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Month: July 2019

#107 Anne Dwayne: From Startup to Public Company To VC — Her Journey

Anne Dwane
Village Global

Anne Dwane is co-founder and partner of Village Global, the venture firm backed by an impressive and diverse group of investors that includes:  Jeff Bezos, Sara Blakely, Reid Hoffman, Magic Johnson, Anne Wojcicki, Mark Zuckerberg, Diane Green, Judy Estrin, and Ken Chennault. 

Before becoming a venture capitalist, Anne was a tech company co-founder, a private company CEO, and public company executive. She built Military.com with previous podcast guest Chris Michel, and was CEO of Zinch before it was acquired by Chegg.  At Chegg she had P&L responsibility as the company became public, with a value over $1 billion.

In this episode, Anne shares her journey from Harvard Business School, to Silicon Valley, and her path to becoming a public company executive to her latest role as a venture capitalist at Village Global.

Listen on iTunes or wherever you get your podcasts.

Chegg

www.chegg.com

Village Global

www.villageglobal.vc

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#106 Chris Michel’s Extraordinary Path and Wise Life Advice

Chris Michel
Photo Courtesy of Christopher Michel Photography

After attending the University of Illinois, Chris Michel began his career as a Naval Flight Officer, flying aboard P-3 Orion “sub-hunters”. 

Today, he is a photographer, chronicling Silicon Valley and the World.  His photography has taken him from the edge of space, to the North and South Poles and everything in between.  Chris’s path from the Navy to photographer was not a straight line, and in this podcast you’ll hear his story. 

In this wide-ranging discussion we talk about how Chris made it from the Navy to Harvard business school, where he met his  business partner (and future podcast guest) Anne Dwane.  Also covered are his path to founding two Silicon Valley companies, and his struggle to guide them through difficult times. 

Finally, we discuss Chris’s advice on how to think about structuring a career and life.

Listen on iTunes or wherever you get your podcasts.

Christopher Michel Photography https://www.christophermichel.com

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#105: Jullian Guthrie: Taking on Silicon Valley’s Male Culture with Alpha Girls

Julian Guthrie, Alpha Girls Author

Julian Guthrie is a journalist-turned-author, covering such topics as Larry Ellison’s quest for the America’s Cup, and the new age of private space exploration. She gravitates to tales of underdogs and innovation, and her latest book is no exception.

Alpha Girls:  The Women Upstarts Who Took on Silicon Valley’s Male Culture and Made the Deals of a Lifetime” is the story of 4 women:  Magdalena Yesil, Mary Jane Elmore, Theresia Gouw, and Sonja Hoel Perkins.  Each of these rose – against the well-known odds of Silicon Valley – to the top of the game.

Well before “me too” these 4 women juggled work and family, overcame unequal pay, and faced the sexist attitudes prevalent in male-dominated Silicon Valley.  Nevertheless, they rose to rewrite the rules of an entire industry.

Each story is amazing on its own. Magdalena Yesil, came from Turkey with $43 to her name, and would go on to help Marc Benioff build Salesforce.

Mary Jane Elmore went from the cornfields of Indiana to Silicon Valley and landed at the storied venture capital firm IVP – where she was one of the first women in the U.S. to make partner at a venture firm.

Theresia Gouw, Asian American from a working-class town, ultimately helped venture firm Accel Partners invest in firms like Google, Facebook, Imperva, Forescout, and Trulia.

Sonja Hoel Perkins, a Southerner, became one of the first women investing partners at white-glove Menlo Ventures, and invested in McAfee, Hotmail, Acme Packet, and F5 Networks.

In this wide ranging conversation, Julian shares her experience in writing this book, and previous books including “How to Make a Spaceship,” with a foreword by Richard Branson and an afterword by Stephen Hawking, and “The Billionaire and the Mechanic,” about Larry Ellison. We also discuss the current state of sexism in Silicon Valley, her predictions for the future, and the in-the-works adaptation of her book for television.

Listen on iTunes

http://www.julianguthriesf.com

https://somethingventured.us



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#104: Charles Hudson Builds a Pre-seed Venture Fund

Charles Hudson is the founder and Managing Partner of Precursor Ventures, one of Silicon Valley’s hot seed stage venture firms.  He was previously at Uncork Capital, the storied seed venture firm founded by Jeff Clavier.  Precursor is a classic seed stage venture firm investing in founders they believe in. 

Before becoming a venture capitalist, Charles cofounded Bionic Panda Games, and held senior business development roles at Serious Business and Gaia Interactive.

Also – he went to Stanford.  Twice.

In this episode we discuss a range of issues including what it’s like to be a black VC in a mostly white industry, how he made his way to venture, what it’s like working at In-Q-Tel, and why he left a hugely successful VC to start his own.

Listen on iTunes or wherever you get your podcasts!

www.uncorkcapital.com

www.precursorvc.com

www.somethingventured.us


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