How would you describe your role?
As a VCapital partner, I get to look at 1000+ companies per year, source the best deals, review them, complete due diligence, and help our portfolio companies succeed. Another aspect of my day is working with super-smart MBA candidates from the University of Chicago or Northwestern University. We work together on due diligence reports and analyzing the amazing insights that we hear from entrepreneurs. I'm also a mentor for members of 1871 in Chicago.
What about your background led you to VCapital?
I get my perspective from being a former Options Trader, a serial entrepreneur with several patents, a consultant for hedge funds and family offices, and 100+ pound Bernadoodle owner. As a venture associate at DreamIt Ventures, I actively screened companies for their accelerator program. Then, I co-founded Beyond Barriers Therapeutics which won the National Institutes of Health Neuro Startup Challenge and I recently completed the National Science Foundation's I-Corps program. My degrees come from the University of Illinois and the University of Chicago Booth School of Business.
A local publication recently wrote a profile about me. You can read it here.
Why is venture capital so appealing to you?
I like the idea of identifying alternative solutions to everyday problems, so I founded RK Inventions LLC. With four issued patents, I have sold products worldwide and installed a new product at Johns Hopkins Hospital to reduce hospital-acquired infections. I have been featured on WGN-TV and in numerous publications. However, one of my proudest achievements was winning a Rock-Paper-Scissors competition which was featured on NBC.