The Syndicate

Howard co-founded StartEngine with the mission of helping entrepreneurs achieve their dreams. Prior to this he was the founder and CEO of Acclaim Games, a publisher of online games that is now part of The Walt Disney Company. Before Acclaim, Howard was Chairman of Activision Studios from 1991 until 1997. As the former Board Member, and Executive Vice-President of video game giant Activision, he and a partner took control in 1991 and turned the ailing company into the video game industry leader.

Listen and Learn:

* How the JOBS Act helped create the world of ICOs and blockchain investing

* How to use equity crowdfunding platforms to invest in startups

* Why Howard started StartEngine and got excited about blockchain

* The similarities and future of gaming and cryptocurrency

* How Howard built Activision to a $50B company

* Why Howard lost money on lots of startup investments

* What will happen with cryptocurrency investing

* Why Ethereum is the MS Dos of the future

* How regulations help and hurt crypto

* Pros and cons of blockchain liquidity

Howard’s Projects:

StartEngine.com

howardmarks.com

Howard’s LinkedIn

Howard’s Twitter: @howardmarks

Are you an accredited investor? Apply to join our angel syndicate if you’d like to access our deal flow.

Recently joined Corl – we’re funding startups and SMBs with no equity dilution – find out more!Howard co-founded StartEngine with the mission of helping entrepreneurs achieve their dreams. Prior to this he was the founder and CEO of Acclaim Games, a publisher of online games that is now part of The Walt Disney Company. Before Acclaim, Howard was Chairman of Activision Studios from 1991 until 1997. As the former Board Member, and Executive Vice-President of video game giant Activision, he and a partner took control in 1991 and turned the ailing company into the video game industry leader.

Listen and Learn:

* How the JOBS Act helped create the world of ICOs and blockchain investing

* How to use equity crowdfunding platforms to invest in startups

* Why Howard started StartEngine and got excited about blockchain

* The similarities and future of gaming and cryptocurrency

* How Howard built Activision to a $50B company

* Why Howard lost money on lots of startup investments

* What will happen with cryptocurrency investing

* Why Ethereum is the MS Dos of the future

* How regulations help and hurt crypto

* Pros and cons of blockchain liquidity

Howard’s Projects:

StartEngine.com

howardmarks.com

Howard’s LinkedIn

Howard’s Twitter: @howardmarks

Are you an accredited investor? Apply to join our angel syndicate if you’d like to access our deal flow.

Recently joined Corl –

Jonathan Hakakian joined SoundBoard Consulting Group, LLC in 2010 to focus on early-stage growth companies after several years working in a startup. In 2012 he co-founded SoundBoard Angel Fund in order to build a community of experienced entrepreneurs outside of NYC to formally invest in early-stage companies. He also continues to coach “new” entrepreneurs as they build out their businesses.

Listen and Learn:

* The challenges of building a first fund

* How Soundboard Angel Fund collaborates with investors via SPVs

* Why it is hard to raise a 2nd fund

* The effect of exits on fundraising

* How Jonathan thinks about startup ecosystems

* Why buzzwords a bad for business

* The Series LLC approach to angel investing

* How to bootstrap a venture fund

Jonathan’s Projects:

Soundboard Angel Fund

Jonathan’s LinkedIn

Jonathan’s Twitter: @jhaka

Are you an accredited investor? Apply to join our angel syndicate if you’d like to access our deal flow.

Recently joined Corl – we’re funding startups and SMBs with no equity dilution – find out more!

Jonathan Hakakian joined SoundBoard Consulting Group, LLC in 2010 to focus on early-stage growth companies after several years working in a startup. In 2012 he co-founded SoundBoard Angel Fund in order to build a community of experienced entrepreneurs outside of NYC to formally invest in early-stage companies. He also continues to coach “new” entrepreneurs as they build out their businesses.

Listen and Learn:

* The challenges of building a first fund

* How Soundboard Angel Fund collaborates with investors via SPVs

* Why it is hard to raise a 2nd fund

* The effect of exits on fundraising

* How Jonathan thinks about startup ecosystems

* Why buzzwords a bad for business

* The Series LLC approach to angel investing

* How to bootstrap a venture fund

Jonathan’s Projects:

Soundboard Angel Fund

Jonathan’s LinkedIn

Jonathan’s Twitter: @jhaka

Are you an accredited investor? Apply to join our angel syndicate if you’d like to access our deal flow.

Recently joined Corl – we’re funding startups and SMBs with no equity dilution – find out more!

