The president of the Keiretsu Forum‘s Northwest chapter, Todd Dean, is stepping down from his position to pursue new career opportunities. Dean informed his fellow forum members of his decision in a letter, thanking them for their support in the past five years, both in growing the angel investment organization and bolstering the regional startup community. The news was first reported publicly by TechFlash.
The Keiretsu Forum says it is the largest angel investor community in the world, with 850 accredited members spread across 19 chapters and three continents. Dean started the Keiretsu Forum Northwest in September 2005, after building a career at American Income Life Insurance, and catching the entrepreneurial bug in the early 2000s.
Back then Dean had one objective in mind: “To create an organization that was serious about funding companies!” he wrote in his letter, adding that the work accomplished over the last five years “put Keiretsu Forum Northwest on the map locally and nationally!”
In the last five years, Keiretsu Northwest has invested more than $61 million in 102 local companies. “That’s more than any other organization in the Pacific Northwest,” he wrote. (Check out Greg’s story from last year, where he and Dean talked angel investing strategy in the Pacific Northwest.) Dean has personally helped to advise and raise funding for a number of Seattle-area startups, including NodeLogic Networks, AdmitOne Security, PayScale, and LINQware.
The Keiretsu Northwest chapter, which currently has 320 active angel members, also launched three other regional chapters under Dean’s watch—in Bellevue, WA, and Boise, ID, in January 2007, and Portland, OR, in January 2008. Other stats that Dean boasts: Over the last five years the chapter has hosted 136 forums, with 680 company presentations, 60 deal screenings, 136 education academies, and 75 private social events.
“It is amazing how quickly the time has passed. I’ve grown up personally and professionally while learning from you. I’ve shared this many, many times that I feel being associated with each of you has been an honor, a blessing and a privilege,” Dean wrote in his farewell letter.
Dean will be passing on his role as president to former forum partner Nathan McDonald. “It is the right decision to invite Nathan back to take the helm of Keiretsu Forum Northwest from here forward. Randy Williams, CEO and Founder of Keiretsu Forum, is fully supporting this transition,” Dean wrote.
As for what Dean will do next, he wrote that he is currently considering “a few excellent career opportunities,” and “assessing which one fits ‘my passion.'” I followed up with Dean regarding his upcoming career move, but he declined to elaborate.
“I currently have an opportunity which I can not share at this point but will in the near future,” he said. “Keiretsu Forum has been a great experience but it was time for me to take on a new opportunity.”
