Chris Hollod

Hollod graduated summa cum laude and Phi Beta Kappa from Vanderbilt University with a degree in economics.[7] Hollod grew up in Atlanta and ultimately moved to Los Angeles in 2009 to work for investor Ronald Burkle.[8] Prior to joining A-Grade Investments, Hollod worked in Investment Banking and Private Equity.

Hollod worked with Ashton Kutcher, Guy Oseary, and Ronald Burkle as the managing partner of their venture capital fund, A-Grade Investments.[9] In 2012, A-Grade Investments raised money from David Geffen and Mark Cuban, among other investors. In March 2016, Forbes reported that A-Grade Investments turned $30m into $250m, representing almost an 8.5x investment multiple.[10]

Hollod also worked for The Yucaipa Companies for eight years and oversaw Ron Burkle's venture capital investments.[11] TechCrunch as "Burkle's right-hand man."[12] Hollod became Burkle's Traveling Chief of Staff, and the two traveled the world together for six years.[5] Hollod was first introduced to the world of venture capital by working on a deal with Puff Daddy and Mark Wahlberg, for their bottled water start-up, AQUAhydrate.[13]

Hollod is a founding partner of Inevitable Ventures with D.A. Wallach.[14] The firm works with startups in healthcare, biosciences, virtual reality, and other industries. The portfolio includes 8i, Memphis Meats, and Thrive Market.[13]

Hollod was named one of the 32 most influential investors of 2013 (outside Silicon Valley)[15] and received a Visionary Award in 2018.[13]

Hollod was a cryptocurrency trader. During a 2019 interview with Entrepreneur, he said that he originally purchased bitcoin in January 2013 for $15 a coin and eventually sold the majority of his position at the end of 2017 for $15,000 a coin, generating a 1,000x return. He said he then used the returns to day-trade other digital currencies.[16]

Fortune included Hollod in its "Meet the Uber Rich" article as an early investor in Uber[9] and the LA Times published a feature on him entitled "How I Made It: A Billionaire's Right-Hand Man."[17] He has been quoted in the Wall Street Journal,[14] Forbes,[18] Entrepreneur,[5] and LA Times as a venture capital expert,[19] and he has judged several start-up competitions including Global Startup Battle and Start-Up Weekend Los Angeles.[20] Hollod promotes brands and entrepreneurs on his Instagram page.[21] Hollod has written about using Instagram to source and diligence new investment opportunities.[22]

He is currently the founder and managing partner of Hollod Holdings, a venture capital entity that invests in consumer packaged goods in food, beverage, pet, cannabis, nutrition, alcohol, and self-care.[23] The firm invested in companies such as Recess, Dirty Lemon, JuneShine, Magic Spoon,[24] Pressed Juicery, Mud/Wtr, Elysium Health, Matchabar, Sweetgreen, and Blue Bottle Coffee.[25]

Hollod lives in Hollywood's Sunset Square neighborhood in an bungalow purchased from Glee star Lea Michele in 2015.[26] Hollod is writing a book entitled "Big Fish Big Pond," providing advice for millenials.[27] Hollod collects wine and judged the Millennial Wine Competition in 2020.[28]

• Inevitable Venture