William Rosenzweig
William Rosenzweig is co-founder and Partner at Physic Ventures. He leads the firm's venture origination activities and supports portfolio companies in the areas of entrepreneurial leadership, business design, brand strategy and consumer marketing. Will currently works closely with GoodGuide, Pharmaca Integrative Pharmacy, EnergyHub, Revolution Foods, and Own.
Will has spent more than twenty years integrating the practices and perspectives of an entrepreneur, venture investor and educator.
As an entrepreneur, Will has been involved as a founder and executive of more than a dozen early-stage ventures. Will was founding CEO (and Minister of Progress) of The Republic of Tea, an award-winning specialty tea company that is credited with creating the premium tea category in the United States. He has played key leadership roles at Nakamichi, the TED Conference, Odwalla, Leapfrog Toys, Brand New Brands, Hambrecht Vineyards and Wineries, Kingdom of Herbs, and Winetasting.com.
In 2010, Will was honored with the Oslo Business for Peace Award, presented jointly by the Business for Peace Foundation and International Chamber of Commerce in Oslo, Norway. The award represents "the highest distinction given to a businessperson for outstanding accomplishments in the area of ethical business." Will was the only American selected among seven global honorees by a committee comprised of Nobel Laureates including Professor Muhammad Yunus, Professor Wangari Maathai and Professor Michael Spence.
From 1999-2008, Will served on the faculty of the Haas School of Business at University of California, Berkeley, where he taught the MBA courses in Social Entrepreneurship and Social Venture Development. He continues to serve as advisor to the Global Social Venture Competition and has been a visiting faculty member at London Business School. He has been a Price Kauffman fellow and has served as a mentor in the Kauffman Fellows program.
From 2000-2004, Will was also a team member for the Rockefeller Foundation's ProVenEx Fund, an investment vehicle seeking "double bottom line returns" in for-profit businesses. He was the co-project director and co-author of Rockefeller Foundation-sponsored research on Impact Assessment.
Will co-authored the bestselling book The Republic of Tea: How an Idea Becomes a Business (Doubleday 1992, 1994), which was recently named one of the 100 best business books of all time. He also serves on advisory boards for a Gates Foundation funded project for on-site sanitation, TransFair USA, and SustainAbility, a London-based think tank.
Speeches, Authored Articles:
Food: Business, Movement, or Both, 2011
Remarks Upon Accepting Business for Peace Award, 2010
San Francisco Chronicle Interview Upon Accepting Business for Peace Award, 2010
Vision for Venturing Ecosystem to Generate Global Health Innovation, Physic Ventures, 2008
7 Reasons Why Great LPs Invested in Our First‐time Venture Fund, 2008
Links:
personal website: www.ideagarden.com
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Republic of Tea book featured in:
