Andrew is CFO at THE GV GALLERY, one of the fastest growing streetwear brands in the world, and investing in American manufacturing, CPG, and lifestyle at RASPBERRY CAPITAL MANAGEMENT.

He has founded, acquired, and sold several companies and advised many more from day-one startups to PE-backed SMBs to F500.

Story

It began with a crash course in startups and angel investing, during monsoon season in the Chesapeake Bay. I was one of two employees who had just joined a SaaS startup, working out of the founder's living room.

I had no idea what I was getting into, and no background in business.

But I committed to the job. And I learned more in those days than any other time in my life.

I built websites. I made videos. I co-lead the beta launch of a software product. I built pitch decks and planned fundraises with F500 executives. I lead over a hundred product demos all across MD. I collaborated with Techstars to raise $2.5 million for an accelerator program. I did, all-in, a hell of a lot of business things for a political science major.

With no skills and no experience, I found myself thriving in the fast-paced startup life.

So taking this lesson to heart, when I left the East Coast at the end of that year, I took off on an entrepreneurial journey and never looked back.

I co-founded a software company called Staffing Referrals.

And a marketing agency called Optimotive.co.

And a corporate finance consulting firm called Orchestration.

And a few dozen other projects and ideas that are now lost to the sands of time.

Some things made money. Some things burned money. A couple had exits. Millions of dollars were made. And along the way it was a hell of a time.

People say to pick your career or your lifestyle when you're young. I say, why not both?

While building these businesses, I also traveled throughout the world as a third-generation digital nomad, living a thousand mini lives in just as many time zones. Pre-pandemic. So it was a novel and crazy idea at the time.

I drove from Canada to Panama.

Lived in Chamonix for a ski season.

Trained Muay Thai kickboxing in Bangkok.

Did a rock climbing season in Italy.

Went skydiving in Dubai.

Learned to ride motorcycles in the mountains of Colombia.

Surfed the pristine beaches of Florianopolis, Brazil.

Good times.

Cue the slideshow end, and cut back to present day, cutting it up on the Ducati through the Hollywood Hills, Valleys, and industrial zones.

The allure of leveraged buyouts brought me back to America to invest in American manufacturing & CPG at the forefront of the greatest capital market in the world.

And so here we are, on the precipice of the next macro cycle, stacking chips and balancing GLs with the precision of a trained marksman and the vision of a Machiavellian sculptor.

Cheers, my friends, to the next great adventure.

-Andrew