Mel Gaceta’s experience shines through as head of US phone group US Cellular’s strategic partnerships and business development team.
Jennifer Perron-Micek, senior director of products and innovation at US Cellular, said: “Gaceta has been instrumental in helping build out our corporate venture practice.
“His command of the space on how to approach dealflow, evaluating partners and how to think about how a company fits into a broader ecosystem has been critical as we build our capabilities as an organisation. His 13-plus years in the corporate venture community at Motorola Ventures shines and has brought a level of confidence to our executive team as we drive our efforts forward.”
Likewise, Gaceta is a fan of the supporters he has found to help set up the unit: “As a recently minted practice, establishing it at US Cellular was one of the toughest things.
“I couldn’t have done it without the support of business unit senior leaders and a C-suite that saw the value in leveraging startups and building the relationships to access them.”
However, he recognised the challenges in setting up a unit. “The biggest challenge has been getting business unit support for potential opportunities. “Looking beyond the here and now and looking to the future is a mindset change that some embrace more than others.”
It is an experience he has already been through once. “Having been at a company with such diverse businesses, you learn quickly that to stay competitive in each, you have got to invest in your product. You also learn quickly that not everything can be funded internally, so you learn to leverage external partners.”
Gaceta joined US Cellular in December 2013. He had joined telecoms equipment company Motorola’s ventures unit at its inauguration in November 2000 as director of finance, managing all aspects of accounting and finance for its then $200m-plus strategic investment portfolio.
In late 2004, he then switched to become an investment manager at what became Motorola Solutions Venture Capital after the split of the parent. His deals at Motorola included Lumidigm, Siimpel, Invidi Technologies, AirClic, Zephyr Technology, MicroPower Tech and Canvas.
As a self-confessed “sports fanatic”, particularly of baseball’s Chicago Cubs and his daughter’s club volleyball team, Gaceta could be forgiven for looking at his own track record with some pride.