Today we’d like to introduce you to Ari Glantz.
Ari, can you briefly walk us through your story – how you started and how you got to where you are today.
Mine has been a long and winding road… but it starts here in Boston. (Actually, Cambridge if we’re being specific.)
Long story short: I stayed put until age 17, then spent the next 6+ years in NY, SF, France, Australia, and Southeast Asia – at school, working on a startup, being an au pair, and as a baseball player / construction-worker / backpacker, (respectively).
That time abroad changed both who I was, and how I looked at the world. When I got back to Boston in late 2012, I arrived as a new person – to a new city. In the time I’d been away, Boston had undergone a facelift: Bad neighborhoods were expensive; empty lots housed biotech world headquarters; people were excited about “startups”, “innovation”, and “venture capital”.
So I did what anyone in that situation would do… I went to work in the social services. (It seemed logical at the time.) Having set out with an idealist’s gusto to apply my psychology degree to solving people problems, reality was harsh. I quickly realized that real change takes place on a macro level, and is tied up in ideas like “equity” and “opportunity” – so I started to turn back to the shiny new startup community that had sprouted in Boston in my absence.
Through about a fifth degree connection I met C.A. Webb, former Executive Director of the New England Venture Capital Association, and she sold me on a big idea: The NEVCA’s mission was to promote and strengthen the entrepreneurial and innovation ecosystem, enabling and empowering the kind of environment that led to the equity and opportunity I was hung up on; the kind of environment where people with great ideas and a work ethic could make something of themselves.
Three years and a whirlwind of new projects, initiatives, programs, and organizational growth – I’m writing this.
Overall, has it been relatively smooth? If not, what were some of the struggles along the way?
My struggles started young, but I credit them with the person I am today. (Though, to be clear, while my road had speed bumps and potholes, it was also paved with opportunity – I can’t claim nearly as hard a journey as many.)
Today, when I need motivation or inspiration or to summon some internal drive, I draw, somewhat equally, upon the following challenges already overcome: A crappy parental relationship model (split, for the better, when I was 13), early diagnoses of ADD (today I wear that badge proudly) and dyslexia (I still mix up “b” and “d” with regularity), and breaking more than 20 bones, in separate incidents, before age 15 (no diagnosis, just reckless and unlucky).
Professionally, I dug myself an early hole – though I feel I struck gold at the bottom. The post-college decision to pursue, in no particular order, a startup, a baseball career, and various iterations of world travel, did not lead to the greatest resume upon my entrance to the “adult” workforce – but on the flip side, that journey provided the foundation, perspective, and narrative that led me to where I am today.
Alright – so let’s talk business. Tell us about New England Venture Capital Association – what should we know?
The New England Venture Capital Association (NEVCA) invests in the entrepreneurial ecosystem on behalf of the VC community, through program-creation, policy work, brand-building, and events. From celebrations (the NEVY Awards) to content series (VC Briefings and Syndicate Sessions), workforce development programs (TechGen and Hack. Diversity) to advocacy and legislation (equity and inclusion initiatives and immigration reform), the NEVCA is at once a network, catalyst, and resource for the innovation economy.
Any shoutouts? Who else deserves credit in this story – who has played a meaningful role?
The obligatory shout out to parents and spouse, to be sure. Without them, nothing.
Beyond that: C.A. Webb (former boss), who gave me a shot; Jody Rose (boss), who saw more in me – and made me see it too; Sarah Case (former teammate), who was a partner, sounding board, and co-conspirator through a lot.
Contact Info:
- Address: 535 Boylston St., 6th Floor
Boston, MA 02116 - Website: newenglandvc.org
- Email: info@newenglandvc.org
- Facebook: facebook.com/newenglandvc
- Twitter: @newenglandvc
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