About
My name is Patrick S. Harris, but my closest friends call me Harry. I believe you can’t pick your own nickname – mine was given to me as a twelve-year-old, and like any good moniker, it stuck. I am originally from Boston; while it is decidedly a big part of who I am, leaving and developing a life across the country was scary at the time. But, I wouldn’t trade it. I grew up in between two sisters, raised by my mom. The single most important part of my life was in my early thirties, taking care of my mom while we she was dying.
I learned profound lessons about the value of time and regret, permanently altering the course of my life. Looking back, I know I was lucky to have such a strong influential woman in my life.
When I moved to San Francisco in my twenties, the diversity of people and interests along with the exhilarating startup culture was intoxicating. I stayed. Professionally, I’ve done a lot of things: I’ve been an entrepreneur, I’ve started a couple of businesses, looking back they were more like passion projects and I’ve learned way more from my failures than my successes.
For the last decade-plus, my work has been introducing companies to means for growth capital – a financial matchmaker, as it were. Raising capital can be an all-consuming effort for executives, especially when the primary need is to run the business; I drive the capital raise process in partnership with his or her executive team. On the investor side,
I liaise with family offices, institutions, and HNWI’s – providing them with vetted, high-quality deal flow into fast-growing private companies, typically before valuations get out of reach. I also advise these HNW groups with strategy, board selection, and the occasional mop and bucket.
I live in Alameda. Island life is good. Alameda is a great community – I volunteer as a high school golf coach, which has been an unexpected blast. I love teaching these kids new skills and the value of sportsmanship, on or off the course. I’ve never had so much fun!!
Always pie, never cake.
