James Shecter

Born and raised in Philadelphia, James' immersion into the world of entrepreneurship and venture capital began as an undergraduate, when he worked as a strategist and consultant to several student-run startups (including Seated and Transcend). He began his career at Citibank NYC providing multi-stage M&A advisory across aerospace and business services sectors. James then transitioned to Lee Equity (a middle-market PE firm) where he worked on several transactions across fintech/insurtech and healthcare. Most recently, James worked at 9Yards Capital (a growth-stage VC headquartered in LA) during which the firm deployed >$50 million into fintech, logistics, and enterprise startups including Chainalysis, LeafLink, and Remote HR. James is also a co-lead of The MBA Fund, an institutional seed fund backing entrepreneurs from the Harvard, Stanford, and UPenn ecosystems.

James is an incessant adventurer and existential ponderer. He loves to surf, read, and write (typically not simultaneously), and he's striving to build a collection of guitars as functional decoration for his future home. Since his high school days, he has remained active in mentoring, tutoring, and coaching inner-city Philadelphia students.

James holds an MBA from Wharton and a BA in Behavioral Economics from Harvard.