Jeff Blickman

Director

2023 - Current

Palm Venture Studios is the only venture studio focused on turnaround capital for early-stage startups. We partner with leaders whose startups are stuck, and we provide the critical funding and strategic support needed to help their businesses succeed. We move quickly, invest discreetly, and surround teams with the resources, mentorship, and discipline they need. We are here to rescue, pivot, and grow purpose-driven companies with missions worth building on. Learn more at PalmVentureStudios.com or contact us at Team[at]PalmVentureStudios[dot]com

Director, New Ventures

2022 - 2022

Following the successful launch of Alturas's private equity division, I partnered with the firm's founder and CEO to establish its early stage investing strategy. We built a unique model combining aspects of venture studios, co-foundries and pre-seed venture investing with a focus on Boise and greater Mountain West.

Director, Investments & Acquisitions

2020 - 2022

Alturas is a privately-held holding company with investments in real estate and multiple operating companies. I joined in mid-2020 to start a private equity division from the ground up to expand upon the firm's buy, build and invest strategy. During my tenure, we acquired two profitable businesses in the construction / real estate services space. As part of our community engagement, my team launched Built in Idaho and published the Idaho Deal Flow Reports as a resource for Idaho's entrepreneurs and business owners.

Co-Founder

2020 - 2020

Co-founded GoodWell (fka Watercooler), an AI-powered employee insights and engagement tool helping people leaders build more equitable and informed workplaces. We give employees a voice, then analyze complex data using NLP and sentiment analysis to deliver nuanced insights into engagement. The company launched during my time as an EIR at GoodWell Venture Partners (GVP) and remains in operation today serving clients between 15 - 750 employees.

Entrepreneur In Residence (EIR)

2018 - 2020

Building, launching and scaling companies from GVP's venture studio / foundry including watercooler (AI-powered employee insights), GoodWell (equitable workplace certification) and Family Penny (financial literacy)

Director, Global Impact (Sustainability, Partnerships & Strategy)

2018 - 2020

Sustainability and impact consulting across Carnival Corp's U.S. and international brand portfolio. Key initiatives included economic impact in Puerto Rico (post-Hurricane Maria), food waste innovation, internal communications, single use plastic management, carbon emissions, and sustainability reporting. Worked directly with Chief Comms Officer and SVP of Global Impact

Founder, Business Design & Strategy

2017 - 2020

Thinking Chair is my personal business design consulting practice. Business designer with experience building and executing strategic initiatives, business design and modeling, contract negotiations, and partnership development. Client projects include: travel & leisure business design and economic development; global impact and corporate sustainability strategy; consumer experience design (health services); retail expansion strategy and real estate portfolio management; UX/UI design; software product design management; responsive web design

Director, Strategy & Operations

2017 - 2017

Real Estate Portfolio Negotiations, Asset Mgmt, FP&A, Corporate Restructuring & Change Mgmt

Director, Retail Expansion

2015 - 2017

Multi-State Retail Clinic Expansion, Consumer Experience Design, Retail Site Selection & Lease Negotiations Associate Director ('15 - '16)

Sr. Software Product Manager (Retail & Consumer Apps)

2011 - 2015

Led the commercial launch of the software suite used in retail health clinics, including consumer mobile (iOS, Android) and external/internal desktop client (WPF) apps. Owned and built user stories, workflows, wireframes, UI design, feature roadmaps, APIs, and bug tracking across 4 separate front-end apps using Agile methodology. This work established the brand's initial UI/UX design language, including a comprehensive style guide and universal iconography.

Associate, Equity Capital Markets

2009 - 2011

Completed 30 public equity deals raising $1.2B+ as part of a 3-person team Previous position: Analyst, Equity Capital Markets

Analyst, Equity Capital Markets

2008 - 2009

Cowen & Company (acq. by TD in 2023) Previous position: Summer Analyst, Equity Capital Markets

Intern, Marketing and Product Management

2006 - 2006