Welcome to the Arena from ICR – Conversations with Today's Innovators & Business Leaders David Horowitz, Founder & CEO, Touchdown Ventures - Scoring Big: The power of partnerships and strategic investing
Building partnerships and investing strategically can be key in the growth of a business. However, for big corporations, and small start-ups, creating and managing a variety of partnerships can be challenging. Today's guest created his company to help ease that process.
On this episode we're sitting down with David Horowitz, founder and CEO of Touchdown Ventures. Touchdown partners with leading corporations to manage their venture capital funds, and currently they partner with Kellogg T-Mobile, Amerisource Bergen, Olympus, and Erie Insurance, Masco and Colorcon just to name a few.
Prior to starting touchdown, David was founding partner and managing director at Comcast Ventures for nearly 15 years. There he focused on investments in digital media, advertising, technology, digital home education, and financial technology. David also helped start and was partner at Gencast Ventures, a seed stage venture capital fund affiliated with Comcast Ventures.
Prior to Comcast, David worked in investment banking at Bear Stearns. He started South Jersey Tech Collective and networking group of entrepreneurs and investors in South Jersey, and David is also the inventor of the board game 'Frequent Flyer', which we'll talk about later in the program.
Highlights:
- David's previous work, and introduction to Touchdown Ventures (3:10)
- Market change and transitioning into corporate venture capital (4:33)
- Benefits of corporate venture capital investing (6:08)
- Common mistakes corporations make with investments (7:19)
- Pros and cons of venture capital partnerships (9:11)
- Industries investing in corporate venture capital (11:12)
- What makes a company an ideal partner for Touchdown Ventures (12:53)
- How Touchdown Ventures' model works, and success examples (14:03)
- Effects of the current market on investing and venture capital business (15:35)
- The company's future goals and trajectory (17:45)
- David's board game 'Frequent Flyer' (18:42)
Links:
Touchdown Ventures on LinkedIn
David's 'Frequent Flyer' board game
Feedback:
If you have questions about the show, or have a topic in mind you'd like discussed in future episodes, email our producer, marion@lowerstreet.co.