Why Pittsburgh.
Carnegie Mellon and Pitt make Pittsburgh one of the deepest technical talent pools in the country, and the city has turned that into robotics, AI and health-tech companies. Bindr joined AlphaLab’s 2024 cohort here.
AlphaLab and Innovation Works are the anchor programs, and Pittsburgh has a real, working pipeline from university lab to funded company. I spend time here on purpose.
I am based in York, Pennsylvania, and I have spent my career building companies in this part of the state: Bindr, ColdStart, and a long list of client and portfolio work before them. Pittsburgh is the one market outside Central PA I make a point of covering, because the talent and the accelerator pipeline there are worth the drive.
What I invest in here.
Technical founders with a consumer or marketplace idea who need someone on the growth side, and LGBTQ+ founders who want an investor who has been through AlphaLab.
Local markets first
The companies that break out of Western Pennsylvania usually win one county before they win a country. I look for founders who can prove repeat behavior in Pittsburgh and its neighbors, then use that proof to raise the next round. A dense local market is an unfair advantage if you use it on purpose.
LGBTQIA+ founders
I co-founded Bindr, a dating platform built for the LGBTQIA+ community that won the first-ever 2SLGBTQIA+ Entrepreneur Prize at Startupfest. I know what it is like to raise for a queer company in a market that is not always ready for one, and I back LGBTQIA+ founders in Pittsburgh and across the United States and Canada.
Dating and consumer technology
Consumer networks are the hardest category to start and the most rewarding to grow. If you are building a dating, social or community product in Pittsburgh, I want to see the mechanism behind your first users, not a projection of your millionth.
How I work.
I write angel checks and I stay involved on the growth side. ColdStart exists because getting a good product found is the problem every founder eventually hits, and it is the problem I have spent the most time solving. Companies I work with get an operator who has pitched at TechCrunch, won Startupfest, and put a product in front of Forbes, not just a wire transfer.
What I need from you is simple: a working product, real users, the story of how those users arrived, and an honest account of what is broken. The case studies I keep coming back to explain what I mean by engineered traction.
Pitch me on LinkedInQuestions founders in Pittsburgh ask.
Do you invest in startups in Pittsburgh?
Yes. I am based in York, Pennsylvania and I actively look at companies in Pittsburgh and across Allegheny County. I write angel checks and I get involved on the growth side, which is usually where an early company needs the most help.
What kinds of Pittsburgh companies are you looking for?
Three things: businesses that can win a local market before they try to win a national one, LGBTQIA+ founders, and dating or consumer technology where the first users have to be engineered rather than waited for. A working product with real users beats a deck every time.
How do I pitch you?
Send me a note on LinkedIn with what you are building, who already uses it, how those first users got there, and where you are stuck. If it is interesting I will reply and we will talk. I do not need a formal deck to start the conversation.
Do you only invest in Pennsylvania?
No. Central Pennsylvania is home and I know these markets best, but I also back LGBTQIA+ founders across the United States and Canada, and dating and consumer companies wherever they are built.