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Max leads Hangar’s design studio and partnerships, notably the rapid prototyping capability. A highly acclaimed teacher and practitioner in the field of digitally native human-centric design, Max was a long-time collaborator with Hangar’s principals before formally joining the firm. Prior to joining Hangar, Matt was the owner and principal of ExoSF, a product design company with emphasis in R&D, emerging and speculative technologies. Max is a graduate of the California College of the Arts.

Steve is a political leader and policy expert who served three terms as mayor of Columbia, SC, becoming the first African American mayor in the city’s history. A past president of the U.S. Conference of Mayors, Steve has spent most of his career as an expert on entrepreneurship and innovation policy as it pertains to cities. Prior to his service as mayor, Benjamin was the principal of the Benjamin Law Firm, LLC, where his practice emphasized governmental strategic planning, administrative and regulatory work, municipal finance and general business matters.

Karen serves as Hangar’s General Counsel and is an investment lead on crypto-specific efforts. Before joining Hangar, Karen was one of the first regulatory and compliance attorneys in Washington with crypto-specific experience including representing The Blockchain Association, Filecoin Foundation, and other market-shaping crypto projects. Karen previously served as a partner at the Gober Group, where she represented some of Washington’s most influential causes and organizations. Karen is a graduate of St. Mary’s College of Maryland and the Georgetown School of Law.

Mike leads Hangar’s Washington office. His background includes more than two decades working in the U.S. Congress, as well as deep experience throughout the corporate world. Since 2013, Mike Ference has been a partner at S-3 Group, a leading Washington D.C. public affairs and lobbying firm, bringing decades of Capitol Hill experience to his work helping clients navigate complex legislative, regulatory, and policy environments. At S-3, Ference guides startups, venture and private equity firms, established companies, and trade associations through campaigns that support their continued growth.

Adrian provides data science expertise across all portfolio companies, leveraging their expertise in machine learning, computer science, and statistics. Adrian has held roles across a variety of industries including financial research, computer vision, and healthcare. They have a BA in art history and MS in computer science, both from the University of Chicago.

Matt leads government partnership for Hangar. As a widely respected, bipartisan leader on technology policy and regulation, Matt has been at the center of the last decade’s most significant decisions and debates. Matt’s public service included a distinguished career advising the most senior officials on technology policy, regulation and innovation in both Congressional and Executive branches of government.

Gracia works as an associate at Hangar helping across all portfolio companies. Prior to Hangar, she completed two years of global investment strategy research at Bank of America and has worked in both the U.S. Congress and Maryland State Congress. Gracia holds a BA in Science, Technology, and Society from Stanford University and a MSPH in Health Policy from Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health.

Josh serves as Hangar’s managing partner. His career as a technology investor, entrepreneur, and strategist has extended from Washington to Silicon Valley to New York City. For nearly two decades, Josh has played a leading role in the emerging public tech sector as well as a prominent advocate founding and leading a range of organizations at the intersection of tech and government. Josh is a graduate of Harvard University.

A veteran Silicon Valley investor and Bay Area native, Ricky began his early product career at Google, followed by successful tenures at top-tier venture-backed startups. Ricky previously served as general manager at Hattery, a San Francisco-based technology startup incubator, events series, and design lab. Ricky attended UC Berkeley and New York University's Stern School of Business.

Julie Samuels is the founder and first executive director of Tech:NYC. Before that she was Executive Director at Engine, a nation-wide nonprofit focused on technology entrepreneurship and advocacy, where she remains a member of the Board. She is a frequent commentator on technology and policy issues for national media—particularly in the intellectual property space—and has filed briefs with the Supreme Court and testified before Congressional Committees.

Anshu serves as Hangar’s Chief Data Science Officer, where she leads a practice focused on advancing data science across the portfolio and helping portfolio companies recruit data science talent. A trailblazer in the field of data science, Anshu has had an exceptional career at a number of highly successful startups, including ZocDoc and Vettery (now Hired.com). Anshu has a BS and MEng from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology in Computer Science and a PhD from Columbia University in Computational Biology.

Erica leads business partnerships for Hangar. After coming up in tech focused on digital marketing, Erica joined Foursquare where she led strategic initiatives and managed the partnership with Hangar. After leaving Foursquare to work at Hawkfish, Erica joined Hangar, where she focuses on helping portfolio companies scale their partnerships and data assets. Erica is a graduate of Trinity College.