VL

Vanessa Liu

Entrepreneur | Board Director | Investor | Executive | Harvard Alumni Association Past President

New York, New York

Invests in

Stages:

Locations:

  • Min Investment:

    $100,000.00
  • Max Investment:

    $10,000,000.00
  • Target Investment:

    $1,000,000.00

Work Experience

2022

  • Co-Founder and CEO

    2022

    Sugarwork enables enterprises to own their tacit knowledge in order to surface the information people need to work better, and faster, whether they are coming, going, changing roles, or changing the business. Our platform connects individuals within organizations and leverages generative AI to make the information they share usable and valuable for them and their team.

2022

  • Non Executive Director

    2022

    Goodman (ASX: GMG) is a specialist global industrial property group. Goodman owns, develops and manages high-quality, sustainable properties that are close to consumers and provide essential infrastructure for the digital economy.

2020

  • Non Executive Director

    2020

    Appen Ltd (ASX: APX) is a global leader in the development of high-quality, human annotated datasets for machine learning and artificial intelligence.

  • Board Advisor

    2021

    Talking Talent helps organisations accelerate advancement for under-represented talent.

2019

  • Mentor

    2019

2011

  • Co-Founder

    2011

    Co-founder, interim CEO (Sep 2014 - July 2015) and current board observer of SaaS technology powering group experiences. Fevo’s technology brings friends and networks together for group experiences at premium live events (professional sports, concerts, festivals). ➢ Spearheaded pivot of company from initial business in nightlife to live events after identifying $10B market opportunity in digitizing group ticketing ➢ Developed and fostered portfolio of partnerships with major sports franchises (e.g., New York Yankees, Barclays Center, Madison Square Garden)

2018 - 2021

  • VP, SAP.iO Foundries North America

    2018 - 2021

    Invested in B2B intelligent enterprise start-ups (AI, blockchain, data analytics, machine learning, supply chain, etc.) through SAP.iO's no-equity ask accelerators in New York and San Francisco. SAP.iO is SAP's early stage venture capital division. Oversaw 12 cohorts, 87 startups, 80%+ of which are led by women / people of color, over $600MM raised by the startups collectively, and over 250 deals closed with SAP customers by the startups.

2011 - 2018

  • Co-Founder

    2011 - 2018

    Co-founder, executive board member and interim CEO (November 2012 - January 2013) of digital lifestyle publication for established, discerning men reaching 800K people daily. Executive board member overseeing business operations, growth strategy, finance, and legal. ➢ Incubated business and recruited, hired and trained management ➢ Cultivate and foster client advertiser relationships with exclusive luxury brands (Avion Tequila, Cadillac, Emirates, Gucci, Mercedes Benz, Michael Kors, Remy Martin, Samsung, Tag Heuer)

2011 - 2018

  • Chief Operating Officer | Chief Financial Officer | General Counsel

    2011 - 2018

    Day-to-day responsible of New York-based $22mm digital media incubator founded in 2011. Founded and built two portfolio companies from inception to fully operational businesses. Board member and operational oversight of Trigger Media’s portfolio companies, InsideHook and Fevo. ➢ Partner with digital media, tech innovator and investor Andy Russell (DailyCandy, Thrillist, Zynga) ➢ Oversee finance, operations and legal for $22MM digital media business incubator focused on curation services ➢ LPs include Guggenheim Partners, Allen & Company, Advance Publications and Red Sea Ventures ➢ Incubate and oversee portfolio companies, InsideHook and Fevo ➢ Source, identify, and oversee venture investments, including Bounce Exchange and Savoteur (Daily Secret) ➢ Manage deal structuring, negotiation and execution of investment activities, and liaise to portfolio companies on transactions, litigation and other matters

1998 - 2011

  • Associate Principal | Telecom, Media & Technology Practice

    1998 - 2011

    Led growth strategy work (digital, new markets) for CEOs of major newspaper and magazine publishers, TV broadcasters, and TV content producers, and B2B information services companies. This included work in new product development and launches, acquisition target identification, post merger integration, and due diligence for potential media investments for private equity firms. Sample engagements: ➢ Developed $500MM+ in concrete growth investment opportunities for global B2B news provider ➢ Spearheaded the launch of new, merged national newspaper. Doubled circulation to #2 position ➢ Re-launched two digital properties for European consumer magazine publisher. Increased online engagement in three months time, catapulting them to be #1 in their categories ➢ Launched new Internet access service for a European financial services provider. Became 4th most popular access service and sold at a premium to European internet access provider