AFB

I’m a Venture Advisor at AI Fund and a partner at Social Ventures, a LLC I own with my technical co-founder Jeff Patterson. Social Ventures focuses on developing new technologies and helping other companies scale or spin-out new ventures.

Previously, I was co-founder and board member at Directly, from inception through acquisition by Movate in 2022. I also served as the company’s CEO for its first decade. Directly helped companies deliver better customer service while creating economic opportunity for people in the AI era. Companies like AT&T, Microsoft and Samsung use the platform to put their expert users at the core of their AI, resolving more questions with greater satisfaction.

Prior to Directly, I co-founded and/or led three startups: ShopWell (backed by IDEO, acquired by YottaMark); Visible Path (backed by Kleiner Perkins, acquired by Dun & Bradstreet); IUMA (angel backed, acquired by eMusic).

I started my stretch in Silicon Valley as an Analyst at R. B. Webber & Company from 1995 to 1998, after bicycling out from Washington, D.C. during the Netscape IPO that launched the Internet era.

At Yale University, I founded and was the Executive Director of the Habitat Bicycle Challenge, a cross-country cycling non-profit that raised money for low-income housing and ran from 1994-2006. I graduated with a BA in Philosophy, with a concentration in Psychology and coursework in Statistics.

I grew up in Montclair, NJ.