Prince Harry is a humanitarian, mental health advocate, environmentalist, and military combat veteran. His work is dedicated to creating positive and lasting change for communities and the planet, particularly in advancing conversations around resilience and healing.

He is the co-founder of the Archewell Foundation, whose mission is to show up and do good. The Foundation focuses on social impact initiatives, including digital safety and education, all under the umbrella of protecting our collective mental health. Prince Harry is also the founder of the Invictus Games, an international adaptive sporting event that celebrates wounded service members and veterans from 25 nations.

Since 2021, he has served as Chief Impact Officer at BetterUp, the largest mental health and coaching startup in the world, and alongside his wife became investors in Ethic, a sustainable investing platform. In that same year, he was asked to join a panel of experts at the Aspen Institute's Commission for Information Disorder. In 2023, he was named a New York Times best-selling author for his memoir, Spare.

Having left the UK in 2020, Prince Harry resides in California with his wife, Meghan, Duchess of Sussex and their two children, Archie and Lili. Together, they remain dedicated to building a more compassionate, equitable world for future generations.

David Baszucki is the founder and CEO of Roblox. His vision is to build a platform that enables shared experiences among billions of users. The company has been widely recognized for its innovation and vision under Baszucki’s leadership.

TIME named Roblox one of the “100 Most Influential Companies,” and it has been recognized by Fast Company for innovation on their “Most Innovative Companies” and “Most Innovative Companies in Gaming” lists. Roblox was also recognized as an innovative workplace on Fast Company’s “Best Workplaces for Innovators” list and for its technical innovations on Fast Company’s “Innovation by Design” list.

Previously, David founded Knowledge Revolution, where he and his brother Greg created “Interactive Physics,” a leader in educational physics and mechanical design simulation software. David graduated from Stanford University as a General Motors Scholar in Electrical Engineering.

Tim joined GoFundMe as CEO in March 2020. Under his leadership, GoFundMe has become the global leader in modern giving across B2C and B2B with the acquisition of Classy in 2022, and
together the two companies have empowered people and organizations to raise more than $30 billion since 2010. A rm believer that the desire to help others is a fundamental human truth, Tim’s vision for the company is to be the most helpful place in the world.

Prior to GoFundMe, Tim was CEO of OpenX, a pioneer of programmatic advertising technology. From 2003-2008, Tim served as SVP of Global Advertising Marketplaces at Yahoo!, where he led the ad business and, previously, the consumer search business. Prior to joining Yahoo!, Tim was VP of Search at Overture and a consultant at The Boston Consulting Group and McKinsey. He has a BSc from London School of Economics, an MPhil from Oxford University, and an MBA from Stanford University. Tim serves on the boards of Liveramp (NYSE: RAMP), Slickdeals and OpenX.
Tim is a volunteer for Sierra Madre Search and Rescue, completing a wide range of SAR operations in the mountains of Southern California and the Sierra Nevada.

A renowned business innovator, dedicated civic leader and actively-involved philanthropist, Rick J. Caruso is the founder and Executive Chairman of Caruso®, one of the largest and most admired privately held real estate companies in the United States.
Under Caruso’s leadership, the company has achieved a compounded annual growth rate of nearly 20% since its inception. Its world-class portfolio continues to expand and
includes the most internationally renowned and award-winning retail, residential, mixeduse properties and his newest addition, a Forbes 5 Star resort hotel destination, Rosewood Miramar Beach in Montecito, California. As cited by Green Street Advisors,
Caruso properties consistently outperform traditional shopping destinations based on productivity and sales per square foot, with results three times higher than the industry average. Its flagship property, The Grove was ranked #2 on Fortune’s list of the 10 highest sales- generating shopping centers in the country.
Caruso started his career as a real-estate lawyer in the corporate finance department of one of the nation’s largest law firms. Thereafter, he transitioned from law to pursue his
lifelong passion for development, establishing Caruso Affiliated Holdings in 1987. Ignoring the traditional “shopping mall” approach to retail, he adopted a fresh, new strategy for
development and revolutionized the industry with imaginative retail and mixed-use destinations that serve as timeless and beloved centers of town.

