Adam Lilling

Founder + Managing Partner


Adam founded PLUS Capital in 2012 with the mission of partnering the world’s top influencers – those who can affect more change in a day than most can in a lifetime – with the best entrepreneurs and operators in the world. 

For over two decades, Adam has been an entrepreneur, investor, and digital media innovator – creating and investing in pioneering Internet companies. Adam is a graduate of the University of Michigan, where he earned a Bachelor's degree in Business Administration.

Adam started building companies in 1994 with Pentagon CDs & Tapes, one of the Internet’s first online music and video retailers, which he sold to Virgin Entertainment Group in 1999.  After 15 years operating his own companies, Adam co-founded LaunchpadLA in 2009. Originating as LA’s preeminent mentorship program in 2009, LauchpadLA created one of the nation’s first accelerators in 2011 and was ranked #5 on Forbes’ list of Top Startup Incubators and Accelerators in (2012). Adam was named in Forbes’ Top 12 Entrepreneurs Changing LA Forever (April 2012).

Amanda Groves

General Partner


Amanda is a General Partner at PLUS, leading the due diligence team and spending a majority of her time on structuring, sourcing, investor and client relations, and portfolio management. Amanda was named to the Forbes 30 under 30 list for venture capital in 2019.

Amanda joined PLUS from J.P. Morgan, where she worked most recently on the LA-based investment desk. Amanda completed her bachelor’s degree at UC Berkeley in the Haas Undergraduate Business program, where she was also a D1 athlete with the Bear’s women’s soccer team.

Outside of the office, she’s a member of national non-profit Jumpstart’s Southern California Advisory Board and serves as secretary and board member for the axeALS Foundation, a California-based nonprofit focused on encouraging research and raising funding and awareness for patient-centric treatment and cure of ALS.

Howard Morgan

Special Advisor


Howard guides the firm on structure, thesis, management, and growth. Howard has decades of experience working in venture capital and investment:  co-Founder and Special Advisor to First Round Capital; Chairman of B Capital Group; President of Arca Group inc; and Director of Idealab. He also has extreme aptitude in advisement and mentoring having served as Professor of Decision Sciences at The Wharton School, and Professor of Computer and Information Sciences at The Moore School at the University of Pennsylvania. Additionally, becoming a Visiting Professor at the California institute of Technology and the Harvard Business School.  

 
 
 

Ryan Morris

Partner


Ryan is a Partner at PLUS, leading the deal sourcing team and spending a majority of his time deal sourcing, investment structuring, and client and investor relations. He was previously an investor with Rocket Internet’s venture arm Global Founders Capital and Head of Growth at the Tribe App. Ryan’s investment portfolio includes BetterUp, Lyra Health, WorkRise, Weee!, Homebase, Shelf Engine, Wealthsimple, Unite Us, and others. Ryan was named to the Business Insider’s 2021 Rising Star VC list.

Ryan attended the University of Southern California where he earned a bachelor’s degree from the Marshall School of Business. He was a member of the USC Baseball team and founded a business called Salute The Brave out of the Grieff Entrepreneurship Program.

Lauren Miller

Principal


Lauren is a Principal at PLUS, focusing on deal sourcing, due diligence, investment structuring, and investor relations. Prior to joining PLUS, Lauren worked on the investment team at Enlightened Hospitality Investments, a growth equity fund co-founded and led by Danny Meyer and affiliated with Union Square Hospitality Group. She started her career at Centerview Partners in investment banking and later worked at Centerview's affiliated Consumer-focused private equity fund, Centerview Capital. 

Lauren graduated with Honors in American Studies from Yale College, where she was an All-American fencer and 2-year team Captain. 

Isabelle Sinclair

Principal


Isabelle is a Principal at PLUS, focusing on due diligence and deal execution. Prior to PLUS, Isabelle worked as an Analyst at Barclays in the Financial Sponsors and Consumer Retail groups in Los Angeles. While at Barclays, she worked on leveraged buyout transactions across a variety of industries.

Isabelle graduated magna cum laude from the University of Southern California with a Bachelor of Science in Accounting and Business Administration.

 
 
 

Michelle Dawson

Head of Business & Legal Affairs


Michelle is the Head of Business and Legal Affairs at PLUS. She focuses on deal structuring, execution, and investor relations. She was previously a corporate associate at Skadden Arps, where she focused on entertainment, mergers & acquisitions, and capital markets transactions. Prior to law school, Michelle was an analyst in investor relations and corporate finance analytics at JPMorgan Chase.

Michelle graduated from Columbia University with a B.A. in English and earned her J.D. at UCLA School of Law, where she was a Senior Editor of the UCLA Law Review.

 

Allie Toerge

Platform Associate


Allie is a Platform Associate at PLUS. She supports the Platform team operations, client and portfolio relationship management, marketing, and communications for the firm and its companies. 

Prior to joining PLUS, Allie worked in the non-profit sector at Children’s Institute, where she accelerated the organization’s fundraising initiatives through donor relationship management, event planning, and fundraising campaign development. Allie began her career in entertainment at the Kohner Agency, a boutique talent agency where she facilitated client project pitches and deal execution.

Allie graduated from Chapman University with a B.A. in Theatre Studies and Sociology. 

Jordan Weiss

Head of Platform


Jordan is the Head of Platform at PLUS. She oversees operations, marketing, and communications for the firm and its partners, expanding upon the suite of post-investment supports and services for the PLUS portfolio and celebrity collective. Before joining PLUS in 2018, Jordan worked at United Entertainment Group, managing multi-million-dollar marketing campaigns for a portfolio of Fortune 500 companies. She started her career at Creative Artist Agency in the tour marketing department. Jordan is on the Board of El Nido Family Centers, a social service non-profit agency that provides counseling and family support services to disadvantaged communities throughout Los Angeles.

Jordan graduated from Tulane University with a B.S. in Management from the A.B. Freeman School of Business.

Travis Pfeiffer

Head of Finance


Travis is the Head of Finance at PLUS. He oversees and manages the internal finance & accounting operations of the firm, including support at both the fund and celebrity collective levels. Prior to joining PLUS, Travis held several accounting and finance related roles within Entertainment, Media, and Technology – including those at United Talent Agency, Wasserman, AwesomenessTV & BL3NDlabs.

Travis graduated from Fresno State University with a Bachelor of Science in Business Administration, from The Craig School of Business.

 
 
 
 
 

Photography by Tyra Banks