John May

John May is the managing partner of New Vantage Group, a Vienna, VA firm that innovatively mobilizes private equity into early-stage companies and provides advisory services to both funds and private investors.  Mr. May’s experience in private equity capital over the last 20 years ranges from venture capital fund management to angel investing.John is chair-emeritus of the Angel Capital Association (formerly a program of the Ewing Marion Kauffman Foundation), and is a lead instructor for their “Power of Angel Investing” seminars.  He is the co-author of two books, Every Business Needs an Angel (Crown Business: 2001) and State of the Art: An Executive Briefing on Cutting-Edge Practices in American Angel Investing (Darden Publishing: 2003).  He is on the investment committee of Verde Ventures (Conservation International), and is a Batten Fellow at the University of Virginia’s Darden Business School.  John has lectured on angel investing in over 20 foreign countries.Mr. May has been at the forefront of the angel investor movement.  He co-founded The Dinner Club, an investment group of 60 regional angels who collectively invest in regional early-stage ventures.  A larger private investor pool, the eMedia Club with 75 members followed, and in 2000, the Washington Dinner Club with 75 members started.  In 2003, John created Active Angel Investors, a “pledge” fund.  New Vantage Group administers all of these groups and has three joint venture group affiliates as well.In 1991, he co-founded the Investors’ Circle, a national non-profit group of 125 family and institutional investors working to grow the social venture capital industry.  Additionally in 1996, he co-founded and became executive director of the Private Investors Network, an angel network sponsored by the Mid-Atlantic Venture Association, which he led until 2002. He holds a BA from Earlham College and an MPA from the Maxwell School at Syracuse University. He is married, has two adult children and resides in McLean, Virginia.