Daniel Gulati is partner at Comcast Ventures, a corporate venture firm focused on early stage consumer internet companies. Prior to becoming a VC, Daniel founded FashionStake an indie online designer marketplace which was later acquired by Fab.com. He also an author, prior consultant and blockchain enthusiast.

Listen and Learn:

* How ecommerce has evolved and continues to change

* Why Daniel focuses on consumer investing

* How Harvard Business School helped Daniel

* The EIR route into venture

* How fund size affects investment thesis

* Is indexing as effective as traditional venture capital?

* How much of a role does luck play in investing

* Why network is never overrated

* What Daniel thinks about crypto and blockchain

Daniel’s Projects:

Comcast Ventures

Daniel’s LinkedIn

Daniel’s Angellist profile

Daniel’s Twitter: @danielgulati

Are you an accredited investor? Apply to join our angel syndicate if you’d like to access our deal flow.

Recently joined Corl – we’re funding startups and SMBs with no equity dilution – find out more!

Daniel Gulati is partner at Comcast Ventures, a corporate venture firm focused on early stage consumer internet companies. Prior to becoming a VC, Daniel founded FashionStake an indie online designer marketplace which was later acquired by Fab.com. He also an author, prior consultant and blockchain enthusiast.

Listen and Learn:

* How ecommerce has evolved and continues to change

* Why Daniel focuses on consumer investing

* How Harvard Business School helped Daniel

* The EIR route into venture

* How fund size affects investment thesis

* Is indexing as effective as traditional venture capital?

* How much of a role does luck play in investing

* Why network is never overrated

* What Daniel thinks about crypto and blockchain

Daniel’s Projects:

Comcast Ventures

Daniel’s LinkedIn

Daniel’s Angellist profile

Daniel’s Twitter: @danielgulati

Are you an accredited investor? Apply to join our angel syndicate if you’d like to access our deal flow.

Recently joined Corl – we’re funding startups and SMBs with no equity dilution – find out more!

Gabriel Jarrosson is a business angel, cryptocurrency investor and accomplished entrepreneur. He co-founded French e-learning platform albert academie and is an angel investor in Storj, Shapr, BitStamp and Seedrs among many other others. He is also deeply involved in blockchain and advises a handful of companies.

Listen and Learn:

* The challenges of angel investing without being an accredited investor

* How to use equity crowdfunding platforms to invest in startups

* Why it’s weird being the youngest angel in the room

* The problem with many conventional angel groups

* How Gabriel views crypto

* Why he hasn’t sold his Ethereum or Bitcoin

* Why liquidity is a bad thing for blockchain

* How ICOs will transform startup funding

Gabriel’s Projects:

Gabriel-Jarrasson.com

Gabriel’s LinkedIn

Gabriel’s Angellist profile

Gabriel’s Twitter: @gjarrosson

Are you an accredited investor? Apply to join our angel syndicate if you’d like to access our deal flow.

Recently joined Corl – we’re funding startups and SMBs with no equity dilution – find out more!

Gabriel Jarrosson is a business angel, cryptocurrency investor and accomplished entrepreneur. He co-founded French e-learning platform albert academie and is an angel investor in Storj, Shapr, BitStamp and Seedrs among many other others. He is also deeply involved in blockchain and advises a handful of companies.

Listen and Learn:

* The challenges of angel investing without being an accredited investor

* How to use equity crowdfunding platforms to invest in startups

* Why it’s weird being the youngest angel in the room

* The problem with many conventional angel groups

* How Gabriel views crypto

* Why he hasn’t sold his Ethereum or Bitcoin

* Why liquidity is a bad thing for blockchain

* How ICOs will transform startup funding

Gabriel’s Projects:

Gabriel-Jarrasson.com

Gabriel’s LinkedIn

Gabriel’s Angellist profile

Gabriel’s Twitter: @gjarrosson

Are you an accredited investor? Apply to join our angel syndicate if you’d like to access our deal flow.

Recently joined Corl – we’re funding startups and SMBs with no equity dilution – find out more!

David Weekly is a product manager at Google (also previously at Facebook), a syndicate lead for Drone.vc on Angellist and the founder of HackerDojo, the world’s largest non-profit hackerspace. David is intimately involved with the startup ecosystem, a serial founder and facilitator and an active angel investor with over 40 investments to date.

