With two decades of experience as a technology executive, computer science researcher, and professor, Crystal Valentine ’04 lends her technical and operating expertise to the Cross Creek team. As a venture capital investor, Crystal supports technical diligence across all the firm’s investments. She loves the research investment process and is interested in data and technology-driven companies across multiple sectors.
Prior to joining Cross Creek, Crystal served as chief data strategy officer at Eventbrite (NYSE:EB) and vice president of Technology Strategy at MapR Technologies. Earlier in Crystal’s career, she earned a distinguished reputation in the field of computer science, serving as a tenure-track assistant professor of Computer Science at Amherst College. As a professor at Amherst, Crystal taught courses on big data, databases, and computational biology. She also authored several academic publications on algorithms and high-performance computing–as well as big data and computational biology.
Crystal was named 2020 Tech Executive Who Matters by HMG Strategy, Data Innovator of the Year in 2019 by the Women Tech Council, a Person to Watch in 2018 by Datanami, and winner of the Silver Stevie Award in 2017 for Female Executive of the Year in the computer software category. She studied computer science at Amherst College and earned her Master of Arts and PhD in Computer Science at Brown University. Crystal also holds a patent for Extreme Virtual Memory.
Crystal is an aviation enthusiast, having flown all over the United States and the Caribbean. On weekends, she enjoys golfing and skiing with her family and hiking with her dog in her beautiful hometown of Park City.
Q: How do you use your liberal arts education in the work you do today?
A: Being an investor is an interdisciplinary and collaborative endeavor. While I rely heavily on my technical background (having studied computer science), investing is really a combination of art and science. In my view, the building blocks for being a good investor include: natural curiosity, the ability to learn about new ideas quickly, and good communication skills.