Meet the Angel Capital Summit 2017 Speakers

Keynote Speaker 2017
Andrew Romans Corporate Venture Capital

Andrew Romans

 Andrew Romans is the co-founder and General Partner of Rubicon Venture Capital, an early stage VC fund with offices in San Francisco and New York City. Also author of Masters of Corporate Venture Capital and The Entrepreneurial Bible to Venture Capital: Inside Secrets from the Leaders in the Startup Game.

Romans also advises corporates on CVC programs. Founder and President of The Global TeleExchange (The GTX), where he raised $50m from VCs and corporates, built and managed a team of 90. Andrew was also a Managing Partner at Georgetown Venture Partners (GVP), a venture capital focused boutique investment bank in London active in Europe, the US and Israel and Georgetown Angels, a global angel group. General Partner of The Founders Club, focused on secondaries & equity exchange VC funds where Romans recruited 42 VCs from the US, Europe and Israel to the advisory board. Managing Director of EMEA at VC-backed Sentito Networks (acquired by Verso Technologies).

Managed enterprise software sales at VC-backed Motive Communications (NASDAQ IPO) opening new markets in France, Benelux, Scandinavia and Ireland. Opened new markets and acted as country manager for fiber optic cable manufacturing and turn-key project construction company Dura-Line in the UK, Austria, Czech & Slovak Republics, Slovenia, Croatia and Bosnia-Herzegovina. Andrew is a frequent venture capital guest speaker on TV shows including MSNBC, CNBC and ABC as well as various TV in China and Russia.

He was born in Japan, lived in Europe for a total of 15 years and is fluent in English, German and French and conversant in Slovak. Began career in 1993 working in the UNIX computing industry at Pencom Systems in New York, Silicon Valley and Austin. BA from the University of Vermont and MBA in finance from Georgetown University completed on scholarship.

Panel 1: Corporate Accelerator Programs and VC
Description: Accelerators like TechStars are licensing their models in different “flavors” of corporate accelerator programs. Companies like Target, Sprint, Barclays and now Amazon’s Alexa are using the accelerator model to create a portfolio of fast growing companies that the CVC invests in, often with the intent of acquiring successful accelerator graduates to grow their companies and jump-start innovation.
Alicia Robb (Moderator) Alicia is the Founder and CEO of Next Wave. She was previously a Senior Fellow with the Kauffman Foundation for more than a decade (www.kauffman.org). She is also the Founder and past Executive Director and Board Chair of the Foundation for Sustainable Development. (www.fsdinternational.org). Dr. Robb received her Ph.D. in Economics from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. She has previously worked with the the Federal Reserve Board of Governors and the Office of Economic Research in the SBA. She is a prolific author on the topic of entrepreneurship. In addition to numerous journal articles and book chapters, she is the co-author of A Rising Tide: Financing Strategies for Women-Owned Businesses and The Next Wave: Financing and Investing Strategies for Growth-Oriented Women Entrepreneurs by Stanford University Press, as well as Race and Entrepreneurial Successpublished by MIT Press. She is an active investor, a mentor to various young firms, and an advisory board member for several nonprofit groups, including the Deming Center Venture Fund, the Good Food Institute, and the Foundation for Sustainable Development.
Richard Grote- Travelport Labs Accelerator Over the past 15 years, Rich has founded five startups – primarily in the SaaS and big data space – and has mercifully killed off numerous smaller projects and experiments that the world didn’t want or need. His latest company went through the BoulderTechStars accelerator and he remains very connected to the Boulder tech community as both a TechStars alum and as an organizer of Boulder Startup Week and Ignite Boulder.

In a parallel career and to help fund his startup habit, Rich spent over a decade conducting workshops on innovation, culture, and change for senior leadership and management at companies including Disney, Microsoft/Xbox, Home Depot, Deloitte, Starbucks, Ford, and countless others. He has a crush on working hard with smart people on things that matter.

Rich lives in Boulder/Gunbarrel with his wife and two identical twin ten-year-old boys. When not watching them exercise (lacrosse, hockey, skateboarding, pounding on each other, etc.) he enjoys doing Crossfit and spending as much time as possible on Boulder’s trails, mountaintops, and atop all kinds of bikes.
Patrick Riley is the CEO the Global Accelerator Network. Most recently he was on the executive team at Techstars where he oversaw its business development. He started his career working for W.L. Gore and Associates and moved into the leadership of the American Red Cross in Washington, D.C. Patrick left the Red Cross to manage the west coast sales and operations for a venture backed healthcare technology company that had a recent exit. Following his passion to support start-up companies around the world, Patrick joined Techstars and the Global Accelerator Network. Outside of work, he enjoys spending time with his wife, bike riding, traveling, and skiing around Colorado.
Julien Denaes, Techstars Barclays Accelerator, Logrr Julien co-founded Loggr which provides passwordless and multi-factors authentication for cloud applications. The company completed the Techstars Barclays Accelerator in the New York City cohort in October 2015. Before that, Loggr participated in The Founder Institute and Startup Next.

