About Us

Scott Friedman is the Chairman of Lippes Mathias Wexler Friedman LLP, a full service law firm, Co-Founder and Managing Director of Varia, a management consulting firm with a capital raising platform, and a General Partner in Impact Capital of New York, LLC, an Upstate New York venture capital fund.

The author of seven books and over 100 articles on business, he serves as an Entrepreneur in Residence at the University at Buffalo’s School of Management. Scott is also a frequent speaker at professional, university and corporate sponsored events across the United States on a variety of topics including entrepreneurship, innovation and family businesses.

Working with entrepreneurs, business leaders and investors across the United States, and as local counsel for companies with headquarters in China, Canada, and Europe, Scott provides guidance on a range of issues, including strategy, financing, and innovation. His work also includes providing counsel on strategic joint ventures and other forms of cooperative agreements and his experience includes negotiating joint ventures with strategic partners in China, Europe, Israel, and Canada.

Helping to pioneer the application of a variety of new strategies informed by melding traditional legal, economic and business principles with insights from science, including the fields of positive psychology, social neuroscience and behavioral economics, Friedman also assists with cultural transformations, effective governance, and dispute resolution and conflict management.

In addition to sitting on a number of private company boards, Friedman is an active volunteer in the WNY community, currently serving as a Member of the University at Buffalo Council, the Daemen College Board of Trustees, the Board of Directors of the WNY Law Enforcement Foundation and the Western New York Venture Association.

Andrea takes a holistic approach to advising clients by pairing her deep legal expertise with business acumen and investment experience.

This range is reflected in her roles as a Partner at Lippes Mathias Wexler Friedman LLP, a full-service law firm, where she Co-Leads its Startup and Venture Capital and Family Business Practice Teams, a Co-Founder and Managing Director of Varia, a management consulting firm and capital raising platform that, together with her law firm, provide businesses at all stages with the support, resources and capital they need to help successfully grow their companies, and General Counsel to Impact Capital, a venture capital fund focused on making investments in high-growth, revenue-positive companies primarily located in Upstate New York.

As a result, Andrea has extensive experience working with entrepreneurs, startups, later-stage companies, investors and funds across a variety of stages, sectors and geographies. Her practice experience includes advising clients on general corporate matters, capital raising and exit transactions; representing investors in equity and debt financings; representing sponsors in fund formations; and extensive M&A experience.

Her work with later-stage and family-owned businesses focuses on helping them develop and implement succession, governance, compensation and other plans, by applying strategies informed by social neuroscience and positive psychology.

She began her career in the New York City office of Mayer Brown LLP, a leading international law firm, where she worked on large-scale M&A transactions, private-equity financings and IPOs.

Andrea is extremely active in her community in numerous organizations that focus on entrepreneurship, democratizing access to capital, and women’s leadership. She is an Entrepreneur In Residence for Columbia Technology Ventures, the technology transfer office for Columbia University, a Mentor for Endeavor, an organization that is spearheading the global entrepreneurship movement, and an Executive in Residence at the University at Buffalo’s School of Management. Andrea is also Chair of the WNY Women’s Foundation, and a member of the Executive Committee of the Board of Directors of and General Counsel to Upstate Capital.

Andrea is a frequent speaker at professional, university and corporate-sponsored events, and has co-authored numerous articles on topics of interest to businesses. She is also the recipient of numerous awards, including 40 Under 40, Legal Elite, and Super Lawyers.

Andrea received her law degree from Georgetown University Law Center (Top Third of Class, Law Journal, Women’s Rights Clinic) and a B.A. from the University at Buffalo (Summa Cum Laude, Phi Beta Kappa, Full Academic Scholarship). A Fulbright Scholar (France), she also trained in Harvard Law School’s Negotiation Program.

Tom’s extensive professional experience covers both academia and the financial industry. After having received his PhD in financial mathematics from Boston University, Tom taught at both the graduate and undergraduate levels through academic appointments at the University of Michigan, Syracuse University, and Baruch College. To date, Tom has 6 peer-reviewed academic journal articles, spanning many areas of financial valuation and real estate finance. While in the financial industry, Tom has worked as a senior quantitative analyst and has extensive experience developing models to mitigate credit risk exposure and to assess profitable lending and equity investment opportunities.

Matt is a dynamic, innovative and results-driven senior business leader with experience in finance, strategic planning, marketing, management and operations. He has over fifteen years of success in building and leading teams of various sizes, including most recently as a Senior Vice President of Development at Delaware North, one of the largest privately-owned-and-operated hospitality and food service companies in the world. He is a strong communicator and presenter, adept at establishing rewarding relationships to benefit business growth. His entrepreneurial mind is effective at thinking big, identifying opportunities, developing focus, and providing tactical solutions. Prior to Delaware North, Matt held a senior executive position at Solidifi, First Niagara Bank and Goldman Sachs. Matt holds an M.B.A. from Cornell University.