At the heart of Caruso’s award-winning development approach is a deep respect and understanding of civic responsibility and a fierce loyalty to surrounding communities— the result of decades of hands-on experience in public service. Early in his career, he served as the youngest Commissioner in the city’s history when Mayor Tom Bradley appointed him Commissioner for the L.A. Department of Water and Power. In that role, he brought
a 25-year-old lawsuit to resolution that provided more clean water to Los Angeles while protecting the environment. Following this success, Caruso was selected as President of the L.A. Police Commission where he led the effort to overhaul the Los Angeles Police Department and recruited William Bratton as Chief of Police. Together, they reduced the city’s crime rate to the lowest levels in 50 years.

Caruso’s deeply held personal philosophy and commitment to giving back have further solidified his reputation as a compassionate member of the community. In 1991, he and
his wife Tina, founded the Caruso Family Foundation, dedicated to supporting organizations that improve the lives of at-risk children in need of healthcare and education. Among the many nonprofit organizations that he supports, Caruso is actively involved with Operation Progress, Para Los Niños, St. Lawrence of Brindisi School and Verbum Dei High School, all focused on the historically underserved area of Watts, Los Angeles.
In 2019, Caruso announced a $50 million commitment to the Pepperdine School of Law, which has been renamed the Rick J. Caruso School of Law in recognition of the historic
gift. The contribution, made through the Caruso Family Foundation, will expand educational access to exceptional, historically underserved student populations—a hallmark of the Caruso family’s philanthropic efforts in the Los Angeles area and
beyond—as well as fuel several initiatives to strengthen the School of Law’s academic programming.
Caruso, a long-serving member of the USC community, also endowed the USC Caruso Department of Otolaryngology at the Keck School of Medicine and the USC Catholic Center, which provides spiritual connection for faculty and students of all faiths. He earned a Bachelor of Science degree with honors from the University of Southern California Marshall School of Business and a Juris Doctorate as a Margaret Martin Block Scholar from Pepperdine School of Law.

Caruso, who was named a “retail mastermind” by The Wall Street Journal, has received numerous awards and distinctions for both his professional and philanthropic work, including "Developer of the Year" and “2016 L.A. Icon” by the Los Angeles Business
Journal. Additionally, he was honored with the "True Blue" award from the Los Angeles Police Foundation, recognizing him as a leader dedicated to positive change through philanthropic, business and civic leadership. He was also honored by Pope Francis with the rank of Commander in the Order of St. Gregory the Great for his service and generosity to so many in need. In 2017, Caruso was presented the Asa V. Call Award, the most distinguished alumni honor at USC. Recently, he was named by Town and Country magazine as one of the top 50 philanthropists in the nation.

In 2018, Caruso was asked to serve as Chair of the University Southern California’s (USC’s) Board of Trustees. As Chair, he oversaw transformational reforms to the university’s culture and the Board’s governance model to ensure accountability and
oversight. He has worked tirelessly to restore trust and to build a world-class leadership team, including hiring the first female president in the university’s history and playing a
key role in the overhaul of the university’s athletics program.
Caruso served as the Chair of the Board of Loyola High School, and is on the Boards for St. John’s Hospital, and the Ronald Regan Presidential Library Foundation. In April of 2020, at the height of the COVID-19 pandemic, Caruso became part of both a federal
and state level task force, providing expertise on reopening the economy safely.

