Thanks for reading! I'm an overachieving Texan, with an atypical “portfolio career”, obsessed with true leadership and exceptionalism in our state’s venture & startup world. I value original thought, unmatched work ethic, experimentation, and intellectual horsepower.

For 15 years I've worked in multi-disciplinary and highly entrepreneurial roles, mostly in downtown Austin, Texas. The majority of last decade I worked at what was Austin’s first venture studio. I then spent time at an accelerator, angel network, more recently cofounding and leading a local and then statewide venture association.

I am known for hosting 20+ venture-focused events, and organizing the largest in the state with nearly 3,000 Texans, called the Texas Venture Fest (formerly, Texas Venture Crawl). It was an example of what Texans can do when we act together, co-creating the only truly Texas-sized networking and educational experience with 12 cities, 19 venues, and 3,000 Texans.

We convene all of the Texas Venture Fest co-hosts under one roof for the Texas Venture Gala & Forum featuring our state’s greater venture community of: venture capitalists, incubators, accelerators, angel networks, family offices, universities, chamber of commerce & economic development corporation funds, and more. It’s a uniquely Texan experience filled with panels, firesides, and keynotes during the day, followed by awards and one heck of a dinner together in the evening.

Both Texas Venture Fest and the Texas Venture Gala & Forum are sister signature events launched and led by the Texas Venture Alliance, a non-profit I cofounded promoting the statewide ecosystem of startup support. There I’m also editor of the Texas Venture Newsletter, a curated list of venture-focused events and resources to a readership of 8,000, published 2x a month.

At the age of 32, I was the youngest Executive Director of a venture capital association in the US while cofounding and launching the Austin Venture Association. The next year, I accepted an “Organization of the Year” award from the Austin Asian Chamber of Commerce recognizing work in the local Asian community.

Outside of startups and venture, I’m a member of the board of directors at the Texas State Chamber of Commerce where I’ve helped advise on new memberships, events, marketing, and strategy. I’m a World Economic Forum Global Shaper who spoke in Davos, a political campaign advisor & creator of multi-award winning campaigns for a few different Texas mayors, and… an IBM baby who grew up at computer shows!

VENTURE

For the majority of last decade, I worked at Austin’s first venture studio headquartered downtown helping launch several early stage tech companies and concepts for a handful of senior executives. There, I worked on special projects to launch startups and new initiatives. I also made recommendations to buy, build, or invest in new technologies supporting the portfolio.

I have also consulted with startup accelerators in portfolio and platform capacities.

For two years I served as an active member of Shaper Impact Capital, a World Economic Forum millennial group focused on impact investments. I’m proud to be a former Venture Fellow at Next Wave, a group that invested in female founders working in impact.

I was also part of the first graduating class for “VC University”, a National Venture Capital Association initiative.

In 2021, I was named a mover and shaker by Austin VCs in TechCrunch, creating success and helping entrepreneurs during the pandemic.

ENTREPRENEURSHIP

At the onset of pandemic, I cofounded ATX KIT, a direct-to-consumer snacks company that supported over 50 local food entrepreneurs. We were acknowledged with a “50 On Fire” award from Austin Inno.

Simultaneously, I also created Founder House Austin, an entrepreneur co-living experience hosted inside luxury hotels in downtown Austin.

In 2020, I also helped launch startup concepts via weekend hackthons via my On Deck fellowship in 2020 (ODF6) and helped win 3 different awards.

In 2017 I created a coworking concept called Switch Cowork, where we turned under-utilized restaurants into “underground networks” of workspaces during the day. For this company, I was selected to join and received a grant for a UBS / Rent the Runway intensive program in NYC.

The first startup I launched was in 2015, a young professionals’ networking app called The Dime Club.

GOVERNMENT

In 2018 and 2019, I was asked to work on Austin and Fort Worth mayors’ successful re-elections. Both campaigns I created/executed were awarded the American Association of Political Consulting’s Gold & Silver Pollies, and were Campaigns & Elections’ Reed Award finalists.

In 2018, I participated in the first invite-only, “REALITY” program gathering investors and startup founders working in emerging tech. This was a leadership initiative hosted in Israel by the Schusterman Foundation.

In 2018, I also served as the first social media ambassador for the City of Austin after being invited to join their CityWorks Academy. I met with the heads of each major department in the city to learn about and better understand their goals and operations. I also met with the communications team to advise them on social media strategy.

In 2017, I was the youngest committee member on the appointed 7 person group for the City of Austin’s Grant for Technology Opportunities Program. We reviewed and advised our local government’s deployment of a fund for nonprofits addressing technology accessibility.