Eliza concentrates her work as an attorney in representing private companies, venture capital firms and strategic investors. In working with business founders, she advises on choice of entity, debt and equity financing strategies and transactions, employment agreements (including incentive compensation arrangements), joint ventures and strategic alliances and related issues. She also handles company mergers, stock and asset acquisitions and divestitures. Eliza earned her B.A. at the University of Rochester and her J.D. at the University of Buffalo where she was Editor-in-Chief of the Buffalo Intellectual Property Law Journal.

Josh is an experienced leader who believes in a team-first approach to success. A two-time founder, active investor and mentor, he is an innovation evangelist focused on solving problems with technology. His extensive background includes leading revenue strategy in companies that span from digital infrastructure to SaaS and Fortune 500 to scaling start-ups. Josh has a particular interest in developing long-term strategies, building strong functioning teams, fundraising, and executing on plans to reach organizational objectives both short and long term. Josh is the co-founder of his second startup CloudInsyte, a B2B digital infrastructure and security marketplace, where he oversees the company's business development, corporate strategy, and investor relations. Josh received his B.A. in Business Administration and Management from the University of Massachusetts (Amherst).

Kate is a problem-solver, leader and entrepreneur with expertise in operations and technology. Kate is a co-founder of CloudInsyte, a B2B digital infrastructure and security marketplace, where she oversees the company's technical teams and product. After leading the product management and DevOps teams for over 6 years at CipherHealth, the country's premier patient engagement software company, she made it her mission to make the IT vendor procurement experience for businesses easier and more data-driven. Today, she enjoys helping clients of all types, in various industries, make better informed decisions on vendors in the spaces of data center, cloud, cybersecurity, software and network infrastructure. Kate received a B.S. from the University of Delaware.

Francesca is a seasoned marketer originally from Southern California. She has worked in the digital marketing field for close to a decade, creating and executing campaigns in paid search and paid social for a variety of brands, including IBM, Goldman Sachs, and Subway. She is also the co-chair of the NYU Western NY/Southern Ontario group. Francesca holds an M.A. in Communications Management and Technology from New York University, where she concentrated in Media Management and Emerging Technologies.

Jeanne is an experienced auditor, controller, CFO and CPA. She is also the CEO of airAccountant, which provides all levels of outsource accounting functions for emerging technology companies. Jeanne and her team provide accounting, bookkeeping and other financial services to companies of all sizes. Jeanne holds a B.A. in Accounting from the University of Maryland.

Mary is an accomplished business leader, investor, fiduciary, and strategic planning consultant. She invests in sports, technology and fashion, and focuses her strategic consulting on individuals, family businesses, closely-held companies and pro sports franchises.

In addition, Mary is a Director of the Hall of Fame Resort and Entertainment Company (HOFV), and a Life Trustee of the Ralph C. Wilson, Jr. Foundation—a $1.2 billion dollar private grantmaking foundation based in Western New York and Southeastern Michigan. Mary worked for the Buffalo Bills from 1997 to 2014, ultimately serving as Executive Vice President, and represented the team at the ownership level for twelve years while serving on the International Committee, Super Bowl Committee and the Board of the NFL Foundation. She was a Trustee of her uncle, Ralph C. Wilson Jr.’s, estate, along with three others, which included overseeing the sale of the Buffalo Bills NFL franchise to the Pegula family for $1.4 billion in the fall of 2014—the highest price ever paid for a NFL franchise at that time. She is a graduate of the McIntire School of Commerce at the University of Virginia and holds a M.B.A. from Walsh College.

Bob has been a student of Family Systems Theory since 1986. He holds a Doctorate of Ministry in Psychology and Clinical Studies from Andover Newton Theological School. After almost twenty years of providing counseling services exclusively for individuals, couples and families living with chronic and/or life-threatening diseases, Bob founded The Center for Family Systems Theory, Inc. in September of 2005. The Center’s mission is to advance the knowledge and application of systems theory by offering family business consulting; training programs; and individual, couple and family counseling. All services are provided in the Family System Theory model.

Jon is an owner and senior executive of Watts Architecture & Engineering, DPC, one of the largest minority-owned architecture and engineering firms in New York State. Prior to joining Watts, he spent over 15 years in global operations, project management, financial turnarounds, research and development, and risk assessment. In addition to being a seasoned and successful leader, he also brings technology, consulting and start-up experience to Varia. Jonathan is also currently developing a digital platform to foster better communication