Brad is the Founder and CEO of Altimeter, a leading technology investment firm based in Silicon Valley that manages public and VC investment portfolios. Brad has worked in technology for 25 years - as a securities lawyer; a founding principal at the VC firm General Catalyst; and a three time Founder where he raised significant venture funding and sold all three businesses (to IAC, Google and Marchex); and as a Portfolio Manager at PAR Capital. He was born in Indiana, studied at Wabash College, Oxford University, Indiana University School of Law and Harvard Business School. He has personally participated in more than 100 IPOs as a sponsor, anchor and investor. Brad’s notable investments include: Zillow, Snowflake, Mongo, Bytedance, Hubspot, Cerebras, Tabular, Anduril, K2 Space, and Glean. Brad is also a former deputy secretary of state of Indiana and a pilot. The Altimeter name reflects Brad’s belief that clarity, happiness and success requires boiling it down to the essential - your core instrument. Altimeter’s mission is its core instrument: to help visionary entrepreneurs build iconic companies, disrupt markets and improve lives through all stages of growth

Pat Grady is a Partner at Sequoia Capital, where he co-captains the growth-stage investment business. He currently works with Agency, Amplitude (AMPL), Attentive, Cribl, Day.ai, Gather, Grow Therapy, Harvey, Hugging Face, Notion, OpenAI, Pilot, Snowflake (SNOW), and Watershed, and has also had the privilege of working with Drift, HubSpot (HUBS), Embark Trucks, Jive Software, MarkLogic, Medallia, Neeva, Okta (OKTA), OpenDNS, Qualtrics, ServiceNow (NOW), Sumo Logic, Sunrun (RUN), and Zoom (ZM), among others. Pat holds a B.S. from Boston College, grew up in the Powder River Basin of Wyoming, and now lives in Portola Valley.

Bill Gurley is a prominent venture capitalist and general partner at Benchmark, a leading venture capital firm in Silicon Valley. Born in 1966 in Dickinson, Texas, Gurley earned a Bachelor of Science degree in computer science from the University of Florida and later received an MBA from the University of Texas at Austin. Prior to his career in venture capital, Bill spent four years in investment banking where he had the opportunity to work on the Amazon IPO. Prior to that he worked as a computer engineer at Compaq in Houston. He has played a crucial role in investing and guiding several successful startups, including Uber, Zillow, Nextdoor, Stitch Fix, and OpenTable. Gurley is also well-known for his insightful blog, Above the Crowd, where he shares his thoughts on technology, investing, and business strategy.

As CEO of 11:11 Media, there isn’t a part of the entertainment business where Paris Hilton hasn’t shined. Hilton has masterfully harnessed her self-made spotlight to architect a thriving entertainment and consumer products empire under her company 11:11 Media, which spans an impressive range of businesses and verticals including TV, film, audio, music, publishing, licensing, consumer products, brand partnerships and more.

In her latest chapter, and through 11:11 Media’s new music division, Hilton made a triumphant return to the recording studio with her second album, INFINITE ICON, released September 6, 2024. INFINITE ICON debuted at #1 on Billboard’s Top Current Pop Album Sales chart. The album was executively produced by Sia, and had chart-topping featured artists, such as Meghan Trainor, Megan Thee Stallion, and Sia herself.

Hilton released “Paris: The Memoir,” on March 14, 2023, where it debuted on the New York Times bestseller list. In October 2023, A24, in collaboration with Dakota and Elle Fanning’s Lewellen Pictures and David Bernad’s Middle Child Pictures, officially bought the rights to Hilton’s memoir for a TV series adaptation. Season 2 of “Paris In Love,” Hilton’s reality series, showcased her life as a wife and her transition into motherhood and in December 2024, Hilton reunited with Nicole Richie for “Paris & Nicole: The Encore,” which premiered on Peacock.

Since 2004, Hilton has released 29 fragrances, with her products overall grossing more than $4 billion in retail sales. Her 30th fragrance “Iconic” is set to debut in the spring of 2025. In addition, 11:11 Media and Guthy-Renker announced a joint venture to form 11:11 Beauty, a new company that will house beauty and wellness products inspired by and creative-directed by Hilton to be released in Spring 2025.

