Westwood Ventures Team

Bio: Larry is an experienced investor, business adviser and investment banker. Before joining Westwood Ventures, Larry managed the investment portfolios for the family offices of two prominent Seattle technology and telecom billionaires. Earlier, Larry was a strategy consultant in McKinsey & Company’s Silicon Valley Office, Director of Finance at a Silicon Valley startup (Blue Pumpkin Software) and a hedge fund investor. Larry started his career as an investment banker with Salomon Brothers and later, Robertson, Stephens & Company.  He received his MBA from The Anderson School at UCLA, Masters in Finance from London Business School, and a BA in Economics from Stanford University, where he sailed for the Varsity Sailing Team.
Notable Deals: Alibaba, Sonos, Unity Biotechnology

Bio: Andy is VP of Investments at Alumni Ventures Group, where he supports investment operations, analytics, and portfolio management. Previously, Andy held several executive roles at a VC-backed start-up in Boston called MiniLuxe, where he led finance and operations during a period of significant growth. Andy was also a consultant at The Parthenon Group, and began his career as an actuary at the Liberty Mutual Group. Andy holds a bachelor’s degree from Penn State University, and an MBA from the Tuck School of Business at Dartmouth.
Notable Deals: Commonbond, Mezu, Honor, Kognition

Bio: Anton has 20+ years of technology experience as a proven venture capital investor, entrepreneur and operating executive in companies ranging in size from start-up to Fortune 10. Most recently, Anton founded and led Vener8 Technologies, a technology commercialization company he started with GE. Previously in his career, Anton led the Software and Internet Infrastructure Group at GE Equity where he directly invested $72 million in 10 companies generating more than $500 million of realized gains. Anton has substantial international experience in Canada, China, Europe and Israel, and has served on the board of directors of more than 20 private and public companies. Anton has a BSc. Engineering from Queen’s University in Canada, and an MBA from Harvard Business School.

Bio: David Sharifi is a startup attorney and business consultant with a focus in intellectual property law, digital asset transactions, deal structuring, and competitive barrier strategy in technology markets. David applies a blend of intellectual property law, personal startup experience, contract negotiation, and lean startup principles in advising innovation firms on product development and promotion strategies. He started his career as an entrepreneur and inventor. David has been recognized as Top 30 Most Influential Digital Media and E-Commerce Law Attorneys by the Los Angeles Business Journal. David is an active member of the California State Bar, holds a Political Science BA from UCLA, and JD, concentration in Entertainment, from Southwestern Law School.

Bio: Julie is a Senior Executive with 20+ years scaling Go To Market teams focused on Enterprise & SaaS cloud offerings. Julie builds high performing teams with the goal of great outcomes for customers and shareholders. Successful exits include New Relic’s IPO in 2014 and Yammer’s $1.2B acquisition by Microsoft in 2012. Julie leads organizations to attain major revenue targets such as $5B in cloud revenue at Microsoft and $1.5B in renewal revenue during her 10 year tenure at TIBCO. Prior to joining Imperva in 2018 as VP Customer Success, she held key roles at notable tech companies including Ariba and Oracle. Julie holds a BA in Economics/Business from UCLA.

Bio: Jennifer Openshaw is a nationally known consumer financial leader with expertise in technology, innovation, and women. Jennifer brings a unique background to Silicon Valley, having held top positions in media, government and the financial industry, including head of the Financial Women’s Association. She started her career as press secretary to California State Treasurer Kathleen Brown and has advised Fortune 500 organizations including Microsoft and EY’s People Advisory Service. Jen has served as a longtime columnist for Dow Jones’ MarketWatch and has appeared on multiple shows, including Oprah, CNN, and Public Television, where she hosted her own show. In 2016, Jennifer founded Girls With Impact, the nation’s only live, online entrepreneurship program for teen girls. A Rotary Scholar, Jennifer holds an MBA in finance and BA, both from UCLA.

Bio: Sofia DeMay (UCLA’17) is a senior business analyst at Global Institutional Solutions, where she consults on go-to-market strategy and product positioning for new consumer offerings. Previously, she co-founded a transportation startup called Swifte, where she lead marketing and product efforts. The company eventually partnered with Waze carpool.

Bio: Jonathan is an MBA candidate at UCLA Anderson School of Management and holds bachelor’s and master’s degrees in mechanical engineering from the Technion – Israel Institute of Technology. As a former captain in the Israel Defense Forces, Jonathan held several engineering management roles in elite technological units, where he led multidisciplinary prototype developments of specialized defense products. Jonathan’s passion for clean energy led to his academic and entrepreneurial involvement in the field, which resulted in a published academic paper and a patent issued in his name.

Bio: Ann is a Physician-Scientist who is passionate about championing great science through impactful investing. She is a former tenured Associate Professor at UCSF, where she directed her basic science research program in hematopoietic stem cell and vascular biology and also has extensive medical training in Neonatal Intensive Care/Pediatrics. As an early clinical development lead at Amgen, Ann directs the translation of early pre-clinical programs for successful first in human studies. In addition to a recent MBA at the Anderson School of Management at UCLA, she also has a Bachelor of Science (BS) in Biomedical Engineering and Medical Doctorate(MD) from Boston University.