Webinar
Masterclass Live! The Art of Evaluating a Deal
Join Mike Peri, Partner at Alumni Ventures’ Purple Arch Ventures, and Senior Principal Keaton Nankivil for a masterclass on how Purple Arch Ventures evaluates and invests in standout companies — featuring real examples from notable portfolio companies emerging from the Northwestern University ecosystem and beyond.
In this masterclass, Mike and Keaton will walk through the guiding principles the Purple Arch team uses when evaluating startups, allocating capital, and identifying exceptional opportunities connected to the Northwestern University ecosystem. The session will pull back the curtain on the actual diligence process — how the team analyzes companies across diverse sectors, what separates a strong opportunity from a pass, and how proven frameworks help cut through noise in a crowded venture landscape.
You’ll see real-world case studies from the Purple Arch portfolio that show these frameworks in action — how the team thought about market opportunity, founder quality, and timing on deals that ultimately made it into the fund. Mike and Keaton will share the questions they ask, the signals they weight most heavily, and the lessons learned from years of evaluating Northwestern-connected companies alongside leading venture firms.
Whether you’re new to venture investing or looking to sharpen your own diligence process, this session will offer practical insights and proven frameworks straight from the AV investing team. The session will conclude with a live Q&A where you’ll have the opportunity to ask questions and gain deeper insight into how Purple Arch Ventures identifies and backs leading companies connected to one of the country’s most influential alumni networks.
Want to access our Purple Arch Venture Syndicate startup deals to see, evaluate, and optionally invest? No cost, no commitment.
Why Attend?
- Home
Discover
How Purple Arch Ventures evaluates standout startups across sectors — and what the team looks for before writing a check. - Home
Understand
The diligence frameworks AV uses to separate exceptional investments from the rest, illustrated with real portfolio examples. - Home
Explore
How to access Northwestern-connected venture deals through Purple Arch Ventures — alongside fellow alums and leading co-investors.
Rated a Top 20 VC Firm by both TIME and CB Insights.
Alumni Ventures is America’s largest venture capital firm for individual investors.
About your presenters
Mike, an accomplished venture capitalist and operator with over a decade of industry experience, brings a wealth of expertise to Alumni Ventures. Before joining AV as a Partner, he held a Lead Director role at CVS Health Ventures, where he focused on investments in early and growth-stage digital health companies and played a key role in shaping the firm’s portfolio management strategy. Prior to this, Mike served as a Partner at Distributed Ventures, an early-stage fund with a strong thematic emphasis on digital health, insuretech, and fintech sectors. His journey in the industry began with leadership in product and analytics at Yaro Health, a venture-incubated company that achieved a successful acquisition. Throughout his career, Mike has assumed pivotal roles in strategy, early-stage startups, and data science, shaping his comprehensive understanding of the venture landscape. Mike holds a Masters of Science in Applied Data Science from the University of Chicago, along with graduate and undergraduate degrees from DePaul University and the University of Iowa, respectively.
Keaton has spent his career focused on high-level teamwork. A proud Wisconsin Basketball alumnus, he started his career playing professional basketball in Europe. He played for and led teams in competitions across Europe, including stops in Germany, Spain, Latvia and Italy. When he returned from overseas, his career focus shifted to the entrepreneurial ecosystem. He has worked with both institutional and corporate venture teams and completed and MBA with a focus on entrepreneurship. He holds a BS in kinesiology from UW-Madison and an MBA from the Nicholas Center for Corporate Finance and Investment Banking from the Wisconsin School of Business.