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  • Overview
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  • Team & Community
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    • Team

      Act One's core players have decades of experience building companies from the ground all the way through to IPO and beyond.

      Michael Silton

      Managing Director

      • Previously Executive Director, UCLA Venture Capital Fund
      • CEO/Founder of Rainmaker Systems, Inc; took public on Nasdaq; clients included Vanguard, Abbot, IBM; grew to over 1,500 employees
      • CEO/Co-Founder of UniDirect Systems; Inc. 500 #22; sold to Avent 

      Alejandro Guerrero

      General Partner

      • Previously Associate, UCLA VC Fund
      • CEO/Founder of UniqApp
      • Co-Founder of Live Entertainment Network
      • BA, UCLA
    • Community

      Our Advisors & Mentors are a diverse and dynamic group of experienced entrepreneurs and executives eager to provide founders with practical, meaningful advice and connections that lead to revenue. Every single one of them have been in your shoes, and they’ve seen firsthand how diversity and inclusion lead to success.

      Dennis Eck

      Board Member, ULTA Beauty, Act One Advisory Board

      ULTA Beauty is largest beauty retailer in the U.S. and premier beauty destination for cosmetics, fragrance, skin, hair care products, and salon services


      Previously, Non-Executive Chair at ULTA Beauty and Acting CEO (2014); CEO at Vons Companies, Inc.; CEO at Coles Myer, one of Australia's largest retailers


      Pioneer in many aspects of retail and e-commerce systems, active supporter of education programs and women in entrepreneurship
       

      Currently funding highly modernized technology interior while preserving exterior of 70-year-old historic building at University of Montana
       

      BS, University of Montana

      Paul Kessler

      Co-Founder, Bristol Capital Advisors; Act One Advisory Board

      Pioneer on Wall Street - PIPE Strategy
      Co-Founder, StartEngine (equity crowdfunding)
      Founder, The Los Angeles Film School
      Founder, PiMac Mortgage Fund
      Owner, Sugarfina
      Lead Investor and Advisor, Rx3, 4x400, Act One, Med Tech Innovator


      Invested in, provided seed capital, and/or founded numerous successful companies: 700+ investments including Cheniere Energy, Iovance (formerly Lion Biotechnologies), Intercept Pharmaceuticals, Cantango Oil and Gas, Research Solutions, Wizard World, Energous Corp., Tellurian Investments

      Jose Feliciano

      Founding Partner, Clearlake Capital

      Founded in 2006, Clearlake is a sector-focused venture firm that seeks to partner with world-class management teams by providing patient, long-term capital. Clearlake has managed more than $6 billion of institutional capital since its founding and led or co-led 100-plus investments.

      Kwanza Jones

      Artist, investor, entrepreneur, and philanthropist

      Co-founder and CEO of SUPERCHARGED Initiative, a lifestyle brand and personal development app.

       

      As an investor, she focuses on on education, entrepreneurship, equal opportunity, and empowerment.

      Susan Ennis

      Media & Entertainment Strategist; ex-EVP at HBO

      Business builder and original architect of the HBO brand

       

      Founder and principal of Susan Ennis Media Strategies


      Expert in programming and research with 3 decades leading content distribution via cable, on-demand, OTT, and digital streaming

       

      BA, Wesleyan University

      MBA, Columbia University

      Jackie Papkoff

      Ex-VP Immunology & Scientific Innovation, Johnson and Johnson

      Currently, Senior Vice President of Research at Evelo Biosciences

       

      Deep subject matter expertise in oncology, tumor immunology, inflammation & autoimmunity. Comprehensive discovery and preclinical development experience with monoclonal antibodies, biotherapeutics and small molecules

       

      PhD Biology, UC San Diego;
      BA Biology, UC Santa Cruz

      Jayathi Murthy

      Dean, UCLA Henry Samueli School of Engineering and Applied Science

      Elaine Davis

      Advisor

      Previously SVP, Conduent, world’s largest business process services co.


      SVP, GSK - GlaxoSmithKline, world's sixth-largest pharmaceutical co.


      MS/BS, UC Berkeley

      Juli Stone Thirtle

      Managing Director, Deloitte Consulting

      (Life Sciences) Worlds largest consulting firm; Commercial strategy, product launch and business operating model consultant; focused on medical device/technology and biotech sectors

       

      MBA, Arizona State; BA, UCLA

      Nasi Peretz

      VP Engineering @ Ticketmaster

      Lecturer @ USC Viterbi School of Engineering; Co-founder, TicketMob (sold to Cvent); Co-founder, WestSideRentals.com

      Jeff Miller, PH.D.

