Today we are proud to announce that we are adding Zaz Floreani to the team as a Principal.
As you can see below, Zaz has the perfect background to join our team as our first Principal. In short: she hustles, works hard, knows how to get “stuff” done and truly understands what it means to be an entrepreneur.
Next Coast Ventures tagline is:
“Built by entrepreneurs, for entrepreneurs.”
This means that everyone on our investment team has lived the life – and the ups and downs – that come with being an entrepreneur. Zaz has dedicated her career to helping startups build growth-generating relationships with enterprises as well as creating M&A playbooks for fast-growing technology companies. That’s the exact type of focus and drive we want as part of our team.
“I was fortunate enough to see Tom and Michael build this fund and investor base from the beginning, and I knew right away that they were creating a firm dedicated to supporting entrepreneurs in Austin and rising innovation hubs and that was going to have a substantial impact on these entrepreneurial ecosystems. I have been invested in NCV’s mission since the beginning and am thrilled to now be part of the team helping to source and support the best entrepreneurs in these markets.”
- Zaz Floreani
Zaz is going to be an integral member of our deal team. She will help execute our strategy in our early stage investments, with a focus on sourcing entrepreneurs and identifying investment prospects in markets outside the coasts. Zaz will also support our portfolio companies by providing advice and introductions around potential hires, investors, customers and strategic partnerships. As an operator and investor with deep ties to the Austin entrepreneurial ecosystem, she is uniquely qualified to support our founders and help them scale great companies.
On a personal note, Zaz has been invested in our Entrepreneurs Fund – a group of 100+ established entrepreneurs in Next Coast markets – since the beginning of NCV, and is married to renowned Texas entrepreneur and FloSports Co-Founder Mark Floreani. She is the mother of two small children and runs a small real estate empire in her spare time (talk about entrepreneurship!). Finally, and equally important, Zaz is a lot of fun to be around, has an incredible intellect and her influence will be a great addition to our team and our firm’s culture.
We look forward to working with her as we continue our relentless search for the best and the brightest entrepreneurs in Next Coast markets.
Please join us in welcoming Zaz to NCV!
About Zaz
Zaz has spent nearly a decade as a leader of business and corporate development at Austin technology companies and at Austin Ventures. Most recently, Zaz worked at our portfolio company Dropoff where she led their Corporate Development initiatives. She was responsible for creating and overseeing strategic relationships with Fortune 500 companies and ran their M&A practice. Prior to Dropoff, she helped build the business development practice at Spredfast (formerly Mass Relevance), coordinating their M&A efforts and launching and managing social network partnerships. She was previously the director of business development at Austin Ventures, where she identified and evaluated hundreds of early-stage investment opportunities in the greater Southwest region. She earned an MBA from the McCombs School of Business and an MA in Middle Eastern Studies from the University of Texas, and a BA from the University of California, Los Angeles.
