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Jeffrey Tedmori ‘11 Hooks Top Chefs, Seafood Fans with E-Fish
Jeffrey Tedmori ‘11 has always found sanctuary on the water with a fishing rod in his hand.
After earning his MBA from the Sloan School of Management at MIT in 2020, Tedmori committed to merging his twin passions for sportfishing and entrepreneurship. E-Fish was born soon after.
As a seasonal and specialty seafood distributor, E-Fish empowers fishermen to sell directly from the docks to some of the top restaurants in the world. The company now boasts a Michelin star studded customer list: French Laundry, Chef William Bradley’s Addison, Noma and Chef José Andrés. E-Fish also helps at-home cooks find confidence in working with seafood with real-time answers delivered by experts via text, email or direct message.
The entrepreneurship bug first took hold of Tedmori during his Sage Hill years, he said.
Tedmori fondly remembers his Math teacher Derek Carlson’s financial literacy seminar, where he learned real-world skills like paying taxes and managing personal finances. Sage Hill parents visited the classroom to share how they launched their own start-ups.
“It showed that entrepreneurship isn’t just a Steve Jobs and Jeff Bezos-style thing,” Tedmori said. “It can be a small business. It can take shape in a variety of different ways and expand in scope to something that’s more realistic.”
He also enjoyed how students had flexibility to choose course pathways to pursue their interests or passions.
“Nothing really felt that rigid, which I’m sure was super calculated but at the time,” Tedmori said. “As a young person I had the freedom to make those choices myself.”
While earning his bachelor’s degree in business at Cal State Channel Islands, Tedmori got his foot in the door at Patagonia as an accounting intern. He advanced through the company to the corporate development associate working with founders and executives of early-stage startups that Patagonia considered investing in. Despite working in an industry he loved with great mentors, Tedmori felt restless.
“The entrepreneurship itch was never scratched for me in that environment,” Tedmor said. “I was working on their venture capital team investing in startups. And that just didn’t do it. I learned, if anything, that I was more envious of talking to founders in those conversations.”
He describes his decision to go to business school as a reset to figure out his next steps.
For high school students thinking of launching their own venture, Tedmori says “just do it.”
“If there’s any inkling, there is no better time to do it,” he said. “A lot of people come up with a million excuses. I’m too young. I have no money. I don’t have the time. I don’t know how to do it. Especially the kids at Sage have an immense amount of knowledge and resources to execute on ideas.”
The last year has been full of exciting growth for E-Fish.
In May 2024, Tedmori pitched E-Fish to Chef Gordon Ramsay and Lisa Vanderpump on Gordon Ramsay's Food Stars. This primetime showcase on FOX was “a pretty wild experience,” he said.
E-Fish also recently partnered with Sections Fine Meats, owned by Ryan Ramming ’07, to offer excellent seafood at a Newport Beach storefront.
“Now there’s a pretty cool Sage Hill partnership going on where we’ve got meat and fish in that one shop. I think the Sage community should know that we’re there and if they’re shopping there, they’re supporting Sage Hill alumni,” Tedmori said.
Sage Hill School
Sage Hill School admits students of any race, color, national and ethnic origin to all the rights, privileges, programs and activities generally accorded or made available to students at the School. The School does not discriminate on the basis of race, color, national and ethnic origin in administration of its educational policies, admissions policies, scholarship programs, and athletic and other School administered programs.