“Investing in Legal Tech” Panel (7/26/18)

Dan is the CEO and Managing Director of Nextlaw Ventures. He has a rare combination of entrepreneurial and professional services experience. As a serial entrepreneur Dan has helped to conceive, fund, grow and/or sell disruptive businesses in many diverse sectors, including legal, social media, financial services, and online recruiting. His most recent venture, as CEO of Nextlaw Labs, is a global innovation platform transforming the legal profession that was sponsored and funded by Dentons. He also has almost twenty years of professional services experience including roles leading the Global Media Practice for the Boston Consulting Group and with Arthur Young & Company advising startups.

David is a Managing Director of Burford Capital, responsible for overseeing the firm’s global origination and marketing efforts and is based in New York. An entrepreneur and legal industry leader with expertise in building high-growth legal and technology-driven businesses, he was named a Top 50 Innovator of the Last 50 Years by The American Lawyer. Prior to joining Burford, Mr. Perla served as President of Bloomberg BNA Legal Division/Bloomberg Law, where he oversaw Bloomberg BNA’s legal and related products, including its flagship Bloomberg Law enterprise legal news, information and tools platform. Previously, Mr. Perla co-founded and was Co-CEO and a director of Pangea3, the top-ranked global legal process outsourcing provider. Pangea3 was acquired by Thomson Reuters in 2010 and grew to over 1,000 employees globally under Mr. Perla’s leadership. Before launching Pangea3, he was Vice President of Business & Legal Affairs for Monster.com. Mr. Perla began his career in the New York office of Katten Muchin Rosenman LLP.

Jules is an investor, 3-time entrepreneur and blockchain enthusiast. She is a Kauffman Fellow and Partner at LunaCap Ventures, and is launching a new VC fund focused on technology for professional services, including legal and compliance technology. She also works with IBM’s Blockchain Garage, which uses the best practices of the startup world to build out blockchain MVPs for large enterprise clients. Previously Jules co-founded and led two legal tech companies: Evolve Law, a community of legal tech innovators that was acquired by Above the Law, and Hire an Esquire, a venture-backed legal labor marketplace. She also founded Carbonado Group, an environmental sustainability consulting firm, and spent 7 years as an ‘intraprenuer’ helping companies including EY, Salesforce.com and Tiffany & Co. to launch and grow new business units around environmental and social responsibility. Jules earned her BA from UCLA and her MSc from The London School of Economics.

Alex is a Managing Partner at ff Venture Capital. He has been working with seed-, early-stage and growth companies for over 30 years. As a CPA and an attorney, Alex manages the firm’s accounting and legal operations, investment processes, regulatory compliance, and the establishment and implementation of other policies and procedures. Alex also manages the firm’s Finance Acceleration Suite, which provides ff Venture Capital’s portfolio companies with a broad range of financial services, including: management reporting; FP&A services; annual tax and financial reporting; payroll; general ledger; accounts payable/expenses tracking; and accounts receivable/revenue tracking. Alex has experience serving as a board member and/or adviser to numerous ffVC companies including Skycatch, Ionic and InteraXon.

Prior to ff Venture Capital, Alex practiced law with Mesirov Gelman and was a founding partner of Katz and Miele, LLP, a tax and corporate law specialty firm. He served as Chief Executive Officer of Fastener Distribution and Marketing Company, Inc., a $21m industrial supply company, and was responsible for driving its strategy of obtaining market share through internal growth and five external acquisitions. In addition, Alex was Chief Financial Officer of Lenape Dynamic, Inc., a $15m metal forging company, and was responsible for dramatically increasing that company’s operating margins. He has also worked as a Certified Public Accountant.

Alex earned a Bachelor of Science in Business Administration from Drexel University and a Juris Doctor degree from Temple University School of Law.

David is a Partner of White Owl Capital Partners LLC and is responsible for investing in early stage companies in the energy and technology industries.  Prior to joining White Owl in 2007, he was the Director of Strategy & Business Development at IDT Telecom.  In this role, he was responsible for all product management, market expansion and strategic partnerships and helped grow the division to over $200 million in revenue.  Before working at IDT, he was one of the founders of Steamtunnels, Inc., a venture backed national collegiate magazine and integrated marketing company.  Steamtunnels had over 2.1 million readers and was the largest magazine in the history of the college market.  In addition, he worked as an Analyst at PricewaterhouseCoopers.  Mr. Mars currently serves as a director of Mass Appeal Media Inc., Vesta Inc., Windstream Energy LLC, and OpenPay Ltd..  Mr. Mars is also Co-President of the Wharton Private Equity & Venture Capital Association and on the board of non-profit Global Potential.  Mr. Mars is a graduate of Boston University, magna cum laude, and received an M.B.A. with concentration in Venture Capital from The Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania.