MANAGING TEAM

New York Angels is often recognized by entrepreneurs and investors for being a well-run angel investment group. A tremendous amount of work is put in by our exceptional Managing Team to support the organization. We could not invest like we do without our team.

MANAGING TEAM

Peter Bodenheimer

Executive Director

  • Peter Bodenheimer brings more than two decades of experience building, investing in, and advising startups. His career spans roles as a product leader, founder, angel investor, and venture capitalist. Most recently, Peter served as U.S. Venture Partner for the European foodtech venture capital firm PeakBridge. He previously served as a Partner at SOSV, where he led the Food-X Accelerator and invested in more than 60 early-stage companies, including Halla and RxDiet. Peter is also the Co-Founder of Flatstack and BarNotes, an angel investor in companies including The 86 Co. and InKind, and helped launch Launch Pad Ignition, the Southeast’s first accelerator program in New Orleans following Hurricane Katrina.

NYA BOARD

Robert Peck

  • Robert Peck, CFA, joined New York Angels in 2024. He brings more than 30 years of Wall Street experience in technology investment banking and technology research for large banks, such as: Barclays, Merrill Lynch, Credit Suisse, Bear Stearns, Truist, and Wells Fargo. Bob earned an MBA from Columbia University and obtained his Chartered Financial Analyst (CFA) designation. He is also on the board of the American Museum of Natural History.

Cindy Cook

Board Chair

  • Cindy Cook joined New York Angels in 2019 and currently serves as Board Chair. Under her leadership, NYA has strengthened its position as a leading angel investment group by expanding its visibility, growing its membership, and attracting a strong pipeline of high-quality investment opportunities. Prior to NYA, Cindy spent 30+ years in senior operating roles across industry leading firms in entertainment, healthcare, education and consumer package goods, where she led digital transformation and new product initiatives. Cindy earned an MBA from NYU Stern School of Business and a Bachelor of Science from Lehigh University.

Ed Levine

  • Ed Levine joined New York Angels in 2015 and has led the organization's longstanding relationship with TandemLaunch, helping strengthen one of NYA's key innovation partnerships. He brings nearly 30 years of experience as the owner and operator of a food processing manufacturing company, which he successfully grew and ultimately sold to a strategic buyer. Ed earned an MBA from the University of Chicago and a BA from Carnegie Mellon University.

Stephen Snyder

  • Stephen Snyder joined New York Angels in 2013 and serves as NYA's Treasurer. He is an active leader in the New York, Boston, and Philadelphia early-stage investing communities and serves as Executive in Residence at Princeton University, where he helps commercialize groundbreaking university research. Steve brings more than 35 years of international consulting experience, advising advanced technology companies on launching new products, services, and capabilities. He holds both bachelor's and master's degrees in Civil Engineering from Penn State University, with concentrations in Nuclear Construction Management and Solar Engineering.

Brian Cohen

  • Brian Cohen founded New York Venture Partners to support the startup ecosystem he has helped build for over 45 years.  As a pioneering angel investor, entrepreneur, and mentor, Brian served as Chairman of the New York Angels for nearly a decade. Notably, Brian was the first investor in Pinterest and has backed numerous other industry-leading startups. Brian is the author of What Every Angel Investor Wants You To Know: An Insider Reveals How To Get Smart Funding For Your Billion Dollar Idea, published by McGraw Hill.

    Brian is recognized as one of the fathers of science and technology strategic communications having co-founded Technology Solutions, Inc. (TSI) with his wife in 1983.  He successfully grew the company before its acquisition by The McCann Erickson World Group in 1997.

    Brian received dual honors B.S. degrees in Biology and Speech Communications from Syracuse University and a master’s degree in Science Communications from Boston University's School of Public Communications.

Jon Zaikowski

Assistant Director

  • Jon Zaikowski joined the New York Angels as Assistant Director in 2021. Jon first came to New York as a graduate student at Columbia University in 2017. While in school he got his introduction to entrepreneurship by co-founding a biotechnology startup, CapCell Biologics. He subsequently worked for the Bucks Built Startup Fund as a Program Associate and happily continues to help early-stage companies however he can. Jon also has a background in marketing, public speaking, and philosophy.

