Laura Fingal-Surma Email and Phone Number
Supercharging urbanist moonshots at Urbanist Ventures | startup advisor & angel investor | mission: scale urbanism | previously built the machine powering YIMBY chapters across the US | join or follow along → urbanist.vc at
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Swyft Cities
Laura Fingal-Surma's Location
United States, United States
Laura Fingal-Surma's Contact Details
Laura Fingal-Surma personal email
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Laura Fingal-Surma phone numbers
About Laura Fingal-Surma
Laura Fingal-Surma, founder of Urbanist Ventures, is a startup advisor, angel investor, and innovator at the intersection of technology and urbanism. Urbanist Ventures is on a mission to accelerate a future of proximity and abundance by applying proven YIMBY strategies to develop and strengthen the ecosystem of urbanist startups and founders.YIMBY stands for Yes In My Back Yard, a now-popular political movement fighting to increase the supply of housing and dense, vibrant, walkable communities. The New York Times called YIMBY “one of the most important movements in American politics today.”Laura leveraged technology to build the machine powering YIMBY chapters across the country, serving as Founding Board Member, first Board Chair, and ultimately, Chief Operating Officer of YIMBY Action. She envisioned and co-founded its affiliated 501c3 nonprofit, Yes In My Back Yard, parent org of YIMBY Law.Laura is a scout for Hustle Fund, completed a highly selective On Deck Angel Fellowship, and is an active member of the Hustle Fund Angel Squad and Stanford Angel & Entrepreneurs. She serves on the executive board of the Parking Reform Network and has earned recognition as an Emerging Leader of the distinguished Stanford Real Estate Council.Prior to YIMBY, Laura was an entrepreneurial and award-winning residential real estate developer and architectural designer. She helped launch TaskRabbit in San Francisco and manage construction of the Walt Disney Family Museum.Laura earned a BA in Urban Studies with a concentration in Architecture & Urban Design from Stanford University. She completed additional professional and graduate education in computer science and business.Born and raised in Silicon Valley, Laura has always been an early adopter. She fell in love with urban life in Paris, lives in San Francisco with her spouse and twins, and still misses urban exploring with the Detour app."Laura has been instrumental in helping advise and guide us, and get us on a solid path of growth. More than just an early-stage investor, she has helped us navigate the gauntlet that all startups go through, to refine, communicate and realize our vision, and bring our solutions to an eagerly awaiting market." — Swyft CitiesYIMBY. Parking reform. Land value tax. Automated transit. UBI. Abundance.
Laura Fingal-Surma's Current Company Details
Swyft Cities
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Supercharging urbanist moonshots at Urbanist Ventures | startup advisor & angel investor | mission: scale urbanism | previously built the machine powering YIMBY chapters across the US | join or follow along → urbanist.vc
Laura Fingal-Surma Work Experience Details
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FounderUrbanist Ventures Oct 2021 - PresentUrbanist Ventures is on a mission to scale urbanism through startups. Follow along or get involved! → https://urbanist.vcWant to talk urbanist startups? Async me at https://async.com/laura Open to interesting and impactful advising and fractional cofounder opportunities.Portfolio highlights: Swyft Cities – Unlocking density with modular mass transit (spun out of Google)Stealth – Industrializing American homebuildingTreasury – Getty Images for premium digital environments (cofounded with Zaha Hadid Architects)Symbium – Instant permits as starting point for computational law (developed at Stanford's AI Lab)LiveNearFriends – Marketplace for living near friends and family (founded by Culdesac cofounder)Deepwalk – Automated ADA sidewalk inspectionPacaso – Carpooling for second homes (cofounded by Zillow cofounder)Beltways – Modular, accelerating moving walkways with last mile potentialBlissway – Next gen tolling infrastructure with congestion pricing applicationsEarthgrid – Plasma drilling tunnels to underground utilities 100x faster and 95% cheaperParker – Innovating in the mobile home park space, starting with increasing investmentDaily Blends – Automated retail that partners with public transit networksLP: Unpopular Ventures, First Check Ventures
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Founding Strategy PartnerSwyft Cities Jun 2022 - PresentMountain View, Ca, UsSwyft Cities is unlocking urban growth with modular mass transit developed at Google.
