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The Perfect* Thru-Hiker’s Hydration System
Talks about Backpacking, Ultralight and Water
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Tom Shields
CEO at Eridani Ventures
San Francisco Bay Area
Overview
Tom Shields is a highly accomplished CEO/CTO coach and advisor based in the San Francisco Bay Area, with a strong background in executive coaching, board leadership, and strategic partnerships. He has held key roles such as Chief Strategy Officer at AppNexus and Founder/Chief Strategy Officer at Yieldex, and currently serves as Board Chair for multiple companies including Neatleaf and Nium.
Highlights of Tom's career include his successful leadership roles at AppNexus and Yieldex, as well as his extensive experience in advising and coaching CEOs and CTOs. Tom's current focus on CEO/CTO coaching and advisory work showcases his expertise in guiding and supporting senior executives in various industries.
Work Experience
Board Chair
2023 - Current
AI for agriculture needs data to be effective. Neatleaf delivers clever robotics to capture proprietary greenhouse data, including greenness, moisture, vapor pressure deficit, carbon dioxide, and light, from the entire canopy multiple times per day. Customers say their AI substantially reduces scouting labor, and flags issues before they affect yield.
Data-driven & autonomous agriculture for yield optimization.
Raised $12,000,000.00 from AgFunder, Lightbank, Measure 8 Venture Partners and Vsquared Ventures.
Board Chair
2023
Ammonia is responsible for 50% of global food. But ammonia production is the world's most polluting chemical industrial process, responsible for 500mt of CO2 annual emissions. Enter Nium,at the forefront of the green ammonia revolution.
Board Chair
2022
Eion uses enhanced rock weathering to actually take carbon dioxide out of the air and permanently sequester it for thousands of years - an essential part of any CO2 mitigation solution.
Eion removes atmospheric CO2, permanently and verifiably, with enhanced rock weathering on the soil.
Raised $15,000,000.00 from Exelon Foundation, Growmark, Ridgeline, Trailhead Capital, Mercator Partners, AgFunder, Overture VC, SLVC, Mercator Partners and Sibelco.
Partner
2019
Help identify, research, and invest in opportunities in the food and agtech space, with some of the best connected people in the business.
AgFunder invests in impactful companies that can positively transform the world's food system.
Raised $2,250,000.00 from PULSAR.
CEO and CTO
2019
Coaching, strategy consulting, and investment for mission-driven technology companies in the Bay Area. Also writing Solidity code for a couple of stealth projects. Github available on request. http://eriven.com
Chairman of the Board
2020 - 2023
Archblock is building the world’s most transparent and efficient asset management platform. I'm happy be part of the journey.
Building the world’s most transparent and efficient asset management platform.
Raised $34,200,000.00 from BlockTower Capital, Alameda Research and Andreessen Horowitz.
Company Builder
2020 - 2020
I consulted for a large family office focusing on harnessing technology to solve global challenges and drive positive impact in the areas of health and food systems. Specifically I was brought in to help incubate technology startups in food and ag. Due to pandemic conditions, the family office decided to dissolve the entity pre-launch.
Strategy Advisor
2018 - 2019
Strategy advisor during the integration of AppNexus and AT&T AdWorks to form AdCo, ultimately named Xandr.
Xandr is an advertising company.
Chief Strategy Officer
2016 - 2018
Deeply involved in strategy and product with a bunch of smart and experienced folks helping to Build a Better Internet.
SVP, Strategy, Publishers
2015 - 2016
Very excited to combine Yieldex with AppNexus and build the next great ad tech company together.
AppNexus operates a cloud-based software platform that enables and optimizes programmatic online advertising.
Raised $321,471,856.00 from Storm Global, Employee Stock Option Fund and SharesPost Investment Management.
Founder and Chief Strategy Officer
2011 - 2015
I brought in a terrific CEO to partner with me to take Yieldex to the next level, and so I can focus on my strengths in product vision and strategy.
CEO
2007 - 2011
With advertising demand exceeding high-quality supply, brand advertisers and agencies are looking for broad reach to targeted audiences to reach their campaign objectives. Publishers and ad networks need solutions to deliver these campaigns while maximizing overall revenue. Yieldex was founded by industry veterans from Matchlogic and NetGravity to provide online advertising optimization solutions focused on the delivery of display advertising.
Education
BA
1985 - 1989
Investments
Latest Articles
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Stop the spread of COVID-19 by changing your light bulbs?
Talks about Covid-19, Ultraviolet and Entrepreneurship
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Turn a Trekking Pole into a Monopod
Talks about Backpacking, Monopod and Trekking Poles
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Remote Work Could Get a Whole Lot Remoter
Talks about Remote Working, Future Of Work and Autonomous Cars