OUR STORY

OUR STORY.

We Kept Seeing the Same Problem.

So We Built the Answer.

Why Tala Exists.

Tala Ventures was built around a question we couldn’t stop asking: why do the founders with the most global ambition have the hardest time finding the people who can actually help them scale?

Early in our time at Thunderbird, two fellow alumni came to campus to talk about their startup. They were building out of Hong Kong, scaling globally, doing everything right. But when it came to raising capital and finding mentors through the network they’d graduated from—one of the most globally connected in the world—they’d had to figure it all out on their own.

That stayed with us.

We’d built careers across different worlds—technology, policy, media, global operations. And the pattern was consistent. Founders building across borders couldn’t reach the investors and operators who could help them scale. Experienced investors with global networks had no structured way to deploy them early. Talent on one side. Capital on the other. Nothing connecting them.

So we built Tala Ventures.

Not a fund. Not a platform. A network with purpose.

A network of investors and operators who invest together, share cross-border expertise, and back founders scaling between markets — with capital, and with the connections that make capital mean something.

Born from Thunderbird. Built for the world.

Mission

To back globally ambitious founders by pairing disciplined early-stage capital with curated cross-border networks of investors, operators, and executives who provide leverage beyond the check. Tala Ventures exists to transform global talent into global outcomes by mobilizing networks, mentorship, and capital in a structured, intentional way.

Vision

A world where access — not geography — determines who gets to build enduring companies.

What We Believe.

Access shouldn’t depend on geography.

The best founders aren’t all in one zip code. Neither are the best investors. Tala exists to close that gap.

Networks matter as much as capital.

A check without a network is just money. The right introduction, the right market insight – that’s what changes a company’s trajectory.

Judgment beats volume.

We don’t spray capital. We invest selectively, through SPVs, with full transparency – deal by deal, on purpose.

Small and intentional wins.

Tala is built for durability, not hype. A curated cohort of investors who show up, engage, and build relationships that compound over time.

The Team.

Tala was built by investors and operators who’ve spent their careers connecting people, capital, and ideas across borders. Alberto and Paul met at Thunderbird, where a shared belief in the power of global networks — and a shared frustration at how rarely those networks were mobilized with purpose — planted the seed for what would become Tala Ventures. They have been friends and collaborators ever since.

Alberto Villaluna

FOUNDER AND MANAGING PARTNER

Alberto has spent 25 years in Silicon Valley as a connector — building a network that spans founders, investors, operators, and executives across technology, venture capital, and media. He has raised over $90 million, helping organizations scale.

As an active angel investor focused on cross-border and emerging market founders, he saw a pattern he couldn’t unsee: founders from Budapest to Manila — brilliant, globally ambitious, doing everything right — getting overlooked. Not because they weren’t good enough, but because they weren’t in the right rooms. His own path — immigrant, multilingual, built across borders — taught him what that feels like. Tala is his answer to it.

Alberto is an alumnus of the Thunderbird School of Global Management at Arizona State University. And for his 15 minutes of fame, he was part of an Emmy award-winning team at ITVS. He lives in San Francisco, CA with his family — deeply engaged in the Silicon Valley technology ecosystem.

Paul Kushlan

CO-FOUNDER AND VENTURE PARTNER

Paul is a tech entrepreneur and operator with more than 20 years of experience building and scaling companies across borders. He founded DynaQuest Technologies, Utah’s leading IT services firm, and led its acquisition by Terralogic, where he managed global operations spanning the U.S., India, Vietnam, Australia, and Dubai.

Paul is an active early-stage angel investor with a focus on founders building across markets. His operating experience on multiple continents gives him a perspective that most investors simply don’t have — he knows what it actually takes to scale a company across cultures, regulatory environments, and time zones, not just in theory, but from the inside.

Paul is an alumnus of the Thunderbird School of Global Management at Arizona State University. He splits his time between Phoenix and Park City. When he’s not working, you’ll find him on the golf course, a pickleball court, or a mountain trail — usually with friends and family close by.