Trendsetters, Movers, and Changemakers
By Jacob Fohtung
Full Disclosure: Everything (views and opinions) mentioned or expressed herein are those of ours doesn’t reflect our companies, its affiliates, or its employees
Trendsetters, Movers, and Changemakers Jan 28, 2018
Q&A Session (Final Episode & Part 4 of our Series with Jessica Li- Harvard 2019| VC @ Soma Capital| Content Head at Elpha)
Our final episode with Jessica Li as she answers questions based on the topics from our last 3 episodes that began all the way back on Friday, April 24th.
She eloquently provided insightful responses to my questions, which I think it's worth listening to. She also has opted to provide her time and resources to help black founders during these very challenging times in our country. More information about that below:
Questions asked:
From Episode 1: The COVID-19 Impact on entrepreneurs and Venture Capitalists
- We talked about the impact of COVID-19 on entrepreneurs and businesses back on April 24th, what has changed from then to now Friday, June 5th?
- Based on your current duties at work and recent interviews with entrepreneurs/investors, Do you think this economic crisis is different from the previous crisis?
From Episode 2: Female Founders
- What are some of the current opportunities that female founders and investors should be aware of?
- What are the top 3 female founders and investors that you look up to?
From Episode 3: China
- If you can brief us a little bit on this on the investment side, what are some of the opportunities to invest in China from foreign investors?
- Do you think China will have a significant role as an investor for emerging markets post COVID-19?
Final Question
1. How can people reach out to you?
Finally, Jessica has opted to help out black founders and their businesses especially in this dire times being black in the United States from the racial injustice and discrimination to the severe impact of COVID-19. She is willing to do investor introductions, corporate connections, advice, product feedback, generating awareness, deck feedback, or anything else, She is always available and would love to hear from and support you in any way she can.
You can find Jessica on these platforms:
On LinkedIn
She also put together a centralized resource for founder/operator/investor interviews, thought pieces, how to guides, events, recommended readings, and other resources for VC/startup/tech interested people! You can check it out here
Jessica Li talks about China (Part 1)
This is our third episode with Jessica Li.
Jessica is an investor on Soma Capital and Content Head @Elpha. You can learn more about Jessica and her work via this centralized resource that she put together recently for founders, investors, and operators. Please make sure you check that out as well.
Unfortunately, due to technical difficulties, we weren't able to record the entire session to touch on AI and startup space in China, however, we were able to cover most of the interesting topics that Jessica had intended to share on this episode on china from the impact of the 2008 financial crisis and 2012 turning point of China, and lastly, China's unique real estate market dynamics.
It was a very resourceful session and hope you enjoy it!
Female Founders by Jessica Li
In this second episode of this informative series with Jessica Li as she shares me her insights on the following key issues on women in the entrepreneurship and VC including:
-Women Pitching companies to VCs
-Female focused VC fund: Some examples below:
-Female focused startup communities:
Chief-The Private Network for Women Leaders
-Advice for female investors at male-dominated funds
[Great lessons within this podcast)
-Advice for female founders
Please check out Jessica Li's blog wherein she has interviewed (and continues to) outstanding women in entrepreneurs and VCs. Please check it out.
Episode 1 of a Part 4 Series: Impact on COVID-19 on the VC space by Jessica Li (Investor at Soma Capital and Content Head at Elpha)
Soma Capital is a fund built by founders, for founders in San Francisco, CA.
"Soma is founded by Aneel Ranadive, who has +10 years experience building startups and investing seed in over 100 startups including Cruise, Rappi, Embarktrucks, Astranis, Atrium and Lambda School (combined valuation of over $30b across all portfolio co’s).
Aneel works with his father Vivek Ranadive, founder of Tibco (sold for $4.3bn to Vista). Tibco software includes big data, analytics, event processing and cloud services. Tibco originally digitized Wall Street and powers 80% of Fortune 500 companies including many of the biggest banks, airlines, retailers, hotels, casinos, and government services. Vivek has also been involved at the early stages with all time greats like Google, Yahoo, eBay and even mentored Steve Jobs in the early days of Next." (From Soma Capital Website)
Key Points in this Episode:
Seed vs. Series A/B difference
Tailwinds in COVID
Companies combating COVID
Pitching virtually vs. in-person
Conserving cash/reducing burn (What are some of the strategic decisions that were taken?)
Silver linings
History precedents (World War II, dot.com bubble in the early 2000s, the Great Recession of 2008)
You don't want to miss the great insights that she provides based on her front-line and in-depth experience at Soma Capital.
Our next Episode in 2 weeks (on May 8th) , Jessica Li will be talking about her experience interacting women entrepreneurs especially in her role as as a Content head at Elpha. Elpha aims to create a tailored online network for women in tech.
Stay Tuned!
What’s all about Africa’s Podcast?
March 16, 2020
One step at a time!
Practice Makes Perfect
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Learn something new everyday!
Uncertainties breed success!