Dave Amis, Principal

Dave has specialized in early stage investing and buyouts since 1989 when he began his career writing business plans in Omaha, Nebraska.  In 1996, Dave led the buyout of Venture Capital Report Ltd in the UK and became its Managing Director.  VCR was the world's first successful angel matching agency and did approximately 25 transactions per year.  While at Deutsche Venture Capital, he created one of the first VC-Angel group partnerships in Europe.  His international consulting assignments and research, exclusively focused on early stage, have given him the opportunity to choose the best tactics and strategies from several cultures.  

In 2001, Dave co-authored Winning Angels: The 7 Fundamentals of Early Stage Investing, with HBS professor Howard Stevenson and in 2003, Winning Angels Germany with Professor Heinrich von Liechtenstein joining the duo.  Their next book, Winning Entrepreneurs, is in the writing phase and is expected in 2011.  David also co-authored two business school cases for IESE from 2004-2006 with Professor von Liechtenstein and in 2006 worked with BrainsToVentures AG to create the Swiss Private Investor Academy (PIN). In 2008 David became an Adjunct Professor at Fort Lewis College where he taught entrepreneurship.

David earned his Bachelor of Science in Entrepreneurship at the University of Southern California in 1989. He earned his MBA at Harvard Business School in 1994.  Additionally he has earned numerous awards and fellowships from USC, Harvard Business School, Harvard University, the European Foundation for Entrepreneurship Research, Bosch Stiftung, the Kauffman Foundation, and the Young Arab Leaders organization. 

David has been a featured speaker at conferences and workshops in Europe and the US. He has also appeared on CBS, CNN, CNBC and in the Financial Times, Finanze and Inc. Magazines, among others.

David splits his time between Germany and the USA where he has two horses named Boots and Scoot. David also volunteers as a First Responder in the state of Colorado.

Leah Lesage, Executive Assistant

Leah has been with WA since 2006 as David's Executive Assistant. Previously she had a restaurant business in a ski town, attended Vermont College, and was a competitive snow skier and equestrian.

Jocelyn Dale, Research Director

Jocelyn Dale has been involved in the field of entrepreneurship and angel investing since 1995. She was with Venture Capital Report (UK) for five years, where she interviewed entrepreneurs, wrote articles, and edited a monthly magazine subscribed to by 800 angel investors and VCs.

She was the managing editor and a contributing writer of Winning Angels: The 7 Fundamentals of Early Stage Investing, published by Financial Times Prentice Hall in 2001, authored by David Amis and HBS Professor, Howard Stevenson. In this role, she conducted interviews with the early-stage investors behind 50 successful companies, such as Apple Computer, Amazon.com, Lotus Development Corp, WebTV, and Ascend Corp. Jocelyn is cofounder of an internet startup in the natural health sector. Jocelyn has also consulted for a US start-up company and angel investor group.

Jocelyn obtained a Bachelor of Arts, Hons in English Language and Visual Studies from Oxford Brookes University in 1993.

 

Wes Schrader, Associate

Wes is an Associate with WA Holding and played a lead role in the acquisition of Nine One One Inc. in Denver, Colorado.

Prior to joining WA Holding, Wes invested six years with LSI Logic in Ft. Collins, CO. as a Staff Design Engineer. He led cross-functional teams, which included digital design, analog design, production validation, and system engineering, to produce microchips compliant to customer driven specifications. His work resulted in successful design implementations that are now part of LSI Logic's CoreWare family of products. During his tenure, Wes focused on building cores that enable serial communication between consumer devices via iLink (also known as FireWire) and USB2.0. The IO Processor in the Sony Playstation II uses his iLink core to connect to other PS2s for arcade style multi-person gaming. He has extensive experience working with Mixed Signal (digital and analog) Intellectual Property and has filed four invention disclosures with LSI Logic.

Wes holds a Bachelor of Science in Electrical Engineering from Valparaiso University and graduated Valedictorian from Cheyenne Central High School.  He earned his MBA at the University of Denver in 2005.

Advisors, Investors & Partners

WA enjoys the support of many advisors and financial partners, with whom it has done business previously. These include:

  • Patriarchs of European business families.
  • Managing Directors at Goldman Sachs and other firms.
  • CEOs of publicly traded and other companies.
  • Department heads at leading US and European business schools.

Currently, WA's active advisors are:

  • Daniel M. O'Neill
  • Wade Myers
  • Heinrich von Liechtenstein

Daniel M. O'Neill

Dan is a security expert and entrepreneur who founded Applied Risk Management (ARM), a security consulting company, which provides post-911 security services to Logan Airport and the Massachusetts State Courts among others. Dan sold the company in 2002 but remains as CEO. His work experience includes roles as operations executive and marketing executive for a $200MM security company which provided officer security services, electronic equipment integration and counter-terrorism services. Previously he served as a U.S. Army Ranger Captain and was the first medic in the history of the army to win the Ranger School Honors. Dan is a graduate of Harvard Business School.

Wade Myers

Wade is a seasoned early-stage entrepreneur who has founded and been the CEO of three startups, CO-founded or assisted with the launch of six other startups and acquired eight companies while deploying over $85 million in venture capital. His other work experience includes the Boston Consulting Group where he developed strategy for Fortune 500 clients, Mobil Corporation where he held several positions including national market development manager for a $150M division and the US Army where he served as an Airborne Ranger and a decorated veteran of the Gulf War. Wade holds three degrees including an MBA with High Distinction from Harvard Business School.

Heinrich von Liechtenstein

Heinrich von Liechtenstein has been an active entrepreneur , angel and board member in Germany, Austria, the Czech Republic and the USA. He helped to found Europe's 500 (now Growth Plus and based in France), a pan-European organization of the fastest growing companies in Europe. Holding a doctorate from the University of Vienna and an MBA from Barcelona's IESE, Dr Liechtenstein has led published studies on dynamic entrepreneurs and angel investors. He has served as an advisor to the World Economic Forum, the European Foundation for Entrepreneurship Research (EFER) and several wealthy families. He is a member of the board of directors of CAG Holding. Heinrich is currently an IESE professor of Entrepreneurial Finance.