Karlin Ventures Announces New Karlin Fellowship Program

Launched in Los Angeles in 2012, early-­stage venture capital firm Karlin Ventures has announced a new elite tech fellowship program that will kickoff today. The program will feature four master classes each year, giving groups of 12 to 15 rising industry leaders an opportunity to learn directly from experts on specialized topics in areas such as business development, marketing, engineering, and product management.

Founded by Los Angeles billionaire spinal surgeon Gary Karlin Michelson, Karlin Ventures has seen 3 exits, grown its portfolio to 34 companies, and invests in late seed and early Series A funding at anywhere from $250,000 to $1.5 million per company. Managing Partner Tianxiang Zhuo says their focus is on west-coast companies specializing in enterprise software, marketplaces, and commerce platforms.

“We’re launching Karlin Fellows as a high­ quality resource for the rising leaders of LA, who currently have no place to collaborate, brainstorm, and connect over the hard problems they’re facing every day,” says Arteen Arabshahi, senior associate at Karlin Ventures.

Confirmed experts leading the first two sessions include Dan Macklin, co­founder and VP of business development at SoFi and Raja Subramoni, head of product marketing at Sonos. The first session will be held in early summer 2015 in LA. Sponsor partners for Karlin Fellows include City National Bank, Hawke Media, TriNet, and WeWork.

The fellowship aims to fill the void of mentorship opportunities for the vice president­ level managers of LA’s growing startups, who assume increasing responsibilities as their companies scale but have no platform for collaboration or mentorship. The program is open to companies in Karlin’s portfolio as well as others in LA’s tech community.

“It is truly an honor to be a part of the inaugural Karlin Fellows Program,” says Sonos’ Raja Subramoni, “this focus on the fostering of core leadership and management traits is a testament to Karlin’s continued commitment to the talent­ laden, burgeoning, LA tech community.”

For more information about Karlin Fellows, please visit www.karlinvc.com/fellows or follow @karlinventures.

Desdemona Bandini

Desdemona Bandini has an extensive background in journalism, advertising, social media marketing and emerging media. She has worked for some of the top newsrooms including KNBC, American Media, and The Los Angeles Times. Her background in advertising and marketing includes working on projects for Microsoft, Intel, GE, America's Top Model, Acclaim Video Games, Universal Pictures, E! Entertainment, and Katalyst Network among others. She recently completed her graduate studies at USC where she developed a start-up research platform for brands and advertisers using social media marketing.

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