Venkat Bussa
General Partner - Real Estate & Buyouts
- 20 Years Experience, Engineering, Marketing and Entrepreneurship
- Worked at Cisco, Lead Technical Marketing and Engineering functions for $1B High-End Routing and Optical Product Lines
- Market Expertise: Telecommunication, Cloud, Networking, Agriculture, Education, Commercial & Newspaper Print & Packaging Industries
- BSc. from College of Engineering Osmanabad, Harvard University - Alternative Investments, Stanford GSB - Mergers & Acquisitions, Berkeley Haas - Venture Capital Executive Program
Syed Natif Nawaz
Sr. Principal (Buyouts & Real Estate)
- Technology Leadership and Consulting, with extensive strategic and technical management experience in a broad range of environments.
- Leader of global, cross-functional teams ranging from 5-10 to 100-200, with a deep understanding of the intersection of IT, product, team, and business functions and an engineering background in Cloud Operations, Networking, and Datacenter solutions.
- Domain Expertise: Cloud, Telcos, Datacenter, and M&A
- Core Value & Experience:
✧ Proven record of driving innovation, including multiple patent applications and leading-edge product initiatives.
✧ Excel in working with customers, particularly at the C-level, to create solutions for long-term business success.
✧ Offer a diverse set of skills applicable to multiple products, sectors, verticals, and operating environments.
✧ Combine deep engineering and technical skills with the ability to inspire teams to reach their highest potential.
✧ Comfortable in start-ups & large companies, leadership and consulting roles, and rapidly changing requirements.
Founder & Chairman
- Ranked Top 100 Powerlist VC
- 15+ years of VC/PE Investing, 100+ Portfolio Companies
- Select Prior Portfolio Companies: Beyond Meat (IPO'd, $14B), Sensity (Acquired by Verizon, $300M+), ShopKick (Acquired by SK Telecom, $200M), Made In Space (Acquired by AE Industrial Partners), FabFitFun ($1B+), Spyce (Acquired by sweetgreen), Bear Flags Robotics (Acquired by John Deere, $250M)
- Former Managing Director of Investments at Cleveland Avenue (VC/PE Fund co-founded by Former CEO & President of McDonalds), focusing on food and beverage brands, food related technologies, and new restaurant concepts
- Founder, Head, & Former Managing Director of Simon Venture Group (investment arm of Simon Property Group, S&P 100, largest retail real estate company in the world), grew to top 5 corporate VC focused on commerce alongside Google Ventures, Intel Capital, and Comcast Ventures
- Adjunct Professor at New York University teaching Venture Capital Intensive
- Creator of Multiple Top Ranked Entrepreneur Resources: #1 Startup Investor Pitch Deck Template (viewed & downloaded 750,000+ times, used by leading business schools and accelerators)
- Co-Founder of the #1 Startup Board Game: The Next Big Thing: The Game of Entrepreneurship, backed by over 25+ of the top accelerators and VC investors
Advisors
Jacob Shapiro
Partner - Karlov Street Capital
- 15+ Years In Real Estate Private Equity
- Has VC/PE experience investing in VC/PE funds and doing direct VC/PE investments
- Previously a Principal on the Investment Team at Cleveland Avenue
