Scott Lenet
Partner
Biography
Scott is a Partner and supervises the Cerity Partners Ventures’ industrial manufacturing and food & agriculture sector practices.
Prior to joining Cerity Partners, Scott co-founded Touchdown Ventures, which pioneered “venture capital as a service” by partnering with leading corporations to manage their venture capital programs. This unique model supports corporate innovation efforts by focusing on strategic benefits and financial returns, enabling collaboration between corporates and start-ups.
Scott began his venture capital career in 1992 as the first associate at Geocapital Partners, a late stage venture capital firm focused on technology investments. In 2002, Scott co-founded DFJ Frontier, an early stage fund making west coast investments for the DFJ Network. Following his initial experience as a venture capitalist, he worked in product marketing for Trilogy Software in Austin, Texas, and was the co-founder & CEO of SmartFrog, the first cash-back rewards program for online shopping, which he sold to Cybergold.
Education
- MBA in entrepreneurial management from the Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania
- AB in Comparative Literature from Princeton University
Highlights
- Co-founded the Entrepreneurship Center at UC Davis, where he was an adjunct for seven years at the Graduate School of Management and served on the advisory board for the Dean of the College of Biological Sciences
- Has taught corporate innovation as a visiting professor at UCLA Anderson and venture capital as an adjunct professor at USC’s Marshall School
- Served on the board of directors of the Sacramento Philharmonic
- Served on the board of the Kenley Jansen Foundation, which provides entertainment and technology for children’s hospitals
Latest News & Insights
Corporations
Driving High Performance Corporate Venture Investment Committees
Over a decade ago, a friend of our firm became a founding partner of a small corporate venture capital fund (“CVC”) for a company with a well-known brand, and he would frequently complain about one of the most frustrating parts of his job: pitching investment opportunities to his startup investment committee (“the IC”). He described […]
Corporate Venture Capital
How Should Corporations Get Paid For Helping Startups?
One of the top myths in entrepreneurship is that startups and large corporations are enemies locked in an endless war. The conventional wisdom is that establishment entities prey on vulnerable entrepreneurs, or that ambitious upstarts disrupt obsolete dinosaurs. In reality, startups and corporations can work together to disrupt markets, introducing new products and services to […]
Corporate Venture Capital
Startups Should Not Wait to Hire CFOs
In our experience having funded more than 200 startups as of the second quarter of 2026, venture-backed businesses often treat the CFO hire as a late-stage milestone — something to tackle after finding product-market fit, upon raising growth stage equity as implied by a Series B or Series C Preferred financing, or once the team scales past a certain headcount.
Articles & Interviews
Insights from Scott Lenet and Kurt Miscinski Featured in Fortune: How CVCs Help Startups Scale
As the Fortune 500 comes out, Cerity Partners’ Scott Lenet weighs in on startups, giants, and CVCs “From fueling early…
Meet Our Corporate Venture Capital Colleagues
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Rajat Aiyer Rajat AiyerSenior Associate
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Muntathar Al-Shimary Muntathar Al-Shimary, Ph.D.Associate
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Marissa Baker Marissa BakerSenior Associate
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Greg Bergamesco Greg BergamescoPartner
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Julian Bergerson Julian BergersonAssociate
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Mike Buckley Mike BuckleyVenture Advisor
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Eric Budin Eric BudinPartner
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Bill Carson Bill CarsonPartner
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Orion Choy Orion ChoyPrincipal
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Felicia Colson-Wong Felicia Colson-WongPrincipal
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Taylor Crimmins Taylor CrimminsAssociate
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Chris Cronin Chris CroninSenior Principal
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Jon Cullom Jon CullomSenior Principal
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Rahul Daryanani Rahul DaryananiSenior Principal
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Anthony Doe Anthony DoeSenior Associate
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David Feldman David FeldmanSenior Associate
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Mel Gaceta Mel GacetaVenture Advisor
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Will Geiger Will GeigerPartner
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Rich Grant Rich GrantPartner
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Brandon Gunning Brandon GunningSenior Associate
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Sarah Heddins Sarah HeddinsSenior Associate
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David Horowitz David HorowitzPartner
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Dana Johnson Dana JohnsonSenior Associate
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Kevin Jones Kevin JonesSenior Principal
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Beth Kearns Beth KearnsPartner
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Brian Laegeler Brian LaegelerPartner
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Serena Lewis Serena LewisAssociate
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Harout Nazerian Harout NazerianPrincipal
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Aneri Patel Aneri PatelSenior Associate
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May Robison May RobisonSenior Associate
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Matthew Shackelford Matthew ShackelfordSenior Principal
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Sima Shah Sima ShahPrincipal
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Megan Szerlong Megan SzerlongPrincipal
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Colin Tasi Colin TasiSenior Principal
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Kindra Tatarsky Kindra TatarskyPartner
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Jack Taylor Jack TaylorPartner
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AJ Tomas AJ TomasPrincipal
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Melissa Tse Melissa TseSenior Principal
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Dr. Peter Ulrich Dr. Peter UlrichPartner
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Isaac Weiss Isaac WeissAssociate
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Kalefe Wright Kalefe WrightSenior Principal
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John Zimmerman John ZimmermanSenior Principal
