Tony Florence, the head of NEA’s tech practice, on building breakthrough brands
Tony Florence isn’t as well known to the public as other top investors like Bill Gurley or Marc Andreessen, but he’s someone who founders with SaaS and especially marketplace e-commerce companies know or should. He’s responsible for the global tech investing activities for NEA, one of the world’s biggest venture firms in terms of assets under management (it closed its newest fund with $3.6 billion last year).
Florence has also been involved with a long list of e-commerce brands to break through, including Jet, Gilt, Goop, Casper, Letgo, and Moda Operandi.
Dive Brief:
Liu most recently served as Walmart s vice president of supply chain for its e-commerce division, according to a company announcement emailed to Retail Dive. He also held leadership roles at Whirlpool, Ahold USA and Walgreens.
The DTC mattress brand on Wednesday also appointed Dara Williams as chief people and diversity officer, and George Poulios as vice president of retail, real estate and store development.
Dive Insight:
The recent appointments come as Casper, and the industry more broadly, continues to navigate challenges brought on by the pandemic.
Like many retailers, Casper was forced to temporarily shutter its brick-and-mortar stores in the spring in an effort to stem the spread of COVID-19.
Charles Liu
A former top Walmart e-commerce, supply chain and Ahold USA executive has taken his career in a new direction.
Charles Liu, most recently VP of supply chain for Wamart s e-commerce division, has joined Casper as COO. Liu previously held supply chain roles with Shopko, Ahold USA and Walgreens.
At Casper, Liu will oversee all end-to-end supply chain functions, including sourcing, product engineering, compliance, quality, supply planning, production, logistics and customer experience support. Emilie Arel, president and chief commercial officer, will remain principal operating officer.
Liu brings more than 20 years of experience in end-to-end supply chain management and corporate operations to his role at Casper.
Supporting Responsible Use Of AI And Equitable Outcomes In Financial Services â Federal Reserve Governor Lael Brainard At The AI Academic Symposium Hosted By The Board Of Governors Of The Federal Reserve System, Washington, D.C. (Virtual Event) Date
12/01/2021
Today s symposium on the use of artificial intelligence (AI) in financial services is part of the Federal Reserve s broader effort to understand AI s application to financial services, assess methods for managing risks arising from this technology, and determine where banking regulators can support responsible use of AI and equitable outcomes by improving supervisory clarity.1
The potential scope of AI applications is wide ranging. For instance, researchers are turning to AI to help analyze climate change, one of the central challenges of our time. With nonlinearities and tipping points, climate change is highly complex, and quantification for risk assessments requires the analysis of vast amounts of data, a task