Aj Smith Email & Phone Number

My role is to help us source & select the best founders of tomorrow's top companies! Excited to join the team and bring my investment & brand growth experience to lead new efforts to further build the recognition of this incredible top-decile performing fund that already has 17 unicorns out of ~150 investments. Founders, be sure to sign up for our community events, like our digital Venture Visionary series, where you can learn from other top investors. And submit your business on our website at: www.outlander.vc.

The Venture Ecosystem of the future

We are building the early-stage venture ecosystem of the future. Dubbed a "Rising Star" in the venture community in year one with top-ranked deal-flow, decision-making, and value-add efforts (RevereVC). LvlUp has one of the fastest-growing venture communities in the US and, even in the historically odd venture year of 2023, started & grew our portfolio to 20 dynamic and exciting companies, with hundreds of investment referrals made to our partner funds along the way.We primarily focus on a handful of exciting sectors, including AI, SportsTech, Gaming, Web3, FoW, HealthTech, and others. Our award-winning deal flow feeds into a due diligence & investment committee that boasts a combined 20+ exits & IPOs. Multi-stage support is built into our overall ecosystem from near-day-zero to Series A & beyond. The LvlUp Ecosystem includes:- NextUp: a pre-launch to pre-seed-focused non-cash equity accelerator- Spin Labs: an AI, MusicTech, and Web3-focused incubator (in partnership with Spin Magazine)- LvlUp Ventures Seed Fund: a next-gen value-add early-stage fund- The Players Company: an investment collective & platform for over 500 professional athletes & accredited investors to co-invest in multiple asset classes- Syndicate offerings for follow-on & opportunity deals (e.g., our $1.5M SPV into Versus' Series A+, an AI, Gaming, and AdTech company which just announced major integrations into Microsoft and additional customers including NFL, GIPHY, Forbes, and more)We believe providing value in the form of fundraising assistance, strategic mentorship, and more helps founders achieve better, sustainable growth and nourishes healthier, happier companies. To learn more about how we are taking founders to the next level, visit us at: www.lvlup.vc

Nashville, Tennessee, United States

It's been the joy of a lifetime to write and perform music heard by millions of people all over the globe. My recent song "We're All Gonna Die" went viral on TikTok, generating thousands of user-generated videos, ultimately translating to millions of streams on Spotify, Apple Music, and more & breaking into the Top-50at Alternative Radio in the USA. Songs I've written with/for other artists have also charted and gone viral in multiple countries, been featured in national & international news publications, and launched artists to stardom (e.g. viral song "Parachute" for Kyndal Inskeep & The Song House). My songwriting catalog is represented by the wonderful publishing team at Wise Music Group. I'm also honored to be able to say that my songwriting & performance abilities have earned multiple awards, including grants from the Songwriters Hall of Fame & a semi-finalist ranking 2020's International Songwriting Contest and being named a winner in 2022's International Songwriting Contest.Recent highlights include: national TV debut on The Kelly Clarkson show, charting in the Top-50 Alternative Radio (USA), the cover feature in Performer Magazine, working with SpaceX, and stories in American Songwriter, GMA, CBS Radio, Spin Magazine, and more.

New York, New York, United States

Assisted company executives in strategic planning, fundraising, optimizing operations, and product development. Direct efforts led to generating over $100M in investments and grants for founders. Recent achievements:- Winning $15M Chicago DoH COVID-19 Vaccination bid for Prism Health Lab; I provided early operational, strategy, and product guidance and crafted & submitted Prism's expanded business plan, financials, and all necessary RFP submission documents- Built dozens of winning pitch decks from pre-seed to Series B, assisting founders clearly articulate vision and successfully close millions in investor capital- Fractional CTO leadership at multiple venture-backed startups, leading to faster product launch timelines, increased stack stability, and successful long-term engineering hires

Washington D.C. Metro Area

- Designed and implemented award-winning four-tiered digital wealth management platform, managing all aspects of integrations with multiple third-party systems.- Lead the development of tools to monitor, test, and execute trades for AI-driven investment strategies via market analysis, backtesting, and algorithmic signal generation- Build technology automation tools to assist with trading & execution for entire book of clients and partner RIA clients, interfacing with Schwab, TDAmeritrade, and Interactive Brokers. Notable Awards: WealthManagement's Most Disruptive Technology Awards Finalist (2017)ACQ5 International Wealth Management Solution of the Year (2016, 2017)

Washington D.C. Metro Area

Implement investment strategies via quant market analysis, backtesting, and algorithmic signal generation. Manage development of web platform and integrations with partner APIs (e.g. TDAmeritrade, Orion, Schwab). Stack include: LAMP, Flask, D3, and more.

Greater New York City Area

• Managed and oversaw entire technical stack and development workflow in concept, design, and implementation of Jozii.com • Used multiple Javascript frameworks on both the client and server side (MongoDB, ExpressJS, AngularJS, and NodeJS)• Led daily standup meetings and weekly one-on-one meetings with full-time developers and interns• Optimized agile development workflow and trained developers in BitBucket (issue tracking, pull requests, etc), Trello (story boarding, asset proposals), and Google Docs (simple task management)• Guest lectured at several colleges (e.g. NYU Poly, Pace University, Elmira College) regarding entrepreneurship, full-stack development, business strategy, and technology's role in the future of employment services• One of ten teams selected for New York University's 2015 Summer LaunchPad (led by Frank Rimalovski & Lindsey Gray) and participated in 10-week accelerator • Developed innovative strategies to better solve issues facing the job industry.• Acted as primary liaison (along with CEO) with investors to successfully raise capital.Highlights of the Jozii platform include:• Custom resume parser using keyword detection (later optimized with Natural Language Processing component).• Applicant Tracking System (ATS) for employers to manage every aspect of job applicant pools including the messaging, ranking, and sorting of job candidates.• Algorithmic matching of students and employers based on qualifications and other various criteria

New York, Ny

• Created and implemented UX design assets to build beautiful and seamless user interfaces and experiences• Worked with team to develop front-end interface on web application for optimal user experience• Optimized development process by learning to use project management tools to enhance workflow (GitHub’s issue tracking, story boards via Trello, and simple task management on a collaborative Google Doc, etc)• Implemented CSS preprocessors (e.g. LESS) to ensure consistent thematic design of user interface• Participated in daily stand-up meetings to review tasks completed and/or to be completed with on site and off site developers (via Skype)

New York, Ny

• Responsible for providing paraprofessional counseling for a residence hall floor of 45 freshmen college students • Developed cultural, social, and professional events for both the floor and entire building (over 900 total students) to strength the residence hall community• Guided students through one-on-one support and by managing crisis situations when required, including hospitalizations, mental health concerns, and fire hazards

• Reviewed requirements specifications and technical design documents to provide timely and meaningful feedback• Created detailed, comprehensive and well-structured test plans and test cases for productsEstimated, prioritized, planned, and coordinated testing activities• Designed, developed and executed automation scripts for testing

• Worked directly with all Infrared sensors in the lab headed by James Waterman (Construction, data collection, and data analysis); Programmed lab interface for imagery analysis & developed pattern-recognition code and compressed sensing algorithms with K. Peter Judd and Jon Nichols• Awarded the “Achievement in Optics Award” from the American Society of Optics for night-time imagery correction algorithm and analysis code• Project managed small team of interns

Master’S Degree

Bachelor'S Degree

Activities and Societies: Captain of Men's Lacrosse team for three years, Kappa Sigma FraternityDegrees in Music & Computer Science Named.

Education record

Activities and Societies: US Naval Research Lab Mentorship Program Captain of Men's Lacrosse Team National Honor Society Student.