Marketing Executives Make Financial Bets Beyond Their Day Jobs

Aneto Okonkwo had nearly closed a $2 million funding round for Chatdesk Inc., his customer-service technology startup, when an investor introduced him to one more potential backer: Lunch Partners, an investor group comprised largely of marketing executives.

Okonkwo, Chatdesk’s co-founder, hesitated to raise more than he originally planned, but the chance for connections with marketing professionals was too good to ignore, he said.

“They’ll be helping us tell our story,” said Okonkwo, a former Google employee. “That’s not something that’s my skill set. I’m an engineer.”

Lunch Partners’s low-six-figure investment late last year gave Chatdesk access to current and former marketing leaders from brands, such as Petco Animal Supplies Inc., Hulu LLC and the Coca-Cola Co., who potentially could introduce the company to customers, as well as help it develop and promote its own brand.