Teresa Dentino: Founder, Entrepreneur, Adviser, Coach
Valley to The Prairie
Teresa Dentino's current focus is building more technology innovation and economic development in the Midwest by bringing access to Silicon Valley expert advisory resources, corporate partners, angel investors, and venture capitalists. The results are that synergistic and exponential growth occurs while benefiting founders and helping to build flourishing innovation ecosystems in Midwestern communities aiming to re-purpose after rust-belt industry shifts to their economies. Meanwhile, Silicon Valley angels, V.C.'s and investors have more access to pipeline opportunities with potential for higher return on investment
Teresa Dentino's Earlier Work
Teresa first started handling financial transactions at the age of ten while growing up in her family’s grocery business. Entrepreneurism was baked in from early days. Later she studied financial analysis and economics through undergraduate and post-graduate studies, including the University of Illinois, Notre Dame University and Level I of the Chartered Financial Analyst program, among other advanced studies. She has been quoted in the Wall Street Journal, USA Today, Town & Country, along with San Francisco Bay Area television appearances.
Always driven to help solve social issues she created the first wealth management for women strategies, including educational programs, public lectures, and television and media appearances. Infused with behavioral economics principles, her work was the first of its kind and provided informed access to financial understanding to thousands of women nationwide. Her later work and research in Silicon Valley women’s leadership circles - and through her Women’s Financial Revolution Project initiative - brought to light the high correlation of professional women in finance roles having the highest probability to ascend to the C-Suite. This was paramount in shaping future curricula on women’s leadership training and coaching programs.
Successive ventures include an asset management firm she founded and raised capital for in San Francisco followed by The Financial 411, where she was responsible for over $800 MLN in financial transactions through family office financial oversight, forensic accounting and quantitative analysis. Her forensic accounting work put her at the heart of serving family office clients and working with among the leading family law attorneys in the country where she was repeatedly successful as a superior-court-approved expert witness. Structuring settlement proposals that maximized tax breaks and family office financial system efficiencies that reaped millions of dollars in savings, Teresa worked with CEO’s and startup founders alike.
Equally adept in governmental and not-for-profit sectors, Teresa's contributions in these volunteer and/or appointed roles include drafting protocols for the newly launched Collaborative Practice legal community; applying her technologist, marketing and SEO skills to the statewide Public Education Committee of bespoke; and leading as Board of Directors CFO during a 25 Million dollar capital campaign. Throughout her time as resident and liaison advisory to the town of Woodside, CA - a community known as home to tech luminaries and venture capitalists alike - Teresa provided invaluable research and insights into changes to the town's building codes, and improvements to procedural process.
A natural fit for the startup environment and possessing highly relevant experience that founders appreciate, she pivoted to apply her deep expertise to this sector. She has also judged startup competitions and was invited to mentor at GSVLabs global accelerator of Redwood City, CA.
Today Teresa works with early-stage and startup technology companies, sharing her direct knowledge of the unique challenges founders face. She also is among the first to envision connecting the Heartland with Silicon Valley through her direct and active experience in both locales. Having successfully founded three companies, working in both San Francisco and Silicon Valley over almost three decades - and wearing all the hats of business development, go-to-market strategies, and operations, she knows first-hand the challenges of launching a startup and the requirements for successful execution, raising capital and scaling through to sustainable growth.
Valley to The Prairie
Teresa Dentino's current focus is building more technology innovation and economic development in the Midwest by bringing access to Silicon Valley expert advisory resources, corporate partners, angel investors, and venture capitalists. The results are that synergistic and exponential growth occurs while benefiting founders and helping to build flourishing innovation ecosystems in Midwestern communities aiming to re-purpose after rust-belt industry shifts to their economies. Meanwhile, Silicon Valley angels, V.C.'s and investors have more access to pipeline opportunities with potential for higher return on investment
Teresa Dentino's Earlier Work
Teresa first started handling financial transactions at the age of ten while growing up in her family’s grocery business. Entrepreneurism was baked in from early days. Later she studied financial analysis and economics through undergraduate and post-graduate studies, including the University of Illinois, Notre Dame University and Level I of the Chartered Financial Analyst program, among other advanced studies. She has been quoted in the Wall Street Journal, USA Today, Town & Country, along with San Francisco Bay Area television appearances.
Always driven to help solve social issues she created the first wealth management for women strategies, including educational programs, public lectures, and television and media appearances. Infused with behavioral economics principles, her work was the first of its kind and provided informed access to financial understanding to thousands of women nationwide. Her later work and research in Silicon Valley women’s leadership circles - and through her Women’s Financial Revolution Project initiative - brought to light the high correlation of professional women in finance roles having the highest probability to ascend to the C-Suite. This was paramount in shaping future curricula on women’s leadership training and coaching programs.
Successive ventures include an asset management firm she founded and raised capital for in San Francisco followed by The Financial 411, where she was responsible for over $800 MLN in financial transactions through family office financial oversight, forensic accounting and quantitative analysis. Her forensic accounting work put her at the heart of serving family office clients and working with among the leading family law attorneys in the country where she was repeatedly successful as a superior-court-approved expert witness. Structuring settlement proposals that maximized tax breaks and family office financial system efficiencies that reaped millions of dollars in savings, Teresa worked with CEO’s and startup founders alike.
Equally adept in governmental and not-for-profit sectors, Teresa's contributions in these volunteer and/or appointed roles include drafting protocols for the newly launched Collaborative Practice legal community; applying her technologist, marketing and SEO skills to the statewide Public Education Committee of bespoke; and leading as Board of Directors CFO during a 25 Million dollar capital campaign. Throughout her time as resident and liaison advisory to the town of Woodside, CA - a community known as home to tech luminaries and venture capitalists alike - Teresa provided invaluable research and insights into changes to the town's building codes, and improvements to procedural process.
A natural fit for the startup environment and possessing highly relevant experience that founders appreciate, she pivoted to apply her deep expertise to this sector. She has also judged startup competitions and was invited to mentor at GSVLabs global accelerator of Redwood City, CA.
Today Teresa works with early-stage and startup technology companies, sharing her direct knowledge of the unique challenges founders face. She also is among the first to envision connecting the Heartland with Silicon Valley through her direct and active experience in both locales. Having successfully founded three companies, working in both San Francisco and Silicon Valley over almost three decades - and wearing all the hats of business development, go-to-market strategies, and operations, she knows first-hand the challenges of launching a startup and the requirements for successful execution, raising capital and scaling through to sustainable growth.