      Director, CNSI (California NanoSystems Institute) at UCLA

      Member, National Academy of Sciences; UCLA Professor, Microbiology, Immunology & Molecular Genetics

      Diana Derycz-Kessler

      Investor; former CEO, The Los Angeles Film School

      A Latina herself, Diana supports minority entrepreneurs; Diana was also a private sector leader in UNESCO TeachHer project (a global education initiative focused on bridging the gender gap in the STEAM fields); Co-Founder and Fund Manager, Bristol Capital Advisors; Previously, international business attorney, Curtis, Mallet-Prevost, Colt & Mosle and at Occidental Petroleum Corporation

       

      JD, Harvard; MS, Stanford; BA, UCLA

      Peter Seymour

      CFO, Disney/ABC

      One of Disney's largest business groups consisting of the non-sports television businesses (ABC, ABC Studios, ABC Stations, Disney Channels Worldwide, Freeform and equity investments in AETN and Hulu); Board Member, Ronald Reagan UCLA Medical Center

       

      MBA, Stanford; BA, Stanford

      Cathy Halligan

      Board Director, ULTA Beauty

      Fortune 500 and NASDAQ 100, high growth, omnichannel retailer of All Things Beauty, All in One Place™; Board Director, FLIR (Nasdaq:FLIR); Previously CMO Walmart.com, VP Blue Nile, VP Williams Sonoma

      Susan Feldman

      Co-Founder, One Kings Lane

      Board of Governors at
      Parsons The New School for Design

       

      MBA, UCLA; BA, Stanford

      Bob Baltera

      CEO, Hawkeye Therapeutics

      Former CEO, Amira Pharma sold for $400M; Previously VP, Amgen; MBA, UCLA; MS Genetics, Penn State

       

      BS Microbiology, Penn State

      MJ Johnson

      President, RithmPay

      Former VP, Trademark & Technology Licensing, Technicolor

       

      LLM, USC Gould School
      of Law

      Roberto Medrano

      IT executive,
      cybersecurity pioneer

      Executive in the information technology fields of cybersecurity, middleware, governance, API security, microservices, DevOps, software, SaaS, cloud integration, SOA/API management, enterprise architecture


      Deep experience with launching and marketing products and companies
      Cybersecurity pioneer working in early phases of firewall, content security, and security policy

       

      MBA, UCLA; MS Electrical Engineering, MIT;
      BS Electrical Engineering, USC

      Mark Beaven

      CEO/Founder, AAM Advanced Alternative Media, Inc.

      AAM is the most identifiable global brand for Producer and Songwriter management, exclusively representing world-class talent and their businesses, among them songwriters, producers, artists, labels, publishing companies, production companies, mixers, executives, and engineers; AAM’s clients speak to the breadth of its work, which has moved many millions of people and sold billions of albums and singles; Beaven’s company has collaborated with mega stars ranging from The Rolling Stones, U2, David Bowie, Madonna, Keith Urban, Kanye, Prince, Adele, Elton John, Taylor Swift, Nirvana, Usher, John Lennon, Bruno Mars, Amy Winehouse, Aretha Franklin, and Guns ‘N’ Roses

    Copyright © 2021 Act One Ventures ®. All rights reserved.

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    Introduction
    These Website Standard Terms and Conditions written on this webpage shall manage your use of this website. These Terms will be applied fully and affect to your use of this Website. By using this Website, you agreed to accept all terms and conditions written in here. You must not use this Website if you disagree with any of these Website Standard Terms and Conditions.
    
    Intellectual Property Rights
    Other than the content you own, under these Terms, Act One Ventures LP and/or its licensors own all the intellectual property rights and materials contained in this Website.
    
    You are granted limited license only for purposes of viewing the material contained on this Website.
    
    Restrictions
    You are specifically restricted from all of the following
    
    publishing any Website material in any other media;
    selling, sublicensing and/or otherwise commercializing any Website material;
    publicly performing and/or showing any Website material;
    using this Website in any way that is or may be damaging to this Website;
    using this Website in any way that impacts user access to this Website;
    using this Website contrary to applicable laws and regulations, or in any way may cause harm to the Website, or to any person or business entity;
    engaging in any data mining, data harvesting, data extracting or any other similar activity in relation to this Website;
    using this Website to engage in any advertising or marketing.
    Certain areas of this Website are restricted from being access by you and Act One Ventures LP may further restrict access by you to any areas of this Website, at any time, in absolute discretion. Any user ID and password you may have for this Website are confidential and you must maintain confidentiality as well.
    
