University of North Carolina Athletics
Former Tar Heel and NFL Standout Harris Barton to Speak at UNC Business School
March 29, 2001
Former Tar Heel and NFL standout Harris Barton is the featured speaker at tonight's Entrepreneurship Speaker Series at the UNC Business School.
The public is invited to attend the talk which begins at 6 p.m. If you are interested in attending, please RSVP to EshipRSVP@unc.edu
Harris will talk about his experiences in football and business, and share lessons learned along the way.
About Harris Barton
Harris Barton serves as General Partner of Champion Ventures, a venture capital investment opportunity for individuals involved in professional sports. Barton co-manages Champion Ventures with Ronnie Lott and Joe Montana. Barton, Lott and Montana, were teammates with the San Francisco 49ers. Barton, who played offensive tackle, won 3 Super Bowls with the 49ers.
arton was a first-team All-America at Carolina in 1986. He led an offensive line which helped the Tar Heels rank first in the Atlantic Coast Conference and sixth nationally in total offense. He was chosen for a post-graduate scholarship by the National Football Foundation and was a first-round selection in the NFL Draft.
Champion Ventures is a Fund of Funds, with investments in 10 leading venture capital funds. In 1999, Champion closed its first fund, Champion Ventures I, with $40 million raised from 99 investors. Many well-known athletes including prominent baseball, football, hockey and basketball players invested in the fund.
arton has been a technology investor for more than 10 years. His personal holdings include Cisco Systems, Intel, Microsoft and Sun Microsystems. He has also invested in venture-backed start-ups as a limited partner in funds organized by Sequoia Capital and Technology Crossover Ventures.
arton, Lott and Montana launched Champion Ventures to enable other current and former pro athletes to share in the opportunity to invest in technology start-ups. They envision using Champion Ventures as a vehicle for connecting pro athletes with venture capitalists and start-up companies to facilitate endorsements and speaking engagements, as well as post-career job opportunities.
arton is a 1987 graduate of the Kenan-Flagler Business School at the University of North Carolina, where he received a Bachelor's Degree in Finance.
Harris is serving as a distinguished judge for the National Finals of the 2001 Venture Capital Investment Competition.