about me

I got started on my career early. As a kid, I dreamed of being an inventor, and by ‘inventor’, I mean ‘person who finally figures out how to make a real-life lightsaber’. It turns out that’s not a real job, so I went into science instead.

It took a couple of years (and half of a PhD) to discover that what excited me most about science was its ability to broadly effect change; and further, that the specialization required of academics would prevent me from contributing to this change in more than one or two narrow areas.

Fortuitously, I ended up in a classroom with Jeff Schox, who showed me how I could make my mark in technology through startup patent law and early-stage investing. At Schox Patent Group, I spent six years identifying, aiding, and investing in startups, including Cruise Automation, Duo Security, Eero, Kumu Networks, Twilio, and Vicarious (and picked up a law degree along the way). After Schox, I spent some time as an associate at Sutter Hill Ventures, where I focused on helping great people build companies to solve challenging technical problems. Now, I’m an Investment Manager at Evonik, helping source and support investments across a number of focus areas including health, materials, additive manufacturing, and digital transformation.

My life goals: becoming a technological titan, opening a beer bar, hiking the pacific crest trail, restoring a C3 corvette, and finally getting good at flower arranging. Only the first one is a joke; you should see what I can do with a few peonies and some greens…