“Wealth is not about having a lot of money; it's about having a lot of options.”
Chris Rock
Chris Rock
Jimmy Lackie
Jimmy has over three decades of experience in venture capital, private equity and alternative investments. He began his career trading commodity futures (Cook Industries, Dunavant Enterprises, Refco, Lackie Trading) and after a number of years as a successful trader he transitioned to private company investing. He has served as a director and/or investor in companies across multiple sectors including communications, information technology, insurance, finance, retail, and medical devices. Jimmy is registered as an Introducing Broker with the Commodities Future Trading Commission (CFTC) and is a member of the National Futures Association (NFA). He earned a B.A. in Business Administration and Finance in 1976 (cum laude) from the University of Memphis, where he currently serves as a member of the Board of Visitors. He is also a Director of Youth Villages, Inc. and The Campbell Foundation.
Stephen Roberts
Stephen has extensive experience in sourcing, structuring, and managing equity investments. He has been involved in all aspects of entrepreneurial businesses, including line management, capital allocation, personnel management, sales, and marketing. For the first 10 years of his career, Stephen was a transactional lawyer. He subsequently began investing in and operating cellular telephony properties. Stephen has made direct equity investments and/or served as a director in businesses in the telecommunications, energy, medical devices, insurance, and information technology sectors. Stephen graduated cum laude from the Harvard Law School in 1986 and summa cum laude from Mississippi State University in 1982.
Scott Chou
Scott has been in the venture capital industry since 1997 and was recently recognized by Always On as a Top 100 venture capitalist. He is known for his focus on disruptive technologies and for authoring Maxims, Morals, and Metaphors - A Primer on Venture Capital. Scott’s passion for early stage technology ventures extends back to high school when he joined his first startup as a software engineer. He has since worked for five more technology ventures including Poqet Computer and ICE in addition to world-renowned research and development organizations such as Bellcore and IBM. His broad expertise in technology spans the industry from manufacturing to software development to chip design. Scott actively maintains his technical expertise as the creator of Oh Don't Forget!, a popular mobile app for Android and iOS devices. He completed the prestigious Kauffman Fellows Program in 1999 with Onset Ventures and later joined Gabriel Venture Partners in early 2000 where he focused on research labs for fundamental innovations. Scott's first investment at Gabriel was in the seed round of NextG Networks which eventually sold to Crown Castle for $1 billion. Scott’s educational background includes a bachelor’s degree in electrical engineering with honors from Caltech as well as master’s degrees from Harvard University and Stanford University.
Tony Tsao
Tony Tsao has over seventeen years of experience in venture capital, alternative investing and investment banking for high-growth technology and healthcare companies. He is responsible for all aspects of the ESO Fund's investment process, including sourcing, structuring, executing, and managing transactions with employees of venture-backed companies. Previously, Tony served as a Principal at Western Technology Investment, a leading venture debt fund. Prior to WTI, he was a Vice President at Saints Capital managing direct secondary investments, and an Investment Manager at H&Q Asia Pacific focused on early to late-stage venture capital. He began his career in investment banking with Lehman Brothers in New York and London. He earned a BS in Economics, cum laude, and an MBA from The Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania.
Ken Goldman
Kenneth Goldman has over twenty years experience in various finance and operations roles. Prior to joining the ESO Fund, he managed claims and pricing functions at the PMI Group, where he led a decision science team in developing predictive analytics for assessing mortgage default risk. At ESO, Ken manages the inside sales team and specializes in developing methodologies for rapid risk assessment and pre-qualification. Ken began his career as a financial analyst at the Thelen law firm and operated his own consultancy through the dot.com era, serving in diverse roles from web developer and financial tool builder to project manager and corporate technology trainer. He began his education at Yale University and holds a B.S. in Business Administration from Cal State.
Mark Wang
Mark Wang has over twenty-five years of data science and advanced analytics experience. His expertise is mining large volumes of structured and unstructured data for high impact business opportunities and innovative data products. Previously, he was Chief Data Scientist at Chegg.com, where his insights and models from analyzing Internet traffic patterns helped propel the venture-backed e-commerce startup through a successful IPO (NYSE:CHGG). Prior to Chegg, Mark was a senior researcher at the RAND Corporation "Think Tank" where he was awarded Al Gore's "Hammer Award" for data-driven initiatives that dramatically improved government logistics efficiencies. At RAND, Mark led and managed two federally-funded research and development centers, supporting the Department of Defense, and the White House Office of Science and Technology Policy. He earned SB degrees in mathematics and physics, and an ScD in particle physics while on a National Science Foundation graduate fellowship, all from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology.
Huan Sun
Huan Sun graduated from MIT with a Master’s degree in Comparative Media Studies. At MIT she developed expertise in analyzing new technologies from the perspective of social innovation and impact. Huan is also actively engaged with the startup community and joined an early-stage social media analytics company right after MIT. At the ESO Fund, she deploys a broad range of quantitative methods to research venture-backed companies and develop predictive analytics that refine and complement the firm’s investment analyses. Her undergraduate degree is from Tsinghua University, Beijing, China.
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