Lilian Chen
VP of Operations at PartySlate
Lilian Chen
VP of Operations at PartySlate
Chicago, Illinois
Overview
Work Experience
VP of Operations
2023 - Current
PartySlate is a photo-rich platform that inspires people planning any type of event and connects them with the leading vendors and venues across the country and the world. Our mission is to provide an elevated and curated experience for people planning events, help them gather ideas that inspire them, and connect them with the best venues and vendors who can bring their ideas to life.
Co-Founder & COO
2020 - 2023
Leader in providing high-quality, remote team building entertainment for remote and distributed teams globally. Worked with 1,500+ companies (including 1/3 of Fortune 100) to lead 3,900+ events, averaging 5-star ratings across 2,000+ reviews and 6 different game formats. - Bootstrapped company to $1M+ in annual revenue and 60% bottom-line margins, with FTE team of 6 and 70 gig-based hosts - Managed operational and strategic growth, owned partnership relationships across 12+ channel partners, owned client success, trained and oversaw gig-based host team, created back-end tech stack with automated processes, and led SEO strategy
Entrepreneur-in-Residence & Investor
2018 - 2020
VC fund and startup incubator focused primarily on marketplaces, as well as other consumer and tech businesses. - Incubated new start up ideas (ideation, customer discovery, MVP building) - Invested in early-stage start ups (pre-seed and seed stage) - Helped launch Properly, a real-estate prop tech company (now a Series B company, raised $125m+)
Harvard iLab VIP & Rock Center Accelerator Incubatee
2017 - 2018
- Founded and built start up venture Cozy Life, a marketplace for secondhand furniture; pitched and funded by school
Private Equity Associate (Tech, Media & Telecom)
2015 - 2017
- Invested in tech companies out of Carlyle's $13 billion U.S. Buyout Fund - Board Observer of Syniverse, a global telecommunications company worth $3 billion
Investment Banking Analyst (Consumer & Retail)
2012 - 2015
- Advised consumer and retail companies on M&A, IPO, debt and equity financings - Led Shake Shack IPO raising $112m