Clay has spent the last eight years as a founding partner of Sycamore Partners, LLC, a company that focuses on providing fund-raising, Board of Directors, and consulting support to pre-seed and seed-stage companies. He has invested personally in 11 early-stage companies and another pre-seed stage investment fund, facilitated the raising of over $12 million of angel equity and debt financing and $1.5 million of bank financing.
Clay currently serves on the Boards of Directors of two start-up companies and the subsidiary of a NYSE-traded company. His 25 years of experience includes: President and COO of Bruning Paint Company (a $30 million producer of consumer coatings), Vice President of Corporate Development and CFO of Laurel Industries, Inc. (a $30 million producer of plastic additives), Director of Marketing for the Cleveland Twist Drill (a $120 million producer of cutting tools) division of Acme-Cleveland Corp., General Manager of the XMR Laser Systems, Inc. (a start-up producer of industrial laser systems) subsidiary of Acme- Cleveland Corp., Senior Associate for McKinsey & Co., and Commercial Lending Officer for the First National Bank of Boston. Clay holds a bachelor’s degree from Yale University and an MBA from Harvard Business School.