Michael Cardamone

CEO & Managing Partner @ Forum Ventures

About

As CEO and Managing Partner at Forum Ventures, I focus on developing our investment strategy with the mission to make the B2B SaaS journey easier, more accessible, and successful for early-stage founders. We are building a platform, community and fund that supports and invests in early stage B2B founders and given the volume of companies we invest in through our various funds, we’re in a unique position to have an outsized impact on our industry. We’re also committed to doing our part in increasing diversity and access within tech by building a diverse team and portfolio, as well as incorporating best practices into our program content, and our community at large. Key Investment Areas: Future of Work Vertical SaaS API First Companies Applied AI Supply chain/ Logistics Enablement B2B Marketplaces & eCommerce As one of the first 30 employees at Box, as well as leading partnerships at AcedemixDirect, I have had direct experience growing SaaS companies from small startups to large-scale enterprises. I am also an angel investor in a dozen companies including a seed investment in Flexport. After 6 years in operating roles, I launched Forum Ventures (formerly Acceleprise) in San Francisco to help founders grow and scale their businesses. Forum is designed to give founders the capital, personalized guidance, and support from a growing SaaS community to get your company to the next level. Forum is writes 75+ checks per year to trailblazing early stage B2B SaaS founders. Does this sound like you or someone you know? Pitch us at https://airtable.com/shrUdSyMgz2Dk8aNs

Country

United States

City

New York

Industry

Venture Capital & Private Equity

Skill

Partnerships, Strategy, Online Lead Generation, Business Development, Online Marketing, Entrepreneurship, Edtech, Real Estate Investor, Investments, SaaS, Enterprise Technology, Strategic Partnerships, Enterprise Software, Lead Generation, Online Advertising

Experience

CEO & Managing Partner

Forum Ventures

2014-6 - Present · 12 yrs 4 mos

San Francisco, New York City, Toronto

Forum Ventures is a B2B focused pre-seed fund, accelerator and venture studio with offices in San Francisco, NYC and Toronto.

Cohort 2 Member

Coolwater Capital

2021-4 - 2021-8 · 5 mos

A community building the next generation of institutional VC's

Advisor

Mya Systems

2014-4 - 2019-4 · 5 yrs 1 mo

San Francisco Bay Area

Venture Partner

SaaStr Ai

2017-1 - 2018-3 · 1 yr 3 mos

Greater New York City Area

Looking for great SaaS companies with amazing founders and generally, at least 10 unaffiliated customers, to invest in out of the $70M SaaStr fund. We make initial investments of $250K - $5M. More on the SaaStr fund: The SaaStr fund is led byJason Lemkin, former co-founder/CEO of EchoSign (acq. by Adobe), founder of SaaStr (the world's largest community for SaaS founders) and active SaaS investor. Jason has invested in great companies including leading the very first or very early VC investments in Talkdesk, Algolia, RainforestQA, Logikcull, Automile, Pipedrive, Perfect Pipeline, SalesLoft, and Avanoo, and sourcing the first VC investments in GuideSpark and Greenhouse.io, and serving on the board of BetterWorks. He is also an advisor or individual investor in Showpad, FrontApp, Retention Science, among other emerging leaders. Collectively these startups have grown to be worth over $1.5 billion, with an average entry price of $13m per investment, in less than 3 years.

VP of Partnerships

AcademixDirect, Inc.

2010-4 - 2014-1 · 3 yrs 10 mos

AcademixDirect is a performance marketing company in the education market. I am responsible for partner marketing, business development and general management of several new initiatives. - Focused on identifying and executing on partnerships with publishers, call centers and large brands to help drive student inquiries for our clients. - Manage P&L for multiple marketing channels to help drive towards revenue and gross margin goals - Helping to lead the company's mobile strategy and managing a major new business initiative

Partner Channel Manager

AcademixDirect, Inc.

2009-8 - 2010-4 · 9 mos

Business Development Manager

Box

2008-6 - 2009-7 · 1 yr 2 mos

Box.net is a cloud content management solution that is used by consumers, small businesses and fortune 100 companies. I worked with the VP of Business Development on sourcing and establishing revenue generating partnerships with VARs, MSPs, and other technology companies from hardware to SaaS. - Created and built out Box.net's initial channel program to help increase distribution in the SMB market. - Worked with VP of BD on partnerships with companies such as Salesforce, Dell and the American Bar Association.

Managing Partner

United States Federation of Small Businesses

2005-8 - 2007-12 · 2 yrs 5 mos

Responsible for Increasing revenue and membership base in New York City. Launched NYC Office after extensive market research and development of a strategic marketing and business development plan. By executing on the strategic plan we were able to significantly increase revenue and increase the activity of our membership base. Overall responsibilities included: Marketing, Business Development, General Management, Client Relations

Part Time Marketing/Business Analyst

Mainpoint Marketing

2006-5 - 2006-11 · 7 mos

I was directly responsible for leading a team of six in performing industry and market research to determine the feasibility of launching a new media business. I subsequently helped to write a complete business plan for the company in order to raise capital. Throughout the process I also helped to develop a name, brand and concept.

Education

Columbia Business School

Finance and Marketing

2006 - 2008 · 2 yrs

I have participated in 2 consulting engagements with early stage consumer goods companies; one of which I was the team leader for. I am also involved in a master class where I am helping to develop a marketing strategy for Virgin Galactic. I have also taken multiple classes in Venture Capital and have a strong interest in the industry.