James Newell
Partner, Voyager Capital(Dec 2017 - Till Now)
James has worked with high-growth technology companies as an adviser and investor since 2005 and focuses on early-stage and seed investments in the Pacific Northwest. He currently serves on the boards of Voyager portfolio companies Kaskada, Sofy. and WellSaid Labs. He previously served as a board member or observer at Casper, DoubleVerify, General Assembly, Sauce Labs and Zerto, among others.
Prior to joining Voyager, James worked for Institutional Venture Partners (IVP), a later-stage VC based in Menlo Park. While with IVP, James worked on investments in AlienVault, Carbonite (NASDAQ: CARB), Casper (NYSE: CSPR), Checkr, DoubleVerify, General Assembly, Kayak (Acquired: PCLN), LegalZoom, Prosper, Sauce Labs, SoFi and Zerto.
James earned a B.A. in Economics and a B.A. in Business Administration with a concentration in Finance from the University of Washington, where he was a first team Pac-10 All-Academic football player at free safety. He has also earned his M.B.A. from the Wharton School at the University of Pennsylvania with a concentration in entrepreneurial management.
Elisa LaCava
Venture Capital Investor, Madrona(August 2018 - Till Now)
Elisa La Cava is an Investor at Madrona Venture Group, which invests in tech startups in the Pacific Northwest. She focuses on sourcing and evaluating new investment opportunities that span the full breadth of Madrona’s investment themes, as well as working with portfolio companies to develop strategies for growth and success. Elisa graduated from Claremont McKenna College with a dual Bachelor’s degree in Environment-Economics-Politics and Spanish. While at CMC, Elisa captained and played for four years on the Women’s Tennis Team. She received her MBA with a focus in finance from the Kellogg School of Management at Northwestern University. A Seattle native, Elisa takes every chance she can get to go hiking up in the Cascades, biking around the city, or kayaking on Lake Union.
Sara Lindquist
Senior Associate, FUSE(Jan 2021 - Till Now)
Sara Lindquist, a Seattle native, is currently a Senior Associate on the investment team at FUSE. FUSE is an early-stage venture capital firm investing in Pacific Northwest-based software companies within the B2B automation stack. They are actively investing out of their second Fund. Sara joined FUSE after beginning her career in industry analyst relations at Smartsheet - a publicly traded collaborative work management company. Sara graduated with honors from Dartmouth College and was also captain of the varsity volleyball team. Sara enjoys music including past collaborations with Nashville-based Skyville Music.
Aviel Ginzburg
Venture Partner, Founders Co-op(Feb 2015 - Till Now)
Aviel Ginzburg is a General Partner at Founders' Co-op and former Managing Director of the Alexa Accelerator, powered by Techstars, which was backed by Amazon's Alexa Fund. In 2010 Aviel co-founded Simply Measured, one of Founders' Co-op's first investments and was later backed by Bessemer Venture Partners, Trinity Ventures, and MHS capital. When Simply Measured sold to Sprout Social at the end of 2017, Aviel transitioned from his role as Venture Partner into a full time General Partner. Aviel got his start as one of the first software engineers at Appature (acquired by IMS Health), which was also backed by Founders' Co-op in 2009. Though a new addition to the partnership, Aviel knows the Founders' Co-op ecosystem well, and has played every role from portfolio founder, to company employee, to partner over a 10 year period. Aviel holds a BS from Vanderbilt University.
Taylor Soper
Managing Editor
GeekWire's managing editor, responsible for coordinating the newsroom, planning coverage, and editing stories. A native of Portland, Ore., and a graduate of the University of Washington.