Hey! Look around here for relevant experience and tidbits.
I have a unique blend of hands-on operational, management, founding, financial, market assessment, coaching, consulting, creative, and strategic planning experience that is suited to identifying operators with strong growth potential and helping companies achieve more.
Venture Experience: Fellowship in NYC
In order to gain more exposure and learn about the mechanics of the industry I began to support the work of Rubicon Venture Capital, a venture firm with offices in NYC and SF. I have gained insight into deal sourcing, company filtering, due diligence, brand building, fund raising, and contributing to the venture & entrepreneurship communities. Learn more about RVC here
Product Launch & Market Assessment: PE Sale of New Pharma-Tech Device
Worked with management team of mid-size pharmaceutical devices company and their bankers on a market assessment for an in-development device as a measure to prepare the company to sell this business line. Assessment included survey and interview of specialists, secondary research, data synthesis, and translation into presentation.New Product Development Process & Opportunity Consulting
Worked with management team of pharmaceutical development outsourcing company to assess trends in the industry, assess painpoints in the development process, and identify opportunities for outsourced new product development.Product Launch & Market Assessment: New Clothing Co.
Reviewed with Founder a business plan concept revolving around short term household goods rentals. Performed initial market due diligence in order to better inform on the competitive landscape. Provided initial pain points in the conceptualized logistics system and made recommendations on areas for additional study.Entrepreneurship Pitch Competition Judge
Joined a panel of experienced entrepreneurs and operators to judge the Startup Hoyas pitch competition. Have continued to act as a mentor and provide feedback for multiple of the founders.
Venture Experience: VP of Programming, Venturing Hoyas
I conceptualize, organize, and curate panels and events to promote connectivity in the entrepreneurship and venture community. During my tenure VH has seen substantial organizational growth - the membership Y/Y growth rate increased by 350 percentage points in the first year alone. Membership now spans 58 cities across North America, Europe, and Asia. Learn more about VH here
Entrepreneurship Leadership: President, Georgetown MBA Entrepreneurship Club (part of Startup Hoyas)
Worked with @Hoyapreneur & Director of the Georgetown Entrepreneurship Initiative, Jeff Reid, to envision and execute the first of its kind at Georgetown, Entrepreneurship Summit. Keynote speakers included: Samer Hamadeh - Founder of Vault.com, David McCourt - Chairman & CEO of Granahan McCourt Capital, and Larry Robertson - Lighthouse Consulting. Further, enabled student entrepreneurs through panels, pitch opportunities, and hosting the Venture Capital Investment Competition. Learn more about Startup Hoyas at www.startuphoyas.com
Venture practice: Runner Up Internal VCIC Competition
Georgetown University runner up team in a competition that "turns the tables" with real entrepreneurs pitching student investor teams. Teams then must compe up with appropriate investment terms, build rapport with the founders, and prove they can add value to the entreprneur team. Learn more about VCIC here
Event: Silicon Alley - Fad or the Real Deal?
Organized a panel representing NYC venture firms to discuss the rise of NYC as a technology hub and changes in the dynamics of the local investing environment. Panelists:Event: State of FinTech
Organized a panel representing NYC financial technology companies and fintech focused investors to discuss the rise of the sector as a focus, the importance of NYC in this ecosystem, and the unique challenges startups face in this sector. Featuring:Event: Entrepreneurship Summit & Pitch Competition
Worked with @Hoyapreneur, Jeff Reid to envision and execute the first of its kind at Georgetown, Entrepreneurship Summit. Keynotes:
Event: Angel Investing in NYC
Organized a panel representing the NY angel community to discuss how one becomes an angel investor, what angels look for in investments, how to pitch your idea to an angel, and more. Featuring:Event: Stories with Chris Sacca
Supported a cobranded event on behalf of the Georgetown MBA Entrepreneurship Club.Education: NYU School of Professional Studies
Venture Capital Intensive.
Education: Georgetown MBA
Graduated with high honrs having focused on finance, entrepreneurship, and management. Served as the Georgetown MBA Entrepreneurship Club president as well as the VP of Fundraising for the Non-Profit Internship Fund.
Education: University of Virginia
Dual degree. BS in Commerce from the McIntire School of Commerce focusing on Management and Marketing. BA in Governmental Studies. Intern for the Center for Politics. UVa Volleyball Club player and President. Deans List.