Listen and Learn:

* How David hit 350x returns investing in Mexico

* The importance of opportunity arbitrage in investing

* How to build local networks to fuel out of country deal flow

* Why David is excited about Bangladesh startups

* How to zig when other investors zag

* The difference in culture of Facebook and Google

* How to think about unconventional investing

* Why David is excited about metals investing

* The reason David is interested in drones

* How to spot upcoming tech trends

David’s Projects:

Drone.vc syndicate

David Weekly’s Angellist syndicate

David’s blog

David’s Twitter: @dweekly

David Weekly is a product manager at Google (also previously at Facebook), a syndicate lead for Drone.vc on Angellist and the founder of HackerDojo, the world’s largest non-profit hackerspace. David is intimately involved with the startup ecosystem, a serial founder and facilitator and an active angel investor with over 40 investments to date.

Listen and Learn:

* How David hit 350x returns investing in Mexico

* The importance of opportunity arbitrage in investing

* How to build local networks to fuel out of country deal flow

* Why David is excited about Bangladesh startups

* How to zig when other investors zag

* The difference in culture of Facebook and Google

* How to think about unconventional investing

* Why David is excited about metals investing

* The reason David is interested in drones

* How to spot upcoming tech trends

David’s Projects:

Drone.vc syndicate

David Weekly’s Angellist syndicate

David’s blog

David’s Twitter: @dweekly

Jenny Rooke is the founder and managing partner or Genoa Ventures (formerly 5 Prime Ventures) where she funds & builds companies that change the way science gets done with new tools and technologies. She has a PhD in Genetics, a Bachelors in physics, and a background in computer science and works closely with early-stage life science start-ups on issues of fundraising, market & product strategy, and business development.

Listen and Learn:

* The evolution genome sequencing and synthetic biology

* Why life sciences investors should probably have longer time horizons

* How theurapetics differs from life sciences when it comes to investin

* Why technical risk is different depending on the industry

* How CRISPR and genetic engineering will affect the coming decades

* The reason staying up to date is irrelevant

* What the Kaufmann Fellows got right about venture investing

* Why scientists make smart investors

* Predictions about synthetic biology and the future of humanity

* How to spot upcoming tech trends

Jenny’s Projects:

Jenny’s LinkedIn

Jenny’s Angellist syndicate

Genoa Ventures

Jenny’s Twitter: @drjennyrooke

Jenny Rooke is the founder and managing partner or Genoa Ventures (formerly 5 Prime Ventures) where she funds & builds companies that change the way science gets done with new tools and technologies. She has a PhD in Genetics, a Bachelors in physics, and a background in computer science and works closely with early-stage life science start-ups on issues of fundraising, market & product strategy, and business development.

Listen and Learn:

* The evolution genome sequencing and synthetic biology

* Why life sciences investors should probably have longer time horizons

* How theurapetics differs from life sciences when it comes to investin

* Why technical risk is different depending on the industry

* How CRISPR and genetic engineering will affect the coming decades

* The reason staying up to date is irrelevant

* What the Kaufmann Fellows got right about venture investing

* Why scientists make smart investors

* Predictions about synthetic biology and the future of humanity

* How to spot upcoming tech trends

Jenny’s Projects:

Jenny’s LinkedIn

Jenny’s Angellist syndicate

Genoa Ventures

Jenny’s Twitter: @drjennyrooke

Today’s an interesting episode where Matthew Le Merle interviews The Syndicate podcast host Matt Ward, sharing his story, lessons learned and controversial/contrarian opinions to make the podcast more interesting and informative overall.

Previously, Matt built and sold #1 crowdfunding podcast, artofthekickstart.com and transitioned into own products business. Here he turned $8k investment into a 7 figure exit in 12 months with home and garden ecommerce brand primarily using Amazon and other channels. In parallel Matt started the FBA ALLSTARS podcast and community of 6-8k Amazon sellers, helping ecommerce companies follow in my footsteps (monetized via consulting and affiliate and/sponsored recommendations).

Matt has done all this while traveling the world, living in Thailand, Vietnam, Colombia, South Africa, Switzerland, Spain and the USA on boot string budgets to build and scale his businesses.

Listen and Learn:

* How Matt initially got involved with startups

* The purpose of The Syndicate podcast and what to expect

* Why Matt moved to Southeast Asia

* Which companies and startups are in the best position for a paradigm shift

* The benefits of syndicates over angel groups or VCs

* The top tech trends to observe and invest in

* Problems with politics and immigration

* Why Matt is bullish and wary of blockchain

Matt’s Projects:

The Syndicate investment group

Matt’s Linkedin

Matt’s Twitter: @itsmattward

Matt’s Medium

Are you an accredited investor? Apply to join our angel syndicate if you’d like to access our deal flow.

