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Session D

Midday Keynote Roundtable: Demystifying Alternative Capital Sources

Presented By: Smart Business Dealmakers

Private Equity. Venture Capital. Family Offices. Funds of Funds. Angel Investors. To far too many entrepreneurs, CEOs, founders, and executives, they’re just terms they hear M&A professional throw around. But what is the purpose of each, and when are they most appropriate in the growth journey of any non-lifestyle business? Join a group of investors and a CEO who has used different types of capital to fuel his companies as they pull back the curtain and have an engaging conversation about what you should know about each.

Moderator:

Dustin S. Klein
Chief Content Officer
Smart Business

Dustin is an award-winning business journalist, bestselling author, and the chief content officer of Smart Business. Over the past 30 years, he has interviewed thousands of business and civic leaders, and helped more than 50 CEOs and entrepreneurs transform their ideas into books. A trained investigative politics reporter and former digital media entrepreneur, Dustin joined Smart Business in 1997 after serving as an editor at several daily newspapers.

Panelists:

Jim Emling
CEO
Datassential, Inc.

Jim Emling is the CEO of Datassential, the leading sales & consumer intelligence platform for the global food services industry. He is also a senior advisor to Spectrum Equity, a growth equity firm with over $10bn under management. Jim began his career as the founding CTO and president of Milwaukee-based Zywave. Jim is a 25+ year veteran in the SaaS space, a 15-year veteran executive of PE-backed tech businesses, and has shepherded six 9-figure exits as either an officer or director. A native of Milwaukee, Jim received his MBA from Marquette University and his undergraduate degree from the University of Wisconsin.

 

Dana Guthrie
Managing Partner
Gateway Capital

Dana A. Guthrie is Managing Partner at Gateway Capital, a venture capital firm focused on Wisconsin-based, early-stage startups. Prior to her current role, Guthrie founded and managed Alchemy Angel Investors, an angel investment network. She founded Alchemy while being employed full-time at a Fortune 500 company and managing a multi-million dollar, global product offering.

Guthrie is a two-time patent recipient, holds a B.S. in Computer Engineering from Milwaukee School of Engineering, and a M.S. in Energy Engineering from University of Illinois at Chicago.

She is a member of Blacks in Tech and serves on the board of the Milwaukee Metropolitan Association of Commerce (MMAC) and Teens Grow Greens.

 

Dave Sachse
Manager
Sachse Family Fund

Dave Sachse, an angel investor and managing partner at Sachse Family Fund, a pre-seed/seed fund whose LPs are only family members. Manager of Family VC, a global network of 80+ family offices collaborating on all things VC.

 

Carrie Thome
Managing Director
NVNG Investment Advisors

Carrie Thome is a seasoned executive with decades of experience in delivering top-quartile investment results. In her former role of Chief Investment Officer for the Wisconsin Alumni Research Foundation (WARF), Carrie oversaw management of a $3B investment portfolio, managing a team of seven financial professionals. In 2017 and 2016, she was named the 26th and 18th most powerful institutional investor in the world by Chief Investment Officer.

Conference Location

758 N Broadway
Milwaukee, WI 53202
Tel: (414) 273-5080