Chief of Staff Across Venture Portfolio & Accelerator Consultant
Worked with the venture and accelerator arm of a Fortune 250 CPG company. High-touch project management and advisory for the suite of portfolio companies at various stages from pre-launch to early growth.Founding Interim Director / Incubator Launch Consultant
Worked with Chobani to bring the founder's vision for a startup incubator to fruition. Work included application process design, company diligence and selection, curriculum planning, mentorship setup, and strategic partnership creation. Program includes: Growth capital; curriculum (business strategy, growth planning, manufacturing, distribution, marketing, branding, etc); mentorship opportunities; connectivity to industry. Read press coverage here.Tech Founding: VenueMonster an IRL events company shifting to digital
Founded a young professionals' events company which drove incremental revenue by filling venues with guaranteed attendance during off-peak into peak hours. VenueMonster was an attempt to move this profitable business and existing relationships into the digital world. Lessons learned by the ultimate failure of this transition included building the right team, when and how to seek funding, and the need for speed over perfection.
Founding: Real Estate Company
As a student at the University of Virginia, utilized all elective classes to focus on building a real estate company. Analyzed the Washington, DC real estate market for underlying value trends. Raised .75 million based on a business plan, pre-leasing units, and a detailed plan to add value to property. Actively managed and redeveloped the property, grew cash flow year over year, and successfully exited business.Co-Founding & Board Leadership: Georgetown McDonough Ambassadors
Co-founded and lead the development of the organization's formalized structure as well as establishment and execution of its growth plan. We have successfully grown the organization into an international body made of approximately 60 local Ambassadors covering cities in 4 continents and representing thousands of connected alumni while providing regular expert panels, networking opportunities, and relevant news for constituents.
Read more about the Ambassadors here
Event: The Workforce & The Future: HR Tech in Hiring | #HiringTech
Hosted a panel of some of the hottest HR Tech companies of today, with a specific focus on hiring. We'll be discussing machine learning in HR, talent acquisition strategies, how marketing yourself will change in the next 10 yrs, recruiters today, workplace transparency, candidate screening, company exploration, and more here. Panelists:
Event: Venture Fund Founder: The Path There & Venture Perspectives | #FundFounder
Organized a panel of new and experienced venture capitalists who have founded funds to discuss where to find capital, the pros and cons of family and friends money, gaining credibility with LPs, investing as a career, how a small fund competes, their views on the current venture market, and more Read more about the event here. Panelists:
Event: Health Disrupt: Teching a Better Living | #HealthDisrupt
Organized a panel of entrepreneurs and investors focused on the intersection of health/wellness and tech. Discussion included the changing healthcare landscape, tech’s role now and in the future, as well as how regulation affects startups. Read coverage of the event here. Panelists:
Event: Alternative Liquidity Paths for Founders & Early Investors | #AltLiquidity
Working on behalf of Rubicon Venture Capital, organized a panel representing various alternatives for liquidity solutions. They compared and contrasted secondaries, foreign exchanges, private placements, and special venture terms that can provide liquidity options different from those of the major US stock exchange listing. NYC event here and SF event here Panelists:Leadership & Service Recognition: Pro bono consulting project
Built Capgemini Consulting's pro-bono practice in NYC, leading to the development of a company-wide national pro-bono initiative. Developed Strategic Corporate Partner status with anchor pro-bono client Smile Train and managed delivery of work over the course of multiple engagements. Read more about the work and award here
Event: Starting Up Media Relations for Startups
Organized a panel representing startup journalists, startups, and PR specialists to discuss the big questions about startup media relations including: if, how, and when startups should seek out press coverage, the ins and outs of publicity and earned media, what good media relations look like, how press can go bad and how to handle it, what coverage can mean for investments, etc. Read more about the event here Panelists:
Event: When Tech Disrupts Real Estate
Helped Rubicon Venture Capital organize a panel representing startup and venture capitalists focused on new technology in the real estate industry. Founder Panelists:
Event: Social Impact Investing
Organized a panel representing impact investing funds and funds of funds to discuss the social impact investing and the implications of a double bottom line. Panelists:
Event: Business of Food
Organized a panel of companies changing the face of the food industry. Topics included brand building, traceability/organic/health trends, product development, and more. Read more about the event here Panelists:
Founder: Current Consulting
Left "big consulting" to provide the freedom to work with founders and small businesses. Empower high growth clients with advisory services in product launch, competitive strategy, operations strategy, growth planning, business modeling & financial forecasting, data analysis, customer acquisition strategy, and strategic communications. Industry experience spans tech/media/telecom, edtech, consumer products & retail, finance, real estate, pharma/healthcare, energy, and non-profit. Learn more about services, see case studies, and read client testimonials at www.hellocurrent.com
Product Launch: Ed-tech SaaS Company
Work with funded EdTech SaaS company performing industry research and building a customized, intuitive, flexible, and intelligent financial model in addition to providing market entry, competition, pricing, and growth planning insights. This consulting project occured during their alpha trials and beta buildout, and prior to application and acceptance into an SF based accelerator and subsequent successful seed fundraising. Learn more about them at http://kickup.co
Venture Research: False-Negatives
Researching, interviewing, and writing on false-negatives in the venture world. Written as a discussion on the implications of false-negatives on portfolio returns especially in light of power-law returns. Light statistics to set the basis of the question and then heavy on stories. Goal is to learn myself about what made investors "opt out" of certain investments that went on to success and to synthesize all this information and share it with the world. This is a work in progress and growing more lengthy every month.
