Private equity law expert Joe Tillman has a passion for creating opportunities for others.
It is what has carried the California native’s career more than a decade and even led to him walking away from a stable career as a lawyer.
Tillman’s initial exposure into law was not engraved in his upbringing. He admits to growing up in humble beginnings in Perris, CA, and not having access to people who worked in law or other professional spaces. It was not until his final year at California State University San Bernardino, where he would obtain a bachelor’s degree in finance, that his professor introduced to him the idea of pursuing law.
“At this time, I did not have the $1,500 that it took to take an LSAT prep course. And he basically got the College of Finance to write me an impromptu scholarship so they could pay to get my LSAT prep course paid for,” Tillman told AFROTECH™ in an interview. “So, he was one of the few people that was willing to put his money where his mouth is. I took the LSAT prep course after I graduated from college. I studied for the LSAT. I took it, I did well, I shotgunned my application all over the country, ended up getting into NYU for law school.”
Private Equity & VC Lawyer
This would serve as the stepping stone for Tillman’s four years post grad as a private equity and venture capital lawyer at Gibson, Dunn & Crutcher LLP. Working alongside bright colleagues, he was involved with what he describes as high impact deals and transactions.
“In the core of my function as a lawyer, people were paying me for my specialized expertise, my ability to get very, very deep into the weeds on a situation and analyze pros, cons, puts, takes, etc., and help navigate people through complex situations as it pertains to legal documents,” he explained. While his daily job responsibilities met the benchmarks as far as intellectual stimulation, he says there was a void for him in his title. He desired to be further connected with people and was looking to become a conduit to create more impact for others.
Helming The Raine Group As VP
Tillman would make his exit from the law firm in 2016 and was considering his next move in the midst of being burnt out. He then received a call from a recruiter of private investment company The Raine Group, as they were seeking a hire for its legal team. As he learned more about the global merchant bank, his excitement grew. After completing an interview with the company, he signed on as associate general council in November 2016.
Under the role, he still had desires that were not confined to the legal realm. He even considered politics and being a co-founder of a tech company. After a year flew by, Tillman recalls being “miserable,” which prompted an honest conversation with the company that led to his current post as The Raine Group vice president.
“Fortunately for me, three of the five co-founding partners of Raine are all former lawyers. So when I told them, they understood exactly what I was going through. So that conversation actually started a series of conversations that led to me transitioning over to the business side internally… Now, eight years later it was the best thing that ever happened to my life,” Tillman expressed.
A leader at The Raine Group, Tillman is now involved in its various investment pillars which includes growth, venture, and video game funds. Some of their investments have included SoundCloud, Imagine Entertainment, and DraftKings. His direct contributions to the company centers advising businesses on what types of capital should be raised and how it should be structured, he stated.
“I’ve helped raise over $3 billion for Epic Games over the course of the years. I’ve helped small technology businesses raise as low as $30 million on the low end. I’ve helped companies raise large debt, credit facilities. I’ve helped raise every type of capital from a who’s who of investors,” Tillman noted.
Catering to Tillman’s personal interests in relationship building, the job also permits him to meet and connect with investors across various facets, such as high net worth individuals, private equity firms, and hedge funds, among others.
He added, “I spend time with those investors, I get to know them personally, I get to know them institutionally, so that when it’s time to advise one of my clients on not only what is the right type of the capital, but from whom are the right people that they should go out and get their capital from. I can step in and be a meaningful partner to them in that regard.”
AFROTECH™ Conference 2024 Speaker
Looking ahead, Tillman is poised to share his expertise at AFROTECH™ Conference’s Executive Stage as a speaker. The conference will be making its way to Houston, TX, from Nov. 13-16.
“As a speaker, I’m just looking forward the opportunity to share a little bit of my story and who I am with people and perhaps use that as a jumping off point for ways that I can potentially be helpful to folks,” he said. “No. 2, what I’m looking forward to getting from the conferences to really just kind of soak up and be a student. I’m looking forward to hearing from other panels. I’m looking forward to meeting with a lot of best in class entrepreneurs who are building those bridges to the future and really kind of getting under the hood as to some of the best and brightest in the Black community as it pertains to reimagining technology companies. I’m just super excited to get to meet people, hear what people are working on, and just ultimately find ways to add value.”
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