When did you apply to GAIN? Why did you apply for funding through GAIN? 

My wife, Daphne Stamos Keshishian, (M’93) and I are proud Hoyas. We credit so much to Georgetown, even beyond remembering it as the place where we first met. Over the last few years, I have been fortunate to be involved with GEA and the Venture Lab while a part of my last venture, Palmetto.com. I also had the tremendous opportunity to sit in on several pitch events as a judge or advisor during this time. After meeting with Peter, Devon, and Liz, I was excited to become a member of GAIN myself, with the unique opportunity to pitch Autosled to the group.

GAIN invests in early-stage startups, so its Angels are largely focused on the entrepreneurs themselves. How did your team’s diversity impact your investing experience with GAIN? Can you think of a time when it helped your team come to a better deal?

After our initial pitch meeting, we recognized the wide set of experiences that GAIN’s members had, including in our unique logistics marketplace. As a result of the due diligence process, our team was able to make those key members comfortable with our model and the team’s ability to execute. David and Dan Sperau, brothers who are third generation automotive veterans with decades of experience, have thoroughly defined the problem and potential solutions. Though my automotive experience was limited to a couple of years at Tesla, my time building scalable organizations was transferable. Upon closing Autosled’s Series A, Marc Sulam joined the team as a board observer on behalf of GAIN. We hope to leverage his decades of experience with transportation and automotive companies, such as AutoNation, here at Autosled.

What would you say to Hoya alumni who are considering pitching to GAIN? 

The Georgetown community is deeply integrated in the financial world, especially with investors at all of the leading VCs. Having the chance to interact with those members, perhaps at an earlier stage than normal, not only makes your pitches better, but positions your company on a better path for future funding. The community is very supportive of its entrepreneurs and is doing more every year to help early stage companies take steps towards future growth and investment rounds. As Autosled grows, I hope to not only work with additional Hoya alumni but would like to curate amazing talent from its graduates as well. Georgetown continues to build upon its stellar reputation through GAIN’s continued success stories. I hope Autosled can be one of those!