Fund Leadership
BRIAN P. PHILLIPS
Founder and Managing Partner
Brian has a unique background and rare blend of skills ideally suited to lead The Pearl Fund. Over his 30-year career, he’s been an early-stage entrepreneur, global expert on economic development through entrepreneurship, advisor to Ivy League faculty on how to convert their inventions into viable businesses and intrapreneur in several global organizations.
Brian has been on the founding teams of a number of fast-growing startups. Two went public, two were acquired and one was sold via an MBO. As a founding CEO, he has raised over $33M in venture capital. Of course, not all his startups were successes. An important part of being an entrepreneur is navigating failure, knowing how to fail quickly and learning from your failures.
After a decade spent working with SME entrepreneurs in emerging countries, Brian learned firsthand the proven fact that the best way to improve an emerging economy is through entrepreneurship. He was a consultant for Endeavor Global, became the Global Head of Entrepreneurship at Technoserve and then worked for Goldman Sachs’ 10,000 Women, an initiative that supports fast-growing, female-led entrepreneurial ventures in Africa, India, China and Latin America.
Brian is an active member of the Academic Venture Exchange, a collaboration between experienced entrepreneurs and the technology transfer offices at Ivy League universities. Through this mechanism, he has worked with faculty inventors and entrepreneurs from Columbia, and Cornell Universities.
Brian holds a B.S. in Computer Science and a Master’s in Divinity.
EVE TETZLAFF
Venture Partner
Eve brings 30 years of experience in investment banking and venture capital, plus roles in strategy, marketing, business development, product development and retail innovation for companies ranging from startups to multibillion-dollar corporations. She has worked in industries including tech, healthcare/life sciences and consumer products and services, both in the U.S. and abroad. Her breadth of experience across industries and functions makes her a uniquely capable and well-rounded resource for the Pearl Fund’s portfolio of investment companies.
Eve began her career at McKinsey & Company in New York, then transferred to their Moscow office. She left McKinsey to join Russia’s largest Russian-owned investment bank (United Financial Group, later acquired by Deutsche Bank) and was on the founding team of one of Russia’s earliest venture capital funds, identifying opportunities, investing in Russia’s emerging consumer sector and serving on the management team for investment targets.
Eve has spent over a decade in startup companies, on management teams and in marketing, sales, business development and product development roles. She is also a seasoned leader of large companies, having held executive roles at the Estee Lauder Companies for nearly a decade. As Vice President, Transformation Initiatives, she worked with the company’s C-level and Executive Leadership Team to drive transformational change and build new capabilities in areas including retail innovation, marketing, R&D and global operations. As Vice President, Strategy and Commercial Operations at MAC Cosmetics, she drove strategy, rebranding and global retail innovation initiatives.
Eve has a B.A. cum laude in political science from Yale University
PAUL SAINT-PIERRE
COMPLIANCE OFFICER & REGISTERED INVESTMENT ADVISOR
Paul Saint-Pierre’s professional experience features consistent themes of alternative investment strategies, including: i) strategic advisory services, ii) investment management, operations, compliance, securities placement, and secondary-market transactions of alternative investment funds, and iii) active principal in the design, creation and investment management of institutional-quality, SEC-registered investment companies and business development companies and their subsequent launch through retail, registered investment advisor, and mass-affluent investor channels.
He has held senior executive positions that include: Chief Financial Officer of investment companies, business development companies and a division of a corporate homebuilder; registered representative of registered investment advisors that manage alternative investment strategies; investment banker for real estate-related businesses; US REIT sector investment analyst; registered principal of broker-dealer firm that facilitated secondary-market transactions of securities issued by private equity real estate funds; portfolio manager and research director of a global real estate securities investment program; and principal advisor to institutional investors regarding their real estate investment strategies.
Paul attended University of California, (Berkeley) Graduate School of Business where he earned a Masters degree in Business Administration.
ROBERT BELL WILKINS
ASSOCIATE
Robert is an angel investor and helps the Pearl fund with deal flow, due diligence, and investor introductions.
Robert received his BA from Stanford in 2022 and an MBA from NYU 2024
