Meet the Team

Nadeem Syed is the General Partner and sits on the Investment Committee at Juvo Ventures.

He has served as the CFO of Western Governors University, the nation’s largest online competency-based University, since June 2021. In this role, Nadeem leads all aspects of financial strategy and management in the nonprofit university system. Nadeem’s focus is on fostering learner-centered education models that deliver high-value education at low cost to the broadest population of learners, underpinned by sustainable economics and disruptive innovations that structurally lower cost of learning delivery.

Prior to WGU, Nadeem spent 11 years with AT&T. During his tenure at AT&T Nadeem held diverse leadership positions across finance, pricing, analytics, and business development spanning telecom, media, and advertising sectors. Nadeem was head of consumer wireline finance and led product, corporate development, and strategy finance for Xandr – AT&T’s advertising company. Nadeem was also a founding member of AT&T Partner Exchange—a startup business within the company—and was instrumental in the launch of DirecTV Now streaming service.

Prior to AT&T, Nadeem co-founded a medical imaging start-up in Singapore, led software R&D at Hewlett-Packard, and conducted machine learning research, publishing several peer-reviewed articles.

Nadeem grew up in India and obtained a B.S. in Computer Science from National University of Singapore as a recipient of Singapore Airlines Scholarship from the Government of Singapore. He later earned an M.S. in Computer Science and an MBA, both from Georgia Tech.

Scott Pulsipher is a General Partner and sits on the Investment Committee at Juvo Ventures. He also serves as President of Western Governors University (WGU), leading all academic, operational, and organizational functions.

Scott brings with him more than two decades of experience in leadership roles at technology-based, customer-focused companies and startups spanning retail, supply chain, banking, payments, and manufacturing sectors. Previously, he served as a Senior Vice President at Sterling Commerce and as a General Manager at Amazon. Later, as President and COO ofNeedle, he increased revenue eightfold in under two years, tripled the customer base, and secured millions in venture funding to support the company’s accelerated growth.

Drawing on these and other experiences, Scott now applies his business acumen with an innovative approach and long-held belief that opportunity should be available to all who seek it. Scott has helped WGU achieve tremendous scale with the number of graduates increasing fivefold since he became President in 2016. Under his leadership, the university has a NetPromoter Score of 74, in contrast with the national average of 16. Notably, WGU continues to be recognized as a Great Place to Work, with 84% employee engagement.

Scott currently serves on multiple higher education and technology boards, including the following: Chairman of the Board for Presidents Forum, Board Member at the American Council on Education, Trustee for the Committee for Economic Development, and as a member of Handshake’s Impact Advisory Board.

Scott holds an MBA from Harvard University and a Bachelor’s Degree in Management from Brigham Young University.

Nick Efstratis is a sub-advisor to Juvo Ventures and a co-founder and Managing Partner of EPIC Ventures. He brings nearly three decades of extensive experience in venture capital. Throughout his career, Nick has demonstrated a keen ability to identify and nurture promising startups, guiding them through critical growth phases and leading them to successful exits. Additionally, he serves as a Managing Partner of Zions SBIC, the venture capital investment fund of Zions Bancorporation.​

Nick serves on the Governor’s Fintech Council Advisory Committee for the State of Utah. In addition, he has been an Officer of MACC Private Equities, a publicly traded Business Development Corporation, and has served on the Board of Directors of INST, a publicly traded company. Nick has been invited to serve as a judge for the renowned Ernst & Young Entrepreneur of the Year competition six times.​

Nick has served on the boards of several startup companies, including Instructure, Mozy, Ancestry.com, Iovation, SaltStack, and VNDLY, among others. He has played a key role in successfully navigating the acquisition processes for multiple companies, including PillPack by Amazon, Iovation by TransUnion, Mozy by EMC, VNDLY by Workday, OpenContext by Torus.co, and both SaltStack and Tricipher by VMware.​

Prior to becoming a VC, Nick was a member of the founding management team at NetDocuments (an EPIC portfolio company), the leader in cloud document management. Nick worked in the Business Development Group at Excite.com, then a recently publicly traded company that later merged with @Home Networks for over $6.7B. ​

Previous to focusing on the technology sector, Nick and his family founded and operated Ranchlife Adventures, a working cattle and guest ranch located in Montana. He has a B.S. in Entrepreneurship from Brigham Young University. His M.B.A. is from the Marriott School at BYU.​

Sean K. Brown is the Managing Director of Juvo Ventures. He has assisted in standing up Juvo’s inaugural fund, which has now invested in 21 portfolio companies (https://juvovc.com/portfolio/). 

Sean oversees the management of the fund and reports directly to the General Partnership. 

Sean has a J.D. from the J. Reuben Clark School of Law and is a licensed Utah attorney. He volunteers with the Utah Minority Bar Association, Lone Peak High School Football, as well as local youth groups.  Sean loves to support his kids in anything they are passionate about, and as a result has often found himself on different types of sports fields volunteering as a parent coach. 

Alex Geren is an Analyst at Juvo Ventures. Prior to joining Juvo Ventures, Alex worked at Goldman Sachs as an Associate in the Corporate Treasury Division, focusing on liquidity forecasting. Before Goldman Sachs Alex completed various internships across the financial services industry. Alex graduated from the University of Utah and earned his Master of Science in Finance.

Alex enjoys mountain biking, rock climbing and hiking in his free time.

Janae Holland is an Associate at Juvo Ventures specializing in impact tracking and reporting, writing investment memos, deal sourcing, portfolio assistance, and market research. 

