Our Team
We bring different perspectives to Venture Capital, but we’re united by a love for purposeful work, thoughtful founders, and real companies changing the human condition.
Laurence Hayward
Co-Founder & General Partner Co-Founder & General Partner of ATOMS, Laurence is also the Founder & CEO of VentureLab, a merchant bank that has completed over 50 private placements in early-stage technology. He is a part-time partner of Independence Equity, an early-stage clean tech venture fund, and is also a venture partner and advisor to Dipalo Ventures, an early stage hardtech and clean tech fund. Additionally, he was a co-founder and angel investor of Cornerstone Angels, and he was the president of vcapital.com, an acquired internet start-up that produced an early version of crowdfunding. He was also the global head of marketing at Arthur Andersen Enterprise Group and one of only five US personnel selected to represent the firm at the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland.
He has held multiple director and advisory board positions and has completed an accelerated five-year joint MBA/BS program at the University of Illinois at Urbana Champaign. Currently, he is also a registered representative holding Series 7 and 63 licenses.
Jay Yarlagadda
Co-Founder & General Partner of ATOMS, Jay also served as Medical Director and Chief Medical Officer at Prime Healthcare St. Mary’s Hospital and holds clinical faculty appointments at OSF Healthcare and the University of Chicago Medicine. He is a three-time entrepreneur with one successful exit. He was previously an investor for three funds: OCA Ventures, EE Health VC, and Independence Equity and co-founder of Physician Investor Alliance, a physician-led angel group. His earlier roles also include serving as a biopharma researcher at Walter Reed under the Department of Defense Leadership Program with more than a dozen publications, a Board of Trustee and regulator for the Pennsylvania Medical Society, a clinical operational leader at Kaiser Permanente, and a health legislator for Senator Dianne Feinstein in California.
He completed a six-year accelerated BS (magna cum laude)/MD program through Penn State and Jefferson Medical College, followed by an Internal Medicine residency at Henry Ford Hospital, and later earned a full-time MBA from the University of Chicago Booth School of Business.
Co-Founder & General Partner 
Senior Advisor & Limited PartnerJohn Major
Limited Partner of ATOMS, John also serves as chairman of Broadcom, and he previously held the role of President of Qualcomm Wireless. He was also the CEO of Novatel, which he led through its IPO.
He holds a BS in Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering from the University of Rochester, an MS in Mechanical Engineering from the University of Illinois, an MBA from Northwestern University, and a JD from Loyola University.
Marshall Phelps
Senior Advisor & Limited PartnerLimited Partner of ATOMS, Marshall previously served as Head of Intellectual Property at both IBM and Microsoft, and he is a co-founder of Intellectual Ventures. He has also been inducted into the Intellectual Property Hall of Fame.
He holds a JD from Cornell University and an MS from the Stanford Graduate School of Business.
Senior Advisor & Limited PartnerHoward Fullman
Limited Partner of ATOMS, Howard also served as a partner with Atlantic Street Capital, and he previously served as the Chief Medical Officer for Kaiser Permanente in Southern California. Earlier in his career, he was a Chief Internal Medicine Resident at UCSF.
He earned his MD from the UCLA School of Medicine and holds a BS with high honors from Northwestern University.
Robert Mayo
Senior Advisor & Limited PartnerLimited Partner of ATOMS, Robert also serves as the co-founder and CEO of Cancer Treatment Centers of America. He is a co-founder of Mayo Consulting Group as well as Pinegrove Investments. He serves on the founding board of Gateway for Cancer Research, and he is the Vice Chairman of Prevent Child Abuse America.
He served in the U.S. Navy as a Senior Chief Petty Officer and was awarded the Navy Commendation Medal.
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