Derek Norton

Derek Norton is the Managing General Partner at Watertower Ventures. Derek Norton is a serial entrepreneur and venture capitalist, having spent his entire career building businesses and investing in groundbreaking technology companies. Derek is the founder and Managing General Partner of Watertower Ventures, a seed stage venture capital fund investing in visionary founders transforming large markets across industries that are being reimagined by AI Optimization and Proprietary Data. Areas of expertise include Capital Markets infrastructure, the Evolution of Media Tech and Proprietary IP, Embedded AI and the Future of Commerce. With a portfolio of over 50 companies, the firm makes 10-12 new pre-seed and seed stage investments per year, playing an active role in supporting the founders and companies they invest in to grow their businesses and realize their vision. Previous to Watertower Ventures, Derek founded Watertower Advisors, an industry-leading boutique investment bank advising some of the most innovative technology, internet, and digital media companies. In his role there, Derek advised over 250 companies, including Widevine, ExtendMedia, Envivio, Riot Games, and Machinima, where he created a differentiated approach to capital formation, fundraising, and M&A. Prior to Watertower Advisors, Derek founded and built three successful companies, including Entertainment Media Ventures, Jeffries Technologies, and Digital Boardwalk. Entertainment Media Ventures was a $120 million seed and early stage venture capital fund; Jeffries Technologies a technology systems integrator that became one of Inc. Magazine’s 500 fastest-growing privately held U.S. companies; and Digital Boardwalk was Netscape’s second commercial application partner and one of the first web service providers. Derek holds a BA in Communications from the University of Southern California. He is a frequent speaker and panelist on the subject of venture capital investing specifically in the areas of transformative technologies, the future of commerce, evolution of media, and consumer tech. He is a member of the Advisory Council of the Lloyd Greif Center for Entrepreneurial Studies at USC’s Marshall School of Business. Derek and his wife support numerous charities focused on improving the lives and education of under-privileged youths, is a former member of the board of directors of The Fulfillment Fund, and previously served as Vice President of the Los Angeles Museum of Contemporary Art, Contemporaries.