Jed Katz

Managing Director

2009

Currently on the boards of Thumbtack, SmartAsset, HighArc, Fello, Landed, Arrive and Linqia, and am a board observer for MasterClass, Homeward and Carbon Health.

Managing Director

2005 - 2009

Chief Operating Officer

2003 - 2005

Yamcon invented, and has been granted 4 patents on revolutionary technology that allows a handheld device called "The SkyScout" to instantly identify and/or locate any celestial object visible to the naked eye. Yamcon developed The SkyScout to dramatically improve how people learn about astronomy, making it much easier and more entertaining. As Yamcon's COO, I was responsible for developing the business plan, raising the capital, forming a launch strategy, enticing all of our targeted retailers to desire to sell and promote The SkyScout, negotiating our licensing deal with our manufacturing and distribution partner Celestron, and generally advising on all strategic issues. Since its launch in early 2006, the SkyScout was named one of the best inventions of the year by both Time Magazine and Popular Science Magazine (with full page coverage in both), and it won "Best of Innovations" at the 2006 Consumer Electronic Show.

Chief Operating Officer / Founder

1999 - 2001

Move.Com was a highly successful real estate portal formed from the content, tools and infrastructure of my former company Rent Net. As the COO and co-founder, I was responsible for developing the strategy, hiring the senior management team, business development, assisting Goldman Sachs on the IPO preparation and road show presentation, and helping to get the ultimate sale of the business approved by the FTC. Predicated on the success of the Rent Net business model, Move.com was on the verge of an IPO in the spring of 2000 when the market window became closed. About a year later, Move.com was acquired by Homestore in February 2001.

Chief Operating Officer / Founder

1994 - 1999

Rent.Net was the pioneering site of online real estate. Started in 1994, Rent Net was the Internet's first rental and relocation guide, and it quickly became one of the most visited and one of the only profitable websites. Rent Net won many awards for innovation, was a charter advertiser of Yahoo’s and other search engines, and achieved an incredible 90% market share in its sector. Rent Net was acquired by Cendant in 1996, but my partner and I continued to run it for five more years. As the COO and founder, I developed the strategy, created and distributed marketing collateral, signed many major accounts, built an effective CRM system, implemented an efficient operations system, hired senior management and grew staff from 2 to 160 people, established a strong and outstanding corporate culture, and built a brand that was recognized by 99% of its industry.

Vice President

1993 - 1994

Southwest Housing Investments focused on using low-income housing tax credits as a way to finance the purchase and rehabilitation of apartment buildings. We would compete with other projects for the tax credits, purchase apartment buildings in need of repair, and then syndicate them to corporate investors seeking the use of tax credits. As the Vice President, I would help find apartment complexes that need rehabilitation, compete for low-income housing tax credits from state governments, and prepare limited partner syndications.

Financial Analyst

1992 - 1993

Century Pacific would be the general partner in limited partnerships that would syndicate low-income housing tax credit properties across the country. In effect, they were a middle-man in real estate deals involving tax credits. My role was to evaluate low-income housing tax credit deals and prepare marketing and information collateral for private placement memorandums.