Creating a more connected world through Commerce, Consumer, & The Creator Economy
From watching my grandfather grow his cocoa farming business to working with tech luminaries who changed the way we live, work, and interact with one another, I’ve spent my life supporting the many varied faces of entrepreneurship.
These experiences are a testament to entrepreneurship’s capacity to promote inclusive growth and uplift communities and the fact that great ideas can and do come from anywhere.
My career as an operator at commerce enablement companies comprises seven companies with six exits in 13 years, bringing real case studies of success and failures to share with founders who are on a similar journey. My superpowers are go-to-market (launching a product in market, acquiring customers, and scaling) and fundraising for startups who are building in verticals where I have unique insights, expertise, and can bring my extended network to bear: Commerce, Consumer, and The Creator Economy.
Together, these fields guide my thesis as an operational investor to make the greatest impact on a startup’s trajectory. I'm excited to continue this journey supporting entrepreneurs at Techstars, with a focus on founders endeavoring to change the world through Commerce, Consumer, and The Creator Economy.
Commerce
Digital connectivity is bringing buyers and sellers closer than ever at scale, requiring an evolved set of capabilities to realize the full potential of the digital evolution of commerce that’s inspiring every company to become a commerce company. This new breadth and depth of technologies that’s supporting the evolution of commerce fall under the banner of “commerce enablement”. The commerce enablement technology stack is long and all-encompassing: spanning everything from supply chain technology to payments, MarTech, commerce infrastructure, and more. An entire universe of sub-industries is vital in facilitating the exchange of goods and services between businesses (B2B) and between businesses and consumers (B2C). While the specific solutions may differ, they share a common business model: Software as a Service (SaaS). Because commerce enablement technology companies provide solutions on an ongoing basis, SaaS is the most optimal way to capture the value they create. There’s no shortage of reasons for any founder or investor to be bullish on SaaS Commerce Technology: high gross margins, predictable revenue and customer acquisition costs, and healthy net margins just to name a few.
Sub-sectors of interest: Commerce Infrastructure, MarTech, Supply Chain, Enterprise Apps, Fintech, AI/ML, Security, Big Data, and related areas.
Consumer
Consumer is one of the fastest-growing sectors for startups and this has only been accelerated by recent tailwinds that are reshaping the global economy. For me, “Consumer” includes both consumer brands and marketplaces. Brands and marketplaces are redefining what direct channel engagement means by leveraging the best of technology, data, and business model innovation to transact more intimately with their customers, create communities, and build enduring businesses.
Sub-sectors of interest: Direct-to-Consumer (DTC) and marketplaces
The Creator Economy
The rise of consumer social platforms has demonstrated the true power of digital connectivity. Enabling a new generation of solopreneurs to build communities and engage with global audiences. The latest wave of innovation is empowering this new tide of businesses built by over 50 million content creators, curators, community builders, social media influencers, bloggers, and videographers, with technology designed to help them pursue a myriad of paths to monetization. Plus, the shift from Web2 to Web3 promises to make the internet more accessible, open-sourced, secure, and decentralized, which will further expand the breadth, depth, and diversity of the internet-enabled creator economy. This movement stands to uplift more people than any economic evolution to date.
Sub-sectors of interest: Web3, Social Media, Networking, & Community Platforms, Creator Tools, Content Editors, and Alternative Asset Classes (NFTs, etc.)