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David Rodriguez

Entrepreneur & Investor in Climate, Proptech, & Fintech

Austin, Texas

Education

Work Experience

  • Co-Founder & Managing Partner

    2015

    • Internet technology investment fund focused on pre-seed and seed investments at the intersection of climate and fintech. • IRR as of March 2022 - Fund I: 72.84%, Fund II: 244.30%, Syndicates: 72.75% • 70+ portfolio companies including seven unicorns • Portfolio includes Notion, FabFitFun, Dfinity, Protocol Labs, Cosmos, Side Inc., Zipline, Subspace, Thrive Market, and AspireIQ. • Managed by David Rodriguez & Artia Moghbel - we’re technology startup COOs who have collectively raised $250M in venture financing as entrepreneurs. Our venture careers began a decade ago as venture capitalists at Greycroft Partners. More info: http://draftvc.com

  • Partner

    2019

    • David is a Partner and a board advisor of Hotel El Ganzo, a 69 room boutique cultural arts hotel on the coast of Baja Sur California, Mexico with three restaurants and beach club. • David held roles including General Manager and Asset Manager in 2019 as he stewarded the turnaround effort of the hotel, which included prioritizing sustainability, music and the arts, and community. • Hotel El Ganzo became the first B Corp hotel in Mexico due to its value of sustainability and commitment to the local ecosystems and climate. It is dedicated to the cultural arts with a monthly music and artist residency program, a recording studio in the basement. El Ganzo operates a community center that provides educational and community services for local children including arts, language, and permaculture classes. More info: http://elganzo.com

2017 - 2019

  • Chief Operating Officer

    2017 - 2019

    • Side Inc is the leading SaaS platform for residential real estate agents. • David joined Side Inc to help raise its Series A and scaled the company through Series C, overseeing Operations, Finance & Accounting, Brokerage, Customer Support, Legal, HR, and Recruiting with over 50 employees reporting to him. • Side Inc. recently raised over $200M at a $2.5B valuation from Matrix, Coatue Management, Tiger Global Management, ICONIQ Capital, and D1 Capital Partners, and is expected to go public. • More info: http://sideinc.com

2016 - 2017

  • Director of Strategy and Business Development

    2016 - 2017

    • Adobe acquired Livefyre in May 2016 - http://news.adobe.com/press-release/corporate/adobe-announces-agreement-acquire-livefyre • David led the integration of Livefyre and focused on Adobe’s AI and emerging technologies strategy.

2011 - 2016

  • Chief Operating Officer

    2011 - 2016

    • Livefyre is a real-time engagement platform that powers live conversation and social media curation on media and brand websites. • Initially an investor and board observer at Livefyre (via Greycroft Partners) before joining Livefyre full time in March 2012. • David was responsible for Operations, Finance & Accounting, Customer Success, Legal, HR, and Recruiting and ran an organization of over 100 employees. • Livefyre was Acquired by Adobe in May 2016

2010 - 2012

  • Investment Professional

    2010 - 2012

    • Greycroft is an early stage venture capital fund focused that invests in and grows digital media companies • David learned venture capital while investing under the mentorship of Alan Patricof, considered the "godfather of venture capital" having been in the business since the 1960s and founding APAX Partners, a $40B private equity fund. • David's responsibilities included evaluating investment opportunities, sourcing new deals, and working with existing portfolio companies. David was a board advisor for Livefyre Inc, Venmo, Pulse, and several other companies.

2009 - 2011

  • Co-Founder

    2009 - 2011

    • ArtExtend is an online art gallery focused on identifying, promoting, and selling original artwork created by artists in the developing world. ArtExtend’s objectives are twofold - to offer affordable artwork from the developing world to our customers and to provide opportunities for talented artists from the developing world to sell their artwork to first world markets.

2006 - 2010

  • Strategy Consultant

    2006 - 2010

    Senior Associate (January 2009 - September 2010) Associate (May 2007 - January 2009) Analyst (September 2006 - May 2007) • Client engagements across a number of industries, including retail, technology, industrials, aerospace and defense, medical devices, and private equity • Advised clients on a range of issues, including organic and acquisitive growth strategy, portfolio management, and post-merger integration • Appointed peer group leader responsible for managing a $20k annual budget, leading meetings of 10-20 colleagues, and communicating issues to the senior leadership team

2008 - 2008

  • Economic Development Consultant

    2008 - 2008

    • Volunteered at TechnoServe in Maputo, Mozambique during a 4 month sabbatical from Marakon • Developed a sustainable plan to bolster the development of the Mozambican forestry industry through collaboration with key stakeholders, including entrepreneurs, private companies, government officials, and potential investors • Created a business plan and financial model for an early-stage commercial forest plantation • Collaborated with over 10 private companies and entrepreneurs to initiate the creation of a Mozambican forestry industry association

  • Field Medical Equipment Engineer

    2006 - 2006

    • Repaired and installed over 30 pieces of medical equipment and trained staff in its use and maintenance at resource-starved hospitals in Managua, Nicaragua