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AdvisorTreasury Feb 2024 - PresentSan Francisco, California, UsTreasury is Getty Images for premium digital environments. -
ScoutHustle Fund Dec 2023 - PresentSan Francisco, California, UsHustle Fund is a venture capital fund that invests in fast-executing teams at the pre-seed and seed stages. TechCrunch dubbed Hustle Fund's Angel Squad "the YC of angel investing." Great founders can look like anyone.- Among less than 1% of 2000+ Angel Squad members to successfully level up to Scout in first four years of Angel Squad- Bring deals within my area of expertise (future of cities, built environment, proptech) to Hustle Fund and its Angel Squad"You are the epitome of 'hustle,' Laura." — founder advisee -
Angel Squad MemberHustle Fund Jun 2022 - PresentSan Francisco, California, UsHustle Fund co-investments: Parker, Daily Blends, Flex, Vinovest, daydream, Phaseshift Technologies, GroWrk Remote, MedTrulyAngel Squad co-investments: Roofer, Falcon, Pressed Roots
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Executive Board Member / TreasurerParking Reform Network Aug 2023 - PresentThe Parking Reform Network educates the public about the impact of parking policy on climate change, equity, housing, and traffic. -
Emerging Leader, Stanford Alumni Real Estate CouncilStanford Professionals In Real Estate (Spire) Jul 2023 - PresentPalo Alto, California, UsSPIRE empowers the Stanford community to innovate within real estate, place making, and the built environment.- Nominated to the inaugural cohort of Emerging Leaders of the Stanford Alumni Real Estate Council -
InvestorPacaso Mar 2022 - PresentSan Francisco, UsPacaso is carpooling for second homes. Category-defining global leader in co-ownership. Enriching lives and better utilizing resources. -
Founding OwnerPacaso Sep 2020 - PresentSan Francisco, Us- Early adopter and 12th customer of startup that was fastest to unicorn at the time as reported by TechCrunch
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Angel InvestorStanford Angels & Entrepreneurs Oct 2021 - PresentPalo Alto, Ca, UsStanford Angels & Entrepreneurs seeks to strengthen Stanford’s startup community by fostering relationships among entrepreneurs and alumni investors. -
Angel FellowOn Deck May 2022 - Apr 2023San Francisco, California, UsOn Deck is where top talent comes to accelerate their ideas and build companies, surrounded by a world-class community.- ODA7, selected for Mastermind leadership -
Cofounder & Chief Operating Officer, Yimby 501(C)(3)Yimby Action Sep 2019 - Oct 2021San Francisco, California, UsYIMBY stands for Yes In My Back Yard, a social and political movement fighting to increase the supply of housing and dense, vibrant, walkable communities. YIMBY popularized the seemingly obvious, but at the time controversial, idea of achieving housing affordability primarily through abundance. The movement's influence extends beyond housing policy to urban planning, transportation, environmental sustainability, and social equity.YIMBY Action, a pioneering 501c4 political nonprofit, was the public-facing brand of the national YIMBY movement — fighting for abundant, affordable housing through organizing, advocacy, and elections.Yes In My Back Yard (YIMBY) was the traditional 501c3 nonprofit arm of the national YIMBY movement — making housing more accessible and affordable by upholding housing law, training housing advocates, mobilizing supporters of new housing, and proposing improvements to housing law. -
Chief Financial Officer, Yimby 501(C)(3)Yimby Action Sep 2019 - Oct 2021San Francisco, California, Us
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President & Chief Operating OfficerYimby Action Oct 2018 - Oct 2021San Francisco, California, Us- Led and rebuilt organization out of sophomore slump, from 1 to 15 employees and edge of insolvency to sustainable $2M+ annual budget across related entities- Championed brand-aligned affiliated entities/M&A strategy to consolidate and scale; cofounded affiliated traditional 501c3 nonprofit in 2019- Strategically productized learnings and competitive technological advantage into chapter infrastructure enabling new and existing YIMBY groups to level up rapidly- Innovated and iterated to achieve product/market fit and unlock organic national growth- Scaled from one city to 20+ chapters across 7+ states and got flywheel turning with dozens of inbound inquiries about starting or becoming a chapter in final two quarters from 10+ additional states (cadence of 1/week)- Built marketing & digital team capable of organically generating 2M unique impressions in 24 hours- Continuously leveraged technology and optimized organizational structure, management, operations, branding, messaging, and marketing to maximize impact and efficiency- Led orgs through complex strategy, fundraising, conversion, data, and compliance challenges"Laura has been one of the best managers I have ever had. She has empowered me to be innovative, bold, and creative. I have felt safe to speak my mind, experiment, and be vulnerable. She has been one of the biggest reasons why I enjoy working at YIMBY Action." — direct report"If [Laura] offered me a job building nuclear bombs, I would 100% take it." — employee
