Sam Gaynor

Critic
DISC Type : C

Board Member at Ascendex Underwriters

San Francisco, California, United States

Overview

Sam Gaynor is a Managing Director at Altamont Capital Partners, where he leads the firms Financial Services practice. He specializes in incubating and scaling new platforms, particularly in the insurance sector, and was named one of GrowthCaps Top 40 Under 40 Growth Investors. He earned a B. A. in Economics and Chinese from Washington University in St. Louis.

Outside of work, Sam is active in his community, serving on non-profit boards and having helped launch a business incubator for women in East Palo Alto. He lives in San Francisco with his wife, daughter, a dog, and a cat, and is involved with his local synagogue, Congregation Beth Sholom.

He has overseen the launch of eight new financial services companies over the last decade, building them from the ground up.

Personality Overview

ROI Driven

Information Seeker

Critic

They choose to analyze logically and value facts to emotions.  They are quite likely to negotiate on pricing or other key terms. They don’t appreciate bells and whistles unless backed by data.

Topics They Care About

Insurance Platform Incubation
He specializes in building and launching new insurance and financial services companies from scratch, having overseen the creation of eight such platforms in the last decade.
Financial Services Investing
As head of the financial services practice, he focuses on insurance, asset and wealth management, and specialty finance. He serves on the boards of numerous portfolio companies.
Community Empowerment
Passionate about non-profit work, he serves on community boards and helped spearhead a business incubator program for women through the organization Nuestra Casa.

Media Appearances

Sam has no verified media appearances

Work History

9-2025
Board Member at Ascendex Underwriters
3-2024
Member - Mosaic Chapter at YPO
11-2023
Board Member at Hadron Insurance
7-2023
Board Member at Augment Risk
7-2022
Board Member at Mulberri, Inc.

Education

2004 - 2008
BA from Washington University in St. Louis
1998 - 2004
Education details unavailable from Belmont Hill School

More Information

Social Presence :

Prographics :

Exp : 17 Location : San Francisco, California, United States Job Level : Mid-senior Designation : Board Member at Ascendex Underwriters
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Insights For Selling To Sam

During A Call Or A Meeting

DO's

  • If you can, show them industry reports or analyst comments instead of sharing anecdotal stories
  • Be ready to answer many clarity-seeking questions and requests for information
  • Leverage facts and figures wherever possible; use percentages, numbers etc.

DONT's

  • Don’t try too hard to build a relationship with them
  • Make extra effort to not seem pushy or confrontational
  • Don't give superficial answers, they are easily rattled by them

When Cold Calling

When Writing An Email

While Negotiating & Closing

    The secret to closing fast with Sam is

  • Proven ROI, pricing and objective proof points are the factors that sway their decision.
  • Will you ever get a clear answer from Sam

  • They are comfortable saying no if they are convinced that it is the correct decision.

Insights For Deal Planning

    How fast (or slow) will Sam move?

  • They are neither the fastest nor the slowest decision makers, they are somewhere in the middle.
  • Can Sam take some risk or not?

  • They can bear some risk if their analysis backs the decision.

You And Sam

Personality Compatibility


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