A serial entrepreneur, published physicist, founder and co-founder of five companies, VSP founder John Taylor has consulted to top financial and technology firms in the U.S. He is currently a business & personal coach and CEO of the Maverick Masters, leading transformational adventures for thought leaders, entrepreneurs, executives, and executive management teams. He has been recognized by the Consulate General of the United States for his humanitarian work in Ecuador, is a Virgin Galactic Future Astronaut, and an avid kite-boarder.

 

Team Members:

VentureStreamPartners has the unique privilege of access to an advisory team that are amongst the industry leaders in innovation, internet application development, international trade and law, consumer products, private equity, SEO, marketing and branding, transactional financing, and venture capital.

Some of our advisory team include:

Craig Wichner:

Mr. Wichner is a seasoned executive with 23 years’ experience building successful venture-funded companies and creating and managing tangible-asset investment funds. Wichner helped raise over $125 million in 14 funding transactions (including a $33 million IPO) and has led three M&A transactions. Mr. Wichner served as CEO/President/CFO for three successful companies, two of which were venture-funded, and has served on boards and advisory boards including two venture funds. Mr.  Wichner is the Managing Partner of Farmland LP (www.FarmlandLP.com), a farmland real estate investment fund. Farmland LP acquires conventional farmland and converts it to organic, sustainable farmland for long-term cash flow and capital appreciation.  Mr. Wichner received a B.Sc. in Biochemistry and Molecular Biology with a minor in Economics from UCSD.

Erik Christiansen:

Mr. Christiansen was the COO/CTO of Sierra Snowboards, where Mr Christiansen managed the growth of sales from $0 at launch in 2005 to $24 Million by 2010. During that time Mr. Christiansen created the largest online snowboard community with 250k plus members which developed into a peer to peer shopping experience, and managed development of a proprietary web based shopping cart & community software which sustained a record sales day of $1 Million dollars and 3,500 packages in one day (March 2010). Sierra was acquired by Active Boarder Corp in 2010. Since Sierra, Mr. Christiansen has co-founded three additional companies: Justuno.com, Surfbreakrentals.com , and Webchalet.com.

Tim Lipton:

Mr. Lipton is a seasoned and accomplished finance executive, with over 20 years of experience working with both private and public companies, domestic and abroad. Lipton has worked with a number of technology and green-tech start-ups, as well as on Wall Street as an equity research analyst and investment banker where he covered consumer technology including the interactive entertainment software sector. Lipton has a deep understanding of the fundraising process and the challenges associated with the operational growth of young companies, and provides early stage consumer technology and green-tech companies a range of services. These services include financial modeling, review / restructuring of financial records (cleaning up the books), needs analysis, board selection / key employee identification, business plan creation and refinement, strategic positioning, merger and acquisition advisement, and capital raising activities.Previously VP of Consumer Technology with Morgan Keegan & Company, a subsidiary of Regions Financial, Lipton executed several IPOs and PIPEs. Lipton started his career on Wall Street with Morgan Stanley Dean Witter after receiving a BA in Economics from Vanderbilt University.

Stuart Browne:

Mr. Browne has over 20 years’ experience in financial services, commercial real estate, investment banking consulting, entrepreneurial ventures, and mortgage banking.   Mr. Browne has been responsible for institutional client acquisition, and actively advising clients on short duration fixed income portfolios, investments, and assets valued over $4B,  and has assisted state attorney generals in negotiating settlements for over $1.2B of securities. Earlier in his career, Mr. Browne led corporate development at two private investment banking companies, and was an advisor to multiple companies on capital raising from the private and public capital markets.  While still in college, he founded the fifth largest mortgage banking company in St. Louis, which he later sold to J.P. Morgan Chase.  Mr. Browne  holds a bachelor’s degree in Management, and currently holds advisory positions in venture capital and private equity funds.

Kyle Stewart:

Mr. Stewart founded his first company at 25;  a green tech company working with NASA and the US Department of Energy to provide hydrogen fuel cell technology to students and university researchers. His company distributed more than 5,000 fuel cell systems worldwide. From renewable energy Mr. Stewart moved to software, and as the VP of operations for a leading web design software platform, quickly let the expansion of the company to a customer base of over 18,000, and more than 400,000 downloads. Mr. Stewart has built worldwide  customer support  departments and communities, and has developed international partnerships and markets. Mr. Stewart holds a degree in Marketing from CU Boulder.

Mr. Felipe Herrera – Brazil:

Mr. Felipe Herrera is the Managing Partner of Herrera Advogados, a boutique Brazilian law firm based in Rio de Janiero, Brazil, specializing in private equity/venture capital, mergers and acquisitions, international contracts (subscription agreements, joint ventures, technology transfer agreements, etc) and general business law. Mr. Herrera was General Counsel and VP of Corporate Affairs for an technology startup from the Silicon Valley for several years became where he excelled in venture capital financing. Other members of the Herrera Advogados legal team include similar international experience, fluency in both English and French, and expertise in several practice areas, including, inter alia, labor law, environmental law, and real estate law. Herrera Advogados is a member of the Brazilian Private Equity and Venture Capital Association (ABVCAP), and has assisted VCs, accelerators, and startups in structuring businesses and financing in Brazil. The firm has recently partnered with Venture Stream Partners in order to strengthen the relationship between Brazil and Silicon Valley and to facilitate the access of American VCs to the Brazilian market.

Steve Mock:

Mr. Mock broad experience includes being founder or member of the management team of 5 venture-backed start ups, creator of 150+ distribution deals,acquisitions, corporate relationships, and venture financings ($32M) in 15+ countries.  Mr. Mock has secured deals with most major children’s entertainment, e-commerce, and media companies, including Sesame Workshop, Nickelodeon, Time Warner, Barnes&Noble.com, Toys “R” Us, Amazon.com, Wildbrain, The Parent Company and others.  Mr. Mock created product integrations around Zynga, Playdom, and Playfish, and secured press hits with major TV and online/print media outlets (Reuters.com, Daily Candy, Yahoo! Tech, Review Journal, The Big Idea with Donny Deutsch, KTNV ABC). Known for his management of dozens of product launches targeting consumers, enterprises, and OEMs in the Internet, gaming, mobile, enterprise networking, web, and consumer markets, one of Mr. Mock’s recent “projects” just filed for its IPO.

 

With such a deep bench, we bring the right skill and experience to the table when it’s needed for your success.

Contact us to discuss what your needs are, and let’s put the team together that will start your “Venture Stream.”