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Founding Board MemberYimby Action Jan 2017 - Oct 2021San Francisco, California, UsYIMBY Action officially incorporated starting in 2017.- Persistently and creatively advocated for building more housing of all kinds- Strategically built the people, narrative, and coalition power to flip unlikely politicians and score legislative wins- Brought increasing structure, order, strategy, and professionalism to grassroots YIMBY movement, its organizations, and the board
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Chapter Lead, San Francisco YimbyYimby Action 2016 - 2020San Francisco, California, UsSF YIMBY advocated for abundant, affordable housing in San Francisco and became the first chapter of YIMBY Action.- Envisioned and cultivated network of grassroots neighborhood YIMBY groups inspired by Progress Noe Valley- Meticulously documented best practices, iterated, innovated, and productized learnings into what ultimately became chapter infrastructure ("YIMBY in a box") for YIMBY Action chapters
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Board ChairYimby Action Jun 2018 - Dec 2019San Francisco, California, Us
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Founder, Progress Noe ValleyYimby Action Apr 2015 - 2019San Francisco, California, UsProgress Noe Valley was San Francisco's first YIMBY neighborhood group and inspired subsequent development of centralized infrastructure to power YIMBY chapters nationwide. - Organically recruited first 500+ Noe Valley neighbors and advocated for abundant housing and transit on their behalf, countering the prevailing NIMBY (anti-housing, anti-growth) narrative- Earned press coverage from Curbed, Streetsblog, Noe Valley Voice, SPUR, Bay Area Metropolitan Observer- Helped form San Francisco YIMBY and ultimately parent org YIMBY Action to fuel and scale similar pro-housing groups nationwide - Progress Noe Valley became a chapter of YIMBY Action, with a mailing list of 3500+ neighbors as of September 2021 (10% paying recurring membership dues) and successfully lobbying an unlikely local elected official to champion fourplex legislation to begin to dismantle decades of apartment bans that drove up the cost of housing
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Chief Financial OfficerYimby Action Jun 2017 - Jun 2018San Francisco, California, Us
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Advisor & Contributor, Various Predecessor Efforts And CampaignsYimby Action Aug 2015 - Dec 2016San Francisco, California, Us- Supported re-election of then-San Francisco Supervisor and now famed housing legislator Scott Wiener, who had emerged as a voice of reason on housing- Advocated for consolidating, strengthening, and formalizing fragmented pro-housing efforts under a clear and unified brand — YIMBY, which stands for Yes In My Back Yard (the opposite of NIMBY for Not In My Back Yard)- Helped ignite and name/define a movement
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FounderInfill Studio May 2015 - Oct 2018Infill Studio was a boutique residential real estate development and architectural design firm (building off of prior Hazel.Wood collaboration).- Realized full potential of underutilized properties with an emphasis on design- Won Architizer's Best Urban Residential Project (Best of La Cantina 2017), drawing 10k+ likes on Instagram- Bootstrapped early YIMBY efforts and organizations, laying groundwork for successfully taking YIMBY Action national
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Chief Operating OfficerHazel.Wood Design Group Jan 2013 - May 2015Hazel.Wood was a boutique architectural design and project management firm with residential projects in Palo Alto, SF, California wine country, and LA.
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Cofounder & Project ManagerHazel.Wood Design Group Dec 2009 - May 2015- Managed all aspects of design and construction for 20+ residential projects, up to 6,000 sf in size and $10M in value- Achieved levels of design and build quality that consistently broke neighborhood price per square foot records- Designed publication- and award-worthy projects featured in Dwell, California Home + Design, San Francisco Chronicle, Luxe Interiors + Design, Remodeling Magazine, Kitchen + Bath Business, and by Viking- Cultivated network of contractors, subcontractors, architects, consultants, artisans, and craftspeople to optimize project delivery- Earned real estate license to improve market insight and reduce costs. Identified and hung license with talented broker who rapidly leveled up from supervising five agents to cofounding tech-first real estate brokerage Side, which became a unicorn.
