A Chat with James Benedict: Entrepreneur; Venture Capitalist; Co-Founder, Left Tackle Capital & Partner, Kid & Company

This week, Stephen Ibaraki has an exclusive interview with James Benedict.

James Benedict brings 25+ years of experience in venture capital and private equity. He has been a family office investor, human capital partner, and entrepreneur. James is a Co-Founder of BeDoWin360 Capital, a platform investing in high performing, high potential venture fund managers who are difficult to find and to assess. He is also a Co-Founder of the BeDoWin Institute, a vibrant community that bridges mainstream wealth holders with skilled venture fund managers of diverse ethnic, gender, and geographic backgrounds.

James Co-Founded Left Tackle Capital, the first incubator for minority and female asset managers. At Left Tackle Capital, James partnered with Egon Zehnder International to develop a first-of-its-kind model which defines, quantifies, and benchmarks potential in asset managers. Over the past three years, James has interviewed over 400+ diverse asset managers in the U.S. and abroad.

Since 2005, James has been a partner with Kidd & Company (KCO), a family office investor focused on control private equity investments.

James is also a Senior Advisor to PEAL Capital Group, a London-based private equity firm.

Prior to joining KCO, James was Sr. Managing Director & Chief Talent Officer at Spencer Trask, a family office venture capital firm known for its investments in category-defining companies including Ciena, Myriad Genetics, Next Level Communications, and Prolor Biotech. While at Spencer Trask, James developed and implemented a talent assessment, selection, and development playbook, which was deployed across the Spencer Trask portfolio. James also served on Spencer Track company board and advisory boards, including Prescient Medical, Sessions.edu and Source Food Technologies.

James was a Co-Founder of RLM Associates (RLM) a boutique technology executive search firm. RLM did C-suite recruiting for leading financial services firms including ABS Ventures, American Express, Bankers Trust, Charles Schwab, JP Morgan, First Data Corporation, & PaineWebber. RLM Associates was acquired by Manpower/Diversified Search.

James has been a founding advisor to and board member of leading impact organizations including Maverick Collective, Young Audiences, Young Audiences Charter School New Orleans (the first arts-in-education charter school in America).

James has a Ph.D. in international economics from Columbia University, a Certificate on Monetary & Fiscal Policy from the Japanese Ministry of Finance, and a B.A. from Baylor University. He is the author of "Rocka My Soul", the story of the 1981 Houston Jack Yates Lions (George Floyd's alma mater), the first all African American football team to break through and play for the Texas state championship.