The Sal Buccieri Venture Memorial Impact Award
The Sal Buccieri Memorial Venture Impact Award is awarded to an individual in the venture capital and entrepreneurial community who exemplifies the passion towards seeing early stage entrepreneurial opportunities succeed and flourish. This individual is one who has clearly impacted early stage technology and fast growth venture opportunities by providing the essential capital, extensive counseling and necessary vision to allow such companies to win in today’s competitive environment. The recipient of this Award is one who strives to create a better environment for all so that entrepreneurs achieve their dreams and attain success.
The Sal Buccieri Memorial Venture Impact Award is named in memory for Salvatore Buccieri. Sal passed away in December 2000 after a hard-fought battle with cancer at the age of 39. Sal was a partner at Arthur Andersen in the Growth Company Practice that he joined in 1984 after graduating from Drexel University. He worked extensively throughout his career assisting early stage companies with financial and business issues. Sal was closely involved with Early Stage East℠ and is missed by all.
2014 Award Winner
Richard W. Vague
Co-Founder and Managing Partner
Gabriel Investments
Join Early Stage East on October 2nd when Richard W. Vague will receive the prestigious Sal Buccieri Venture Memorial Impact Award for 2014. Richard will be recognized for his commitment to the Mid-Atlantic entrepreneurial and venture community. Richard is currently a Co-Founder and Managing Partner of Gabriel Investments, an early stage venture capital firm, and the Chairman of The Governor’s Woods Foundation. He recently authored The Next Economic Disaster , published by University of Pennsylvania Press, where he argues that it is the rapid expansion of private rather than public debt that constrains growth and sparks economic calamities like the financial crisis of 2008.
Richard’s entrepreneurial career is of note. Born in Texas, Vague received a B.S. in communications from the University of Texas at Austin. Richard went on to co-found and serve as CEO of two of the largest credit card companies in the world - First USA, which grew to be the largest Visa issuer in the industry and which was sold to Bank One in 1997 (which eventually became Chase Manhattan Bank), and Juniper Financial, the fastest growing credit card issuer of the past decade, which was sold to Barclays PLC in 2004.
Richard currently and has previously served on numerous boards of directors throughout the nation. He is committed to his local community and is President of Philadelphia Live Arts and Fringe Festival and serves on numerous not-for-profit boards including the Franklin Institute, the Museum of the American Revolution, the Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts, the Greater Philadelphia Tourism Marketing Corporation, the Arts and Business Council of Greater Philadelphia and Friends of Rittenhouse Square, among others. He serves on the Dean’s Advisory Council of NYU’s Tisch School of the Arts, and the U.S. State Department’s Advisory Committee on International Economic Policy. Vague is also editor of the blog and email newsletter service Delanceyplace.com and of the website Debt-economics.org.
