of the earliest investors in Cornerstone OnDemand and Quigo Technologies, which was purchased by AOL in 2007.
In 2008, he founded ff Venture Capital, a venture capital firm that invests in seed-stage companies based in New York. The firm focuses on the management team and business model. While working with ff Venture Capital, he has worked closely with entrepreneurs in a variety of fields, developing keen insights in advising startups.
Selected Investments/Boards: 500px, Appy Couple, Bottlenose, CardFlight, Centzy, ClearPath Immigration, Distil Networks, Estify, Headliner, Gobbler, InteraXon, Moveline, Phone.com, Tackk, VolunteerSpot, and Voxy.
Keep up with John:
Twitter
LinkedIn
ff Venture Capital Blog
Image credit: CC by TechCrunch
Bradley C. Harrison
Founder & Managing Partner, Scout Ventures
Before beginning his career in venture capitalism, the founder and managing partner of BHV (now Scout Ventures) was a cadet at the United States Military Academy at West Point (1990-1994), graduating in the top 1% of his class with a B.S.E. in Quantitative Economics and a concentration in Systems Engineering, and a Distinguished Honor Graduate award. He then went on to serve in the United States Army for 5 years, beginning his military career as a second lieutenant and retiring as a captain, while earning both Airborne and Ranger qualifications.
He’s also an MIT grad, an active participant in the Columbia Business School’s Greenhouse Program and great at advising entrepreneurs, be it on panels or privately, which is why he was recently named to our list of people in NY tech scene whom you need to know.
Selected Investments/Boards: Blackbook (sold to Vibe Holdings), GateGuru (sold to TripAdvisor)
Keep up with Brad:
Twitter
LinkedIn
Stuart J. Ellman
Co-Founder & Managing Partner, RRE Ventures
Stuart Ellman has accomplished many things in the 25 years since he graduated college, including co-founding RRE Ventures, one of the largest early-stage venture capital and investment firms in New York City.
In the nearly two decades since its founding, RRE Ventures has raised five funds, invested in over 200 companies and manages over $1 billion. Ellman has also been personally responsible for over forty technology investments during that time.
Aside from his work at RRE Ventures, Ellman has served on the board of 92nd Street Y, a non-profit community and Jewish cultural organization, since 2001. For the last eleven years, he has taught a seminar in venture capital at Columbia Business School, where he works as an adjunct associate professor.
He is also a member of the New York City Investment Fund’s Clean Tech Sector Group, the VC Advisory Group of the New York City Economic Development Corporation and the Economic Club of New York. He is on the board of the Browning School, serves on the President’s Council at Wesleyan University and serves as a mentor for TechStars. Whew!
Selected Investments/Boards: Floored, Drop.io, Shake, Ember, Sidetour, Message One, betaworks, Business Insider
Keep up with Stuart:
Twitter
LinkedIn
Image credit: RRE Ventures
