Gabe Damiani
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Hey Gabe — similar entrepreneurial path into the PE/holdco world. Been thinking a lot about proprietary origination in purpose-driven businesses lately. Would be good to connect.
Hey Gabe, see we share a similar PE path, though I was in London doing growth equity not building a purpose-driven holdco like Nuvola. most funds I talk to have a database — PitchBook or Grata — maybe a CRM, and then the origination setup is mostly Excel and email from there. but proprietary deal flow still feels thin. thesis, network, and intelligence never sync into one system — so origination resets every cycle instead of compounding. do you disagree? — Russ
Hey Gabe, see we share a similar PE path, though I was in London doing growth equity not building a purpose-driven holdco like Nuvola. most funds I talk to have a database — PitchBook or Grata — maybe a CRM, and then the origination setup is mostly Excel and email from there. but proprietary deal flow still feels thin. thesis, network, and intelligence never sync into one system — so origination resets every cycle instead of compounding. do you disagree? — Russ
hey Gabe — this kept rattling around. when I was doing growth equity we had every subscription going — PitchBook, CRM, enrichment tools, the lot — and I still spent half my time manually pulling origination together across all of it. always wondered if that was just us being disorganised or if it's genuinely universal. did you ever run into that at Nuvola, or was it just us? — Russ
hey Gabe — appreciate the connect either way. I'm in and around purpose-driven business origination all day — if you ever want to swap notes on what's working, I'm easy to find. — Russ
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Hey Gabe, similar background — though I was doing European growth equity not building a purpose-driven holdco like Nuvola. the typical origination setup I see is a data subscription, a CRM that's half-populated, and a lot of Excel and Outlook doing the heavy lifting. yet the off-market pipeline stays weirdly thin. the intelligence is all there but it's scattered across tools and inboxes — so nothing compounds into a real origination edge. do you disagree? Russell searchloop.ai linkedin.com/in/russellt23
Hey Gabe, something I keep coming back to with purpose-driven funds. most funds I talk to are still 70-80% broker-dependent for deal flow. works fine until two funds get shown the same deal and it becomes a pricing war. the proprietary pipeline is the thing that's supposed to prevent that — but it rarely gets built systematically. curious whether Nuvola has cracked that or if it's the same pattern. Russell searchloop.ai linkedin.com/in/russellt23
hey Gabe — one more thought on this. at my old fund we had a solid stack and smart people, and origination still felt like it restarted from scratch every cycle. took me a while to realise it wasn't a people problem — the tools just didn't talk to each other. did you ever run into that at Nuvola, or was it just us? Russell searchloop.ai linkedin.com/in/russellt23
hey Gabe — been thinking about this a lot — the difference between funds that build origination infrastructure in the first couple of years vs those that keep running on brokers and inbound. by year 3-4 the gap is pretty hard to close. curious if you've been thinking about this at Nuvola. Russell searchloop.ai linkedin.com/in/russellt23
hey Gabe — no stress on any of this. spend most of my time thinking about origination infrastructure for funds — if that ever becomes a thing worth talking about, I'm around. Russell searchloop.ai linkedin.com/in/russellt23
Prospect Research
## PROSPECT INFORMATION: Name: Gabe Damiani Title: Manager, Founder Fund: Nuvola Holding Company Background: Name: Gabe Damiani Location: Barronett, Wisconsin, United States Headline: Award-Winning Coffee Roaster | Licensed Q-Grader | Certified B Corp Business Leader Current Focus: Gabe is currently the Founder and Head Roaster at Bear Lake Coffee Company, a pioneering "fourth-wave" coffeehouse and roastery he launched in 2022. The business is a Certified B Corporation focused on sustainability, social responsibility, and technological innovation. It operates out of Barronett, Wisconsin, and recently achieved major recognition, including nine medals at the Golden Bean Americas and a spot in the 2026 Golden Bean World Series. He also manages the "Bean to Cup" podcast and writes extensively about ethical sourcing and the "third place" community concept. Professional Background: Gabe is a veteran entrepreneur. He founded iVision in 2004, growing it from a home-based business into a major IT and services company with over $79 million in revenue by 2019. After selling iVision in 2020 and briefly retiring, he founded Nuvola Holding Co. in 2021 to invest in purpose-driven businesses. He holds an MBA from Emory University and a BS in Accounting and Finance from Florida State University. Key Skills: IT Strategy, Cloud Computing, Strategic Planning, Managed Services, Social Entrepreneurship, Coffee Roasting (Licensed Q-Grader), and B Corp Certification. Recent Post Insights: - March 16, 2026: "No company is perfect. But B Corps work hard to improve, year over year. That’s what being a Certified B Corporation™ represents to thousands of companies: the spirit of continuous improvement." - March 13, 2026: Shared a quote by RFK: “Each time a man stands up for an ideal… he sends forth a tiny ripple of hope…” and added, "Small choices—like the coffee you drink each morning—can create ripples of change." - March 3, 2026: "We’re coffee nerds—equally obsessed with roast curves, cupping scores, and tasting notes as we are with the five sourcing principles behind our green coffee." - February 9, 2026: Reflected on a Bad Bunny performance: "The USA was built by hardworking immigrants chasing the American Dream... Together, we are America." - January 18, 2026: "Trust is the foundation of every enduring company—earned day by day through how we show up for our team, our partners, and our customers." - December 2, 2025: Interviewed Etelle Higonnet for his podcast, quoting: "Once you find coffee that’s good for people and planet, buy it like gangbusters and gift it to everyone you love." - October 15, 2025: Celebrated winning 9 medals at his first Golden Bean Americas competition: "We’re proud to share that Bear Lake Coffee is headed to the Golden Bean World Series in February 2026!" - October 1, 2025: Celebrated the first graduating class of Bear Lake Coffee School, specifically mentioning partners from Double Cup Coffeehouse in Chicago. - May 16, 2024: Noted a presentation at the UCLA Samueli School of Engineering regarding "entrepreneurial success shortcuts, starting a movement, [and] social enterprise business models." - March 1, 2024: "The purpose of our company is to make a material positive impact on humanity and the environment." (Announcing official B Corp status). Fund details: - Description: Nuvola Holding Company works with founders, entrepreneurs and business builders by investing in & growing portfolio companies that do good for the planet and its people. We work with companies that: • Have a clear purpose to ultimately do good for our planet and its people • Aren’t afraid to challenge the status quo and take a stand • Integrate their purpose into the core business strategy • Align day-to-day work to that shared purpose • Use the purpose mindset to advance transparent measurable goals for everyone involved • Harness the power of purpose to innovate • Engage their partners around that purpose - Website: https://nuvola.com - Location: Atlanta, Georgia, United States - Lead qualification: Research: - Query: =Nuvola Holding Company Gabe Damiani recent investments fund thesis - Answer: Gabe Damiani's Nuvola Holding focuses on purpose-driven investments for 2023 and beyond, targeting companies with strong social and environmental missions. The company aims to build businesses that benefit both people and the planet.