I’ve been in the early stage venture business for almost 10 years. Since 2005, I’ve been a general partner in two micro cap VC funds as well as co-ordinating a group of fellow angel investors at CommonAngels.
I’m originally from “down under”, although with too many years living in the US I’ve lost most of my accent. My Aussie career began in stockbroking 9 months before the 1987 crash….yep great timing. I co-founded an advisory and principal investing firm when I was 24. I was probably too young although it did teach me the importance of watching cash flow, working with my fellow founders, and the hard work required to create something from scratch. I finished my Australian career with 6 years in investment banking.
Moved to Boston in 1997, joined a fast growing startup (Stax) in Central Square, did a 2 year stint in Silicon valley with BEA Systems (remember WebLogic application server?), returned to MA consulting to startups and serving as a venture partner at Industry Ventures.
Aside from startups in general, my interests lie in enterprise software, digital marketing and advertising, consumer web, and digital media. It’s a fascinating time in the startup, angel and venture capital world.
Companies I’m invested in (and many I’m involved with at a board level) include:
Consumer:
Carbonite (SaaS consumer and small business online backup) – Series A investor & board observer from $0 bookings to $75M run rate. IPO Aug 2011
Shareaholic (sharing network) – Series A
Disruptor Beam (social game publisher) – Seed round
HapYak (video commentary platform) – Seed round & board advisor
Marketing/Digital Media/Ad tech
OwnerIQ (online display based on ownership targeted media) – co-led Series A & board
Xconomy (online B2B media and events) – led Series A & board
Linkable Networks (marketing channel for card linked offers) – co-led Seed round & board observer
Offerpop (marketing campaign suite for Facebook & Twitter) – Seed round & board observer
Yieldbot (publisher side analytics) – Seed round & adviser
SocMetrics (marketing solution bringing socialgraphic data to CRM) – Seed round & adviser
Promoboxx (brand to retailer marketing) – Seed round & board observer
Enterprise/SMB/SaaS:
Blaze Software (SaaS service to increase website speed) – Seed round & adviser. Acquired by Akami Feb 2012
Practically Green (SaaS service for employee sustainability) – led Seed round & board
ownCloud (open source file sync/sharing) seed round & board observer
Kibits (real time mobile collaboration) – Seed round & board observer
Help Scout (web-based help desk software) – led Seed round & board
Insightix (network discovery) – B round & board observer. Acquired by McAfee Feb 2012
Crashlytics (mobile developer tools) – Seed round
SageCloud (Storage solutions) – Board observer (Matrix funded)
docTrackr (cloud document management) – Seed round & adviser
Powerhouse Dynamics (residential/commercial energy & asset management) – led Seed round & board observer
