Insights and Strategies for Sustained Growth and Profitability

Daria Abbaei, Director of Investor Relations, Naples Technology Ventures

In an interview with Daria Abbaei, Director of Investor Relations at Naples Technology Ventures; she explores her journey where she navigates the intricate landscape of Venture Capitals. With a rich background in cybersecurity, she provides insights by delving into day to day operations and the art of building trust with both the investors and the entrepreneurial ecosystem

Could you please provide an overview of your professional journey leading up to your current position at Naples Technology Ventures?

I started my career working for a cybersecurity company, SKOUT (recently acquired by Barracuda), based in New York City. At SKOUT, I worked in customer success then became Chief of Staff to the President and CTO. After almost a year of gaining exposure to the operational side of the business, I became Director of Enablement. After almost 3 years at the company, I was ready to take the next step in my professional career, which led me to Naples Technology Ventures. At NTV, I am responsible for working with all of our current and future LPs, building out our partner network, and sourcing potential investment opportunities. I have a strong passion for building relationships with others so joining the Naples Technology Ventures team was a natural fit given what my job would entail As the Director of Investor Relations at Naples Technology Ventures, what do you consider to be some of the most significant challenges you face in your day-to-day operations?

Being the Director of Investor Relations at Naples Technology Ventures, one of the challenges faced is being able to create long-term value and trust with our LPs. We strive to ensure complete transparency with our investor base and make ourselves available to them all hours of the day to answer any questions they may have and make certain they trust every step of our process- all the way from our investment process to the information provided in our quarterly reports we distribute. As our investors aren’t involved in the day-to-day operations of the business, we need to ensure that they are still up to date on all fund activity. We overcome challenges like this with the transparency provided in our quarterly reports.

Additionally, in my role, I have to build relationships with other venture capital firms, accelerators, incubators, law firms, CPAs, etc. to help increase our deal flow and bi-directional investment opportunities with other groups.

Could you provide insights into how you managed to build a certain level of trust with top-tier investors while sustaining business growth and maximizing profitability?

This question ties into the previous question- I think communication and transparency are two key components when building a relationship with investors. We like to get our investors involved with companies that were talking to when we see an alignment with their expertise and the company were looking to invest in- this is a great way to build trust with current LPs and show them that we really value them both as investors in the fund and as experts in their respective field. 

In addition the communication and transparency, setting clear expectations with our investors on vision and growth opportunities. In turn, our investors begin to trust us and send companies our way that may be a good investment opportunity for us, as well as introducing us to potential LPs.

"We strive to ensure complete transparency with our investor base and make ourselves available to them all hours of the day to answer any questions they may have and make certain they trust every step of our process-all the way from our investment process to the information provided in our quarterly reports we distribute"

What advice would you offer to young professionals who are interested in pursuing a career in venture capitalism?

I would suggest to any young professional looking to pursue a career in the venture capital space to just go for it! There is never the perfect time to start your next opportunity so sometimes you have to take a leap of faith and jump. Building relationships and cultivating your network are components to any field, but especially a field like venture capital where investors need to have a great amount of trust in you. Not only do investors need to have trust in you, but CEOs and Entrepreneurs that you are investing in need to trust that you are there to support their goals and share the same vision as them. Building strong relationships with the management teams of the companies you’re investing in is crucial as you want to be a partner to the entrepreneurs so they come to you for advice and to confide in you.