Campfire Capital — Seed & Series A VC Firm ($250K–$2.0M Checks)

Peter Gaudet is the Founder and President of Campfire Capital. Mr. Gaudet has over 30 years of experience in the financial industry. Prior to 2013, Mr. Gaudet was the President of Axonic Capital LLC, a multibillion structured credit hedge fund business and institutional asset manager in New York City. Prior to Axonic, Mr. Gaudet worked as a consultant for Flintlock Capital (a Paul Tudor Jones spinoff commodities hedge fund). Before Flintlock he was a Senior Managing Director and COO of ICP (a joint venture with The Bank of New York) in the US and UK. Prior to ICP, Mr. Gaudet ran Alternative Investment businesses at Credit Suisse Asset Management (CSAM) and Donaldson, Lufkin and Jenrette (DLJ) Asset Management. He started his financial career at Merrill Lynch. Mr. Gaudet graduated from the United States Military Academy at West Point in 1991 with a B.S. in economics and served three years active duty and eight years reserve duty, earning the rank of Captain as a Field Artillery Officer in the U.S. Army.

John Graham, PhD is a Managing Director and Chief Technology Officer at Campfire Capital. Colonel (R) Graham has been a US Army Officer for thirty years, fifteen of which has been in non-dilutive financing of and organization design for advanced Science & Technology for the Warfighter. John is focused on the evaluation of and development of companies operating at the leading edge of technology and those seeking to transition science to the market. He has extensive applied and theoretical background in leadership development and mentoring in high stress environments. John's last tour in the Army was as the West Point Chief Scientist where he built a University-wide research enterprise by partnering with DOD agencies such as DARPA, DTRA, Army Research Laboratories, and numerous Program Executive Offices while generating new methods to work with commercial organizations across the United States. This role built on John's extensive experience as founder of numerous military R&D and operational enterprises. Prior to Chief Scientist, John led the multinational forces in the security of the Capital City of Afghanistan, Kabul, for the 2014 Presidential Elections. That tour was the subject of a six part mini-series 'The Fighting Season.' Earlier in his career, John served in various roles in Space Command, the 10th Mountain Division, and the 82nd Airborne Division. He has taught courses in Leadership, Change Management, Cognitive Science & Orbital Mechanics and has multiple technical publications. John holds a PhD in Computation from Carnegie Mellon University, an M.S. in Cognitive Systems Engineering from The Ohio State University, and a B.S. from the United States Military Academy. In service to the United States Army, John is a combat-decorated Space Operations, Airborne Ranger qualified, Cavalry Officer.