HawkTower is a new venture capital firm focused on Underleveraged California. Our mission is to foster innovation and commercialization in critical rising and emerging regions of California, a state that still holds untapped potential as the world's fifth-largest economy. A thriving California, one that continues to grow, compete, and innovate on a global scale, is crucial for America's overall prosperity. Today, our website launched. We are also excited to announce additions to the team and advisory, including: Bill Sherrod, EdD, a 29-year Navy veteran and former Strategic Advisor to the President of the Naval Postgraduate School (NPS), has joined HawkTower as a Venture Partner. Bill, who initially joined us as an advisor in February, has quickly become an indispensable part of our team. His extensive experience in dual-use technology, advanced air mobility, and more brings HawkTower a wealth of knowledge and expertise. Vittoria Lecomte is a new Venture Partner. Tori is a former Forbes 30 Under 30 and an investment banker at Barclays in their Technology, Media, and Telecom Group. She was lead analyst on the Fitbit (now part of Google) and GoPro IPOs. Before joining HawkTower, she was the founder and CEO of Sesh which had a successful exit to Caraway. HawkTower is thrilled to announce our strategic partnership with Tesserakt Ventures, an early-stage venture capital firm based in Central California. This collaboration, at a time of critical opportunity for emerging California, will drive cohesion in the marketplace. Daniel Emilio Sabzehzar (Venture Partner) and Phoenix Skeahan (Operating Partner) will join HawkTower, enhancing our sourcing, diligence, and portfolio support capabilities. Lenny Mendonca, a Turlock native, is a new advisor. He served as Governor Newsom's Chief Economic and Business Advisor and is also a Senior Partner Emeritus at McKinsey & Company, where he founded the firm's U.S. state and local public sector consulting practice. Walt Duflock, head of innovation for the Western Growers , is also a new advisor. Walt is a partner at a 5th-generation family farming operation in Monterey County. In addition to 30 years of experience at Silicon Valley tech startups, Walt and his team at WGA are extraordinary thought leaders in the AgTech ecosystem. Our technical advisory capacity is significantly strengthened with the support of Alexander Wolf, Dean of the Baskin School of Engineering at University of California, Santa Cruz, Amy Fleischer, Dean, the College of Engineering California Polytechnic State University (Cal Poly), and Rakesh Goel, Dean, School of Engineering, University of California, Merced. HawkTower is confident in the entrepreneurial acumen and potential of each of these universities (as well as NPS, UC Davis, Fresno St., and others). I'm humbled to share these updates with you as we continue to grow our firm out in the open with your input.
ManyMangoes 🥭
5mo
Love this update! To truly elevate your growth, consider diving into multi-variant testing strategies beyond the typical models, focusing on A/B/C/D/E/F/G testing for nuanced insights and optimization across your digital channels.
Ethan Rublee
5mo
So awesome! psyched that Daniel Emilio Sabzehzar and Phoenix Skeahan are joining forces with you Danny Bernstein - the central coast and valley couldn’t have found for a more super star team of passionate people to give us the resources we need to build and grow. Farm-ng wouldn’t be where we are today without this group pushing so hard and building with us every day and eating dinner with every night for over the past 18 months!
This is truly worth celebrating! Congratulations Danny and team. The Central Valley of California has been overlooked and left behind for too long, and yet it is truly a dynamic region rich with talent, assets and resources not only to feed the world (which we do already) but to drive innovation and create a more inclusive and dynamic economy. I have no doubt your efforts will only further accelerate this process. Kudos!
Ben Palone
5mo
That’s a great looking team! Congrats to Hawktower.
Martin Green
5mo
Amazing progress. So excited for you.
Brendan Dowdle
5mo
Congratulations Danny Bernstein on the launch!! Exciting to see the talented group you have brought together on this mission! Excited to see the partnership with Tesserakt Ventures take flight!
Adam Stager
5mo
Great to see so many incredible people involved. There is so much untapped potential in these regions. Looking forward to seeing the community grow around Hawktower. Congrats!!
Lisa Sholkin
5mo
Congrats on your new venture Danny Bernstein! Sounds really exciting!
Sanjay Kasturia
5mo
AI, Robotics, and climate change related needs will drive a transformation in how California's bread basket operates. Danny Bernstein - a great time to get going on this!
Scaling an investment ecosystem for Africa's tech startups
4moWould like to learn more.