New to VC: Taking the Platform Route

​The platform role comes in many flavors from fund to fund, and some venture professionals have used it as a springboard to joining the investment side. Others are moving from investing to various types of portfolio support. We'll discuss the platform role and the career paths around it with three venture professionals who have experience on both the investment and platform teams.

​New to VC is an educational series for a group of relatively new investors who want to be exposed to the best venture and startup thinking. Each event is attended by accredited investors and non-partner VCs that skew intentionally, but not exclusively, toward underrepresented backgrounds.

​Speakers:

​Olivia O'Sullivan, Partner at Forum Ventures

​At Forum, Olivia leads a word-class Platform team that spans across investing, marketing, community-engagement, GTM support, and fundraising. We're on a mission to make the entrepreneurial journey more accessible, and successful, for early-stage B2B SaaS founders. Through our studio, accelerator, and seed fund we've backed 300+ startups that have gone on to raise $1B+ in follow-on funding. In addition to Forum, Olivia is an active angel-investor, mentor and ultra-marathoner.

​Cat Middleton, General Partner at The Venture Collective

​By way of background, Cat spent a decade operating in early stage startups before joining the Primary Ventures partnership where she played a critical role in shaping the firm's post-investment approach for the better part of five years. Today, she is a General Partner and founding team member at The Venture Collective (TVC), a transformational, early-stage venture firm backed by world class entrepreneurs and business leaders. Led by a seasoned team of venture investors, ex-founders, and investment management executives, they invest their capital, time, and network into highly defensible, fast-growing companies with the potential to solve the world’s largest problems. In her spare time, Cat also works closely with the W Fund, ADP Ventures, and PeopleTech Partners. If you'd like to get in touch, she is @thecatmiddleton on all the social networks.

​Lexi Quirk, Head of Product and Platform at 645 Ventures

​Lexi Quirk is the Head of Product and Platform at 645 Ventures. As Head of Product, Lexi guides the development of their proprietary software, Voyager, in alignment with the firm's investment strategies. She works closely with the 645 engineers, developing the product roadmap and ensuring the platform evolves to meet the firm's needs. Lexi also leads the 645 Ventures' platform team, which aids founders in PR, recruiting, and Go-To-Market tasks. 

Sponsors:

​Haymaker is a public relations firm based in New York, which works with the most exciting high-growth companies operating in the U.S., including Oatly, G2, Gympass, and Pipedrive.  

​Cooley LLP — Our lawyers advise venture capital firms, corporate VCs, growth equity firms, family offices and high-growth companies on 1,700+ private financings each year. We understand all angles and offer support at all stages of investment. Our integrated, cross-disciplinary team can take you from fund formation to investment to exit, partnering with your internal resources to guarantee seamless collaboration and offering the specialty platform you need to support your portfolio companies.

​Whether you are looking to reach new heights, embrace technology, plan for an exit, or manage the transition of wealth or your business to the next generation, KPMG Private Enterprise advisers can help you drive your business forward through each stage of the business journey. Your success is our legacy.

​This is event is hosted by nextNYC. To learn more about nextNYC and/or sign up for their newsletter, visit http://next.nyc