Hilton is indisputably one of the most successful self-made entrepreneurs, including building one of the fastest-growing women-led entertainment and consumer products media companies that spans an astonishing breadth of verticals. But what makes her an icon is her willingness to experiment with and support emerging technology, carve a pathway for equality in new spaces, and demand change to broken systems. Through her nonprofit, 11:11 Media Impact, Hilton has been a driving force in legislative reform, successfully passing 10 state laws that have improved protections for over 15 million children. She spearheaded the passage of the federal Stop Institutional Child Abuse Act and has testified before Congress to advocate for stronger child welfare policies. With 185 billion earned media impressions amplifying her advocacy, Hilton transforms awareness into measurable, lasting change—proving that influence, when used with purpose, can shape a better future.

Hilton owns her deserved place as the ultimate multi-hyphenate savvy businesswoman, inspiring leader, social justice activist, creative innovator, and timeless pop culture icon.

Dara Khosrowshahi is the CEO of Uber, where he has managed the company’s business in more than 70 countries around the world since 2017.

Dara was previously CEO of Expedia, which he grew into one of the world’s largest online travel companies. A seasoned executive with a background in both engineering and finance, Dara oversaw a number of acquisitions that bolstered Expedia’s offerings and aggressively invested in mobile, which now accounts for more than half of Expedia’s traffic. He was also beloved by Expedia’s employees and named one of the Highest Rated CEOs on Glassdoor. Dara was promoted to Expedia CEO after serving as the Chief Financial Officer of IAC Travel, a division of IAC, which purchased Expedia in 2002 and spun it off in 2005. He was also instrumental in the expansion of IAC’s portfolio of travel brands.

Before joining IAC, Dara served as Vice President of Allen & Company and spent a number of years as an analyst. He currently serves on the Board of Directors of Expedia and Catalyst.org and was previously on the board of the New York Times Company. He’s a passionate advocate for refugees in crisis around the world, having himself left Iran during the Iranian Revolution at the age of 9.

Dara grew up in Tarrytown, New York, and received his bachelor’s degree in engineering from Brown University.

Reza Pahlavi, the exiled Crown Prince of Iran, is the foremost advocate for secular democracy and human rights in his homeland. For over four decades, Reza Pahlavi has been a leader and advocate of the principles of freedom, democracy and human rights for his countrymen. He maintains constant contact with his compatriots and opposition groups, both inside and outside the country. Pahlavi travels the world meeting with heads of state, legislators, policy-makers, interest groups and student groups speaking about the plight of Iranians under the Islamic dictatorship in Iran. He consistently speaks out against the widespread abuse and oppression of the Iranian people and calls for the establishment of a secular democracy in Iran. He calls for regime change through non-violent civil disobedience, and for a free and open referendum on a new government of Iran. His vision for the future of his homeland also includes a vast economic reconstruction and investment plan outlined in the Iran Prosperity Project (IPP).

Blake Scholl is founder/CEO at Boom Supersonic, which he founded in 2014 with the goal of making supersonic flight mainstream. Boom has built and flown XB-1, the first-ever independently-developed jet to break the sound barrier and the first civil supersonic airplane since Concorde. United, American, and Japan Airlines have placed orders and pre-orders for $26B in Overture aircraft, representing 5+ years of production. Blake previously held engineering and product management roles at Amazon and Groupon.

Aravind Srinivas is the CEO of Perplexity, the conversational "answer engine" that provides precise, user-focused answers to queries — with in-line citations. Aravind co-founded the company in 2022 after working as a research scientist at OpenAI, Google, and DeepMind. To date, Perplexity has raised over $165 million from investors including Jeff Bezos, Nat Friedman, Elad Gil, NVIDIA, and the late Susan Wojciki. He has a PhD in computer science from UC Berkeley and a Bachelors and Masters in Electrical Engineering from the Indian Institute of Technology, Madras. You can find him on Twitter/X and LinkedIn.