Product Launch & Competitive Assessment: Financial Services Data & Analytics Business
Worked with Business Unit leader to assess the market validity of providing a new platform solution, current state SWOT, competitive landscape, partnership options, and potential M&A.Tech Founder: "Mindset App" a TechCrunch Hackathon Project
Teamed up with four others to build a platform for teachers to share and discover problem sets associated with the topics they are covering. This allows teachers to learn from each other, focus on other aspects of improving the classroom learning setting, and provide students with much needed additional practice. This was a 24hr hackathon project - lots of fun and good learning opportunity.Expanded Venture CXN: Angel Bootcamp & NextView Ventures
Made the trip to Boston to learn from and meet some of the great angel investors, venture investors, and entrepreneurs including Alex Mittal, Ben Einstein, David Cohen, David Tisch, and Eric Paley. Relationships made there led to inviting NextView's NYC based principal, Tim Devane, to participate on a real estate tech panel. Learn more about this trip here
Product Launch & Sales Planning: "Young" Pharma Co.
Worked with COO and CFO on 2 phases of a new product launch in a highly regulated and competitive space: 1) Market and competitive assessment including financial modeling and competitive strategy; 2) Launch strategy creation including sales team and support planning.Product Launch & Business Plan Review: Beyond Neutral
Worked with the co-founders on their business plan as they sought additional funding to scale up operations on a new health-focused juice line.
CTO Business Technology Strategy & Innovation Workshop: Pernod Ricard
Worked with the Global CTO and the VP IT Group Governance through a four stage process focused on showing the strength of the technology function's delivery to the Business and the capability of regional CTOs in driving innovative efforts. The process:
Event: Entrepreneurs & Raising Private Equity
Organized a panel of investment firm founders and partners, representing companies with billions of assets under management. Panelists:Event: State of NY Venture Capital
Organized a panel of venture investors to discuss the current environment for venture investing locally, finding LPs for NY-based funds, and the intricacies of building relationships with startups in this ecosystem. Featuring:Event: Entrepreneurship Summit & Pitch Competition
Organized another full day of events at Georgetown surrounding entrepreneurship. Keynote Address: "Studying Entrepreneurship or Learning to Start Companies? What American College Students Should Know" Carl Schramm, President and CEO, Kauffman Foundation Panel Discussion: "Different Paths to an Entrepreneurial Career"Education: General Assembly - Back End Web Development
In order to more effectively communicate with tech teams of startups as well as gain more ability into prototyping and app development, I sought out learning back-end web development. This was a 10 week intensive evening course focused on programming fundamentals: MVC, OOP, Ruby, Rails, HTML, CSS, and bootstrap.Education: Udemy - Introduction to Javascript
Continued my developer education with 93 lecturers focused on understanding Javascript.Event: Entrepreneurship & The Capital Raising Process
Organized a panel with a seriel entrepreneur and seasons investors to discuss the private equity capital raising process, the ramifications of funding for a startup, and the balance between investor needs and those of the company. Featuring:Event: Design & Venture Discussion
Organized a panel of design experts to discuss the interplay between design, startups, and venture. Topics of focus included prototyping, UI/UX, product development and more. Featuring:
Event: Fashion Meets Startup Panel + Trunk Show
Organized a panel of companies changing the face of the fashion with a unique panel + trunk show model. Discussion revolved around brand building, traceability, tech enabled consumer, customer engagement, and more. Read more about the event here. To see the complete photo album check here Panelists:
Event: Enterprise Sales for Startups
Organized a panel of experienced entrepreneurs and sales executives to discuss the "how, when, and why" for outreach to decision makers, how your pitch changes after customer #1, building trust and credibility as a salesperson, setting sales KPIs in a new organization, when and how to build out a sales team, the salesperson's relationship with the delivery team, churn management, and more.
Read more about the event here
Panelists:WOW: Thanks for perusing this far... but this is just a taste of the events, education, curiosity, and projects that make up my experience and showcase my passion for entrepreneurship, tech, and venture.
To learn a bit more about me and connect check: LinkedIn
Follow Scott Taylor Howard