Venture Capital for Beginners
Venture Capital for Beginners
As inventors and potential entrepreneurs, you probably hear terms like “NewCo”, “Angel Round”, “ Series A”, “Series B”, “Options”, and “Dilution”…Our panelists, Sherman Williams and Chris Fisher, are practicing venture capitalists (VC’s) and technologists who invest in cutting edge innovation. They have a long history of engaging with faculty and university entrepreneurs and will discuss VC lingo, typical timelines and important lessons learned. If you’re a potential inventor/entrepreneur—or just interested in the topic, we think you might benefit from this panel discussion!
This Inventors' Forum took place on September 19, 2022 from 3:30 p.m. - 4:30 p.m. A recording of "Venture Capital for Beginners" can be viewed by following the link below.
The Forum was Hosted by Albert Green, Ph. D., AMG Consulting Group.
Speakers
Chris Fisher is the Hong Kong based Managing Director for GPO Fund, a growth capital firm in New York City. GPO focuses on helping rapidly growing technology companies access global public markets with an emphasis on Asia. Chris is responsible for fundraising, deal structuring, and strategy.
Until 2021, Chris was Managing Partner for Click Ventures, a Hong Kong based early-stage venture capital firm, where he invested in highly scalable technology ventures.
Before venture capital, he spent over 20 years in corporate information technology strategy, M&A and direct investing for leading global consumer products companies including over ten years withTechtronic Industries in Hong Kong and seven years with Royal Appliance Manufacturing Company in Cleveland, Ohio.
Since 2004 he has been an active angel investor in the USA, China, and Hong Kong with interests primarily in advertising technology, clean energy and education. In 2015 he wrote the Taiwan chapter for Angel Financing in Asia Pacific.
Sherman Williams is a co-founder and Managing Partner of AIN Ventures. Sherman has an extensive history investing in dual-use technology subsegments, such as space technology and healthcare technology. Sherman has been the
VC-in-Residence to several Techstars programs. Sherman is also a Kauffman Fellow ('26). Prior to becoming an early-stage investor, Sherman gathered six years of financial transaction experience as a Healthcare Technology M&A Investment Banker. Sherman started his career as a Naval Intelligence Officer.
Sherman holds an MBA from the University of Chicago and a Bachelor of Science degree from the United States Naval Academy.