As a world-class athlete, businesswoman, philanthropist and mother, Serena Williams has persevered to become one of the top tennis players in history with 23 Grand Slam titles. Serena began actively investing over ten years ago when she saw the impact that startups had on everyday lives. In building Serena Ventures, she has been able to multiply that effort applying her champion mindset and strategies to the world of venture capital.

Josh co-founded Lux Capital to support scientists and entrepreneurs who pursue counter-conventional solutions to the most vexing puzzles of our time in order to lead us into a brighter future. The more ambitious the project, the better—like, say, creating matter from light.

Josh is a Director at Aera Therapeutics, Cajal Neuroscience, Eikon Therapeutics, Impulse Labs, Kallyope, Osmo, Variant Bio, and helped lead the firm’s investments in Anduril, Echodyne, Planet, Hadrian, Osmo and Resilience. He is a founding investor and board member with Bill Gates in Kymeta, making cutting-edge antennas for high-speed global satellite and space communications. Josh is a Westinghouse semi-finalist and published scientist. He previously worked in investment banking at Salomon Smith Barney and in capital markets at Merrill Lynch. In 2008 Josh co-founded and funded Kurion, a contrarian bet in the unlikely business of using advanced robotics and state-of-the-art engineering and chemistry to clean up nuclear waste. It was an unmet, inevitable need with no solution in sight. The company was among the first responders to the Fukushima Daiichi disaster. In February 2016, Veolia acquired Kurion for nearly $400 million—34 times Lux’s total investment.

Avoid boring people. –Jim Watson
Josh is a columnist with Forbes and Editor for the Forbes/Wolfe Emerging Tech Report. He has been invited to The White House and Capitol Hill to advise on nanotechnology and emerging technologies, and a lecturer at MIT, Harvard, Yale, Cornell, Columbia and NYU. He is a term member at The Council on Foreign Relations, a Trustee at the Santa Fe Institute, and Chairman of Coney Island Prep charter school, where he grew up in Brooklyn. He graduated from Cornell University with a B.S. in Economics and Finance.

Lisa Daftari is an award-winning investigative journalist, political analyst and commentator frequently appearing on Fox News, CNN, CBS, NBC, Voice of America, SiriusXM and others, focusing on foreign policy topics such as the Middle East and North Africa, terrorism, national security, human rights, and cyber security. She was a Fox News contributor for seven years.

Lisa also serves as director and founding editor of The Foreign Desk, a news platform covering stories and analysis from around the globe with an emphasis on their impact on U.S. foreign policy. She publishes a popular daily top-10 email briefing with the day’s most vital foreign affairs stories, reaching 250,000 monthly subscribers and is also the host of the highly acclaimed Foreign Desk podcast.

Lisa is a sought-after voice with sharp analysis sharing briefings and testimonies with prestigious institutions like the United Nations, Congress, and various private entities. She has worked for several think tanks in Washington, where she has written exclusive reports for the Pentagon and other government groups and was called upon to work closely with the White House on the roll out of the Abraham Accords. Lisa is fluent in Persian, Spanish, and English, with advanced proficiency in Hebrew and a basic understanding of Arabic.

Receiving presidential scholarships throughout her academic career, Lisa holds a master's degree from the Annenberg School of Journalism at the University of Southern California and an undergraduate degree in Middle Eastern studies, Spanish and vocal performance from Rutgers University. While in journalism school, Lisa was invited to show her documentary thesis on the underground freedom movement in Iran in Congress. Lisa was also the recipient of the prestigious Carnegie Knight journalism fellowship.

In recognition of her commendable work in reporting global human rights atrocities, Lisa was presented with the Medal of Valor by the Simon Wiesenthal Center in May of 2023. Later that year, the Jewish Journal of Los Angeles honored her with the Champion of Freedom award, acknowledging her efforts to amplify the struggles of those seeking independence and justice worldwide.

Beyond journalism, Lisa is a talented opera singer and pianist. She delivered a TED Talk on fake news in 2019 and was named one of the "30 Hottest Women in Politics" by the Washington Times. Currently, she is furthering her scholarly depth as she nears completion on her PhD in foreign policy/national security at the Institute of World Politics in Washington D.C.

