Simons C.

Experience

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  Overseas Private Investment Corporation

  Jan 1995 - Jan 1997

  Financial Analyst

  Credit-trained structured finance banker with telecom, hotel, hydro-power, mining and oil & gas experience. Financial analysis and modeling focused on free cash flow, sensitivities, leverage, variance analysis, due diligence, industry financial metrics. Specialist in Russian oil & gas.

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  Green Technology Group (Venture-Backed)

  Jan 1997 - Jan 2006

  CFO, CEO

  Venture-backed foreign joint venture mining company that developed consumer and industrial products marketed in more than ten European & Middle East countries.What I learned: mentored by Forbes 100 List industrialist, CPG product development, selling to major retailers (Europe, USA), strategy planning and implementation, cross-cultural team development, working with scientist & engineers towards product development P&L goalsKey successes:•Attracted long-term financial investor from a multi-billion dollar venture capital investor;•Secured long-term mining license and developed rare mineral deposit in remote foreign desert location;•Originated new product concepts based on original research and scientific evaluation from leading universities;•Responsible for design, implementation and marketing of new consumer brand that was sold at Tesco, the UK's leading grocery chain;•Developed innovative industrial horticultural product and became approved supplier to Nakheel (Dubai) in concert with a marketing and distribution relationship with the Abu Dhabi royal family;•Penetrated European markets through successful distribution relationships that focused on customer service and support;•Navigated complex supply/distribution/logistics challenges through inter-model transportation solutions and in-country co-packing relationships; Show less

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  SC Capital Management LLC

  Jan 2002 - Jan 2011

  Chief Investment Officer

  Advisor/sub-advisor in finance and business development for early-stage companies. Stock picking in publicly traded stocks. Managed portfolios for HNW investors: equities and exchange-traded options. Investment targets include small and medium-size companies leveraging technology and brands. Principal investor in early-stage companies (seed and series A). Series 63.What I learned: industry and company financial analysis, business case analysis, translating consumer product insights into trading strategies, debt & equity private placements, corporate development, stock picking Show less

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  Performance Beverage Group, Inc (Angel-Funded)

  Jan 2009 - Jan 2010

  CEO

  Managed operations and strategy for emerging sports drink brand. Developed business plan, financial model and operating metrics (P&L/breakeven, product margin, outlet growth). Raised $500k at $2.2m pre-money valuation. Developed and implemented multi-state product roll-out supported by branding strategy focused on sport-specific channel development and consumer engagement with brand. Cultivated relationships with leading national and regional distributors that dramatically increased retail outlets and revenue growth. Managed hiring and oversight of sales team. Developed social media and online initiatives in support of product vision that mapped to business goals. Originated relationships with regional and national organizations to support grass-roots, viral marketing strategy that resulted in participation in national sports events including an exclusive sports drink partnership with the nationally-televised Honda Classic golf tournament. Other partners and events included Babe Ruth World Series, Marriott Golf, Heath Evans Foundation, Nicole Megaloudis Foundation, Street Soccer USA, Copa Latina League, First Tee Program of the Palm Beaches, NASCAR.What I learned: grass-roots/viral/guerrilla sales leveraged with social media and internet tools, customer-facing D2C marketing, product positioning and pricing, sales team development, sponsorship/marketing partnerships with national organizations, maintaining high degree of effectiveness in an unstructured environment Show less

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  Instra Corporation

  Jan 2011 - Jan 2012

  Chief Executive Officer

  I was hired to provide leadership through a transition period involving a transaction. Responsibilities included corporate development, product P&L, scrum implementation and sales team development. Instra, a 40-person digital marketing company, has a 15-year history of leadership in the domain industry, selling and promoting gTLD and ccTLD domain names and servicing corporate and consumer customers in more than 200 countries and six websites.

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  MIGHTY Media

  Jan 2012 - Jun 2018

  Owner

  Media asset development with a focus on niche verticals:CubaJournal.co: Co-founder and editor of the leading business and travel site for Cuba. Speaker, thinker and adventurer on all things Cuba. Wrote and edited more than 1,000 articles. Developed clients and grew native advertising revenue from zero with a variety of leading luxury cruise companies, law firms and adventure travel companies including long form journalism, video, social, newsletter, copy writing and events. Used web analytics, SEO, and audience targeting tools to achieve status as top digital magazine in the space.High.co: Publisher and editor, cannabis-focused media site. Focus on start-ups and investing in publicly-traded cannabis companies. More than just easy laughing, elation and heightened awareness.dotRIP: gtld dedicated to digital memorials, the last remaining core human tradition unexpressed on the internet. Sold to Demand Media.Synthetic.com: biologically inspired engineeringAdvisor to a variety of digital media projects that involve technology development, web analytics, SEO, content creation (long-form journalism, short + vertical video, storytelling), customer development, audience development, business development, capital raising, digital acquisitions, native advertising.Blockchain tech: tokenization, solidity, Reg A+, token economics, corporate governance, security token vs utility, ICO, TAO, TAM, protocol-market fit, go to market Show less

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  Systematic Alpha Management, LLC

  Jul 2018 - Dec 2018

  Senior Strategist
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  SC Capital Management LLC

  Jan 2019 - now

  Chief Investment Officer

  I spent my first three years out of graduate school doing structured finance in 3rd world countries, which is basically helping U.S. companies put capital to work in frontier economies. What I learned in being exposed to credit was formative as an equity investor today. I learned about risk management where there are multiple layers of unknowns, and I worked with leaders of some of the largest companies as they invested for growth based on long-term themes and epic changes that occur maybe once in a lifetime. Investing is an apprenticeship business where you have to play the long game, you have to see different situation and markets, get exposed to other people’s processes and outcomes and learn a lot about yourself. All of these lessons, plus a few more in between, help me shape investment strategies in equity portfolios with high active share, which means a portfolio that does not look like an index. I concentrate in high conviction stocks - companies innovating with technology - starting with top down analysis, and I underwrite long to medium term horizons. Then I take a fundamental approach and use portfolio metrics to measure and manage portfolio risk on a weekly or monthly basis. I also use my background in energy finance to select energy stocks with great total return characteristics in terms of growth potential and/or dividend income. Show less