Karl Alomar joins M13 as Managing Partner
We’re thrilled to announce that Karl Alomar has joined M13 to accelerate our “Founders First” strategy. Karl is a seasoned entrepreneur and the former Chief Operating Officer of DigitalOcean, where he grew the company to 500+ employees and $200MM in revenue. Karl represents our focus on building a founder and operator-driven organization, helping us level-up our industry expertise, investment focus and operational excellence. Karl will not only help build out M13’s investment portfolio, but will drive the development of our Launchpad program, helping create and develop successful founding teams, and Propulsion program, providing executive level vertical expertise to help portfolio companies navigate strategies and operational hurdles as they develop and grow.
“I believe that today, startups in technology are evolving and changing faster than any other industries in the world. However, venture, the underlying support mechanism, is a 50 year old industry that is somewhat antiquated in its methodology and approach. What really makes M13 special is that we believe that great founders are special. Founders need nurturing, and we really are taking ownership of the responsibility of nurturing those founders and helping them develop their capabilities and find success. The core of it is altruistic and organic; experiencing and seeing the success of others as they build world changing platforms and businesses and being able to be a part of that journey.”
Karl brings over two decades of executive-level experience building and growing businesses. With an MBA from Columbia, Karl founded and exited two companies, holding the role of CEO/Founder in both, which led him to his most recent role as COO at DigitalOcean. Having also held positions as Board Member, Advisor, Mentor and Investor in his career, Karl serves as a powerful addition to the team and brings the depth and perspective of multiple experiences in the start-up ecosystem to support founders and entrepreneurs.
“Karl is a recognized force in the industry, and the key component who will bring his insight and operational expertise to really help propel us to that next level. We’re so excited to have him on board, and we can’t wait to see what the future holds now that he is on the team..” — M13 Co-founder Courtney Reum
As we evolve our brand towards building a complete Venture Engine that aims to disrupt the state of VC, we’re confident that Karl’s experience and background will propel the M13 vision at an accelerated rate. In addition to being a full-service venture firm, we’ll expand our focus to provide the right platform, people, and partnerships for founding teams to build high-velocity businesses via the new arms of M13 — the Launchpad and the Propulsion Team.
“I have found that reading books and case studies is an excellent way to help Founders navigate their journey as they build their organization, reading is imperative in the process of developing a leader. I know, however, that books alone do not automatically solve the unique and nuanced challenges that a founder faces as they build their business within limited resources. Real world experience gives mature executives a unique ability to navigate new and nuanced issues and build customized strategies for growing businesses: as such companies recognize the value of building strong executive teams as and when resources allow. M13’s philosophy is to provide that level of executive expertise for its portfolio before company resources would typically allow, we believe this will drive better day to day decisions, more effective problem solving and a general acceleration in growth for our portfolio family of companies. That’s the opportunity of what I’m so excited to help build at M13.”
We recognize that there is a new frontier in startup — one where execution is the difference — and investors need to take a more integrated approach to provide the operational counsel, network of talent and experts, and actionable resources to impact the trajectory of the company. Karl will play a key role in ensuring these relationships are as impactful as possible and that the firm is providing founders with all of the tools they need.
“We’re focused on creating successful founding teams, rather than personal economic success. I love Tony Hsieh, CEO of Zappos’, quote, which says ‘Stop chasing the money and start chasing the passion.’ We understand that economic success will inevitably come as a result, but we believe in the passion of building great founding teams and the benefits that come from that should be organic.”
At M13, we’re more excited than ever for the future. We’ve already experienced firsthand the magnitude of Karl’s expertise coupled with his fierce passion for building successful founding teams and businesses, and we know how much that’s going to positively impact all of the entrepreneurs we work with. We believe that success is a team mission and Karl will be an integral part of the journey.
