Alex Finkelstein
Co-founder & General Partner, Early
Spark Capital
Co-founder and General Partner at Spark Capital focused on early-stage, product-led, unconventional companies and founders outside obvious patterns.
Bio
Professional summary
Jeremy G. Philips is General Partner, Growth, at Spark Capital. Spark’s official profile says he moved into technology during the commercial internet’s emergence, co-founded ecorp after law school in Australia, and moved to New York City after ecorp’s IPO. He later held a digital strategy and acquisitions role in the office of the chairman at News Corp and then ran Photon, a publicly traded holding company. At Spark, he joined in 2014 to build the firm’s growth fund, with an investing approach that combines founder empathy, product evaluation, and close attention to data. Spark also notes he has taught as an adjunct professor at Columbia Business School.
Investment focus
Stage, sector, and overall fit
Stage
verified: Growth
Sector
inference: growth-stage technology, data-driven consumer and enterprise products
Thesis
Growth-stage companiesData-informed evaluation of founders and productsTechnology businesses with growth-stage scale potential
Notable companies
Selected portfolio companies the partner has backed
ecorpPhotonAdeptCruiseDiscordPostmates
How to approach
Framing and angles for outreach
Pitch framing
Bring a growth-stage narrative supported by data, while showing the founder psychology and product nuance behind the metrics.
Personalization hooks
- 1Use data to clarify the company story rather than replacing the narrative.
- 2Connect with his operator/founder and Columbia strategy-teaching background when discussing scaling decisions.
Background
Career, education, and skills
Career history
- Spark CapitalGeneral Partner (Growth)2014 – Present
- Columbia Business SchoolAdjunct Professor2015 – Present
- TripAdvisorBoard Member2011 – Present
- Photon (public holding company)CEO2010 – 2012
- News CorpExecutive Vice President, Digital Strategy & Acquisitions (Office of the Chairman)Prior to 2010
- ecorp (IPO in Australia)Co-FounderMid-1990s
Education
- University of New South Wales (UNSW), AustraliaBA/LLB
- Harvard Kennedy SchoolMPA
Skills
Growth InvestingEnterprise SaaSDigital StrategyM&ABoard LeadershipAcademia
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