    Your Content
    In these Website Standard Terms and Conditions, “Your Content” shall mean any audio, video text, images or other material you choose to display on this Website. By displaying Your Content, you grant Act One Ventures LP a non-exclusive, worldwide irrevocable, sub licensable license to use, reproduce, adapt, publish, translate and distribute it in any and all media.
    
    Your Content must be your own and must not be invading any third-party’s rights. Act One Ventures LP reserves the right to remove any of Your Content from this Website at any time without notice.
    
    No warranties
    This Website is provided “as is,” with all faults, and Act One Ventures LP express no representations or warranties, of any kind related to this Website or the materials contained on this Website. Also, nothing contained on this Website shall be interpreted as advising you.
    
    Limitation of liability
    In no event shall Act One Ventures LP, nor any of its officers, directors and employees, shall be held liable for anything arising out of or in any way connected with your use of this Website whether such liability is under contract.  Act One Ventures LP, including its officers, directors and employees shall not be held liable for any indirect, consequential or special liability arising out of or in any way related to your use of this Website.
    
    Indemnification
    You hereby indemnify to the fullest extent Act One Ventures LP from and against any and/or all liabilities, costs, demands, causes of action, damages and expenses arising in any way related to your breach of any of the provisions of these Terms.
    
    Severability
    If any provision of these Terms is found to be invalid under any applicable law, such provisions shall be deleted without affecting the remaining provisions herein.
    
    Variation of Terms
    Act One Ventures LP is permitted to revise these Terms at any time as it sees fit, and by using this Website you are expected to review these Terms on a regular basis.
    
    Assignment
    The Act One Ventures LP is allowed to assign, transfer, and subcontract its rights and/or obligations under these Terms without any notification. However, you are not allowed to assign, transfer, or subcontract any of your rights and/or obligations under these Terms.
    
    Entire Agreement
    These Terms constitute the entire agreement between Act One Ventures LP and you in relation to your use of this Website, and supersede all prior agreements and understandings.
    
    Governing Law & Jurisdiction
    These Terms will be governed by and interpreted in accordance with the laws of the State of California, and you submit to the non-exclusive jurisdiction of the state and federal courts located in California for the resolution of any disputes.
    ×
    This privacy policy has been compiled to better serve those who are concerned with how their 'Personally Identifiable Information' (PII) is being used online. PII, as described in US privacy law and information security, is information that can be used on its own or with other information to identify, contact, or locate a single person, or to identify an individual in context. Please read our privacy policy carefully to get a clear understanding of how we collect, use, protect or otherwise handle your Personally Identifiable Information in accordance with our website.
    
    What personal information do we collect from the people that visit our blog, website or app?
    
    We do not collect information from visitors of our site.
    or other details to help you with your experience.
    
    When do we collect information?
    
    We collect information from you when you or enter information on our site.
    
    send us an email 
    How do we use your information?
    
    We may use the information we collect from you when you register, make a purchase, sign up for our newsletter, respond to a survey or marketing communication, surf the website, or use certain other site features in the following ways:
    
          • To follow up with them after correspondence (live chat, email or phone inquiries)
    
    How do we protect your information?
    
    We do not use vulnerability scanning and/or scanning to PCI standards.
    We only provide articles and information. We never ask for credit card numbers.
    We use regular Malware Scanning.
    
    We do not use an SSL certificate
          • We only provide articles and information. We never ask for personal or private information like names, email addresses, or credit card numbers.
    
    Do we use 'cookies'?
    
    Yes. Cookies are small files that a site or its service provider transfers to your computer's hard drive through your Web browser (if you allow) that enables the site's or service provider's systems to recognize your browser and capture and remember certain information. For instance, we use cookies to help us remember and process the items in your shopping cart. They are also used to help us understand your preferences based on previous or current site activity, which enables us to provide you with improved services. We also use cookies to help us compile aggregate data about site traffic and site interaction so that we can offer better site experiences and tools in the future.
    
    We use cookies to:
          • Compile aggregate data about site traffic and site interactions in order to offer better site experiences and tools in the future. We may also use trusted third-party services that track this information on our behalf.
    
    You can choose to have your computer warn you each time a cookie is being sent, or you can choose to turn off all cookies. You do this through your browser settings. Since browser is a little different, look at your browser's Help Menu to learn the correct way to modify your cookies.
    
    If you turn cookies off, It won't affect the user's experience .
    
