Our Team
Adam Thompson - Chief Executive Officer
Adam grew up in Eugene, Orgegon. His father worked as a senior vice-president for a forestry company and his mother was a school teacher. He earned his Bachelor of Business Administration from the University of California Berkeley. He then earned his Masters in Business Administration from Chicago's Booth School of Business. He worked as an investment analyst for 12 years at Wolverine Trading in Chicago. He then moved to Cincinnati and held a senior vice-president position in retail banking at Fifth Third Bank. He held this position for 10 years. He then obtained a senior management role at CincyTech, a venture capital firm specializing in life sciences and digital tech. Due to necessary downsizing as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic, he had to find other opportunities. He founded Vanguard SaaS Venutues in 2020.
Fernando Alvarado - Chief Financial Officer
Fernando is the third son of Mexican immigrants. His parents came to the United States in the early 1970s shortly after he was born. They immigrated to Houston initially but decided to settle in San Antonio. Fernando is the first of his family to attend College. He earned his Bachelor of Business Admininstration, specializing in Accounting, from the Carlos Alvarez School of Business, which is affiliated with the University of Texas. He then earned his Master of Science in Finance from the University of Texas at Austin. He landed a position in the Accounting department of CrowdStrike in Austin. He worked there for 12 years and his last position was Senior Vice-President of Finance. At this time, his wife was offered a position in Cincinnati and he decided he needed to change roles. Fernando landed a position as a Senior Financial Manager at Fifth Third Bank. It is here that he met Adam. When Adam advised he was starting his own Venture Capital firm and offered Fernando the role of Chief Financial Officer, Fernando was all too happy to accept. He moved his family to Cambridge to join Adam in his new venture.
Nigel Howard - Chief Investment Officer
Nigel was born in Sheffield England. His father worked as a logistics manager at Ancon Ltd., a company that designs and manufactures stainless steel products for the construction industry. His mother worked for the federal government at the Driver and Vehicle Licensing Agency. Nigel and his two siblings were the first generation in his family to attend University. His sister became a nurse and his brother is a civil engineer. Nigel enrolled at the University of Cambridge to study Finance and eventually earned his PhD in Finance in 1998. He landed a job as a senior investment analyst at Barclay's Investment Bank. After 10 years with the bank, he was offered a senior management role at Antares Capital in Chicago. Nigel also taught part-time at the Chicago Booth School of Business. It is in Chicago that Nigel met Adam. Even though Adam moved to Cincinnati, Nigel stayed in contact with Adam. Nigel left Antares Capital in 2013 to start his own consulting firm. He worked with major investment firms like Pershing Capital and Wells Fargo. In 2020, Nigel accepted the role of Chief Investment Officer and moved to Cambridge, MA.