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Our People

WTI is based in Silicon Valley, with investment team members in New York and Boston. Our team of former entrepreneurs, operators, and venture investors has a 40-year track record across ten institutional debt funds. We take personal pride in helping companies tackle opportunities and challenges in all phases of growth.

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Investment Team
Operations Team
Allison Lee
Associate

Investment

Allison Lee

Associate

Allison is an associate based in New York City. Prior to joining WTI in 2022, Allison was an investor at SWAT Equity Partners, a consumer-focused venture capital fund. She started her career at Wells Fargo Securities as an investment banking analyst in the Technology, Media and Telecom group. Allison graduated from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill with a BS in Business Administration.

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Angela Perteet
Operations Manager

Operations

Angela Perteet

Operations Manager

Angela joined WTI in 2011 and has a background in managing projects and planning events. Prior to joining WTI she held an executive assistant position at Telenav. Angela graduated from San Jose State University with a B.A. in Communication Studies and a minor in Hospitality and Event Management.


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Brittany Cadwalader
Director of Finance and SEC Reporting

Operations

Brittany Cadwalader

Director of Finance and SEC Reporting

Brittany joined WTI in 2022, previously the Director of Risk and Operations overseeing SVB Capital, where she navigated bank policies and developed processes and managed risk for the venture firms.  Prior to that, Brittany was a Senior Manager in Deloitte’s investment management audit practice, rotating between the Bay Area and London learning all relevant regulatory practices.  Brittany has extensive background working with venture capital, hedge funds, and business development companies in addition to having spent time in the Retail / Consumer Business practice with Deloitte learning the ins and outs of the start-up world.  She holds both a B.S. and a M.S. degree from the University of Illinois in Accounting, and is an active Certified Public Accountant (CPA) licensed in the State of California.

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Daniel Hatkoff
Venture Partner

Investment

Daniel Hatkoff

Venture Partner

Daniel is a Venture Partner based in Los Angeles. He founded and is the Chairman of current WTI portfolio company Pitzi, which powers insurance plans for smartphones across Brazil. Prior to founding Pitzi, Daniel invested in financial services globally with private equity firm Warburg Pincus. Daniel holds a BA in Economics from Oberlin College. 

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Danielle Fowler
Jr. Loan Specialist

Operations

Danielle Fowler

Jr. Loan Specialist

Danielle joined WTI in 2021. Prior to joining WTI, she was a Legal Assistant at ARCR APC in Redwood City. She holds a degree and certificate in Paralegal Studies.


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Dave Gravano
Investment Partner

Investment

Dave Gravano

Investment Partner

Before joining WTI in 2008, Dave held senior positions at Silicon Valley Bank, Fortress Investment Group and Meier Mitchell/GATX Ventures in the US, as well as at GATX’s London-based venture lending business, GATX/ETV. He holds a B.A. from Duke University.


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David Wanek
Investment Partner, CEO

Investment

David Wanek

Investment Partner, CEO

David joined WTI in 2000. Prior to that he held marketing, business development, and legal positions with VeriSign, Wilson Sonsini Goodrich and Rosati, and Los Alamos National Laboratories. David holds a BS from the University of Kansas, an MBA from the Anderson School of Management at the University of New Mexico and a JD from Santa Clara University. He is a member of the California State Bar.

Dylan Bern
Associate

Investment

Dylan Bern

Associate

Prior to joining WTI in 2022, Dylan worked at Rockefeller Capital Management in the Quant Research & Portfolio Construction group. He started his career at UBS in New York in the Family Office Coverage group, structuring investments across equities, FX, rates, and credit. Dylan graduated from the University of California, Santa Barbara with a dual-BS in Financial Mathematics and Statistics and a BA in Environmental Science. He is a CFA charterholder.

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Ekta Sheth
Accounting Ops Manager

Operations

Ekta Sheth

Accounting Ops Manager

Ekta joined WTI in 2016 as an Accountant. She holds a Bachelor of Commerce degree with a major in Accounting from L.J. College of Commerce in India and also holds a Master’s degree in Accounting and Graduate Diploma of Financial Management from Central Queensland University, Australia. Before joining WTI, Ekta worked with a CPA firm in India and also has some work experience in Australia.


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Jared Thear
CFO, CCO & COO

Operations

Jared Thear

CFO, CCO & COO

Prior to joining WTI in 2021, Jared led the asset management group for Deloitte’s audit practice in the Northwest region. He has over twenty one years of professional experience serving private equity, venture capital, hedge funds, financial technology companies, broker dealers, fund of funds, registered investment companies, registered investment advisors, business development companies, and depository institutions. Jared led Deloitte's Bay Area Accounting, Research, and Advisory group and also helped develop their national audit approach for the private equity and venture capital industries. He led Deloitte’s national venture capital strategy initiative and has deep experience as an alternative investment subject matter specialist for the valuation of level three assets. Jared graduated from Ohio State University with a bachelor degree in business administration majoring in both accounting and finance. He currently holds an active CPA license, and is a member of the AICPA.


