Valerie Gaydos Biography | Johns Hopkins Alumni

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Valerie Gaydos

Valerie Gaydos is an angel investor and business development expert. She has been involved with many start-up companies as a founder, investor, advisor and coach particularly in the areas of operational development and strategic planning for more than 20 years. She is the founder and president of Capital Growth, Inc. (CGI) which was founded in 1994 as a venture capital data and information publishing company and was the first affordable searchable online databases of venture news and information. CGI continued to acquire, build then sell several small publishing entities over the years. CGI currently specializes in angel investing and business building. CGI actively invests in early stage companies in various industries and various stages of development and will assist all companies in their growth financing needs.

From 2004-2007 Valerie served as President of the Pennsylvania Angel Network. She also served as director of the Private Investors Forum(Philadelphia). Most recently, Valerie created the Angel Venture Forum which is an ad hoc group of active angel investors, leaders, entrepreneurs and start-up professionals in the Mid-Atlantic region who have a shared vision to encourage the growth of emerging business. Our mission is to support, encourage and assist companies to be ultimately most successful in the attraction of big capital and eventually positive exits.

Valerie serves as president of Fifty-First Associates, LLC, an association management and government relations firm in Pennsylvania. She is a member of the Lancaster Angel Network, is a founding director of the Center for New Technology Enterprise. She serves on the Policy Committee of the Angel Capital Association (ACA), is a board member of the Pennsylvania Business Council Political Action Committee (PEGPAC) and serves as Chairman & Treasurer PiPAC which is a Federal Political Action Committee established to preserve and encourage the stability and growth of American emerging businesses. Valerie previously served as an Analyst for the Pennsylvania State Senate and worked for Senate leadership. She also served as Staff Assistant for Pennsylvania U.S. Senator H. John Heinz, III.

Valerie earned a BA in Russian Language and Economics from Dickinson College in Carlisle, Pennsylvania. In her spare time she races sailboats on the Chesapeake Bay (and wherever else the opportunity presents itself).