Our Team
On the frozen tundra, only the strongest survive. Team Tundra is a balanced team that has survived and thrived together through tough times and multiple ventures.
We've honed our talent-spotting superpower via countless interactions with the earliest of early founders. Our preseed pattern-matching skill set allows us to see beyond the traditional markers of success and identify the raw potential that lies within. All three Tundra GPs have built companies from the ground up; founders instantly grok that we've been there and we get it.
Team Tundra sources the most relentless, grittiest, and customer-focused talent. We sift and winnow until we find founders perfectly matched to solve for big, ugly pain points in unexplored markets. Then, we leverage our carefully-cultivated networks to connect these incredible founders into critical social, financial, and human capital systems required for explosive growth.
Our values include: Operational excellence, practical substance over performative peacocking, Midwestern work ethic, resilience, and self-awareness.
Amanda Heyman
GP, SILICON VALLEY
Attorney, 13+ years advising early-stage startups
Brought fantasy soccer startup from zero to Series A as co-founder
Created proprietary preseed fundraising & IP platform for six accelerator cohorts
United Nations legal expert for organic agriculture markets, Mauritius
University of Michigan Law School,
full scholarship; Super Lawyers
Rising Star
Digital media startup partnership manager (acquired by MTV); award-winning journalist
Adam Choe
GP, MINNEAPOLIS
Medtech expert turned investor; 5x patent holder
Managing Director gener8tor MN, led eight accelerator cohorts
Founding director gBETA Medtech powered by Boston Scientific & Mayo Clinic Ventures
Pediatric health technology startup founder & CEO
Neuromodulation Fellowship, University of Minnesota; Senior Innovation Fellowship, UMN Earl E. Bakken Medical Device Center
Nestlé HealthCare, Abbott (St. Jude Medical), Adjunct Prof University of St. Thomas
Danielle Steer
GP, MINNEAPOLIS
Founding Executive Director, Lunar Startups accelerator
Scaled MN's first inclusive accelerator to $MM in revenue, 77 companies
Data and evaluation specialist, MPA Middlebury Institute of International Studies
International entrepreneurship & frontier market scout from Peru to Minneapolis
SXSW main stage speaker; Global Accelerator Network (Morrow) Board of Advisors
Ecosystem builder & superconnector; Twin Cities Business 100 People To Know
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LOS ANGELES
Recovering attorney turned entrepreneur
Experience in retail, restaurants, wholesale, e-commerce and real estate
Support and mentor former employees in starting and growing their businesses
Not Your Typical VC Team
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Unconventional Perspective
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Better Pattern Matching
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Preseed Specialists
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Not Your Typical VC Team • Unconventional Perspective • Better Pattern Matching • Preseed Specialists •
“They don’t invest and disappear. Tundra shows up for SoleSafe whether we are in the room or not. I was very intentional about my cap table...for me, it was about who was willing to stay ‘ten toes down and get in the mud’ with me if needed. That is Tundra!”
PHIL TERRILL, CEO, SOLESAFE