Clever Consumer Ventures

Jason has over two decades of experience spanning operations, technology, venture capital, and private equity. Jason is the founder of Consumer Ventures™, a venture capital firm focused on investing in and building emerging consumer brands and companies. Before Consumer Ventures™, Jason was the fund manager at CircleUp in San Francisco, through which he invested in dozens of consumer ventures. Prior to CircleUp, Jason spent over eight years at Winona Capital Management, a consumer-focused private equity firm in Chicago with over $300 million under management. Before Winona, Jason worked at venture capital firm Opus Capital in Silicon Valley and was a founder or early employee at several high-tech start-ups in Denver including BoldTech Systems, a “Deloitte Tech Fast 50” and “Inc. 500” company that was acquired by Perficient (NASDAQ PRFT). Prior to his entrepreneurial ventures, Jason spent over five years at Andersen Consulting (now Accenture) where he was a project manager and software engineer. Jason graduated from the University of Chicago Booth School of Business with an MBA and holds a BSBA and MAS from the University of Denver, where he was an alumni scholar and graduated summa cum laude.

Jeff is an Operating Partner at Consumer Ventures with over twenty years of sales and executive experience with both public and privately held organizations including over 10 years of working with Private Equity sponsors. Jeff is currently the CEO and Executive Chairman of Inovar Packaging, one of the premier digital printing companies North American (backed by AEA Investors and acquired by Kelso & Company). Before Inovar, Jeff was President & CEO of Fort Dearborn Company, a leading supplier of packaging and label solutions with 15 manufacturing facilities and 1,700 employees. Fort Dearborn works with many of the world's most recognizable consumer companies and brands such as Unilever, Nestle, KraftHeinz, and Coke. Fort Dearborn was backed by KRG Capital Partners and acquired by Advent International. Before Fort Dearborn, Jeff spent 10 years with RR Donnelley where he served in various sales and management roles. Jeff received an MBA from DePaul University in Entrepreneurship and a BS in Marketing from Northern Illinois University.

Chris is the general partner of CJM Ventures and is a Professor at the University of Chicago Booth School of Business where he teaches courses on entrepreneurship, venture capital, and private equity. Chris was previously a Managing Director at Madison Dearborn Partners where he oversaw more than $2 billion of equity investments in the industrial, consumer, and energy sectors.

Michael is a Parter at Zenfinity Capital, an investment firm started by Kevin Easler (the co-founder of Sprouts Farmers Market) to identify, finance, and develop the growth of promising better for your businesses in retail, food, and beverage. Michael has been an investor for more than 15 years and has completed over 40 private transactions, working primarily with high net worth families.

Nick is an executive at PLZ Aeroscience. PLZ was founded in 1939 with the invention of Plastic Auto Glaze Polish. An innovator in commercializing aerosol technology, PLZ is a leading manufacturer of specialty aerosol and liquid products. PLZ has thrived under multiple generations of Ferring leadership and produced over four billion cans of industrial and consumer products.

Todd spent over three decades in leadership positions at Cargill, recently retiring as the head of the Cargill’s global protein and salt businesses. Todd was a member of the Cargill Board of Directors, oversaw some of Cargill’s largest acquisitions, and was a member of the Cargill Leadership Team, the executive group in charge of Cargill’s strategic direction, growth, and capital allocation.