Dan Abelon
Partner at Two Sigma Ventures
Dan Abelon
Partner at Two Sigma Ventures
Brooklyn, New York
Overview
Work Experience
Partner, Two Sigma Ventures
2015 - Current
Two Sigma Ventures (TSV) invests in enterprise and consumer startups, especially those using data science and software to solve important problems. TSV is the VC arm of Two Sigma Investments, a tech-driven asset management firm that employs ~1700 people, including over 250 PhDs, who believe in the power of math, science, data and technology to produce solutions to the world’s challenges.
Kauffman Fellow
2014
The Fellowship's goal is to develop a world-wide network of innovation investors who provide smart, connected capital to fuel entrepreneurial change. As part of the Fellowship I worked on Project VenSeed, an initiative to analyze the possibility of launching an accelerator for innovative new venture funds.
Investor/Advisor/Operator
2013 - 2015
Started early stage venture fund Edge Harris and created one of the early data driven investing platforms. Invested in or incubated 15 startups in a variety of spaces (analytics, IoT, SaaS, ecommerce, etc.) including Dataminr, Paperspace, KiwiCo, Doctor.com, Kisi, Triplemint, and others. Also angel invested in and advised iCapital Network on product development, and Fiverr on growth.
Founding Advisor / Investor
2013 - 2013
Helped get the company off the ground, move from cofounder's apartment to first office, design initial product, hire early employees, etc.
Co-Founder
2007 - 2012
Co-founded SpeedDate, one of the top ten online/mobile dating services in terms of userbase and revenue. Scaled company from idea to 20M+ members, 50+ employees. Managed product, marketing, monetization, business development and operations. Raised multiple rounds of financing from angels and Silicon Valley venture capital firm Menlo Ventures. SpeedDate differentiates itself by focusing on real-time matching on the web, Facebook, iPhone and Android.
Investment Analyst
2006 - 2006
Analyzed potential targets for IFC/World Bank investment in the Philippines’ IT-enabled Services sector. Evaluated the potential of the bamboo industry to boost employment in the country's south where there was a fair bit of instability.
Summer Associate, Tech M&A
2006 - 2006
Provided strategic and financial analysis to technology companies, including advising a client on the sale of a $100M joint venture
Strategy and Operational Consultant
2002 - 2005
Consultant on international and domestic business strategy projects for clients in a range of industries including IT, hardware, software, healthcare and cleantech. Highlights included a project in Paris and having an office in Madison Sqr Park when the first Shake Shack opened.
Founder, Campus Pages
1998 - 2002
My first real startup experience (although being a paperboy at age 13 felt pretty entrepreneurial). Published a white page / yellow page directory for local students. Printed 10,000 copies per year and hired and trained dozens of students to sell ads. Proudest accomplishment was coaching a painfully shy poetry PhD as she transformed into a sales machine.
Sales Strategy
2000 - 2000
First exposure to VC. Followed around an investor as he evaluated business plans, and then was placed in sales at his portfolio company Moving.com. Short lived experience due to ACL surgery.
Education
MBA
2005 - 2007
BA
1998 - 2002
Field of Study
1998 - 2002