Michael Costa

CHAIR EMERITI

David S. Rose

  • David S. Rose is the Founder and Chairman Emeritus of New York Angels. An Inc. 500 CEO, serial entrepreneur, super angel investor, and best-selling author, David has founded or funded more than 100 pioneering companies. Widely recognized as a leading voice in entrepreneurship and early-stage investing, he has been described by Forbes as “New York’s Archangel,” by BusinessWeek as a “world-conquering entrepreneur,” by Crain’s New York Business as “the father of angel investing in New York,” and by Red Herring as the “patriarch of Silicon Valley.”

    David is the New York Times best-selling author of Angel Investing: The Gust Guide to Making Money & Having Fun Investing in Startups and The Startup Checklist: 25 Steps to a Scalable, High-Growth Business.

    David holds a BA in Urban Affairs from Yale University, an MBA in Finance from Columbia Business School, and an honorary Doctor of Engineering from Stevens Institute of Technology.

  • Michael Costa joined New York Angels in 2018 and helps drive NYA's Member Engagement and Membership efforts.  He is also an administrator of NYA Fund 2024, a $2.8M fund invested in by NYA members.  It invests only in NYA deals that attract a specific number/amount of NYA member investments and provides members an effective means to diversify their start up investments.  With more than 25 years of experience in mergers and acquisitions, corporate strategy, and investment banking, Michael has been a trusted advisor to entrepreneurs and an active leader in the New York City startup ecosystem. He earned a J.D. from Harvard Law School and an A.B. from Colgate University.

Doug Pearson

  • Doug Pearson joined New York Angels in 2019 and has been a driving force in strengthening collaboration across the angel investing ecosystem. He has helped bring together angel groups nationwide to expand access to high-quality investment opportunities that might otherwise skip the angel stage. Prior to NYA, Doug spent many years at Procter & Gamble before building and scaling a consumer packaged goods company, achieving distribution across all major U.S. grocery, club, and mass merchants. Doug earned an MBA from Harvard Business School.

Etienne Fretault

  • Etienne Fretault joined New York Angels in 2020 and has invested over 120 early-stage companies in the United States and Europe. He serves as a Board member and advisor in several companies and mentors startup founders in various accelerators. Before becoming an active early-stage investor, Etienne founded EQUATOR (currently operating as the SSM Group), a global sports business firm covering international sport events. He led the company’s international expansion, went through 3 rounds with P.E. funds and a successful exit in 2018. Etienne studied in International Business and Marketing at Concordia University in Canada and earned a Master’s degree from ESSCA School of Management in France.

Seth Masters

  • Seth Masters joined New York Angels in 2017 and serves as Vice Chair of the organization. He brings decades of investment leadership experience, including serving as Chief Investment Officer and building large asset management businesses that served high-net-worth individuals, retail investors, and institutional clients. Seth earned his bachelor's degree from Princeton University and a master's degree in economics from Oxford University.

Alexandra Jenkins

  • Since joining New York Angels in 2021, Alexandra Jenkins has been committed to investing in and mentoring the next generation of high-growth companies. Before joining NYA, she built her career at leading hedge funds, evaluating investment opportunities across both public and private markets in a broad range of industries. Alexandra earned her degree in Biochemistry from Harvard University.

Barbara Moore

  • Barbara Moore joined New York Angels in 2014 and has been an active investor in early-stage and middle-market companies, as well as a board member, advisor, and mentor to founders through New York City accelerators in diverse verticals. Prior to NYA, Barbara was a consultant at Bain & Company in London before spending several decades on Wall Street as an investment banker with Goldman Sachs & Co., Credit Suisse First Boston, and SEI Investments. She holds an A.B. from Princeton University and an MBA from Harvard University.

Mark Schneider

  • Mark H. Schneider has been an angel investor since 1999 and served as the third Chairman of New York Angels for over five years. Before becoming a full-time investor, Mark was a successful entrepreneur and technology executive. As Founder and CEO of a group of B2B software companies (The Opus-Core Corporation, Opus-ISM LLC and Opus Health LLC), Mark grew the business to about 100 employees. Through a series of acquisitions and mergers, he successfully led the companies to two liquidity events, with one division sold to a public company and another division to a private equity firm.

    Mark holds an MBA from the MIT Sloan School of Management, a Master of Science in Engineering from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, and a Bachelor of Science in Mechanical Engineering from Tufts University.