Carey Lai is founding member and managing director of Conductive Ventures, an early stage venture capital firm he founded with Paul Yeh in 2017. In this episode, Carey discusses his path into venture capital and the challenges of starting his own firm, why he likes investing in capital efficient companies and unconventional founders and what's next for the firm, seven years in. Conductive Conversations is a series from the Conductive Ventures team featuring tech investors, founders and CEOs and their authentic stories. This episode's host is Robin Chan, an investor at Conductive Ventures.

Carey Lai is a Founding Member and Managing Director at Conductive Ventures with $450M in AUM focused on investments in the areas of software, hardware, and technology-enabled services. Carey has over 20 years of venture capital and technology experience. Prior to Conductive Ventures, Carey spent over four years investing at Intel Capital focused on Internet and enterprise software companies. His portfolio included 500Friends (acquired by Dentsu), Box (BOX), BrightEdge, Gigya (acquired by SAP), Kabam (acquired by Netmarble), Nexmo (acquired by Vonage), Onefinestay (acquired by AccorHotels), Sprinklr (CXM), and SweetLabs.

Prior to Intel Capital, Carey worked at Institutional Venture Partners (IVP) where he focused on rapidly growing later-stage and growth-equity investments in Internet & enterprise software companies. He actively worked with the following IVP portfolio companies: ArcSight (ARST), At Road (ARDI), Business.com (DEXO), Concur (CNQR), Cortina Systems (acquired by Inphi), Danger (MSFT), Data Domain (EMC), Mobile365 (SAP), SuccessFactors (SFSF), Synchronoss (SNCR) and Yodlee (YDLE).

Carey also worked in the Technology Investment Banking Group at Bank of America Merrill Lynch as an Investment Banking Analyst focused on the software and financial technology sectors. His transaction experience included offerings for some of the leading technology companies in the world, including Blackbaud Software (BLKB), Computer Associates (CA), Hewlett Packard (HPQ), Sungard Data Systems (SDS), and Tibco Software (TIBX).

Carey has an M.B.A. from the Wharton School of Business at the University of Pennsylvania. He also graduated with a B.A. in International Economics from the University of California Los Angeles.

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