“In team sports, good passers make for great shooters. Top performers make the talent around them better. We want to invest in people who amplify the talent around them, and we aim to support entrepreneurial teams with that spirit in mind.”
When I discovered that a fellow Virginia alumni and former lacrosse team captain was joining the Founders Circle Capital Family, I was nothing short of ecstatic. I immediately texted our mutual friends about the coincidence and heard nothing but praise for the guy. My favorite praise came from his colleague at Harlem Lacrosse, who described Owen as “a beauty of a human being.”
Unacquainted with lacrosse lingo, I found this a strange way to describe someone. I’ve since realized how accurate a description it was. Owen is modest, soft-spoken, and a true team player. It’s qualities like these that drive Owen’s success in a wide variety of endeavors, and he’s been cultivating them since day one.
The son of a college coach, he spent the first eighteen years of his life looking up to his 40 “big brothers” on the University of Virginia and University of Pennsylvania lacrosse teams. The constant exposure to high-performing student-athletes inspired his passion for the sport of lacrosse, love of learning, and desire to always be a part of a great team.
Owen realized a childhood dream when he got to suit up for UVA and win a National Championship as a lacrosse team member. He didn’t slack in the classroom either – Owen studied at the McIntire School of Commerce, laying the early groundwork for a career in Finance. He earned a Master’s in Education for good measure while his lacrosse-playing career wound down in his final year at UVA.
Always reflective, Owen recognized the role lacrosse played in helping him prepare for the career opportunities that lay ahead. He jumped at the opportunity to join Harlem Lacrosse, where he could help underserved middle and high schoolers become All-Americans and honor roll students in their own right. You only need to spend a few minutes with Owen for him to tell you about the accomplishments of his former pupils proudly. He certainly left it all on the field with them. In a few short years, he helped the startup program scale into a national organization, at the same time developing an affinity for the entrepreneurial journey.
After years of making the fundraising pitch, Owen was ready to experience the other side of the table. He made the cross country drive from New York to San Francisco, shortly thereafter met the team at Founders Circle, and immediately knew he wanted in. He worked for his supper, spending a few months as an intern before joining the team full-time. Although it looks a bit different in practice than his old career, Owen loves that he gets to continue to invest in people every day and play a small part in their success.
by Ryan Morrison
