Nate Lentz is a long-operating CEO-turned-investor who served as President & CEO of publicly traded VerticalNet before joining Osage Venture Partners in 2008, giving him unusually deep hands-on experience running a B2B software company compared to most early-stage venture investors. He advocates strongly for broad employee option distribution across portfolio companies and has publicly developed structured, process-driven approaches to CEO hiring that warn against buddy hires and informal networks. Nate Lentz is a long-operating CEO-turned-investor who served as President & CEO of publicly traded VerticalNet before joining Osage Venture Partners in 2008, giving him unusually deep hands-on experience running a B2B software company compared to most early-stage venture investors. He advocates strongly for broad employee option distribution across portfolio companies and has publicly developed structured, process-driven approaches to CEO hiring that warn against buddy hires and informal networks.