Draper University

Focused on global business development and partnerships for leading Silicon Valley Venture Network, Founder Residency and Accelerator.

Led major deals to accelerate global entrepreneurship and ecosystem growth for partners ranging from governments to leading blockchains including Jetro Japan, Cyberport Hong Kong, Stellar Development Foundation, and the Cardano Foundation.

VP - Ecosystem Growth

DraperU is a leading pre-accelerator located in Silicon Valley founded by Venture Capitalist Tim Draper. Their entrepreneurship programs have gathered 2100 entrepreneurs from 101 different countries with  US$900m raised in venture capital.

Led major crypto program deals: Algorand, VeChain, NEO, CEEK, etc

Head of Business Development and Partnerships - APAC

Bevy

Helping brands build, grow, and scale their communities. Clients include Slack, Twitch, Atlassian, Asana, Webflow, etc

Investor

LawAdvisor Ventures

Helping leading Legal-tech platform LawAdvisor connect to Startups.
Raised US$5M Million Seed from backers, including Google Maps founder Lars Rasmussen, ex-Barclays Ventures CEO Ben Davey, former Orrick chairman and CEO Ralph Baxter, Microsoft general manager and associate general counsel Jason Barnwell, etc

Investor & Startup Ambassador

SOSV MOX (Mobile Only Accelerator)

Mentor

Startup Grind

Global startup community: 4 million startups in 600 cities and 125 countries worldwide.

Proudly interviewing and sharing the stories of global game changers, from Unicorn founders to Nobel Prize Winners.

Global Podcast Host

Connecting the World's Best Startups with Silicon Valley, Our Global Network, and Partners.

Startup Grind (powered by Google for Entrepreneurs) inspires, educates, and connects 3,500,000+ entrepreneurs, in 600 cities in 125 countries around the world. Local partners include: ASX, Deloitte Private, Salesforce, IBM, MYOB, Zendesk, Airwallex and NAB.

APAC Director

The aim of Startup Grind Australia is to both showcase the best of local startups and help support the progression of online business, in addition to amplifying our voice within the international community.

Startup Grind is an event series and media company designed to help educate, inspire, and connect local entrepreneurs.

Established local and national partnerships with the ASX, NAB, Deloitte, MYOB, Zendesk, 99designs, Holding Redlich, inVision, Xero, Salesforce, and Vinomofo.

General Manager - Australia/New Zealand

DreamPushers

On a mission to build the #1 Crypto Creator Community and Lifestyle Brand™

Founder

Startupbootcamp

Corporate Innovation, Growth Hacking and Program Management for global leading industry-focused
accelerator.
Lead venture builder for the 雀巢 Nestle Accelerator (Beijing, China) - Commercialising
patented technology in personalized nutrition. Venture building and growth hacking for Mars and Asahi.

Managed and trained 5 cohorts of growth hackers redesigning curriculum with the latest in
digital marketing and ethical growth hacking.

Program Director / Venture Builder

Draper Startup House

The Hotels for Entrepreneurs. On a mission is to enable ONE MILLION entrepreneurs by 2030. 
Part of the Global Draper Venture Network and Ecosystem.

Head Of Marketing (International)

Collective Campus

Connecting Melbourne's leading startups with local and global resources. Collective Campus is Melbourne's Leading Enterprise Innovation Hub. It is focused on running corporate accelerator programs for Mills Oakley (LawTech), Village Roadshow (VR/ AR), and Charter Hall (Proptech) and Lemonade Stand - A fun business & entrepreneurship program for kids (Australia & Singapore)

Entrepreneur In Residence

Forbes

Covering startups and entrepreneurship in Australia and New Zealand for Forbes.

Contributing Writer

VP - Ecosystem Growth @ Draper University

With over 11 years of experience in the startup and venture capital space, I am a passionate and proactive leader who helps brands build, grow, and scale their communities, products, and impact. As the VP of Ecosystem Growth at Draper University, I focus on global business development and partnerships for the leading Silicon Valley Venture Network and Pre-Accelerator, connecting entrepreneurs, investors, corporates, and governments across the world.

I am also an active investor and mentor, supporting startups in various domains and stages, such as Bevy, LawAdvisor, SOSV MOX, and Startup Grind. I have a strong track record of building partnerships, launching programs, and growing ecosystems. I leverage my expertise in marketing, innovation, and blockchain to empower and inspire the next generation of changemakers and disruptors. My mission is to push the boundaries of what is possible and create value for society.

