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Martin: San Francisco Network Provided Crucial Diligence for Yale Venture Underwriting

Anne Martin · Anne Martin - Pulling the Oars as CIO of Wesleyan University (Capital Allocators, EP.114) · Dec 2, 2019 · at 11:41

Anne Martin, CIO of Wesleyan University, describes how her prior career in Bay Area technology banking aided her manager diligence when working at the Yale University endowment.

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“Because I was in emerging growth technology, there was a whole network of people that I knew from my nine years in San Francisco that were venture capitalists, growth equity investors, CEOs, and that provided a really nice database for me when underwriting new venture positions for Yale. There were people I could call who I felt would give me a very candid View of people we were trying to underwrite.”

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