Why Reading.
The largest city between Harrisburg and Philadelphia, with Albright College, Alvernia University, Penn State Berks and a diverse, majority-Latino population that most investors overlook.
Alvernia’s downtown campus and Berks County’s economic development groups have been pushing entrepreneurship hard, and the city is affordable enough to build in.
I am based in York, Pennsylvania, and I have spent my career building companies in this part of the state: Bindr, ColdStart, and a long list of client and portfolio work before them. Reading is close enough that I can be in the room, and I would rather be in the room.
What I invest in here.
Consumer products for communities that national brands ignore, bilingual and community-first marketplaces, and founders who reflect the city they are building in.
Local markets first
The companies that break out of Southeastern Pennsylvania usually win one county before they win a country. I look for founders who can prove repeat behavior in Reading and its neighbors, then use that proof to raise the next round. A dense local market is an unfair advantage if you use it on purpose.
LGBTQIA+ founders
I co-founded Bindr, a dating platform built for the LGBTQIA+ community that won the first-ever 2SLGBTQIA+ Entrepreneur Prize at Startupfest. I know what it is like to raise for a queer company in a market that is not always ready for one, and I back LGBTQIA+ founders in Reading and across the United States and Canada.
Dating and consumer technology
Consumer networks are the hardest category to start and the most rewarding to grow. If you are building a dating, social or community product in Reading, I want to see the mechanism behind your first users, not a projection of your millionth.
How I work.
I write angel checks and I stay involved on the growth side. ColdStart exists because getting a good product found is the problem every founder eventually hits, and it is the problem I have spent the most time solving. Companies I work with get an operator who has pitched at TechCrunch, won Startupfest, and put a product in front of Forbes, not just a wire transfer.
What I need from you is simple: a working product, real users, the story of how those users arrived, and an honest account of what is broken. The case studies I keep coming back to explain what I mean by engineered traction.
Pitch me on LinkedInQuestions founders in Reading ask.
Do you invest in startups in Reading?
Yes. I am based in York, Pennsylvania and I actively look at companies in Reading and across Berks County. I write angel checks and I get involved on the growth side, which is usually where an early company needs the most help.
What kinds of Reading companies are you looking for?
Three things: businesses that can win a local market before they try to win a national one, LGBTQIA+ founders, and dating or consumer technology where the first users have to be engineered rather than waited for. A working product with real users beats a deck every time.
How do I pitch you?
Send me a note on LinkedIn with what you are building, who already uses it, how those first users got there, and where you are stuck. If it is interesting I will reply and we will talk. I do not need a formal deck to start the conversation.
Do you only invest in Pennsylvania?
No. Central Pennsylvania is home and I know these markets best, but I also back LGBTQIA+ founders across the United States and Canada, and dating and consumer companies wherever they are built.