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Derrick Horner

advisor, board member, entrepreneur, investor

Derrick Horner is the founder and CEO of H1 Ventures, LLC, a firm he established in 2008 to provide seed funding and strategic advice to early-stage companies.43 He works internationally as a strategic advisor to startups, established companies, and turnarounds, focusing primarily on Internet companies across various devices, platforms, and channels.34

Horner has an impressive educational background, having graduated cum laude from Harvard Law School with a JD and magna cum laude from Harvard University with an AB in Economics.14 He also attended Don Bosco Preparatory High School from 1984 to 1988.4

Throughout his career, Horner has held several notable positions:

  1. CEO of H1 Ventures, LLC (2008-Present)4
  2. Co-Founder & Strategic Advisor at Good World Games (2013-Present)4
  3. Advisor at GearBrain2
  4. Board of Advisors member for BoxScore Brands, Inc. (joined in December 2017)1

Horner's expertise spans various areas, including AI, computer vision, data science, loyalty and retail marketing, advertising and marketing technology, mobile gaming, eSports, and OTT/SVOD/AVOD content and video/livestreaming technology.3 His professional experience also includes roles as General Counsel and corporate development and strategy at innovative public and private companies.3

With over 20 years of legal practice, Horner began his career at Simpson, Thatcher and Bartlett in New York and London.1 He has managed global legal and corporate development matters at public companies and led numerous M&A exits, including the nine-figure sale of Massive, Inc. to Microsoft.1

Highlights

Jun 24 · linkedin

Seems momentum is building for new notions of what can constitute a professional sports league . Given audience appetite for charismatic personalities and exciting stories among (paid) athletes with honed/elite skills, many emerging/experimental competitions and leagues can qualify as “pro sport”.

See generally: https://lnkd.in/e_RCx9uk, but also https://lnkd.in/eBVwz4Ci

Timing seems right for Track & Field (eg. The NTFL - https://lnkd.in/eVWSyAug , Grand Slam Track - https://lnkd.in/e4JnRFxS) given the upcoming Olympics, but some emerging sports made need audience cultivation and education (e.g. Teqball - https://lnkd.in/ew-2zJT5). Nevertheless, creation of new pro leagues in traditional and emerging categories of sports competition is accelerating globally (see: https://lnkd.in/eddQdfAh), and likely to put some pressure on the 153 Major League franchises (MLB, NHL, NFL, NBA & MLS) in North America.

No surprise innovative first-mover funding is flowing: See: TMRW Sports - https://lnkd.in/e6_wut5Z See: Winners Alliance - https://lnkd.in/eE-RUQ8H

Given the global appetite for sports media, the race likely will quicken to lure and fund sports celebrity founders, establish leagues, secure (global) broadcast/distribution deals and invest in innovation with data, advertising and streaming (maybe with fan interaction/participation) as sports team values continue to outpace market returns (see: https://lnkd.in/e6k9zUsd). Also seems obvious to build a broadly merchandisable and social media savvy brand to support league, team, player value along the way.

Curious to see which of the new pro sports league concepts is savviest in leveraging the latest innovations in Ai and VR for greatest value.

Seems momentum is building for new notions of what can constitute a professional sports league . Giv
May 29 · linkedin

Seems the “retail media” bug has hit financial institutions that realize they have audiences of shoppers in mobile (banking/payment) apps and tons of shopper data to target them with personalized or SKU-level offers

See: https://lnkd.in/e-aNniiy

The rise of “payment media” within the retail media network ecosystem seems to make a lot of sense given the consumer relationship, POS access and data. Banks can also steer the method of payment and reward consumers for transactions. Chase’s acquisition of Figg (see: https://lnkd.in/ev9kaD6s) may have validated the trend. Smart 3rd-party solutions such as Snipp Interactive (see: https://lnkd.in/ebZefXfm) could jumpstart payment media for other FIs (e.g. Bank of America).

As well, next-movers in payment media (e.g. PayPal) are already seeing that for retail media networks, when inventory sells out, ads can be sold offsite/non-endemically with the benefit of the shopper data they control. Building experienced ad ops teams likely may become a new priority in the space.

Overall, trends in the retail media network and services model seems set to expand to other areas, including groceries (e.g. UNFI - https://lnkd.in/eGk2hFsH) and video games (SCUTI - https://lnkd.in/eDvR-r67)

Related Questions

What are some of the notable companies Derrick Horner has advised at H1 Ventures?
How did Derrick Horner's career in law influence his role at H1 Ventures?
What are the main focus areas for H1 Ventures under Derrick Horner's leadership?
Can you provide examples of successful M&A exits managed by Derrick Horner?
What inspired Derrick Horner to transition from law to venture capital?
Derrick Horner
Derrick Horner, photo 1
Derrick Horner, photo 2
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Location

New York, New York, United States