Include is TechCrunch’s diversity program, launched in 2014, aimed at facilitating opportunities for underrepresented groups in tech to take their startups to the next level. The Office Hours program is part of that effort.
Once monthly, TechCrunch works with VC partners to provide feedback and advice to early-stage companies. Since October 2015, more than 60 entrepreneurs in the Bay Area have met with partners from Accel, Andreessen Horowitz, Emergence Capital, General Catalyst and Sequoia.
TechCrunch is excited to announce the expansion of the program to serve the NY community. Confirmed participants include Brooklyn Bridge Ventures, Union Square Ventures, Lerer Ventures, ff Venture Capital, Bain Capital Ventures and AngelPad, among others.
Today, applications to meet with Homebrew for West Coast-based startups, and ffVC for East Coast-based startups are open. To be considered for either session, fill out the application here.
Underrepresented groups in tech include, but are not limited to, Black, Latino, Native American, LGBT and female founders.
Let’s learn more about our co-hosts from Homebrew and ffVC:
Prior to Homebrew, Satya Patel was vice president of product at Twitter, building and leading the product management and user services teams. Before Twitter, he was a Partner at Battery Ventures, where he co-led the seed and early-stage investing practices. He joined Google in 2003 and was responsible for AdSense product management and partnerships. Before heading to Silicon Valley for Google, he worked for DoubleClick in venture capital and as a strategy consultant.
Preceding Homebrew, Beth Scheer spent five-plus years at Salesforce leading executive search, sales leadership and sales growth/professional services recruiting teams. She joined Google in 2003 to build out the AdSense team and then spent six years hiring for business operations, corporate communications, corporate development and various engineering teams, including new graduate PhDs.
Before Homebrew, Hunter Walk led consumer product management at YouTube, starting when it was acquired by Google. He originally joined Google in 2003, managing product and sales efforts for AdSense, Google‘s contextual advertising business. His first job in Silicon Valley was as the founding product and marketing guy at Linden Lab. Before graduate school, he was a management consultant and also spent a year at Late Night with Conan O‘ Brien.
Adam Plotkin is a partner at ff Venture Capital. In this capacity he provides targeted strategic counsel to a range of ffVC investments, with a focus on technological innovation in logistics and manufacturing, insurance, e-commerce, financial services and media. Adam has experience serving on the boards of CardFlight, Drop Loyalty, Four Mine and Sure, to name a few.
Prior to ffVC, Adam spent several years in business development, advisory and operational roles with several startups in New York and Los Angeles. Adam was the first hire at Lake Baldwin Management, a Princeton, N.J., opportunistic hedge fund, where he was a generalist investor, managing an array of public and private market investments. Adam began his career at Goldman Sachs in the Leveraged Finance Group, where he advised clients in the telecom and insurance industries, and in the Risk Markets Group, where he was involved in the design, structure and marketing of two of the early catastrophe risk-linked bonds.
If your firm is interested in participating in Office Hours please email sam@beta.techcrunch.com.