Brandon serves as a Research Lead for the Chief Innovation Office & a Venture Capital Investor at Samsung NEXT. Samsung NEXT is the software & service innovation center for Samsung Electronics.
Brandon Hoffman manages Innovation & Research at Samsung NEXT, where he drives thought leadership on behalf of the Chief Innovation Officer and delivers insights on disruptive trends relating to Industries, Consumers & Technologies, and Geographies.
As an Investor for Samsung NEXT Ventures, Brandon provides early-stage capital, expertise, and access to Samsung's distribution and scale to help accelerate and improve a startup’s success. He also co-founded and leads the Diverse Founders Initiative, which is focused on finding, investing, and elevating early-stage startups founded by diverse entrepreneurs (Black, Latinx, and Women).
Prior to his current role, he started in Strategy at Samsung NEXT, where he identified growth opportunities through collaboration with corporate development, venture capital, partnerships, and/or product development.
Before joining Samsung NEXT, he spent a few years at Morgan Stanley in Research, covering Internet & Consumer (e-commerce, online advertising, gaming), where he notably co-founded the Amazon Disruption Symposium global events series and worked on various high-profile, multi-billion dollar IPOs.
Brandon Hoffman has spent over 10 years in finance, mostly covering Consumer, Tech, and Media sectors. However, he started out as a teller before bulletproof glass at a local branch while in college, before making his way to Wall Street.
Additional experience includes being a music entrepreneur, when he built and operated a recording studio and production company. Brandon completed a dual-degree program at The Wharton School and Harvard Kennedy School, earning a MBA in Finance and a MPA in behavioral science and social impact. Brandon graduated cum laude with a B.A. in Business Administration and Music Arts from CSU Fullerton at age 20 after transferring from Cypress Community College.
Brandon is personally committed to addressing the racial wealth gap and youth unemployment in this country through business, technology, and entrepreneurship as ways to build financial empowerment and equity. His work in the community has been done through Management Leadership for Tomorrow (MLT), Echoing Green, Toigo Foundation, and the Sheila C. Johnson Fellowship at the Center for Public Leadership at Harvard. For fun, Brandon enjoys gaming with his son, traveling, writing music, eating BBQ, and Batman comics.
You can ask me about anything about my journey from business school to wall street so silicon valley, the consumer & internet market opportunities, and corporate innovation & investing. I'm also working on a Future Consumer theme at Samsung, and would love to talk more about my thesis which can be found here. Reach out and connect or any feedback is appreciated!
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Republic Venture Partner AMA (Ask Me Anything) is a weekly series. Feel free to ask questions in the discussion section below.* He will be answering questions Wednesday 9/30 through Friday 10/02 so submit your questions now!
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