Today’s an interesting episode where Matthew Le Merle interviews The Syndicate podcast host Matt Ward, sharing his story, lessons learned and controversial/contrarian opinions to make the podcast more interesting and informative overall.

Previously, Matt built and sold #1 crowdfunding podcast, artofthekickstart.com and transitioned into own products business. Here he turned $8k investment into a 7 figure exit in 12 months with home and garden ecommerce brand primarily using Amazon and other channels. In parallel Matt started the FBA ALLSTARS podcast and community of 6-8k Amazon sellers, helping ecommerce companies follow in my footsteps (monetized via consulting and affiliate and/sponsored recommendations).

Matt has done all this while traveling the world, living in Thailand, Vietnam, Colombia, South Africa, Switzerland, Spain and the USA on boot string budgets to build and scale his businesses.

Listen and Learn:

* How Matt initially got involved with startups

* The purpose of The Syndicate podcast and what to expect

* Why Matt moved to Southeast Asia

* Which companies and startups are in the best position for a paradigm shift

* The benefits of syndicates over angel groups or VCs

* The top tech trends to observe and invest in

* Problems with politics and immigration

* Why Matt is bullish and wary of blockchain

Matt’s Projects:

The Syndicate investment group

Matt’s Linkedin

Matt’s Twitter: 

Charlie O’Donnell has been an active member of the NYC startup community for over a decade. He is the sole Partner and Founder at Brooklyn Bridge Ventures that invested in the first rounds of Canary, The Wing, Ample Hills, Hungryroot, Clubhouse, Petal, and goTenna.

Prior to Brooklyn Bridge, Charlie worked at Union Square Ventures and First Round Capital where he sourced GroupMe (acq. by Skype), SinglePlatform (acq. by Constant Contact), and Backupify (acq. by Datto), as well as Refinery29 and chloe+isabel investments.

Listen and Learn:

* Why Charlie doesn’t do follow on funding

* How Brooklyn Bridge built a fund of mostly angel LPs

* Why Charlie focuses on pre-seed startups

* Ways to prioritize time to prevent burnout

* How to Charlie uses dinners to design interesting encounters and build his network

* Why Series A isn’t that must safer than pre-seed

* How being a solo-VC affects a fund

* Ways to build awesome deal flow

* What Charlie learned from Fred Wilson and Union Square Ventures

Charlie’s Projects:

Charlie’s Angellist profile

Brooklyn Bridge VC

thisisgoingtobebig.com

Charlie’s Twitter: @ceonyc

Are you an accredited investor? Apply to join our angel syndicate if you’d like to access our deal flow.

Charlie O’Donnell has been an active member of the NYC startup community for over a decade. He is the sole Partner and Founder at Brooklyn Bridge Ventures that invested in the first rounds of Canary, The Wing, Ample Hills, Hungryroot, Clubhouse, Petal, and goTenna.

Prior to Brooklyn Bridge, Charlie worked at Union Square Ventures and First Round Capital where he sourced GroupMe (acq. by Skype), SinglePlatform (acq. by Constant Contact), and Backupify (acq. by Datto), as well as Refinery29 and chloe+isabel investments.

Listen and Learn:

* Why Charlie doesn’t do follow on funding

* How Brooklyn Bridge built a fund of mostly angel LPs

* Why Charlie focuses on pre-seed startups

* Ways to prioritize time to prevent burnout

* How to Charlie uses dinners to design interesting encounters and build his network

* Why Series A isn’t that must safer than pre-seed

* How being a solo-VC affects a fund

* Ways to build awesome deal flow

* What Charlie learned from Fred Wilson and Union Square Ventures

Charlie’s Projects:

Charlie’s Angellist profile

Brooklyn Bridge VC

thisisgoingtobebig.com

Charlie’s Twitter: @ceonyc

Are you an accredited investor? Apply to join our angel syndicate if you’d like to access our deal flow.

Jeff Clavier is the Founder and Managing Partner of Uncork Capital (formerly SoftTech VC), one of the original seed VC firms in Silicon Valley, having closed 200+ investments since 2004. An early angel investor in Web 2.0, Jeff and his team have backed successful startups like Mint (Intuit), Kongregate (GameStop), Brightroll (Yahoo), LiveRamp (Acxiom), Milo (eBay), Wildfire (Google), Bleacher Report (Turner), Gnip (Twitter), Fitbit (NYSE:FIT), Eventbrite, Sendgrid, Poshmark, Hired, Postmates, Shippo, Front and Molekule. The portfolio has also seen acquisitions by Groupon, Twitter, Facebook, Yahoo and AOL. The firm is currently investing out of its $100M Fund V, making on average 15 seed commitments of $1M per year in mobile/cloud saas, consumer services, connected devices, marketplaces and “frontier tech” (AI, AR/VR, autonomous vehicles, digital manufacturing and material science, space tech).