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Jen Dominguez-Barroso
Accounting Manager

Operations

Jen Dominguez-Barroso

Accounting Manager

Jen joined WTI in 2021 from Wells Fargo Bank where she was a financial accounting senior consultant for the Wealth Management Group. Prior to that, she was an audit manager at Anchin Block & Anchin LLP and was a senior associate at PwC Manila. Jen is an active Certified Public Accountant (CPA) licensed in the state of California.

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Jeremy Dall
Director of Finance

Operations

Jeremy Dall

Director of Finance

Jeremy joined WTI in 2021. Prior to joining WTI, he held accounting and finance positions at various organizations including a commercial bank, a retail bank, a healthcare software designer, an online retailer, KPMG and the Securities and Exchange Commission. Jeremy holds a Bachelor’s and Master’s degree in Accounting from Weber State University in Ogden, Utah and is a licensed CPA in Maryland.

JoBeth Abecassis
Venture Partner

Investment

JoBeth Abecassis

Venture Partner

JoBeth Abecassis is a Venture Partner based out of New York City. As a third generation lender, JoBeth has spent her entire career in the credit and debt space. Before joining WTI she was a part of the founding team of Assembled Brands, an asset based lending and fintech business with a focus on consumer products in the direct to consumer space, backed by Oaktree Capital. Before that JoBeth worked at White Oak Commercial Finance (fka Capital Business Credit) a factoring and asset based lending business in New York City where she focused on building a portfolio of luxury apparel businesses. While at White Oak JoBeth partnered on a joint venture with the City of New York to provide affordable financing to businesses manufacturing in NY in an effort to foster long term growth for the NYC garment industry. JoBeth received her BA from Columbia University.

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John Ogawa
Finance Manager

Operations

John Ogawa

Finance Manager

John joined WTI in 2017 from Wells Fargo Bank, where he was a consultant with the Small Business Lending group. Prior to that, he held various positions in Finance and Accounting with Silicon Valley Bank and various positions in Commercial and Retail Banking with Sumitomo Bank and California Bank & Trust.  John has a Bachelor’s degree in Economics and a Minor in Japanese from the University of California, Davis and a Master’s in Business Administration from Santa Clara University.


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Jon Beizer
Investment Partner

Investment

Jon Beizer

Investment Partner

Jon joined WTI in 2013. He was founding partner of Foghorn Capital, a financial advisory firm. He was President and CFO of IPWireless, a venture backed wireless broadband company. He was CEO and CFO of iAsiaWorks, a venture backed data center company that he helped take public. He was CFO of Phoenix Network, a venture and private equity backed publicly traded telecom services company. Jon worked at TPG sourcing new investments and working with portfolio companies. He graduated from Harvard College Magna Cum Laude. He also holds an MBA from Stanford University.

Josh Brody
Investment Partner

Investment

Josh Brody

Investment Partner

Josh is an Investment Partner based in New York City. Prior to joining WTI in 2017, Josh was the founder and CEO of Pronoun, a venture-backed ebook publishing platform acquired by Macmillan Publishers, where he subsequently served as President of the division. Previously, Josh was the first employee at Media Rights Capital LP, a film and television financing firm backed by Goldman Sachs, AT&T, and WPP. Earlier in his career, Josh worked in the corporate development group at Endeavor, the Hollywood talent agency. Josh received his MA and BA from the University of Chicago and his MBA from Columbia Business School.


Julie Fox
Senior Loan Specialist Manager

Operations

Julie Fox

Senior Loan Specialist Manager

Julie joined WTI in 2014. Prior to joining WTI, she was a Customer Service Representative and Administrative Assistant for Wells Fargo Home Mortgage.


Laurie Vinal
Loan Specialist

Operations

Laurie Vinal

Loan Specialist

Prior to joining WTI in 2015, Laurie held administrative positions at Mercedes-Benz, Woodmont Real Estate, and the Cumulus Station KNBR. Laurie holds a BS degree from California State University, Chico.


Lena Kolesnikova
AP/AR Analyst

Operations

Lena Kolesnikova

AP/AR Analyst

Lena Kolesnikova is an Accounts Payable and Accounts Receivable Analyst. She joined WTI in 2021. Prior to joining WTI, Lena was an Accountant with Crouse and Associates, Insurance Broker based in San Francisco.

Linh Cao
Director of Investments and Finance

Operations

Linh Cao

Director of Investments and Finance

Linh joined WTI in 2011. Prior to joining WTI, she was with KPMG in both financial audit and tax advisory practice at various offices including KPMG Leeds (England) and KPMG New York. Linh holds a BA in Economics and an MSc in Finance and Investment from the University of Durham, England. She is a CPA in California and has completed all ACA exams.


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Lynda Colletta
Director of Administration

Operations

Lynda Colletta

Director of Administration

Lynda joined WTI in 1999. Prior to that she held finance and sales administration management positions at Manugistics, Inc.


Maddy Burleson
Associate

Investment

Maddy Burleson

Associate

Maddy joined WTI in 2020 as an analyst after interning at the firm in 2019. Prior to joining WTI, Maddy worked on Product Marketing and GTM Positioning at Ubiquity6, an AR and 3D Gaming startup acquired by Discord. Maddy graduated from the University of San Francisco Summa Cum Laude with a BA in Philosophy.

