Leo J. Welder III
Leo Welder, co-founder and COO of Zilker
Ventures, LLC, graduated from the University
of Texas at Austin
with degrees in finance and Plan II in 2001 and has a Masters in Business
Administration from the Acton
School- an accelerated,
case-based program focused on entrepreneurism. Before founding Zilker
Ventures, Mr. Welder spent three years with LCG & Apogee Search, two
entities that provide online marketing services and consultations. During
his tenure, Mr. Welder helped the company grow from five to over forty
employees and in his roles as Sr. Account Executive and Director of Business
Development, was a major contributor to Apogee Search’s becoming one of the top
1000 fastest growing companies in the country. Over the course of his
career, Mr. Welder has founded or been one of the first five employees in four
startups.
Leo also is extremely involved in the Austin community through charity and civic
organizations. Currently, Mr. Welder is
on the Board of the Young Men’s Business League- Sunshine Camps as well as
Austin Travis County MHMR’s New Milestones’ Board. He is currently working with a team assembled
by the Hill Country Conservancy to build a new, young professionals group
dedicated to the preservation of open space in Travis and Hays counties.
W. Gaines Kilpatrick
Gaines,
co-founder and CEO of Zilker Ventures, LLC, has a background in commercial real
estate and tenant in common (TIC) syndication.
Prior to founding Zilker Ventures, LLC, Gaines and Leo initiated a lead
generation project focused on the 1031 exchange space but were forced to
abandon the project due to adverse changes in the market. However, exploring this opportunity created
the platform that eventually grew into Zilker Ventures, LLC. In his commercial real estate career, Gaines has
closed TIC sponsored transactions in eight different states and multiple
product types with an aggregate value in excess of $545 million. Prior to entering the TIC sponsorship
industry, Gaines was Director of Brokerage for MetroNational, a private real
estate development company with over $1 billion in assets.
Gaines
is a licensed real estate broker in Texas, Arizona, and Tennessee. In addition, through reciprocity, he is
licensed to practice real estate in 27 states and is a Certified Commercial Investment
Member (CCIM). Gaines has a BA from the University of Texas
at Austin and
holds a Business Foundations Certificate from the McCombs School of Business at
UT. Gaines holds the Texas state record for the Big Head Sea
Robin, weighing in at 1 pound 2.24 ounces.