Lisa was born and raised in a suburb of New York City and now resides in Los Angeles with her husband and young son.

David Fialkow is Co-Founder and Managing Director of General Catalyst, a venture firm that partners with founders on their journey building world class businesses focused on responsible innovation. David's areas of focus include fintech, digital health and data analytics. David has a film degree from Colgate University and a law degree from Boston College. David and his wife, Nina, produce documentary films focused on social justice. Two of their films, ICARUS and NAVALNY, each won the Academy Award for Best Documentary Feature in 2018 and 2023, respectively. Their other films include American Symphony, The Great Hack, Beyond Utopia, The Vow, Bending the Arc, Retrograde, Aftershock, The Grab, Citizen Ashe and others. David's philanthropy focus includes raising millions of dollars to support kids' programs by doing biking, running, skiing, climbing and rowing challenges. His non-profit boards include the Pan-Mass Challenge, the Vineyard Youth Foundation and The MIT Corporation. He also chairs the Investment Advisory Committee at The Engine, launched by MIT.

Kobie brings to Upfront deep expertise in enterprise SAAS and frontier technologies including AR/VR. Kobie joined Upfront in June 2016 after having previously been an investor at Accel. Prior to Accel, Kobie was the Chief Marketing Officer at LA-based REVOLVE, one of the largest global fashion e-commerce players. Earlier in his career, Kobie helped found OpenView Venture Partners and was an investor at Insight Venture Partners. Kobie graduated from Harvard College.

Brad is the Founder and CEO of Altimeter, a leading technology investment firm based in Silicon Valley that manages public and VC investment portfolios. Brad has worked in technology for 25 years - as a securities lawyer; a founding principal at the VC firm General Catalyst; and a three time Founder where he raised significant venture funding and sold all three businesses (to IAC, Google and Marchex); and as a Portfolio Manager at PAR Capital. He was born in Indiana, studied at Wabash College, Oxford University, Indiana University School of Law and Harvard Business School. He has personally participated in more than 100 IPOs as a sponsor, anchor and investor. Brad’s notable investments include: Zillow, Snowflake, Mongo, Bytedance, Hubspot, Cerebras, Tabular, Anduril, K2 Space, and Glean. Brad is also a former deputy secretary of state of Indiana and a pilot. The Altimeter name reflects Brad’s belief that clarity, happiness and success requires boiling it down to the essential - your core instrument. Altimeter’s mission is its core instrument: to help visionary entrepreneurs build iconic companies, disrupt markets and improve lives through all stages of growth

Mr. Hirschhorn is CEO of REDEF, a digital content curation company. Previously, Mr. Hirschhorn served as Co-President of Myspace Inc., an affiliate of News Corp. and as President of Sling Media, Inc. He has also served as Chief Digital Officer of MTV Networks and was a director of MGM and PANDORA. Mr. Hirschhorn holds a B.S. in International Business and Marketing from New York University's Stern School of Business.

Steve Jang is the Founder and Managing Partner of Kindred Ventures, a seed-stage venture capital fund with over $600M in assets under management. Named to the Forbes Midas List in 2023 and 2024 as one of the world’s top 50 venture capital investors, Steve has invested in over 100 startups as a VC and angel investor across AI, frontier tech, and crypto. His portfolio includes early investments in Coinbase, Fal, Perplexity, Tonal, Uber, and Zora, and has resulted in eight unicorns with two IPOs.

Before founding Kindred Ventures, Steve co-founded several consumer technology startups, including Bitski (a digital wallet platform acquired by Phantom), and SoundTracking (acquired by Rhapsody). Earlier, he co-created imeem, the very first licensed on-demand music streaming service, which reached over 100 million users before its acquisition by MySpace.

He also supports filmmakers and produces films such as Nam June Paik: Moon is the Oldest TV, a Sundance-premiered documentary now on Netflix, and Vitalik, a documentary about Ethereum founder, Vitalik Buterin.

