Sam Straus Email and Phone Number

Full-time Associate in the Boston office.

At 14 years old, I started an online business through eBay selling old US coins, currency, and bullion (silver & gold). Since inception, I’ve had over 25,000 transactions grossing over $500,000 in revenue. From customer service to filing taxes, this business has taught me a great deal about the professional world.

After my first summer at eBay, I wanted to explore a new segment of the organization. Ultimately, I wanted to improve my storytelling abilities, so I elected to pursue an internship on the Communications team. I reviewed 100+ pieces of influencer content and presented to 500+ people throughout North America for my project.

After running my own business through eBay for years, I realized there was a consulting-based need concerning feedback on the platform. I created an Instagram account (@thefeedbackfixer). After cold-messaging hundreds of eBay sellers, I got my first client. I now work with 500+ eBay sellers.

As a life-long fan of TED Talks, I was ecstatic to have the opportunity to contribute to TEDxCornell. As a curator, I, alongside my 7 dynamic team members, put on annual conferences with a diverse array of speakers from throughout the world. Our annual conference is held on Cornell’s Ithaca campus and has 500+ in-person attendees.

Over the course of my ten-week internship, I worked on two cases: one in life sciences and one in biopharma. Throughout my summer, I conducted 30+ expert interviews to inform a whole company Strategic Review for a client CEO and Board of Directors, co-conducted market analyses for the industries a client played in (including market size / competitive landscape / growth), analyzed >$20M in client's external spend to benchmark spend categories and suggest areas for future cost minimization, and developed >5 case studies to inform the go-to-market strategy of a new therapeutic modality within the US market.

After earning my real estate license in the summer of 2020 (mid-pandemic), I wanted to get hands-on real estate management experience. Student Agencies, Inc. had just built its new 64-unit building before my arrival to Cornell, and I jumped at the opportunity to be one of four students managing our $36M building with 100+ tenants.

As someone who believes Web3 is the future, I always strive to learn more about and immerse myself in Blockchain technology. Cornell Blockchain has been a cornerstone of this education for me at Cornell. On a weekly basis, ~25 students come together to share Blockchain news. And each semester, we partner with Web3/cryptocurrency firms to consult for them on new initiatives.

I worked closely with the Director of Community and Engagement, Rebecca Michals, to help improve the seller experience on eBay. At the time, I had nearly 5 years of experience selling on eBay with 15000+ transactions and 2 years of working as a consultant for 500+ sellers on the platform, so this position could not have been a better fit.

As an analyst, I learned the basics of venture capital (VC). Through learning how to read a cap table to how to negotiate with an entrepreneur, I built a strong foundation in VC. One highlight was my group winning an internal mock negotiation with a real entrepreneur—competing against 12 other teams.

I was elected Vice President of Moneythink, an organization that provides free personal finance education, after serving for one year as a student teacher. As a teacher, I would prepare and present weekly presentations to 20+ students. I was selected to be VP based on my leadership amongst my teacher cohort, passion for working with kids, and dedication to facilitating relationships with our partner schools. This role challenged me to think ‘big picture’ about how we could improve our curriculum and reach more students.

I worked with a Hong-Kong based venture capital firm, Blue Pool Capital, as they looked to expand their portfolio in the cryptocurrency market. Specifically, I worked with a team of analysts to build a comprehensive, 10-page report on non-fungible tokens (NFTs) to help inform Blue Pool’s future investments. The report includes the prospective industry growth of NFTs and the first calculation of the Total Addressable Market (TAM) of the industry.