August 2, 2022

Meet James

Building Poolit requires our team to stand up both a tech company and an investment firm. While we have many external relationships that have helped fuel our development, I realized quickly that we needed someone skilled in operations to help foster our organizational growth and manage these external relationships. I knew this person had to be extremely versatile, a rigorous problem-solver, and full of grit — standing up multiple highly regulated companies (we are already at four!) is a tall task for scaled organizations and an even taller order for an early company.

We met our match with James. James dropped out of high school at 17 to join the military after the tragic terrorist attacks on September 11th. He spent 9 years as an infantry soldier in the Army and rounded out his experience with another 4 years as an intelligence officer. After leaving active duty service, James graduated magna cum laude from the University of Southern California and went on to earn advanced degrees at both Harvard and Stanford. He has worked in venture capital investing which led him to VIPKID where he led US Strategy & Business Operations before serving as Chief of Staff. James helped guide the company as it experienced 30x growth — becoming one of the most valuable edtech companies in the world.

When I first connected with James, I was instantly impressed by his ability to balance strategic thinking with tactical execution. I could sense that he had an incredibly high EQ as we talked about situations we would partner to tackle should he join the team. I also knew that he would be able to cover everything else — from organizing HR processes to instilling a data-driven organizational culture guided by our OKRs and KPIs. Every member of our team was impressed with James and every reference check confirmed: James was the perfect fit. His requirements for any company he would consider joining? He wanted to be at a company with a very large, inspiring mission; a high degree of execution ability; and to be working among teammates he could deeply respect, trust, and with who he could have a whole lot of fun.

We’re glad we were able to meet his high standards. James has been on the team for a month and every day I am thankful to have him as a partner in building Poolit. From managing our fund registration process alongside our General Counsel to helping lead partnership outreach efforts, James has multiplied our organizational capacity and has been integral to our success so far. His background in education has also been incredibly valuable as we continue building our product and marketing efforts.

Welcome to the team, James!