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Jan Garfinkle
Arboretum Ventures
Recipient of the Women Leaders Award

Women

Leaders & Dealmakers

Forum & Awards Gala
TBD, 2021. New York
Jan Garfinkle
Founder & Managing Partner
Arboretum Ventures
Recipient of the Women Leaders Award
What led you to a career in the deal-making industry?
I love the healthcare world and wanted to make more of an impact. I believed that through innovation we could reduce the cost of health care but still provide great clinical care. Arboretum Ventures was founded on that belief and has become the vehicle to accomplish our mission, since we provide the capital for the entrepreneurs.
Has being in Ann Arbor, Michigan given you fresh perspective on venture capital investing that is so commonly associated with the Silicon Valley?
Ann Arbor is a great location for a venture fund with hard working entrepreneurs, great universities, and a cost structure that allows a company to develop products for a third the cost of a coastal company. For successful companies, this provides great returns to the management teams and investors alike.
How does diversity add value in the deal-making process?
Diversity brings many different, important perspectives to the decision-making process. It is critical that a variety of voices and thoughts be shared as decisions are made to ensure that critical dialog occurs to optimize the decision and understand all of the risks. Data shows that diverse teams make the best decisions and consequently have the best results.
The most memorable deal I worked on...
The most memorable company that I worked on is NeuMoDx. It was founded and led by an incredible entrepreneur, Jeff Williams. It is located in Ann Arbor. NeuMoDx is diagnostic company that created a rapid, accurate, Covid PCR test. It is used world wide, and is exactly the right product at the right time for the pandemic. NeuMoDx has made a significant impact on humankind.
Advice for achieving success in the industry....
I believe it is critical to have a mission that is critical to improving humankind. This mission can drive your actions and help you to overcome obstacles that will always present themselves. Believe in yourself, work hard, build relationships, be persistent, have resilience and always have a gentle heart.

Profile:

Jan founded Arboretum Ventures on the premise that innovation is key to delivering value in healthcare, a principle she developed working in the medical device industry for over two decades. Her investments focus on promising medical technologies that enable meaningful healthcare system savings while maintaining great clinical outcomes. Jan has led and held board seats in more than a dozen investments across five funds including notable exits with HandyLab, Esperion (Nasdaq: ESPR), CardioMEMS, nVision, NxThera and NeuMoDx.

Prior to co-founding Arboretum, Jan spent 20 years in entrepreneurial healthcare companies. She was previously President & Founder of Strategic Marketing Consultants advising healthcare start-ups and major medical device companies. Jan also held key management roles in marketing, clinical research, and sales for two successful medical device start-ups, Advanced Cardiovascular Systems and Devices for Vascular Intervention. Each of these companies was acquired by Eli Lilly and became the foundation for Guidant Corporation. Earlier in her career, Jan was an engineer and product manager for Procter & Gamble.

Jan served on the National Venture Capital Association’s (NVCA) Board of Directors from 2015-2020 and in her last year, was Board Chair. During her chair term, she prioritized VC industry diversity initiatives and was instrumental in driving small business access to CARES Act financial assistance programs early in the COVID pandemic. Jan was selected to the MichBusiness Women Leaders Hall of Fame (2020), as one of Crain’s Most Influential Women (2016), and as Crain’s Newsmaker of the Year (2015).

Education: B.S in Bioengineering from the University of California at Berkeley and an M.B.A from the Wharton School at the University of Pennsylvania.

Location: Arboretum Ventures, Ann Arbor, Michigan.

About Woman Leaders Award: Highest honor bestowed to an accomplished and influential c-level executive in recognition of management skills, vision to grow organizations and unique contributions made in the industry. Only one leader is officially honored in from distinct categories of investing and the transactional communities.


Women

Leaders & Dealmakers

Forum & Awards Gala
TBD, 2021. New York

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