Joe Guzel, Senior Associate Crosslink Capital. Joe joined Crosslink in 2016 and is focused on investments in financial technology, digital media, e-commerce, and consumer technology. Prior to joining Crosslink, Joe was an investor with CrossCut Ventures, an LA-based Seed firm, where he focused on investments across consumer tech, gaming, ecommerce and digital media. Prior to his career in venture, Joe was with Intuit where he held a variety of operating roles; most notably with the Corporate Strategy and Development team where he focused on global expansion initiatives and participated in over $2B worth of M&A transactions.
Interviews
Ken Elefant, Sorenson Capital Partners #insurtech
Ken Elefant Sorenson Capital Partners since 2017 and leads the firm’s early-stage technology practice. enjoys working closely with entrepreneurs to help them attack new market opportunities and gain access to key initial customers and partners. His efforts have led to recognition as one of the most connected names in tech. Before joining Sorenson, Ken was Managing Director at Intel Capital and VP at Intel Corporation. Leading the software and security groups at Intel Capital, Ken invested in several market-leading companies including AtHoc (Blackberry), Prolexic (Akamai), Carbon Black, DocuSign, Forescout, AlienVault, Venafi, Vectra Networks, Gigya, BrightEdge, among many others. Prior to Intel Capital, Ken was a founding general partner at Opus Capital. While at Opus, he served on the boards of Spock Networks (Intelius), Transpond (Webtrends), Supersecret (Knowledge Adventure), Alert Enterprise, Jivox, and TrustedID (Equifax). Previously, Ken was a Senior Associate at both Lightspeed Venture Partners and Battery Ventures. Before business school, Ken worked at Radius, Claris Corporation (the software subsidiary of Apple), and RealNetworks. Ken received an MBA from Harvard Business School and holds a Bachelor of Science in economics from the Wharton School of Business. He is a Kauffman Fellow.
Chris Downer, XL Innovate #insurtech
Chris Downer Associate XL Innovate focusing on insurtech investments in North America, Europe and Asia. Before joining XL Innovate, Chris was an Associate in the Alternative Investments and Manager Selection Group within the Investment Management Division of Goldman Sachs, where he was on a 40-person team managing $110+ billion in long-only equity and fixed income assets. During his five years at Goldman, he developed special expertise in emerging markets and Asia and worked in both the New York City and London offices. Prior to that, he interned as a Research Analyst with Klingenstein Fields and as a Sponsorship Team Member for the NHL’s St. Louis Blues. He also served as a translator and guide for the U.S. Olympic Committee during the 2008 Summer Olympic Games in Beijing. Chris graduated magna cum laude from Dartmouth College, with a BA in Asian and Middle Eastern Studies and a minor in History. Chris was co-captain of the Dartmouth Rugby team, which won the National Championship in rugby sevens in 2011. Chris graduated from Phillips Exeter Academy with high honors and was awarded the Yale Cup with his twin brother, recognizing outstanding scholarship, athletics and citizenship among their peers. Outside of XL Innovate, Chris is a dedicated cyclist, avid New York Rangers fan and American History buff.
Ken DeLeon, Founder DeLeon Realty #disruptrealestate
Ken DeLeon Founder DeLeon Realty. Ken was a scholar – he has a degree in mathematics and economics, and graduated from Berkeley Law. Ken was a lawyer – he practiced law at Wilson Sonsini Goodrich & Rosati, one of the nation’s most prestigious law firms and the largest firm in Silicon Valley. Ken is a real estate rockstar – it took him less than ten years to skyrocket from a brand new agent to one of the country’s best and most successful, with over $275 million in sales in 2011 alone. In June 2012, the Wall Street Journal and REAL Trends, Inc. announced that Ken DeLeon was the nation’s #1 real estate agent out of over 1.2 million agents, the only agent in Silicon Valley to ever be ranked the nation’s top agent. Ken and his team sold over $330 million in 2013 and over $550 million in 2014, and he regularly appeared in newscasts and storied in national shows and publications.