HARVARD BUSINESS SCHOOL ALUMNI ANGELS UK TEAM

BOARD

SIMON HARDY, Chair

Simon is an active angel investor across multiple sectors including healthcare and technology, and advises entrepreneurs with a specific focus on strategy, business development, board composition and governance. Simon has worked with HBS Alumni Angels since 2017, previously overseeing the portfolio performance and monitoring. In his role as Chair, he looks forward to working with both existing and future start-ups receiving investment from the HBS Alumni Angels UK as well as the wider angel and venture capital communities. 

Simon is private equity portfolio specialist and operating partner at SVPGlobal (Strategic Value Partners), a global alternative investment firm focused on deep value opportunities with c.$10B under management. Simon is responsible for identifying and delivering value creation within portfolio companies. 

Prior to SVP, Simon worked at Bain Capital and, previously, at Element Six (De Beers Group) where he held various global functional and line management positions across strategy, business development and product management in manufacturing and technology sectors. Simon started his career in strategy consulting at L.E.K. Consulting.

Simon is an HBS Alumni and also holds a MSci (First Class Honours) in Physics from Imperial College London.

Email: simon.hardy@hbsangelsuk.com

SIMON GREENMAN,  Past-President

Simon brings over 20 years of professional management growing online media, marketplace and technology companies. He was a co-founder of one of the early internet success stories - MapQuest.com. He currently runs his own AI advisory www.bestpractice.ai that helps corporates, startups and private equity accelerate their adoption of practical applied AI solutions. He was previously CEO of HomeAdvisor Europe (an IAC company) that operates leading online home services marketplaces.

Simon was also head of online for both European Directories and Dex One where he led the transformations from print to digital directory advertising businesses. He oversaw revenue growth of €100M to €300M at European Directories and was part of the Dex Media management team, backed by the Carlyle Group and Welsh Carson, that completed a successful IPO and was subsequently acquired by R.H. Donnelley for $10B. He started his career as a consultant with Accenture.

Simon is active in the UK entrepreneurial community. He is an advisor and formerly a venture partner with DN Capital a leading London – Palo Alto VC firm. He is an active angel investor.

Simon holds an MBA from Harvard Business School and a BA (Hons) in Computing and Artificial Intelligence from the University of Sussex. He is a fellow of the Royal Geographic Society.

Email: simon.greenman@hbsangelsuk.com

RITA LAHLOU, Chair, Sourcing

Rita Lahlou is an early-stage tech investor, operator and advisor.  She spent 10 years at Amazon leading businesses across product management, business development, planning, buying, and strategy on marketplace and retail in both the US and Europe.  Prior to Amazon, she was an Entrepreneur in Residence at Rocket Internet – a global incubator which invests in online business models in fast-growing markets.  She started her career as a Global Brand Manager at Reckitt Benckiser – a multinational consumer goods company.  

She serves on several non-profit boards and is involved in philanthropic endeavours that focus on improving the lives of women and children through technology and sustainable development.  Rita’s areas of interest include entrepreneurship, consumer tech, digital innovation, and education.  She is a dual Moroccan UK citizen and has lived in 7 countries to date. 

Rita earned her BA magna cum laude in international business and economics from Al Akhawayn University and Bocconi University.  She holds an MBA from Harvard Business School, where she was awarded the Fulbright Scholarship.

Email: rita.lahlou@hbsangelsuk.com 

CAROL HAGH, Screening Committee Co-Chair

Carol is actively involved in the fintech, insurtech and HRtech ecosystems as an angel investor; member of the judging panel at Fintech Circle; advisor to Antler, a global early-stage start-up generator; and mentor at Plug and Play, a global accelerator based in Silicon Valley.

She is the founder of Old Game New Rules and an expert on leadership, diversity and executive development -- topics about which she has published in the Harvard Business Review. She is an Ambassador for Women on Boards, a high-profile network of 30,000+ female leaders in the UK, promoting and developing female non-executive directors.

She was previously Head of UK Insurance at the executive search firm Spencer Stuart. Prior to this, she had a career in digital transformation and customer innovation in financial services. She has held executive roles with Aviva and Aegon, spanning digital, innovation, customer strategy and corporate strategy, across multiple geographies. She was in digital consulting with Sapient, working in a variety of industry sectors. She began her career as an actuarial trainee with Prudential Financial and Ernst & Young.

Carol received her MBA from INSEAD and graduated from Harvard with a BA in Computer Science.

Email: carol.hagh@hbsangelsuk.com

AASTHA GURBAX, Chair, Advisory Committee

Aastha is Senior Banker and Managing Director at J.P. Morgan Private Bank in London, responsible for leading Entrepreneurial Client Coverage at JP Morgan Private Bank. Aastha is responsible for client advisory, discretionary, credit relationships and is responsible for developing business principally in the Ultra High Net Worth International Market in the UK both for principals and family offices.

Aastha joined J.P. Morgan from Morgan Stanley where she worked as an Investment Advisor in the Wealth Management Group covering ultra high net worth families, family offices and charities managing both advisory and discretionary portfolios for clients across UK, Emerging Europe and Africa.

Prior to joining Morgan Stanley, Aastha was a Tax Consultant advising ultra high net worth families at PricewaterhouseCoopers and Deloitte and Touche in London. Prior to her career in Tax and Private Banking, Aastha held various roles in foreign exchange trading, specialised derivatives and strategic business development.

Aastha won the prestigious Rising Star Spears Wealth Management Award in 2016 and was featured in the Top 50 UK UHNW Wealth Advisors by Spears in 2016 and 2017.

Aastha holds a Masters in Business Administration from Harvard Business School and a Bachelor of Science with honours from Cass Business School, London. Aastha is also a professionally qualified tax consultant in the UK. Aastha was on the EMEA Advisory Council at JP Morgan and continues to serve on the board of Harvard Business School Angels and the Womanity Foundation in the UK.

Email: aastha.gurbax@hbsangelsuk.com

ETIENNE PICIOCCHI, Marketing Chair

Etienne is the founder of the TMT strategy boutique Lanai Consulting. Along with his MBA, CFA, MSc Eng qualifications, he has 18 years of experience in strategy and corporate finance consulting in the Telecom, Media and Technology sector (TMT), in both developed and emerging markets. Etienne is also an affiliate of Xona Partners and Hot Telecom, and started his career at PricewaterhouseCoopers.

Etienne has successfully delivered 75+ complex assignments, and helped corporations and private equity firms make difficult decisions related to investments, growth, regulation, and business transformation. This included strategic and industry reviews, target screening and valuations, commercial due diligence and acquisition planning and integration.

Etienne has a passion for TMT convergence, digital innovation, and technology startups. He evaluates and coaches startups operating in such areas as customer management, mobile commerce, workplace messaging, e-learning, healthcare, legtech, artificial intelligence, fintech, and online media platform.

Native French speaker, bilingual in English, and conversant in Spanish, Etienne has experience living and working with teams and clients in multicultural environments, including pan-Europe and parts of the United States, the Middle-East, Asia and Africa.

Email: etienne.piciocchi@hbsangelsuk.com

ADVISORY BOARD

Coming soon

SCREENING COMMITTEE

Coming soon