Our Team

We're former founders who are passionate about solving the wildfire crisis

 

Bill Clerico

Founder & Managing Partner

Splitting time between San Francisco and Mendocino County, Bill loves both the forests of Northern California and the energy and pace of Silicon Valley. He is passionate about the potential of startups to create new tools for firefighters, policy makers, utilities, insurance companies, landowners and other stakeholders in order to restore a healthy relationship with fire.

Prior to starting Convective Capital, Bill was co-founder & CEO of WePay, a fintech company which was acquired by J.P. Morgan Chase in 2017.

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Anukool Lakhina

Part-time Partner

In addition to Convective, Anukool is CEO of Burnbot, a firetech company using robotics and technology to scale fuel treatment. He is also the co-founder of Wonder Labs, a social enterprise catalyzing social and ecological innovations with communities on the front line of climate impacts.

Previously, Anukool was the CEO of Guavus for nine years, from its founding through its 2017 acquisition by the Thales Group, where he built big data analytics solutions in aerospace, defense, transportation, and digital security.

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Ilya Volodarsky

Part-time Partner

In addition to Convective, Ilya is the co-founder of Wildfires.org, a nonprofit working to mitigate catastrophic wildfires by measuring and scaling hazardous fuel treatments.

Previously, Ilya was the President of Segment, the world's leading customer data platform, from its founding through acquisition by Twilio in 2020. Ilya is also an active angel investor in climate tech, fire-tech, and functional healthcare companies.

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George Whitesides

Part-time Partner

In addition to Convective, George is the Chairman of the Space Advisory Board for Virgin Galactic. He is a mentor for the Isakowitz Fellowship Program and serves on a variety of philanthropic councils and boards, including Caltech's Space Innovation Council, Princeton's Advisory Council for Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering, and the Science Advisory Board for Caltech's Space Solar Power Initiative.

Previously, George was Virgin Galactic's first CEO. Under his leadership, the company flew the first human spaceflight from US soil since the retirement of the Space Shuttle, flew the first woman to space on a commercial space vehicle, and went public on the New York Stock Exchange. Prior to Galactic, George served as NASA Chief of Staff for NASA Administrator Charles Bolden after working on President Obama's transition team in 2008.

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Amy Brown

Director of Operations

Amy is thrilled to manage all things operations in support of Convective Capital's mission. Before joining the team, Amy spent a decade in nonprofit fundraising and development as well as executive recruiting.

In her free time, you'll find Amy on a travel adventure, cheering on her favorite sports teams (Go Seahawks!), or volunteering in the community.

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Jay Ribakove

Principal

Jay joined the Convective Capital team as a Principal in 2024. He’s focused on partnering with founders who are relentless about achieving their goals and protecting our environment from natural disasters.

Prior to Convective, Jay was an investor at Munich Re Ventures, backing companies reducing risk in climate and the built environment. He is also a girl dad, recovering software engineer, and aspiring ski instructor.

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Our Values

 

We invest in relationships

Venture capital is a relationship business measured in years (if not decades). We take the time to get to know our partners well - whether they are founders, LPs, or other members of our community.

We have deep respect

As former CEOs and operators, we understand and respect the challenges faced by entrepreneurs, as well as the firefighters, government officials, nonprofits, and other stakeholders who make up the fire ecosystem. We don't profess to have all the answers, but we're committed to trying to help.

We get our hands dirty (literally)

We make unusual efforts to get in the trenches and help. Field experience (getting hands-on with products and with fire) grounds our investing and support of entrepreneurs in reality. Applying our work to the real world matters to us - so does having fun.

Purpose drives excellence

Whether we're measuring returns or offering support to founders, we hold ourselves to unusually high standards. We're committed to timely, thoughtful, direct feedback and actively seek it out from others. It’s the right way to do business, and our mission deserves nothing less.

Faster is better

Our mission is time-critical. With the effects of climate change accelerating, swift action is the only option. Our founders and team relentlessly pursue innovative solutions.

 

Advisors

  • David Blankinship

    PRESIDENT - EMERGENT | SENIOR TECHNOLOGY ADVISOR - WESTERN FIRE CHIEFS

  • Shefali Juneja Lakhina, Ph.D.

    CO-FOUNDER - WONDER LABS

  • Zach Knight

    CEO - BLUE FOREST

  • John Clarke Mills

    CEO - WATCH DUTY

  • Dan Munsey

    FIRE CHIEF - SAN BERNARDINO COUNTY, CA

  • Andrew Salmon

    CO-FOUNDER, PRODUCT AND FORESTRY - WILDFIRES.ORG

  • Michael Wara

    DIRECTOR OF POLICY - SUSTAINABILITY ACCELERATOR, STANFORD DOERR SCHOOL OF SUSTAINABILITY

  • Matt Weiner

    CO-FOUNDER, CEO - US MEGAFIRE RESPONSE

  • Genny Biggs

    PROGRAM DIRECTOR, WILDFIRE RESILIENCE INITIATIVE AND SPECIAL PROJECTS - GORDON AND BETTY MOORE FOUNDATION