Jeffrey is an entrepreneur and entertainment industry executive who has reshaped the media landscape throughout his career. Today, he is a Founding Partner at WndrCo, an investment company focused on supporting founders who are building category-defining companies. Jeffrey works closely with WndrCo portfolio companies Aura, Airtable, Alembic, Netomi, and Writer on their enterprise GTM strategy.

Prior to WndrCo, Jeffrey co-founded DreamWorks, serving as CEO of DreamWorks Animation, which he grew into the world’s largest animation studio. Before founding DreamWorks, Jeffrey was Chairman of The Walt Disney Studios, and previously served as President of Production at Paramount Studios.

Jeffrey is a donor and board member to many civic organizations, including University of Southern California School of Cinematic Arts, The Simon Wiesenthal Center, California Institute of the Arts, and is on the Board of Directors for Olympics LA28. Among his many awards and recognitions, he has received the Palme d’Or from the Cannes Film Festival, the Motion Picture Academy’s Jean Hersholt Humanitarian Award, the National Medal of Arts, and the TIME100 Impact Award.

Nick is a partner at Upfront Ventures, focusing on early-stage investing. Prior to joining Upfront, Nick was at Crosscut, leading seed investments in enterprise, consumer, vertical software and crypto companies. Before Crosscut, Nick was an early employee at Warby Parker, where he was the general manager of the Home Try-On business. Nick also served as an Entrepreneur-in-Residence at Human Ventures and as an investor with the Dorm Room Fund, First Round Capital’s student-run investment fund. Nick graduated with a degree in economics from UC Berkeley and earned his MBA from The Wharton School. He is also a CFA Charterholder and a trained executive coach.

Dan Primack is a business editor at Axios and author of the daily Axios Pro Rata newsletter. He covers the world of dealmakers across VC, PE and M&A.

Carter Reum is the Co-founder and Partner of M13. He and his brother Courtney founded M13 in 2016, and today the firm manages three top decile funds with more than $1.4B AUM in infrastructure technology—such as AI and web3—that powers the future of work, health, commerce, and money. M13’s first fund has seeded or been in the series A of 13 unicorns. Notable portfolio companies include Lyft, Ring, Pinterest, Matterport, Rothy’s, and Transfix. M13 was recently named by HEC-Paris/Dow Jones as one of the top 20 performing venture capital firms globally since 2015.

Carter began his career as an investment banker at Goldman Sachs. Carter and Courtney then started VEEV Spirits, one of the fastest growing independent brands in the U.S. VEEV won a range of awards such as Technomic’s Fast 50 and Inc. Magazine's 500 Fastest-Growing Companies in the U.S. (#7 in the food & beverage category). Carter was named one of the 100 Most Intriguing Entrepreneurs by Goldman Sachs at its annual Builders + Innovators Summit.

Carter and Courtney are the authors of the national bestseller Shortcut Your Startup (Simon & Schuster, 2018). In 2019, they were appointed the first-ever Executives in Residence for the City of Los Angeles, created in an effort to merge the arts and entertainment industries with traditional consumer product industries. As part of the initiative, Los Angeles Mayor Eric Garcetti appointed Carter to work on the City’s branding initiatives and partner engagements. Carter is a member of the LACMA Board of Trustees and serves on the boards of Daily Harvest, Allocate, and Pietra.

Carter holds a B.A. with distinction from Columbia University.

Mark Suster has been a Managing Partner at Upfront since 2007, where has led notable investments in companies including Invoca, Density, Nanit, and Maker Studios (acquired by Disney). He previously was the founder & CEO of two successful enterprise software companies, the most recent of which was sold to Salesforce.com where Mark became VP, Products. Prior to being a founder, Mark was a software developer at Accenture where he lived and worked in Europe, Japan and the U.S. Mark is a graduate of UCSD and has an MBA from the University of Chicago.