“If you want to go fast, go alone. If you want to go far, go together.”
Christopher A. Douvos
Managing Director
Chris Douvos founded Ahoy Capital in 2018 to build an intentionally right-sized firm that could pursue investment excellence while prizing a spirit of partnership with all of its constituencies.
A pioneering investor in the micro-VC movement, Chris has been a fixture in venture capital for nearly two decades. In addition to successfully identifying and catalyzing nascent funds, he bridges a gap between the providers of capital and the consumers of capital by creating platforms for transparent dialogue. Chris authors the blog SuperLP in which he chronicles his adventures investing in venture capital and private equity; and his brick oven pizza parties, small gatherings of LPs, GPs, and entrepreneurs, are well-known in the Valley. He is sought after not only for investment capital, but also for his advice, and serves on numerous managers' advisory boards.
Prior to Ahoy Capital, Chris spearheaded investment efforts at Venture Investment Associates and The Investment Fund for Foundations. He learned the craft of illiquid investing at Princeton University’s endowment. He started his business career as a strategy consultant at Monitor Company.
Chris regularly speaks at industry conferences and business schools, and is a frequent resource for tech and business media. He earned his B.A. with Distinction in history from Yale College in 1994 and an M.B.A. from Yale School of Management in 2001. He was awarded the CFA Charter in 2004.
Clifford J.P. Gilman
Managing Director
Cliff Gilman is a Managing Director at Ahoy Capital, and is involved in investment activity across the Firm’s funds and co-investments. His experience with institutional investors, as well as direct investing, brings a unique perspective and value to our relationships with managers and limited partners.
Most recently, Cliff was with Prime Buchholz & Associates, Inc., a full-service investment consulting firm serving, at the time, approximately 300 institutional clients, predominately endowments and foundations, with over $30 billion under advisement across all asset classes. He had sole responsibility for the firm’s private equity investing, as well as private real asset investing (real estate, energy, other natural resources, and commodities), through direct funds, secondaries, and funds of funds. Included in his responsibilities was educating clients and consultants on the merits of building portfolios of private capital. Prior to that, he was an Associate Vice President and founding member of Merrill Lynch Private Equity Partners, LP, a start-up global investor in funds, secondary, and direct private equity positions. In that role, he sourced transactions, conducted due diligence, participated in the investment review process and monitoring of over $350 million in direct and fund investments.
Cliff received his A.B. from Duke University majoring in political science, Russian, and Comparative Area Studies, and was a recipient of the Benjamin N. Duke Leadership Award. He also has an M.B.A. from the Tuck School of Business at Dartmouth College.
Among other activities, he serves on the board and finance and investment committee of the Bonnie Brae School.
Amy E. Zengo
Chief Operating Officer
Amy Zengo is Chief Operating Officer at Ahoy Capital and is responsible for the firm’s day-to-day operations. Amy also engages with Ahoy’s existing and potential investors as a key facilitator of engagement and catalyst of our interactive community. Amy continues works closely with the funds’ managers to develop efficient, effective, and sustainable initiatives that build the Ahoy Capital brand in the venture capital ecosystem.
Previously, Amy was Director of Community at Venture Investment Associates (VIA) and before that worked with Atlas Venture (now known as Accomplice) where for eight years she was an operations member of their technology investment team in Boston. Prior to her tenure with Atlas, she was a Project Analyst in Equity Trading with Wellington Management Company and a Client Analyst with Goldman Sachs & Co. Having spent more than twenty years in venture capital, she brings an insider’s depth and breadth of knowledge in early stage venture capital funds, their portfolio companies and investors, often serving to catalyze new initiatives.
David Friedman
Advisor
David Friedman assists Ahoy Capital in understanding the dynamic regulatory environments in which entrepreneurial companies operate. As technology disrupts ever-larger segments of the economy, startups find themselves operating in increasingly dense thickets of statutes and practices. David augments Ahoy's understanding of the impact of regulations on startup companies and the venture capitalists who fund them.
A professor of law at Willamette University, David teaches commercial law, business law, torts and consumer trade practices law. He is published in the areas of behavioral economics, contract theory, advertising law, and public health. He frequently speaks on topics involving commercial regulation and serves as an expert witness on such matters.
Previously, David was a strategy consultant for Monitor Group in Cambridge and New York, where he advised private equity funds and their portfolio companies, along with organizations in financial services, telecommunications, and the non-profit sectors.
David earned his B.A. in economics from Yale College in 1994, cum laude and received his J.D. from Yale Law School in 1999, where he was a John M. Olin fellow in law and economics.