Janae holds an MBA from the University of Utah, an MA in International Education Development from Teachers College, Columbia University, and a BA in Political Science from Brigham Young University. Prior to Juvo, Janae was an investment associate at Sorenson Impact Center where she found her love for impact investing. Prior to that, Janae founded Aliim, a non-profit that harnesses the power of mobile learning to reach marginalized and refugee youth. She had the honor of speaking on the topic of mobile learning for refugees at the UNESCO Mobile Learning Conference in Paris. Prior to that, Janae worked on State Department funded International Visitor Leadership Program at the Institute of International Education in Washington, DC. Janae interned or worked on projects for renowned organizations, including UNESCO, UNICEF, International Rescue Committee, and the Jordanian Ministry of Social Development in Amman, Jordan. She speaks Spanish, Arabic, and Japanese.

Janae is passionate about education as a catalyst to improve individual lives and believes that EdTech impact investing is one of the most effective tools to make quality education accessible to all.

Andrea Call is a staff attorney for the General Partnership and its affiliate Juvo Venture Fund, LP. In her role providing legal support, Andrea focuses on performing legal diligence, drafting and negotiating investment documents, and providing counsel on corporate and securities law. Andrea formerly practiced as an associate attorney at Kunzler Bean & Adamson and Jones Waldo Holbrook & McDonough and has experience representing clients in commercial litigation and commercial real estate transactions.

Andrea graduated summa cum laude from the J. Reuben Clark Law School at Brigham Young University, where she was a senior editor of BYU Law Review. Immediately after law school, Andrea completed a two-year term as a law clerk to the Honorable Susan R. Bolton in the U.S. District Court for the District of Arizona.

When Andrea is not managing legal matters, she enjoys reading, spending time with her family, and teaching her dog new tricks.

Ben Shaw is the Controller for the General Partnership and its affiliate Juvo Venture Fund, LP.  He joined in 2019 after sixteen years in public accounting with both national and local firms. Ben’s experience includes financial reporting and accounting matters with public companies, not-for-profit organizations, software and technology companies (including SaaS), and other distribution and service companies. Ben’s role is to ensure accurate and timely monthly and year-end reporting of financial information, and he works closely with the fund’s third-party administrator, Cornerstone. 

Ben graduated from Arizona State University with a master’s degree in Accountancy and Information Systems and a B.S. in Accounting. He has been a licensed CPA since 2004 and is a member of the American Institute of Certified Public Accountants. 

Camille Nielsen is the Executive Assistant for Juvo Ventures. Camille has over ten years of experience as a Paralegal, Office Management, and Executive Assistant roles. She has event planning experience while working as an EA for the SVP of World Championship Events at The IRONMAN Group. She also planned and executed events as the Executive Assistant for the CFO at WGU, for over 200 employees. 

She is currently enrolled at WGU to obtain her bachelor’s degree in HR Management. In her free time, she enjoys working as a part-time sales associate at Michael Kors, and spending time with her kids. She loves to travel and meet new people.

Crystal McFarland is the Director of People & Talent (HR) for the General Partnership and its affiliate Juvo Venture Fund, LP. Her team supports the complete employee life cycle, including talent attraction, recruitment, onboarding, development, and retention.    

Crystal started her career in over eighteen years ago as a talent acquisition partner for Intermountain Healthcare in Salt Lake City, Utah. Crystal has held various leadership and HR roles in dental products manufacturing, healthcare, and higher education. 

Crystal loves to travel. She has a deep passion for learning and mentoring others and volunteers her time to those in need.

Curt DeFriez is the Vice President of Accounting and Financial Operations for the General Partnership and its affiliate Juvo Venture Fund, LP. His team supports general accounting, cash management, and payroll services.

Curt started his career over thirty years ago as a CPA for Price Waterhouse and has held a variety of senior financial leadership roles for both public and private companies. These institutions spanned a range of industries including manufacturing, hardware and software technology, medical publishing, nuclear waste disposal, and higher education.

Curt enjoys traveling, hiking, birdwatching, and sailing.

Heather Jacques is an Assistant General Counsel supporting the General Partnership and its affiliate Juvo Venture Fund, LP. In her role providing legal support, Heather focuses on performing legal diligence, drafting and negotiating investment documents, and providing counsel on corporate and securities law and compliance.

Heather graduated from the J. Reuben Clark Law School at Brigham Young University, where she was a senior editor of BYU Law Review. Before her current role, she interned at the international firm Baker & McKenzie and conducted research for an international law professor at Oxford University. She has also been published by Oxford University on international law topics. Most recently, she has assisted with large-scale corporate governance issues, reviewed and drafted operational and licensing agreements, and taken the lead in developing and implementing legal compliance programs.

When Heather is not assisting with legal matters, she enjoys skiing and otherwise being outdoors with her kids, reading, and finding (and eating) the best chocolates.

Khris Jensen is the Director of Finance for the General Partnership and its affiliate Juvo Venture Fund, LP. Khris and his team manage financial reporting, budgeting, forecasting, and other FP&A responsibilities.

After graduating with his MBA, Khris worked in finance and accounting roles in the retail and marketing industries and also provided CFO and controller consulting services.

Khris is a Certified Lean Six Sigma Green Belt. He is passionate about working within set boundaries even when provided limited resources to accomplish the mission of the operation.

Paul Zinn is the Business Information Security Partner for the General Partnership and its affiliate Juvo Venture Fund, LP. His team supports information and cybersecurity.

Paul has worked in the information technology industry over twenty-five years. For the last ten years, he has focused on the information security space across industries ranging from telecommunications to insurance to education.

Paul enjoys skiing, hiking, camping—basically, any mountain or forest activity.