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A VC explains how people mess up one crucial slide in their pitch deck
Talks about Startup, Venture Capital and Pitch Deck
LM
Lylan Masterman
Investor at Society of Kauffman Fellows
New York, New York
Overview
Lylan Masterman is a Venture Capital Tech Investor with a notable achievement of scaling a company to a $6.3B exit to Microsoft. Currently serving as a Board Member for multiple companies, he brings extensive experience in product management, engineering, and venture capital to the table.
Highlights of Lylan's career include his role as a Venture Partner and General Partner at White Star Capital, as well as his involvement in various boards such as Unacast, Salesfloor, and Digg.
Work Experience
Venture Capital Fellow
2014
The Fellowship has a world-wide network of innovation investors who provide smart, connected capital to fuel entrepreneurial change.
Board Advisor
2020 - 2022
I advised this 50 year old executive search firm on technology platforms that they considered building to service the executive search vertical
Venture Partner
2020 - 2020
General Partner
2018 - 2020
White Star Capital helps exceptional entrepreneurs build great technology companies. With a presence in Europe and North America and a truly global network, we invest in great teams and support them to scale globally.
Principal
2014 - 2018
White Star Capital helps exceptional entrepreneurs build great technology companies. With a presence in Europe and North America and a truly global network, we invest in great teams and support them to scale globally.
White Star Capital is an international venture and early growth-stage investment platform in technology.
Board Member
2018 - 2020
Unacast is the leading transparent and contextualized location data platform. We empower companies to make smarter decisions and build better products by providing the most accurate understanding of human activity in the physical world through the Real World Graph®. We believe that democratizing access to data is the currency of innovation, and we're on a mission to fix inaccurate and unverified location data to deliver unparalleled transparency and accuracy to our partners. Unacast is based out of NYC. Co-founders Thomas Walle and Kjartan Slette were also part of the founding team behind TIDAL, the music streaming company acquired by Jay-Z. Unacast has been awarded multiple awards for its platform, campaigns and company growth and culture.
Unacast built the Real World Graph® and is the leading transparent and contextualized location data platform
Raised $51,105,000.00 from Nordic Secondary Fund.
Board Member and Observer
2016 - 2020
"Salesfloor has grown to a profitable technology platform with a world-class client base in North America and around the globe. We provide a mobile clienteling and mPOS platform designed for store associates. Our solutions empower associates to provide personalized service both in-store and online, improving the customer experience across all channels. With over 45,000 associates from leading retailers in apparel, beauty, jewelry and baby/toys, we are redefining the role of store associates."
Board Member and Observer
2016 - 2020
I served on the board of Digg following its Series B, including a change of CEO and its acquisition.
Digg operates a website that enables its users to find, read, and share the most interesting and talked about stories on the internet.
Raised $49,000,000.00 from White Star Capital, Residence Ventures, Gannett, Silicon Valley Bank, Greylock, Omidyar Network and Highland Capital Partners.
Board Member and Observer
2015 - 2020
Drop's last round was a $44m round. "At Drop, we’re on a mission to level-up consumer lives, one reward at a time. Through our personalized commerce platform, we intelligently surface the right brands, at the right time, to make our members’ every day a level better than it was before. Powered by machine learning, we match consumers with our over 300+ partner brands to satisfy two main goals: to earn points from their purchases and redeem them for instant rewards. Calling Toronto home but operating under a global mindset, Drop is building the next level experience for our 3 million+ members across North America, and most recently, the UK. Drop is comprised of top-tier, passionate, and diverse talent from a wide range of professional backgrounds, including fellow startups like Ritual and Shopify, to Fortune 500 companies like Amazon, Microsoft, Goldman Sachs, and Airbnb. We’re backed by top venture capital firms from Silicon Valley, as well as Canadian and global funds who’ve invested in now-household names, including Dollar Shave Club, Robinhood, Groupon, Snapchat, and more. We move quickly, but always ensure every voice at Drop is heard. Our culture is shaped by passion, hustle, and people who actually enjoy coming into work every day. Join us in revolutionizing personal commerce and building a next level rewards experience for everyone."
Board Observer
2015 - 2018
In July 2019, mnubo was acquired by Aspen Technology Mnubo’s platform was designed to allow users to receive insights from IoT data captured from sensors, devices, machines, and equipment. Through its platform, users can view, manipulate, and analyze IoT data to build insights by training AI and machine learning models, using its IoT-specific libraries, and productizing results using the platform’s API and user interface.
Aspen Technology is a global leader in industrial software.
Raised $100,000,000.00 from Advent International.
Board Observer
2016 - 2017
Immunio was acquired by TrendMicro in 2017 Immunio is a pioneer in real-time web application security (RASP), providing automatic detection and protection against application security vulnerabilities
Education
Class 19
2014 - 2016
Kauffman Fellow
2014 - 2016
MBA
2008 - 2010
B.Math
1996 - 2001