ChrisSklarin

Investment Manager

Office Location:
Cleveland, OH
Email:
csklarin@edisonventures.com
Phone:
216-658-3965
“My favorite Thomas Edison quotation: "Opportunity is missed by most people because it is dressed in overalls and looks like work."”

After graduating MIT and a career in software engineering in Boston including experiencing two IPOs with venture backed companies, Chris changed to a sales engineering role, moved to California, and obtained an MBA. Upon graduation, Chris moved to Ohio, took on a business development role at a software startup, and then changed to the investing side of the table helping found a venture development organization and then moving on to venture capital.

Chris leads Edison's regional efforts in Ohio and western Pennsylvania.

Chris joined Edison as an Investment Manager in 2011. He leads Edison's regional efforts in Ohio and western Pennsylvania generating investment opportunities and cultivating relationships with deal referral sources. He has over twenty years of experience in software product development, sales engineering, and technology investing. Chris has worked in development roles in venture backed software startups including two companies in the INC 500, two IPOs and one company that was bought several times. Chris shifted to seed and venture investing after business school and moving to Ohio. Chris is a speaker at entrepreneurial events, technology conferences, and a volunteer for several organizations.

Prior Experience

Chris began his career as a software engineer and caught the entrepreneurial bug with venture backed technology companies in Boston including roles at Boston Technology (inventor of massively scalable voice mail sold to the big telecom carriers, trading on Nasdaq as BSTN in 1989), Object Design (1994 Inc. 500 #1, IPO in 1996), and Priority Call Management (1999 Inc. 500 #26).  In 1998, Chris moved to Berkeley, California, and helped grow Priority Call through three M&A events, with Chris eventually working for Schlumberger, while simultaneously obtaining an MBA. After business school Chris moved to Ohio and subsequently helped found JumpStart, Inc. (now a nationally acclaimed venture development organization) in 2004, investing in seed stage deals totaling over $6 million in 17 companies. In late 2006 Chris moved on to open the Cleveland office for Chrysalis Ventures, followed by offices in Ann Arbor and Pittsburgh. Chris participated in over $22 million in early and growth stage new and follow-on transactions, including companies in the healthcare services and IT / security sectors. In 2010, Chris joined BioEnterprise, a regional venture accelerator in Cleveland, to focus on healthcare IT and service companies. Chris is an inventor on two patents from his software engineering days and is active in regional venture, entrepreneurial and technology organizations, including the Ohio Venture Association, the Three Rivers Venture Fair, and as a charter member of TiE Ohio.

Education


SB, Electrical Engineering and Computer Science, Massachusetts Institute of Technology

MBA, Haas School of Business, University of California at Berkeley

I caught the startup bug early as an engineer and now that I am an investor I love coaching companies and entrepreneurs who develop great products and services. Working with entrepreneurs, I am reminded of Margaret Mead's famous quotation: "Never underestimate the power of a small group of committed people to change the world. In fact, it is the only thing that ever has."