​VC Best Practices is an educational series for a group of relatively new investors who want to be exposed to the best venture and startup thinking. Each event is attended by accredited investors and non-partner VCs that skew intentionally, but not exclusively, toward underrepresented backgrounds.

Mike Maples of Floodgate once said that "truly great firms understand VC is a team sport". Success hinges on the collective expertise and collaboration of various individuals within a firm, rather than a single "star" player.

​In this panel, we'll talk to three investors whose experience ranges from actively building multiple firms, to having made recent hires, to actively hiring right now. They'll share their perspective on what they've seen work and what they're looking for when building a venture team.

​Speakers:

​​Beth Ferreira | Serena Ventures

​As an investor and advisor, Beth has focused her investment efforts in founders seeking transformational change, tackling large markets transformed by societal and technological pressures. She recently joined Serena Williams as General Partner at Serena Ventures.

​Prior, as a Managing Director and General Partner at FirstMark Capital, she led investments in Justworks, EvolutionIQ (NASD: CCSI), Skylar (Sold to Starco Brands), Workit Health, among others. She also founded and was Managing Partner at WME Ventures, the venture capital arm of the talent agency WME IMG, where she invested in innovative companies such as Glossier, Daily Harvest, Pinterest (NYSE: PINS), Warby Parker (NYSE: WRBY), Within (acq. by Meta) and Masterclass.

​Highlights of her extensive operating experience include Chief Operating Officer at Fab, the marketplace for modern design, where she led the strategic development and expansion of the company’s global operations, supply chain and customer service infrastructure. As an early senior executive at Etsy (NASD: ETSY), Beth led Finance & Operations and played a pivotal role in transforming the company into a lifestyle brand and profitable global e-commerce platform, seeing revenue growth skyrocket during her tenure.

​Aaron Liu | Northzone

​Aaron focuses on early-stage companies in the B2B SaaS, AI/ML spaces.

​Prior to Northzone, Aaron was on the Strategy & Operations team at Cloudkitchens, where he worked on solutions to help restaurants succeed in the food delivery industry. Before that, he worked in investment banking at Evercore in New York.

​Cole Mora | Galaxy Interactive

​Cole is an Investor & Chief of Staff at Galaxy Interactive. He began his career as an early employee at Highspot, a B2B SaaS unicorn based in Seattle, WA, focused on product and growth. He was recruited as a founding member of the CIO/CTO Advisory practice at Infosys Consulting, leading engagements across high tech and biotechnology. He next joined Struck Capital as an early-stage investor focused on sourcing acceleration, expanding diligence, and launching a venture studio. He is a graduate of Claremont McKenna College in Philosophy, Politics, and Economics (PPE) and a Leadership Studies Sequence.

Sponsors:

​​​​​Cooley LLP — Our lawyers advise venture capital firms, corporate VCs, growth equity firms, family offices and high-growth companies on 1,700+ private financings each year. We understand all angles and offer support at all stages of investment. Our integrated, cross-disciplinary team can take you from fund formation to investment to exit, partnering with your internal resources to guarantee seamless collaboration and offering the specialty platform you need to support your portfolio companies.

KPMG — Whether you are looking to reach new heights, embrace technology, plan for an exit, or manage the transition of wealth or your business to the next generation, KPMG Private Enterprise advisers can help you drive your business forward through each stage of the business journey. Your success is our legacy.

​​Stifel is a diversified global wealth management, investment bank, and commercial banking company. Our Venture Banking group provides commercial banking and debt capital financing solutions to venture capital-backed technology companies and their investors. Committed to supporting the innovation community, our entrepreneurial culture and long-term vision make Stifel Bank the right banking partner for Founders and Companies.

​This is event is hosted by nextNYC. To learn more about nextNYC and/or sign up for their newsletter, visit http://next.nyc