Maurice Werdegar
Investment Partner, Chairman

Investment

Maurice Werdegar

Investment Partner, Chairman

Maurice joined WTI in 2001 and is currently Chairman, having served as CEO of the firm from 2009 to 2021. His background includes positions as a Venture Partner at Outlook Ventures, an early stage venture firm, and Chief Investment Officer at MetaMarkets, an online mutual fund company. Maurice also founded and served as CEO of Left at Albuquerque, a venture-backed chain of restaurants. Prior to business school, Maurice worked in corporate finance at Robertson Stephens. Maurice holds both a BA and MBA from Stanford University and is a member of the Stanford Board of Trustees.

Meenakshi Chockalingam
Senior Accountant

Operations

Meenakshi Chockalingam

Senior Accountant

Meenakshi joined WTI in 2021. Prior to that, she was an Associate in the Assurance Services Group of Marcum LLP. She is a Certified Public Accountant licensed in Texas and is a Member of the Institute of Chartered Accountants of India.

Patrick Ward
Senior Associate Portfolio Manager

Investment

Patrick Ward

Senior Associate Portfolio Manager

Patrick joined WTI in 2013 as an analyst after interning at the firm in 2012. Patrick brings a global perspective after living in Sydney, London and Tokyo. While at university, he gained corporate experience by working at Nike, Inc. and Allergan, Inc. Patrick graduated from SMU with a BS in economics.

Peggy Lee
Senior Accountant

Operations

Peggy Lee

Senior Accountant

Peggy Lee joined WTI in 2021. Prior to WTI, she has consulted at Wells Fargo Asset Management department working in the Operations department. Prior to that, she worked at Citco Fund Services as an account manager. Peggy earned a Bachelor’s degree in International Business from California State University, Sacramento.

Rishabh Nijhawan
Analyst

Investment

Rishabh Nijhawan

Analyst

Rishabh is an analyst at WTI, joining the firm in 2021 after interning in 2019. Prior to WTI, Rishabh was a Data Scientist at VMware, specializing in the construction of NLP and ML models. Rishabh graduated from the University of California, Berkeley with bachelor’s degrees in both Economics and Data Science.

Roger Lee
Chief Accounting Officer

Operations

Roger Lee

Chief Accounting Officer

Roger joined WTI in 2021 and was previously the Senior Director of Finance at Mayfield where he oversaw the firm’s finance and accounting department. Prior to that, Roger was a manager in Deloitte’s investment management audit practice and primarily served clients in venture capital, private equity, and hedge funds. Roger graduated from the University of California, Santa Cruz with a B.A. in Business Management and Economics and is an active Certified Public Accountant (CPA) licensed in the State of California.

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Rudy Ruano
Investment Partner

Investment

Rudy Ruano

Investment Partner

Prior to joining WTI in 2011, Rudy founded or led a number of venture backed startups. Most recently, he served as Chief Executive Officer of scanR Inc., a mobile productivity service company, Vice President of Business Development with iMediation S.A., an enterprise software company, and Senior Vice President of Corporate Development with Internet Pictures Corporation Inc., a provider of content infrastructure. Rudy also held a variety of venture, finance, and strategic planning positions with Intel Corporation. Rudy holds a BS in Finance and Economics from San Jose State University.


Sean Kersten
Senior Manager of Finance

Operations

Sean Kersten

Senior Manager of Finance

Sean joined WTI in 2022 and was previously VP of Finance at Virgo Investment Group and Manager of Finance at Vista Equity Partners, where he oversaw the firms’ fund accounting operations. Prior to that, Sean was a manager in Deloitte’s investment management audit practice servicing clients primarily in private equity, venture capital, and hedge funds. Sean gradated from the University of California, Santa Barbara with a B.A in Business Economics and Minor in Mathematics. He is also an inactive Certified Public Accountant (CPA) licensed in the State of California.

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Seth Rosen
Venture Partner

Investment

Seth Rosen

Venture Partner

Seth is a Venture Partner based in Boston. He is the CEO of current WTI portfolio company CustomMade, an online D2C custom jeweler. Previously he was co-founder of a venture-backed marketplace for custom goods and services where WTI was a venture lender. Prior to CustomMade, Seth was Vice President and one of five shareholder-level investment bankers in the Debt and Equity Capital Markets group at Meredith & Grew, which sold to FirstService Corp (Nasdaq: FSV) in 2008. He structured, negotiated and placed over $750MM USD in transactions during his tenure, and was made a Shareholder at age 26. Seth received his BA in Psychology from Boston University, and his MBA and MST (Master of Science, Taxation) from Bentley University.


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Thomas Romero
Senior Manager of Investments and Operations

Operations

Thomas Romero

Senior Manager of Investments and Operations

Thomas joined WTI in 2022. Prior to joining WTI, Thomas worked with Mayfield Fund, an early-stage venture capital firm, and Vinson & Elkins, an international law firm. Thomas holds a bachelor’s degree from Santa Clara University.

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104 La Mesa Drive, Suite 102
Portola Valley, CA 94028

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