Robert Padulo, Ph.D

Venture Capitalist; Board Member; Senior Advisor; 4x-Entrepreneur; Managing Partner | Treasure Coast Ventures

For over 25 years as an entrepreneur, investor, board member and consultant, Robert has served numerous organizations in a leadership capacity, always seeking better ways to do things. Robert graduated from Harvard and earned his Ph.D. in Management at Oxford. In the mid-1990s, he was a consultant at McKinsey & Company (where, among other things, he helped develop the innovative concept, principles and action steps of "CRM" — a business practice new to the world, and a name Robert coined), and was president of TapeLicator, Inc. (maker of a patented one-handed tape applicator). In 1999, Robert pioneered the online HRservices industry by founding iWorkwell, Inc. — the quality leader in HR information, guidance & tools — which he led as President for 17 years. Over the next 7 years he was a full-time ‘professional angel investor’ in two dozen startups, and served on the Investment Committee for Keiretsu Capital and as a Tech & Business Advisor to K2X Capital.  He also co-founded Startup Smart Kids, an online program that teaches personal finance, and entrepreneurship, to students 11+ — and adults. An accelerator-mentor or advisor to 150+ startups so far, today he serves as the Managing Partner of Treasure Coast Ventures. Among other things, Robert is known as a thought leader (authoring & disseminating white papers, leading webinars & workshops, etc.) with deep expertise in governance, valuation, and exit strategy.  Having literally sat on all sides of the startup / investor table, he brings a rare blend of intellectual rigor and practical experience across all aspects of business. Robert has been called a “top industry leader,” and honored by VC Lab as a “Future Hall of Famer” poised to “become [one of] the iconic venture firms of tomorrow.”