Tom Cole, Chair

Co-Founder & CFO, Pantastic

“Having been involved with the Asian Pacific Fund for twenty years, I have had the opportunity to witness the invaluable work the organization does for the Asian and Pacific Islander community. I am so grateful for the existence of the Asian Pacific Fund, without which the API community would lack needed visibility and support for the important issues facing it, and I’m thrilled to be able to support it directly with my time and resources.”

Tom Cole is a Silicon Valley-based venture capital and angel investor, startup CEO, entrepreneur, board member, and advisor with a diverse and proven 25-year track record across the software, Internet, and e-commerce sectors. He is currently the Co-Founder & CFO at Pantastic.

He previously served as a Venture Partner at TransLink, advising on all aspects of fund strategy and operations, and he was a Managing Partner of Hone Capital, a Palo Alto based venture capital firm investing in early-stage technology and Internet companies. As a co-founder of the Hone Capital, he opened the Silicon Valley office and was involved in its investments in companies such as Stripe, Carbon Black (CBLK), Roofstock, Gusto, TransferWise, and Guardant Health (GH). Prior to that, Tom was the CEO of Beau-coup, the premier online retailer of party favors, gifts, supplies, and decorations. Tom led Beau-coup for over five years, during which time he grew the business and ultimately guided it through a successful merger exit. Previously, he was a General Partner at Trinity Ventures, a Silicon Valley venture capital firm where he spent over a decade investing in leading-edge technology and new media companies. Tom has served as a personal investor, advisor and/or equity holder in startups. Earlier in his career, he held numerous software design and development roles at both startups and larger companies including Oracle Corporation, Wells Fargo, and Approach Software.

Tom studied computer science in his undergraduate studies at Yale, and later earned an M.B.A. from the Stanford Graduate School of Business. He is a past board member and Chair of the Glow Foundation, and served on the Corporate Advisory Council of StarVista (Youth and Family Enrichment Services), and works with the admissions committees of Yale College and the Stanford GSB. Tom is known as a foodie, golf hack, and Bay Area sports fan.