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Zachary Martz

Zachary is the Founder of ZAMARTZ Consulting and Director of Enterprise Project Management at Eileen Fisher. He is a hybrid leader, creative, and technologist with an extensive background in retail and digital design. He has spearheaded projects at Club Monaco, Ralph Lauren, Grey Healthcare Group, and The Wall Street Journal. Currently, Zachary is evolving the project management office of Eileen Fisher Enterprise, managing its multi-million dollar projects, and building intelligently designed and high performing digital products as a brand consultant.

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Jennifer Q. Chen

Jenn Chen is currently the Chief Revenue Officer at Connatix, a video platform serving publishers across content and advertising. She manages sales, accounts, and marketing functions. She began her career in banking at Lehman, joined early-stage e-commerce startup thereafter, and has spent the last decade in advertising and marketing in various commercial growth leadership roles. Outside of work, Jenn is the co-founder of a non-profit Givology.org that provides education grants to grassroots, international students and organizations.

She’s also a mother of two little boys and lives in LIC, Queens.

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Jiake Liu

Jiake Liu is the Co-Founder and CEO of Outer, a Santa Monica-based outdoor living brand with a proprietary retail platform that’s turning customers’ homes into crowdsourced showrooms. He’s successfully raised from top-tier VC funds such as Sequoia Capital, Capital Today.

Jiake is also an avid angel investor and advisor for early-stage startups in Los Angeles. Jiake was born in China, grew up in Alabama, and resides in Los Angeles. He has a Computer Engineering degree from the University of Alabama in Huntsville and previously worked as an engineer in the telecom and video game industries.

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Joy Jing

Joy is a Creative Designer, Marketer, and Community Builder. She specializes in digital and print marketing, pitch deck design, branding, event planning, and public speaking. Joy’s corporate experience includes her role as the Head of Community at Everywhere Ventures, a globally backed early-stage venture fund, and various positions at MassChallenge, a network for global innovators. 

Joy authored “Dear Mountain: A Poetry Collection on Love and Loss” and holds a bachelor’s degree from Harvard, where she studied Environmental Science, Architecture, and Economics. She was an active member of the Harvard College Debating Union.

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Lauren Lee

Lauren Lee is an entrepreneur with a particular interest in hospitality and Consumer Packaged Goods. In addition to her position at Lair East Labs, she is Co-Founder and Chief Product Officer of Away Bar, a Shanghai-based company bringing together ice cream and premium spirits from around the world.

Prior to starting her business, Lauren worked in corporate marketing and communications at a growth-stage healthtech firm, assisting executives on the product and business development teams in initiating deals with health systems and large pharmaceutical and biotech firms. She graduated Cum Laude with a bachelor’s in East Asian Studies, concentrating on China, from Yale University, where she founded a dinner and cocktail pop-up partnering with Michelin-starred chefs in New York and New Haven.

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VF Testimonials

Norman Ye

“I love my experience with LEL, as it introduced new possibilities and interests to me. Working with a fantastic cohort allowed me to see what founders, investors, and mentors are thinking during an investment process. Seeing first-hand how a mission drives the founding team to contribute to the betterment of the society is extremely inspiring.”

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Charles Lee

“I loved being able to work more directly with portfolio companies, focusing on verticals outside of DeepTech and EdTech, and gaining more experience with evaluating Pre-Seed and Seed stage companies. Perhaps the most memorable aspect of this internship, however, was the genuine nature of the Investment Team. I will always remember and appreciate how open the Investment Team was to hearing my concerns.”

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Daisy Wu

“I had a great time working with the team, and the experience was valuable. I learned how to evaluate deals, prepare marketing materials, conduct market research, do due diligence, and communicate with founding teams. I would highly suggest anyone interested in starting a career in the VC industry join the fellowship program – the support and learning experience I gained through the process was beyond my expectations.”

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William Wang

“Working with Lair East Labs has been an amazing experience! Even though we were completely virtual, the opportunity to work with and learn from the partners and mentors was extremely valuable. I worked on projects that were meaningful and useful to LEL and its portfolio companies, and learned about so many different industries and technologies.”

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Jocelyn Zheng

“I really enjoyed my time at LEL, especially as I was able to experience the entire process of sourcing, performing due diligence, and seeing an investment to fruition for Batch 8. Getting a glimpse into how LEL evaluates startups has refined the way I think as an investor and how I view different business models. During the internship, I was offered a lot of constructive feedback and was also encouraged to share my opinions. Ultimately, I learned a great deal from the investment team as well as from my fellow venture fellows. ”