Chris Joannou 💎

Bevy (bevy.com)

Enterprise Community events and user group software to build and scale. Customers include: Google, Salesforce, Atlassian, Adobe, Snowflake, Slack, Figma, and Snap. Heading up product, marketing and sales, customer success, HR, and finance teams. Contribution includes: first product manager, designed V1, AE for first $1M in ARR, first customer success person, acquisition of CMX, $60M funding raised from +50 investors.

Co-Founder/CEO

600-city community in 120-countries educating and connecting startup people. +20,000 events hosted, +1,000 volunteers, 250,000 minutes of video content, for 1M people attendees. Created in Silicon Valley, Startup Grind brings the world's best founders, investors, and thought leaders to the stage. Est 2010

Little League International

Favorite teams:
Bevy PCL 2019, https://www.instagram.com/p/Bx1Xdo8BA8Q/?hl=en
Bevy PCL 2020, https://www.instagram.com/p/Cd2Hf37LIIz/?hl=en
Fall Ball Cardinals 2021, https://www.instagram.com/p/CVrbbyol8tm/?hl=en
Fall Ball Cardinals 2022, https://www.instagram.com/p/CkUkvVIr5lk/?hl=en

Head Coach

Vaporware Labs

Product incubator of mostly failed products. Startup Grind (2010-present), Trending.it, OutGawk Media, Steve Young Football iOS, MEETorDIE, and Commonred (Acq by Income.com). Contribution includes: Product managed engineering teams to 15 shipped products for Netgear, Palm, Ubisoft, and ourselves.

Co-Founder / Head of Product

Electronic Arts

Company wide management of YouTube, Twitter, and Facebook communities. Supported products like Sims 3, Need For Speed, Madden, and Battlefield.

Entertainment Development

Product marketing on The Godfather, Criterion (Burnout) and DICE (Mirror's Edge). Recipient of company wide Rookie of the Year award (2006). Also two internships in digital and product marketing.

Product Manager

uSight

Customer success and marketing for INC #2 fastest growing company in 2004. Infected by startup bug.

Customer Success/Marketing/Sales

For the past 15 years Derek has been building communities. He is the co-founder/CEO of Bevy, a SaaS product that helps companies like Salesforce, Atlassian, Google, Snowflake, and Adobe build virtual and in-person communities. Bevy has raised $60M from Accel, Upfront Ventures, and others. He co-founded Startup Grind, a community of 600 Chapters in 125 countries educating, inspiring, and connecting startup people. Since 2012 Startup Grind has hosted 20,000 events. In 2010 he co-founded Commonred which was acquired by Income.com. Derek also previously worked as a product manager at Electronic Arts. He currently lives in Palo Alto CA with his wife and four children.

Derek Andersen

This week on Divot I am thankful (see what I did there?) to chat with Christine Tsai, CEO and Founding Partner of 500 Global. Christine is one of Silicon Valley's most resilient leaders. We talked about about 500 Global backing 3,000+ companies, why innovation comes from everywhere, and leading through volatility. We did it in 500's downtown Palo Alto office. Links to watch/listen in the comments. Thanks Christine!

#GlobalFounders #VentureCapital #StartupLeadership #EarlyStageInvesting #FounderMindset #ScalingStartups #GlobalInnovation #WomenInVC #LeadershipLessons #BuildingEnduringCompanies #Entrepreneurship #500Global

How do you deliver feedback in a way for it to be thoughtfully received and implemented? Kim Scott is the world's expert on this and I left our Divot chat with tangible things to do to become a better manager, leader, and friend. 

Radical Candor® might still be the most quoted management framework in Silicon Valley. Her newer work Radical Respect is equally impactful. 

In our conversation we talk about feedback, speaking truth and showing love. The clip below shares what's wrong with the feedback sandwich. Links to full video/audio in comments.

taplio

The Battle

Chris Joannou 💎

Derek Andersen

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taplio

The Battle

Chris Joannou 💎

Derek Andersen

Followers

Posts

Engagements

Likes

Performance Score.css-goub6s{font-size:var(--chakra-fontSizes-md);font-weight:500;color:var(--chakra-colors-gray-600);display:block;margin-top:var(--chakra-space-1);}Derek Andersen's LinkedIn Performance

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Performance ScoreDerek Andersen's LinkedIn Performance