Listen and Learn:

* Why brand is incredibly important in venture capital

* The importance of networking and diversity in investing

* Why Jeff’s investment thesis had changed over the years

* The reason Uncork only invests in businesses that matter

* Why Jeff thinks blockchain is a just hype and manipulated markets

* How to think about investing in frontier tech

* What most people don’t know about venture

* How Jeff efficiently manages his time

* Why the best investments break your rule book

Jeff’s Projects:

Jeff’s LinkedIn

Uncork Capital

Uncork Capital’s Medium

Jeff’s Twitter: @jeff

Uncork Capital’s Twitter: @uncorkcap

Are you an accredited investor? Apply to join our angel syndicate if you’d like to access our deal flow.

Jeff Clavier is the Founder and Managing Partner of Uncork Capital (formerly SoftTech VC), one of the original seed VC firms in Silicon Valley, having closed 200+ investments since 2004. An early angel investor in Web 2.0, Jeff and his team have backed successful startups like Mint (Intuit), Kongregate (GameStop), Brightroll (Yahoo), LiveRamp (Acxiom), Milo (eBay), Wildfire (Google), Bleacher Report (Turner), Gnip (Twitter), Fitbit (NYSE:FIT), Eventbrite, Sendgrid, Poshmark, Hired, Postmates, Shippo, Front and Molekule. The portfolio has also seen acquisitions by Groupon, Twitter, Facebook, Yahoo and AOL. The firm is currently investing out of its $100M Fund V, making on average 15 seed commitments of $1M per year in mobile/cloud saas, consumer services, connected devices, marketplaces and “frontier tech” (AI, AR/VR, autonomous vehicles, digital manufacturing and material science, space tech).

Listen and Learn:

* Why brand is incredibly important in venture capital

* The importance of networking and diversity in investing

* Why Jeff’s investment thesis had changed over the years

* The reason Uncork only invests in businesses that matter

* Why Jeff thinks blockchain is a just hype and manipulated markets

* How to think about investing in frontier tech

* What most people don’t know about venture

* How Jeff efficiently manages his time

* Why the best investments break your rule book

Jeff’s Projects:

Jeff’s LinkedIn

Uncork Capital

Uncork Capital’s Medium

Jeff’s Twitter: @jeff

Alex Norman is a serial entrepreneur and tech community builder that is working to build Canadian tech communities across the country through events, connections, advice, and investment. He built arguably the top Toronto/Canadian based tech event: TechToronto, works with Angellist and runs an early stage investment syndicate.

Listen and Learn:

* How Trump’s immigration policies affect the Canadian startup ecosystem

* What Alex thinks about blockchain and boom/bust cycles

* How startups should leverage investors

* Why selling your business isn’t always what you expected

* How to build a top tier tech event to generate deal flow

* The reason Alex isn’t a sector focused investor

* How tariffs and NAFTA could affect investment in Canadian startups

* What Canada has done to promote startup innovation

* Why AI is overrated

Alex’s Projects:

Alex’s LinkedIn

Alex’s Angellist syndicate

Tech Toronto

Alex’s Twitter: @alexandernorman

Tech Toronto’s Twitter:@techtorontoorg

Are you an accredited investor? Apply to join our angel syndicate if you’d like to access our deal flow.

Alex Norman is a serial entrepreneur and tech community builder that is working to build Canadian tech communities across the country through events, connections, advice, and investment. He built arguably the top Toronto/Canadian based tech event: TechToronto, works with Angellist and runs an early stage investment syndicate.

Listen and Learn:

* How Trump’s immigration policies affect the Canadian startup ecosystem

* What Alex thinks about blockchain and boom/bust cycles

* How startups should leverage investors

* Why selling your business isn’t always what you expected

* How to build a top tier tech event to generate deal flow

* The reason Alex isn’t a sector focused investor

* How tariffs and NAFTA could affect investment in Canadian startups

* What Canada has done to promote startup innovation

* Why AI is overrated

Alex’s Projects:

Alex’s LinkedIn

Alex’s Angellist syndicate

Tech Toronto

Alex’s Twitter: @alexandernorman

Tech Toronto’s Twitter:@techtorontoorg

Are you an accredited investor? Apply to join our angel syndicate if you’d like to access our deal flow.