Cohort 4 includes 20 investors (~0.5% accepted) that formed four deal sourcing teams: Consumer, FinTech & Blockchain, Frontier Tech, and Healthcare.
Cohort 4 Deal Sourcing Teams
Consumer Team
Taylor Bozarth
After VU: Joined as a Venture Associate at The Company Lab
- Founder & Fund Manager for ADA Real Estate Investment Fund
- Raised & Placed $500,000+ in real estate investments to yield a 1.5x return within 3 years
- Real Estate Broker at a team ranked in the top 100 teams in America by The Wall Street Journal.
Said Mia
- Founder of Sweat Equity, prominent blog and early-stage advisory firm
- Investment Banking Vice President focused on Technology
- CFA Charterholder; MBA from Cornell University
- Frequent guest lecturer for the Silicon Valley Innovation Center
- Interested in young consumer brands disrupting the retail and health & wellness sectors
Brent Breslau
After VU: Joined the fitness startup Tonal, where he focuses on revenue and growth
- Private Wealth Management @ Goldman Sachs
- Interested in solutions that radically disrupt the food & beverage industries or shake up the age-old restaurant supply chain processes. Other areas of focus include health & wellness as well as longevity.
- B.A. Finance @ University of Notre Dame
Alberta Tete-Lartey
- Wharton MBA in Finance and Strategic Management
- Strategic thought-partner for C-suite executives in identifying growth opportunities, optimizing resources and enhancing operational efficiency
- Financial Services experience in shaping next generation growth strategies, ensuring superior customer experience and sourcing M&A targets
- Ex-McKinsey consultant
- Previous investment banking analyst
Grayson Helm
- Bucknell University - Business Analytics, Captain of Division 1 Men's Lacrosse team
- Energy Analyst @ American PowerNet; Contributions to drafting blockchain tool for sustainable power buyers and sellers
- Investment Banking Summer Analyst @ RBC Capital Markets
- Passionate about innovation & entrepreneurship within consumer products, energy, sports, food, & technology
FinTech Team
Peter Arethas
- MBA: DePaul University Kellstadt Graduate School of Business. Graduated "With Distinction". Top 10% of class. Degree in Financial Analysis
- B.S.: Indiana University Kelley School of Business. Degree in Business Economics
- President - American Trust Investment Services, broker-dealer founded in 1968
- Vice President - JPMorgan Securities - Chase Private Client. Led team of Private Client Advisors in Chicago
Michael Son
After VU: Continued to complete his MBA at Chicago Booth
- MBA Candidate, The University of Chicago Booth School of Business
- CPA, CMA interested in Enterprise, Fin Tech, Ed Tech, and Consumer markets
- Experienced commercial banker with track record in business development, financial analysis, and risk management
- Pre-MBA Internship at Ora Graphene Audio Inc., an innovative start up based in Montreal, Canada
- Worked at Scotiabank, HSBC Bank Canada, and BMO Bank of Montreal
Man of Mystery
After VU: Received three job offers, one at a VC, two at Hedge Funds. Due to the compliance department requests of their employer, the cohort member's name has been removed.
- Independent thinker who has never been afraid to make contrarian bets
- Recovering hedge fund Sr. Equity Analyst & Portfolio Mgr. with demonstrated success investing in Financials sector stocks. Previous employers include Millennium Management, PioneerPath Capital (a Citadel Co), Diamondback Capital, Amber Capital, Merrill Lynch and Fidelity Investments
- Excited by the opportunity to help early stage entrepreneurs reach the next level of their journey
- Passionate about financial inclusion and capital accessibility for underrepresented entrepreneurs, VC investors and underserved markets
NYU Stern (MBA); Boston U. (MS); Northeastern U. (BS)
Andrew Stockstill
After VU: Joined as Associate Director at Serent Capital
- Helped manage a $5M+ portfolio of venture capital and private equity client relationships at the Gerson Lehrman Group (GLG)
- Previous wealth management experience
- Holds B.A. from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill
- Interests include FinTech, Sports Business and Consumer verticals
Frontier Tech Team
Sebastian Pulido
- Led market transition at Goldman Sachs, implemented solutions to sales & trading market structure changes
- Managing Director at Golden Seeds, an angel investor network focused on investing in early-stage women led startups
- Created an online tool for entrepreneurs to quantify product/market fit throughout customer discovery
- Attained a BA in Economics and International Studies at the University of Miami
Benoit Foulon
- Previously an investment banking and consulting analyst in Paris
- Worked as Financial officer in a mobile learning app
- Studied in Paris @ESCP Europe Business School
- Sports and AI enthusiast
Tristan Jennings
After VU: Joined as a Venture Analyst at Marubeni Ventures
- Micro-PE investing in Los Angeles
- Mezzanine debt placements in FinTech and Consumer
- Interested in Frontier and Mobility
- London School of Economics
Dan Gonzales
After VU: Joined BexMe as Advisor / Head of Sales, and working with Flux Technology
- Investment Blog: bahiaverge.com
- Completed a project for Google’s Sales Team
- Age Verification in Juul Labs’ Compliance Dept.
- Partner @cubewealth leverages a 3-Dimensional model of Learn, Discuss, Invest to help subscribers better manage their money
- University of California, Riverside - English Literature
HealthTech Team
Noreen Brar
After VU: Joined as a Venture Analyst at Plug and Play Ventures, the largest accelerator in the world
- UC Davis B.S. Pharmaceutical Chemistry (Highest Honors), B.A. Political Science (Minor) from UC Davis.
- Completed thesis on “Exploring Anionic-Binding and Hydrogen-Bonding Catalysts Amide for the Selective Synthesis of Chiral Silanols"
- Over two years of research experience in organic chemistry lab focusing on silicon catalysts as well as political science department focusing on the impact of the media on American politics
- Spearheaded market research for two biotechnology startups focusing on product development and market penetration
- Interested in being a catalyst for visionary founders to acheive the unthinkable
Brian Yen
After VU: Joined as Business Development Manager at BoxNearBy
- Former analyst at Riverbend Growth Partners
- Quadlingual (English, Spanish, Portuguese, Mandarin Chinese)
- World Traveler (25+ countries)
- Southern Methodist University
- www.ThePetTie.com
Jeanose Lexima
Tri-sector athlete, ready to win investors to give hope to 63 million children in need of education globally
Cross-Sector Fellow + White House Fellow - Regional Finalist
Womentor to Women on Change (WoC) girls + 3D solutions seeker + global traveler
Decade in IT, HIT, management + Presidential campaign organizer
MPH Administration in Informatics + BS in Computer Information Systems
Sherman Williams
- Former military officer
- Former investment banker (Director) with a medical technology and digital health focus
- Passionate about medical technology, defense tech and space tech companies as well as funding underrepresented founders
- Angel Investor
- MBA from Chicago Booth
- Naval Academy graduate
