Howard is primarily focused on sourcing new investments and working with Morpheus portfolio companies. He currently serves on the Board of Tagnos and DarkLight. Howard was previously with Mission Ventures, a leading Southern California venture capital firm focused on software and semiconductor investments. Prior to Mission, he was with Salomon Smith Barney in their Technology Investment Banking Group where he was involved with public and private financings and M&A.

Howard has also served as co-chair of the San Diego Telecom Council Wireless Infrastructure Group. He was a member of the Board of Reviewers for the San Diego based Center for Commercialization of Advanced Technology, an organization funded by the Department of Defense. Howard holds a BS in Electrical Engineering from UCLA and an MBA from the UCLA Anderson School of Management.

Technology entrepreneur, executive, investor, and board member, Carey has started, grown and/or led nine B2B and consumer technology companies during startup and growth phases. He's held senior-level roles for companies that have collectively raised over $250M in venture capital and achieved $1B+ in enterprise value.

Patrick manages operations for 500 Startups' multiple Venture Capital Unlocked programs in partnership with universities, governments, corporations, and other institutions. In this role he oversees program coordination; communication with partners; recruitment and vetting of participants; preparation; and best practice creation. He is experienced in investor/lender education, curriculum design, strategic planning, and program management. He has a MA in Global Finance, Trade, and Economic Integration and a BA in International Relations and Business Management and speaks Spanish and Senegalese Wolof.

Dean Kline is co-founder, fund manager and managing director for Penn Venture Partners, a venture capital firm. He is also a managing member of the fund's general partner. In addition, Kline is a board director for several companies: Corporate University Xchange, the Harrisburg Senators, Journal Publications, Probity MT, and Thermacore.

Moving the needle on founder failure, one conversation at a time.

Welcome to Startup 2.0 from Spark xyz Join us each week as we give you access to the top Venture Capitalists and investors in the country, while taking deep dives with highly successful entrepreneurs that will help you think through some of the most difficult challenges startups face.

Big thank you to our sponsor Brex without whom we wouldn't be able to do this show. As a special offering anyone that joins the Sparkxyz community will receive all waived card fees in perpetuity. Card fees are typically $60/card/yr.

https://brex.com/sparkxyz/

Christine Harada is President of i(x) investments. Ms. Harada has over 20 years of success in leading government and management consulting organizations. She previously served as the Federal Chief Sustainability Officer for the United States during the Obama administration. In this role, she provided oversight for all sustainability-related initiatives across the federal government in energy, fleet, and acquisitions-game-changing improvements that added to our nation's clean energy future.

Join us each week as we give you access to the top Venture Capitalists and investors in the country, while taking deep dives with highly successful entrepreneurs that will help you think through some of the most difficult challenges startups face.

Big thank you to our sponsor Brex without whom we wouldn't be able to do this show. As a special offering anyone that joins the Sparkxyz community will receive all waived card fees in perpetuity. Card fees are typically $60/card/yr.

https://brex.com/sparkxyz/

Rick Smith is a Co-Founder and Managing Director of CrossCut Ventures. CrossCut is an early-stage venture capital with over $200 million under management.

Prior to co-founding CrossCut, Rick was a managing director at an early-stage venture capital firm based in Santa Monica, California, with over $500 million under management. Prior to that, he was a managing director at SunAmerica, Inc., where co-founded SunAmerica Ventures, a $750 million fund focused on both direct investments and investments in other venture funds.

Rick began his career as a corporate attorney, working five years at the Los Angeles office of Milbank, Tweed, Hadley and McCloy, a New York-based firm. He graduated from the University of Illinois, Urbana- Champaign, with a degree in finance. He also graduated from Harvard Law School.

Join us each week as we give you access to the top Venture Capitalists and investors in the country, while taking deep dives with highly successful entrepreneurs that will help you think through some of the most difficult challenges startups face.

Big thank you to our sponsor Brex without whom we wouldn't be able to do this show. As a special offering anyone that joins the Sparkxyz community will receive all waived card fees in perpetuity. Card fees are typically $60/card/yr.

https://brex.com/sparkxyz/

Chris holds a diverse range of investment and consulting experience in areas including SaaS, consumer marketplace, entertainment, and real estate technologies. His limitless view of the connected world comes from curiosity and deep-rooted industry connections in the Los Angeles startup ecosystem. Prior to joining Comcast Ventures, Chris served as Principal at Siemer & Associates where he focused on digital media and software startup transactions. He spent his early career as SVP at IMT Capital where he identified growth opportunities and implemented the M&A due diligence process for the firm. In 2013, he was appointed by California's governor to join the State of California Workforce Investment Board. He received his B.A. in History from Yale.

Join us each week as we give you access to the top Venture Capitalists and investors in the country, while taking deep dives with highly successful entrepreneurs that will help you think through some of the most difficult challenges startups face.

Big thank you to our sponsor Brex without whom we wouldn't be able to do this show. As a special offering anyone that joins the Sparkxyz community will receive all waived card fees in perpetuity. Card fees are typically $60/card/yr.

https://brex.com/sparkxyz/

Moving the needle on founder failure, one conversation at a time. Welcome to Startup 2.0 from Spark xyz.

Join us each week as we give you access to the top Venture Capitalists and investors in the country, while taking deep dives with highly successful entrepreneurs that will help you think through some of the most difficult challenges startups face.

Kat Yalung is the Director of Bixel Exchange's Startup Launch Program, a Small Business Development Center (SBDC) in partnership with the Small Business Administration. Bixel Exchange is the Center of Innovation and Technology at the second largest Chamber of Commerce in the United States, the Los Angeles Area Chamber of Commerce. Bixel Exchange believes in an inclusive tech ecosystem reflected in Los Angeles' workforce and entrepreneurs. She leads the development and implementation of Bixel Exchange's core business advisory services, helping foster more than 250 tech startups each year as an impact driven incubator.

Big thank you to our sponsor Brex without whom we wouldn't be able to do this show. As a special offering anyone that joins the Sparkxyz community will receive all waived card fees in perpetuity. Card fees are typically $60/card/yr.

https://brex.com/sparkxyz/

Moving the needle on founder failure, one conversation at a time. Welcome to Startup 2.0 from Spark xyz

Meet Minnie Ingersoll. Minnie is a long-time Silicon Valley product leader and operations executive with experience building and scaling impact through elegant technical solutions and great teams. She recently moved back to LA after 20+ years in the Bay Area and is excited to be a part of the growing tech ecosystem of Southern California. Minnie started her career as an early product manager at Google where she co-founded the Access team; a cross-functional product, policy, and engineering team that spun off Google Fiber. After 11+ years, she left Google to begin her own entrepreneurial journey as the co-founder and COO of Shift, an online marketplace for used cars. Minnie learned a lot of lessons hiring hundreds of employees and scaling a $100M+ business. In her spare time, she hosts the LA Venture podcast, volunteers for local government, surfs baby waves, and raises baby people. Join us each week as we give you access to the top Venture Capitalists and investors in the country, while taking deep dives with highly successful entrepreneurs that will help you think through some of the most difficult challenges startups face.

Big thank you to our sponsor Brex without whom we wouldn't be able to do this show. As a special offering anyone that joins the Sparkxyz community will receive all waived card fees in perpetuity. Card fees are typically $60/card/yr.

https://brex.com/sparkxyz/