utilize our strengths.”
“Having three women leading a tech accelerator was very unique and very powerful,” she adds. “I was proud to be a part of that; it’s giving young women something to look up to and emulate in a space that doesn’t have a lot of women.”
Zielke remains as co-founder and will lead the accelerator along with Robert Brevelle, who came on board in February as chief operations officer. Brevelle is a former technology executive and investor who most recently was president of Trinity Consulting and Holdings, which caters to industries such as aerospace, consumer electronics, and first responders.
Zielke says Brevelle has the sort of experience—namely as an investor—that Tech Wildcatters needs to grow. “Last year he got three of them [startups] to an exit, and that’s exactly what we need in our portfolio, exits,” she says.
A day after leaving the accelerator, Cain announced she has accepted a position as venture partner for Dallas-based Sumo Ventures and says she is talking to other groups about full-time positions, some of which may take her away from Dallas.
Lindenmeyer, who is expecting her third child in September, says she will take up the consulting offers she’s gotten over the years. “I didn’t come from the startup world,” she says. “I love all aspects of business.”
Cain’s and Lindenmeyer’s dismissals raised questions from some of Tech Wildcatters’ investors and mentors, according to local media. So, does the management shuffle suggest a deeper problem at the accelerator?
Zielke dismisses such talk. “Ninety percent of our investors and mentors are entrepreneurs who have run their own businesses before,” she says. “It’s no surprise to anybody in the business world that growth is not always the prettiest thing.”
