EVCA Newsletter | April 2021 Edition - Tons of Jobs, Events, & More
Welcome back to the EVCA newsletter! In the spirit of celebrating the awesome contributions of our EVCA fellows, it is my pleasure to introduce our rock-star EVCA fellow, Isaac Snitkoff, who is helping charge our newsletter efforts to bring you the latest VC-related content to your screens. Isaac is currently a third-year undergrad student at SUNY Polytechnic Institute College of Nanoscale Science and Engineering (CNSE), founder of an ed-tech startup called Forealify, and a talented percussionist. A big thanks to Isaac and the rest of the EVCA fellows and leaders that make the EVCA possible.
And with that bit of introductory fanfare, we bring you the latest edition of the EVCA newsletter!
EVCA Spotlight: She Was an Engineering Leader at Then-Startup VMware and Growth-Stage Facebook. Meet Jocelyn Goldfein, Managing Director at Zetta Venture Partners.
We had the chance to interview Jocelyn Goldfein, who is Managing Director at Zetta Venture Partners, where she invests in AI-first, seed-stage companies with B2B business models. Jocelyn shares with us her origins story—from rising the ranks to VP of Engineering and General Manager at VMware when it was still a 300-person startup, leading Facebook’s pivot to a mobile-first company as a Director of Engineering, and finally, in her most recent role, leading seed investments as Managing Director for Zetta Venture Partners.
Featured Investors
This month we highlight Costanza Carissimo of Cathay Innovation and Chris Shanahan of DFJ Growth as our featured investors of the EVCA community.
Costanza Carissimo is a principal at Cathay Innovation, covering mostly B2B early-growth investments across Europe. Prior to joining Cathay in 2017, she was at Cherry Ventures, an early-stage VC fund based in Berlin. Before finding her true calling as a VC, she was once a lab researcher in low energy astro-particle physics at the Max Planck Institute for Physics in Munich. Costanza holds a Master’s Degree in Physics from Imperial College London.
Chris Shanahan is a senior associate at DFJ Growth, a venture capital firm focused on growth-stage investments in enterprise, consumer and disruptive technology companies. Prior to joining the firm in 2018, Chris was an analyst at Greenhill & Co. focused on mergers and acquisitions across a range of industries. Previously, Chris worked as an R&D medical device engineer within Boston Scientific’s neuromodulation unit and at Acclarent, an ENT-focused subsidiary of J&J, and he holds a bachelor’s in biomedical engineering from Cal Poly. Outside of work, Chris has spent the quarantine skiing at Alpine Meadows, hiking around Tahoe, and watching the Premier League.
EVCA Leadership Spotlight: Board Member, Kartik Gupta
This EVCA Leadership Spotlight Series is intended to help the broader community get to know what's going on behind the scenes at the EVCA, as well as highlight the valuable contributions of the roughly 50 individuals across the venture capital industry who make the EVCA possible.
Kartik Gupta is an investor at Salesforce Ventures, the venture capital arm of Salesforce that invests in the leading enterprise SaaS startups across the world. Before joining Salesforce Ventures, Kartik was at Industry Ventures working on primary and secondary deals across the venture landscape. He graduated from UC Berkeley, having studied Economics, Statistics, and Computer Science, along with having spent quite a bit of time working with various tech startups and angel investors in the valley. While originally from India, Kartik spent the last 8 years in Silicon Valley and at the end of 2020, moved to London. Lastly, he spends his free time playing sports, watching TV, and sailing.
What We’re Reading
One year into remote venture deals; what’s changed? - Alyssa Spagnolo, Associate at OMERS Ventures, discusses how the deal process has changed in a remote world
10 Factors to Consider When Evaluating a Robotics Startup - Chris Abshire, Senior Associate at Toyota AI Ventures, provides a helpful framework for investors to evaluate robotics startups
Construction Technology Market Map: 3 Opportunities Ahead - Lauren Weston, Associate at Thomvest Ventures, breaks down the construction technology market
Tech Evaluations - Kenn So, Associate at Shasta Ventures, on new trends on startup valuations
Events
Part 3: Fundraising Advice for Emerging GP's - One Year Later | April 1 | Hosted by Silicon Valley Bank
Future of Work: What's Next? | April 7 | Hosted by National Venture Capital Association
MedCity INVEST Virtual 2021 | April 19 - 23 | Hosted by MedCity News and Mid-America Healthcare Investors Network (MHIN)
Fintech Workshop | April 6 | Doon Insights
Global Technology Virtual Summit | April 27-28 | DLA Piper
Jobs
Associate Role in Chicago, IL at Lightbank. If interested, email Brad Baum at baum@lightbank.com
Analyst Role in San Francisco, CA at Streamlined Ventures. If interested, send your resume, a link to your Linkedin profile, and a single paragraph on why you are interested in this position in an email to nicky@streamlined.vc with the subject line: Analyst Application
Partner-track Role in San Francisco, CA at Emergence Capital. If interested, you can also send your resume and a quick note to kevin@mgv.vc
Associate / Senior Associate Role in Palo Alto, CA at Emerson Collective
Analyst / Associate Role in San Francisco, CA at Cathay Innovation
Associate Role in the Bay Area at Bain Capital Ventures. If interested, email Joe Suliman at Joe@DaversaPartners.com
Associate Role in San Francisco, CA at Telescope Partners. If interested, send resume and a note to Amit Parekh at amit@telescopepartners.com
Associate Role in San Fransico, CA at NextGen Venture Partners
Associate Role in Bay Area at Omers Ventures. If interested, email Eugene Lee at eulee@omersventures.com
Analyst / Associate / Senior Associate Role in Philadelphia, PA at Touchdown Ventures
Connect with us: EVCA, Sam, Adam, and Isaac
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