Top 50 Emerging Leaders 2022 (in alphabetical order by CVC unit): Brian Anderson, principal and senior director, Nationwide Ventures
James Brian Anderson is a principal and senior director at Nationwide Ventures, the corporate venturing arm of US-based insurer Nationwide.
Erik Ross, managing partner of Nationwide Ventures, said: “Brian continues to impress with his depth of technical expertise, working across Nationwide, guiding founders, and mentoring and developing our new VC associates. He is sought out by our business leaders for views on all things venture capital. He continues to be a leader in the space and for our team.
“Anderson was one of the founding investment team members of Nationwide Ventures in 2015. He has been in the venture capital ecosystem since 2010, when he worked as an analyst at a seed fund in Indiana.”
Regarding the greatest successes achieved at his unit, Anderson said: “The team and culture we have built brick by brick over the years – we are a team of colleagues and compatriots versus a hierarchy of seniority. Quality thinking and contributions can and do come from everyone and that meritocracy is important when it can be difficult to identify good ideas that are actually bad ideas and bad ideas when they are unappreciated ones that need support.
“On the investment side, we have been lucky to back some great entrepreneurs over the years and I have been lucky to either run lead or been involved as a co-lead internally on the majority of the portfolio we have built to date including Next Insurance, BlueVine, Socotra, Matic, Flo, Betterview and EasyHealth.”
Commenting on what CVCs could do better to strengthen the industry, Anderson said: “Having CVC professionals moving between separate industry, CVCs could be helpful to promulgate best practices and success strategies across corporate organisations.”