    Third-party disclosure
    
    We do not sell, trade, or otherwise transfer to outside parties your Personally Identifiable Information.
    
    Third-party links
    
    We do not include or offer third-party products or services on our website.
    
    Google
    
    Google's advertising requirements can be summed up by Google's Advertising Principles. They are put in place to provide a positive experience for users. https://support.google.com/adwordspolicy/answer/1316548?hl=en 
    
    We use Google AdSense Advertising on our website.
    
    Google, as a third-party vendor, uses cookies to serve ads on our site. Google's use of the DART cookie enables it to serve ads to our users based on previous visits to our site and other sites on the Internet. Users may opt-out of the use of the DART cookie by visiting the Google Ad and Content Network privacy policy.
    
    We have implemented the following:
    
    We, along with third-party vendors such as Google use first-party cookies (such as the Google Analytics cookies) and third-party cookies (such as the DoubleClick cookie) or other third-party identifiers together to compile data regarding user interactions with ad impressions and other ad service functions as they relate to our website.
    
    Opting out:
    Users can set preferences for how Google advertises to you using the Google Ad Settings page. Alternatively, you can opt out by visiting the Network Advertising Initiative Opt Out page or by using the Google Analytics Opt Out Browser add on.
    
    California Online Privacy Protection Act
    
    CalOPPA is the first state law in the nation to require commercial websites and online services to post a privacy policy. The law's reach stretches well beyond California to require any person or company in the United States (and conceivably the world) that operates websites collecting Personally Identifiable Information from California consumers to post a conspicuous privacy policy on its website stating exactly the information being collected and those individuals or companies with whom it is being shared. - See more at: http://consumercal.org/california-online-privacy-protection-act-caloppa/#sthash.0FdRbT51.dpuf
    
    According to CalOPPA, we agree to the following:
    Users can visit our site anonymously.
    Once this privacy policy is created, we will add a link to it on our home page or as a minimum, on the first significant page after entering our website.
    Our Privacy Policy link includes the word 'Privacy' and can easily be found on the page specified above.
    
    You will be notified of any Privacy Policy changes:
          • On our Privacy Policy Page
    Can change your personal information:
          • By emailing us
    
    How does our site handle Do Not Track signals?
    We honor Do Not Track signals and Do Not Track, plant cookies, or use advertising when a Do Not Track (DNT) browser mechanism is in place.
    
    Does our site allow third-party behavioral tracking?
    It's also important to note that we do not allow third-party behavioral tracking
    
    COPPA (Children Online Privacy Protection Act)
    
    When it comes to the collection of personal information from children under the age of 13 years old, the Children's Online Privacy Protection Act (COPPA) puts parents in control. The Federal Trade Commission, United States' consumer protection agency, enforces the COPPA Rule, which spells out what operators of websites and online services must do to protect children's privacy and safety online.
    
    We do not specifically market to children under the age of 13 years old.
    Do we let third-parties, including ad networks or plug-ins collect PII from children under 13?
    
    Fair Information Practices
    
    The Fair Information Practices Principles form the backbone of privacy law in the United States and the concepts they include have played a significant role in the development of data protection laws around the globe. Understanding the Fair Information Practice Principles and how they should be implemented is critical to comply with the various privacy laws that protect personal information.
    
    In order to be in line with Fair Information Practices we will take the following responsive action, should a data breach occur:
    We will notify you via email
          • Within 1 business day
    We will notify the users via in-site notification
          • Within 1 business day
    
    We also agree to the Individual Redress Principle which requires that individuals have the right to legally pursue enforceable rights against data collectors and processors who fail to adhere to the law. This principle requires not only that individuals have enforceable rights against data users, but also that individuals have recourse to courts or government agencies to investigate and/or prosecute non-compliance by data processors.
    
    CAN SPAM Act
    
    The CAN-SPAM Act is a law that sets the rules for commercial email, establishes requirements for commercial messages, gives recipients the right to have emails stopped from being sent to them, and spells out tough penalties for violations.
    
    We collect your email address in order to:
    
    To be in accordance with CANSPAM, we agree to the following:
    
    If at any time you would like to unsubscribe from receiving future emails, you can email us at
    and we will promptly remove you from ALL correspondence.
    
    Contacting Us
    
    If there are any questions regarding this privacy policy, you may contact us using the information below.
    
    www.actoneventures.com
    1541 OCEAN AVENUE, SUITE 200
    SANTA MONICA, CA 90401
    USA
    info@actoneventures.com
    
    Last Edited on 2018-04-22
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