Previously, Julien was a senior consultant at Cambridge Technology Partners in Switzerland, and before that he served as a business analyst for the Brand Content Management group at Nestle and many other Fortune 500 corporations. In 2013, Julien moved to New York City as a senior business analyst with Richemont North America.

When Julien isn’t growing Loggr he enjoys hiking and photography and discovering new lands: Julien and his wife and have visited more than 25 US states. He’s also involved in his wife’s projects in helping children with disabilities by building new adapted tools for an improved education.

Born in Switzerland, Julien graduated with a Bachelors Degree in Information Sciences Technology from The University of Applied Science Western Switzerland and another Bachelors Degree from Hochschule für Technik und Wirtschaft University in Dresden, Germany. His studies focused on application design and development, IT project management, as well as business process analysis.
Sean Doolan is a key member of StartUp Health’s team. He helps support the StartUp Health Academy and StartUp Health Network – two key components of the StartUp Health Platform. Sean is responsible for identifying and supporting strategic partnerships as well as actively cultivating investor and commercial relationships to improve access for both the Healthcare Transformers and network partners. Sean holds an Masters of Health Informatics (MHI) degree from the University of Michigan and a Bachelor’s degree in Economics from the University of Michigan.

Panel 2: Corporate VCs: Different Perspectives
Description: It’s wrong to bundle all CVCs into one group – Corporate Venture Capital funds have widely differing objectives that will cause them to behave differently with regard to angel investors and entrepreneurs. Learn what questions to ask such as “will the corporate parent become a customer for our product?”, or “does the CVC have a policy of follow-on investing in its portfolio companies?, or “does the fund prioritize strategic outcomes or financial results?” Hear from the CVCs themselves about how they prioritize and manage the deals they do.
Tricia Meyer is the Founder + Managing Attorney of technology law firm, Meyer Law. With offices in Denver and Chicago, Meyer is an active member of Chicago and Colorado’s startup and technology communities. Through her entrepreneurial mindset and innovative approach to her legal practice, Meyer has secured clients ranging from startups to Fortune 500’s, helping with corporate, contracts, employment, intellectual property and fundraising matters.

While charting her own entrepreneurial course, Meyer is passionate about helping other business owners and technology companies and serves in leadership roles as a mentor for many organizations including 1871 and Innovation Pavilion. Meyer is also a Founding Committee Member of the SBACNow Venture Pitch Session. Meyer serves on the Board of 100+ Who Care Chicago Learn more at http://www.100pluswhocarechicago.com.

Meyer has been named a Rising Star in Information Technology and Technology Transactions by Illinois Super Lawyers for 4 years in a row, Emerging Lawyer in Computer + Technology Law and Closely + Privately Held Business Law by Leading Lawyers and Top Corporate Counsel by First Chair. In addition, she has spoken about tech, entrepreneurship and legal issues at several events, including Techweek, Denver Startup Week and Entrepreneurs Unpluggd Startup Law Summit.

Find out more about Tricia on LinkedIn at www.linkedin.com/in/meyertricia. Learn more about M
Matthew Johnson (Arrow Electronics), is a RVC due diligence alumna and previously held a divisional leadership role with Bank of America. Matt has raised funds for a startup as a CBO and has consulted numerous startups in California, Colorado and Canada. Matt most recently co-designed Arrow Electronics alternative financing program called “Arrow Financing Solutions.” This program provides funding for startups and high growth companies in the US and Canada.
AJ Dye: AJ is a member of the senior investment team at Delta Electronics Capital, the investment arm of Delta Electronics. Based in Denver, Colorado, AJ is responsible for sourcing, executing, and managing minority investment and acquisition opportunities in North America with a focus on the energy, technology and healthcare sectors. AJ led Delta’s investments in HZO and Syncardia Systems.

Prior to Delta, AJ was a Carolina Venture Fellow at SJF Ventures, a venture capital firm investing in high growth, positive impact companies in the resource efficiency, sustainability, and technology-enhanced services sectors. He began his career as an investment banker with Innovation Capital where he completed transactions aggregating over $1 billion.

AJ holds a MBA from the Kenan-Flagler Business School at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill and a BSBA from the University of Colorado at Boulder, including a semester of study at the Danish Institute for Study Abroad in Copenhagen. He is a frequent panelist and judge at industry conferences including Rocky Mountain Cleantech Open, NREL Industry Growth Forum, and the Blue Ocean Enterprise Challenge.
Bruce Dines developed and built the Technology Investment practice for Liberty Global Ventures, the Corporate Venture Arm of Fortune 500 Company, Liberty Global, Inc. In that role, he works closely with the Ventures, Operating and Technology teams.