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Consultant / Founding City Manager (San Francisco)Taskrabbit Jun 2010 - Dec 2010San Francisco, Ca, UsTaskRabbit was a seed-stage online and mobile marketplace that enabled users to outsource everyday tasks to others in their neighborhood. Pioneer of the sharing economy alongside Uber, which launched in SF the same year. Incubated alongside Instagram at Dogpatch Labs. Acquired by IKEA Group in 2017.- Provided local expertise to help company, newly relocated from Boston, successfully launch second market in San Francisco- Grew supply and demand sides of marketplace through scrappy marketing on a limited budget (online and offline), events (task days at tech companies, runner rallies, street teams), local partnerships (landed Laundry Locker for exposure to thousands of target customers), and social media- Streamlined and scaled on-boarding process for crowdsourced task runner network, increasing from dozens to many hundreds- Managed task runners and proactively filled in gaps on lean team- Occasionally did random fun stuff like running tasks for investor Tim Ferriss and a TaskRabbit fan who wanted to delight random strangers with free homemade cupcakes (ensuring it produced attention-worthy social media content) -
Assistant Project ManagerPlant Construction Company, Lp Feb 2007 - Dec 2009San Francisco, Ca, UsPlant Construction Company was a mid-sized general contractor that specialized in commercial construction.- Managed construction of $50M Walt Disney Family Museum project ahead of schedule and under budget- Developed expertise in tech-enabled project management, construction, estimating, bidding, contracts, value engineering, and cost control- Trained on and implemented company's new digital systems on site to transition senior teammates off of paper systems and improve central office oversight/insight- Hired, coordinated, and monitored performance of dozens of subcontractors including complex Mechanical, Electrical, and Plumbing (MEP) coordination respecting constraints of historic building and exposed gallery ceilings- Served as liaison between client, architect, interior designer, and subcontractors, managing recurring meetings and site visits and preparing/revising project schedules, RFIs, client and subcontractor change orders, and submittals- Provided daily presence on site from groundbreaking to opening to promptly resolve design and construction issues as they arose -
AnalystThe Concord Group, Llc Jul 2006 - Feb 2007Newport Beach, California, UsThe Concord Group was a real estate strategy consulting firm that specialized in market analysis and due diligence for large-scale residential real estate development.- Conducted market research and advised on real estate pricing and product mix -
Undergraduate ResearcherBlume Earthquake Engineering Center Jun 2005 - Feb 2006Stanford, California, UsThe Blume Earthquake Engineering Center at Stanford University advanced research, education, and practice in earthquake engineering.- Won Departmental Research Grant from Civil & Environmental Engineering Department to develop Quake '06 Centennial Walking Tour examining the history and impact of earthquake risks on the Stanford campus- Conducted extensive primary and secondary research, including interviews and archives- Designed and wrote architectural walking tour that Stanford contributed to California's statewide centennial commemoration of the devastating 1906 earthquake- Created map and 11 themed displays highlighting a century of progress in understanding earthquake hazards and reducing risks- Earned unsolicited extension from temporary installation (6 weeks) to more than a year due to enthusiastic reception- Coauthored related publication, "The effects of the 1906 earthquake on the Stanford University campus," and contributed research to related exhibition -
Intern, University Architect / Planning OfficeStanford University Jun 2004 - Feb 2005Stanford, Ca, UsThe University Architect / Planning Office led strategic planning and design for Stanford's 8,100-acre campus, which is among the largest in the US.- Developed AutoCAD skills and supported campus architects and planners by preparing written and photographic reports, presentation site maps, site analyses, and models for their projects- Consolidated extensive charrette input into concise design principles and wrote Campus Center Exterior Space Plan (121 pages) to guide redevelopment of primary outdoor student space. Construction consistent with plan started in 2007, and Campus Center became newly coherent, activated, and vibrant.- Began to develop Quake '06 Centennial Walking Tour, continued through Blume Earthquake Engineering Center
Laura Fingal-Surma Skills
Project Management
Start Ups
Project Planning
Construction
Management
Business Development
Strategic Planning
Construction Management
Sustainability
Contract Negotiation
Submittals
Entrepreneurship
Real Estate
Real Estate Development
Value Engineering
Analysis
Contract Management
Budgets
Data Analysis
Residential Homes
Architectural Design
Sketchup
Visual Thinking
Specifications
Conceptual Design
Java
Css
Html
Timberline
Due Diligence
Market Research
Autocad
Venture Capital
Real Estate Transactions
Bid Leveling
Residential Real Estate
Residential Real Estate Lead Generation
Programming
C++
Shop Drawings
Custom Casework
Digital Sketching
Interior Design
Laura Fingal-Surma Education Details
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Stanford UniversityUrban Studies — Architecture & Urban Design -
Quantic School Of Business And TechnologyExecutive Mba
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Stanford UniversityComputer Science
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Université Paris-SorbonneMiddle Level
Frequently Asked Questions about Laura Fingal-Surma
What company does Laura Fingal-Surma work for?
Laura Fingal-Surma works for Swyft Cities
What is Laura Fingal-Surma's role at the current company?
Laura Fingal-Surma's current role is Supercharging urbanist moonshots at Urbanist Ventures | startup advisor & angel investor | mission: scale urbanism | previously built the machine powering YIMBY chapters across the US | join or follow along → urbanist.vc.
What is Laura Fingal-Surma's email address?
Laura Fingal-Surma's email address is la****@****ail.com
What is Laura Fingal-Surma's direct phone number?
Laura Fingal-Surma's direct phone number is +141530*****
What schools did Laura Fingal-Surma attend?
Laura Fingal-Surma attended Stanford University, Quantic School Of Business And Technology, Stanford University, Université Paris-Sorbonne.
What are some of Laura Fingal-Surma's interests?
Laura Fingal-Surma has interest in Sustainability, Podcasts, Urbanism, Technology, Modern Design, Adaptive Reuse, Reading, Books, History.
What skills is Laura Fingal-Surma known for?
Laura Fingal-Surma has skills like Project Management, Start Ups, Project Planning, Construction, Management, Business Development, Strategic Planning, Construction Management, Sustainability, Contract Negotiation, Submittals, Entrepreneurship.
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