Bruce brings over 25 years of technology and telecommunications experience to Liberty Global. Over half of those years have been spent in earlier stage environments, where Bruce has founded companies and led businesses from concept and model development, through the capital formation, revenue generation and team building phases, ultimately realizing successful exits on 3 different companies. The other half of his career has been spent in mid-size and large corporations, where he has either served as President or Division President, including comCables as President, Northstar Exchange as COO (sold to Construction Software Technologies in 2007), EHPT as President (sold to Ericsson in 2002), and Ericsson Mobile Communications as Division President.

Bruce also leads a number of Innovation initiatives within Liberty Global, including Spark (an internal idea generation engine designed to drive innovation), Matchbox (a curriculum program designed to teach innovative thinking), and the Virgin Media Accelerator powered by Techstars.

Over the past 6 years at Liberty, he has sourced and/or led investments in 15 entities, realized three substantial exits, and developed and launched 3 major innovative initiatives. He currently serves as a Director in 2 companies, and is a board observer in 5 additional companies.

Charles (Chuck) Norris has been part of the Nelnet organization for more than 20 years. During this time, Chuck helped start Infovisa, a trust software company located in Charlotte, N.C., and he currently sits on its board. In addition, Chuck is one of the founders of Nelnet Capital, LLC, a registered Broker/Dealer located in Lincoln, Nebraska. Prior to joining Nelnet, Chuck was a Financial Analyst for Merrill Lynch in New York City. Chuck also worked for Wilshire Associates located in Santa Monica, Calif.

Chuck was born and raised in Lincoln where he and his wife, Jean, live with their two children. Chuck has a B.S. in Business Administration from the University of Nebraska-Lincoln and is a Chartered Financial Analyst.

Panel 3: Corporate VCs: Strategic vs. Financial Investing
Description:CVCs often have different motivations than Angel investors for making investments. They can be considered strategic investors that use their investments to keep tabs on the latest innovations from startups and can effectively replace R&D their departments while reducing costs and accelerating the pace of innovation for their company. In this panel, you’ll hear from a CVC and the early stage startup that they’ve engaged with about how they came together and what motivates both sides to enhance their innovations.
Charles McGregor, McGregor and Associates, RVC Angel- Charles is an angel investor who focuses primarily on life science, clean technology, and financial technology. Along with Andrew McGregor, Charles concentrates on startups that are rapidly scaling, leveraging their experience in competitive strategy and organizational development. Charles has worked for Berkeley Research Group, a leading provider of expert testimony for intellectual property cases in technology and biotechnology. Charles has a B.A. in Biophysics from Claremont McKenna College.
Denichiro “Denny” Otsuga, Future Venture Capital Americas – Denny brings years of experience in managing technology commercialization, intellectual property, and research collaboration. Denny is the President and CEO of FVC Americas (FVCA) based in Fort Collins, a subsidiary of Future Venture Capital, Co., Ltd. (FVC), a publicly traded venture capital firm headquartered in Kyoto, Japan. FVCA produces a value-creating regional ecosystem for the venture and innovative companies in small and medium size communities.
Prior to FVCA, Denny was the President of EnConnect Holdings, and he led the technology transfer and intellectual property commercialization as Vice President of CSU Ventures, Executive Director of the University of Kentucky’s Office of Technology Transfer, and founding Director of the South Dakota State University Technology Transfer Office.
Tom Teynor, Ascent360
Jeff Orrey, GeoVisual Analytics: As a business executive and technical leader with a track record of executing on innovative technology projects, Jeff is driving GeoVisual’s rollout of crop forecasting technology for the fresh produce industry. Before founding GeoVisual, Jeff was a Lead Program Manager at Microsoft, directing the Bing Maps Server team to develop a private-cloud version of Bing Maps that today is the mapping platform for New York City’s counter-terrorism, predictive analytics system. As the technical director at another startup, Jeff led development of data analysis and imaging technologies that were sold to a Chevron-backed company that is now a leader in real-time hydraulic fracture monitoring worldwide. Jeff holds a Ph.D. in Physics and has served as an AAAS Science and Technology Policy Fellow at the U.S. Agency for International Development.
Charles (Chuck) Norris has been part of the Nelnet organization for more than 20 years. During this time, Chuck helped start Infovisa, a trust software company located in Charlotte, N.C., and he currently sits on its board. In addition, Chuck is one of the founders of Nelnet Capital, LLC, a registered Broker/Dealer located in Lincoln, Nebraska. Prior to joining Nelnet, Chuck was a Financial Analyst for Merrill Lynch in New York City. Chuck also worked for Wilshire Associates located in Santa Monica, Calif.

Chuck was born and raised in Lincoln where he and his wife, Jean, live with their two children. Chuck has a B.S. in Business Administration from the University of Nebraska-Lincoln and is a Chartered Financial Analyst.