Venture capitalist Theresia Gouw discusses what she looks for in an early stage company, the opportunities from building a diverse investor team, and the state of venture capital in Silicon Valley.
On investing in early stage companies: “Fewer players focus solely on Series A funding. So we saw that as a real opportunity…. Even though the dollars in Series A went up and are at an all-time high in 2019 versus 2018, the number of firms that exclusively focus on that stage is far less than what it was in the late ’90s when I entered the business. So that’s what I see as the opportunity.”
On building a diverse team of investors: ”Over the last four to five years, we’ve actually found that both our deal flow and the companies that we funded, 40 to 45% of the founders, depending on the year that you’re looking at, have a female founder…. It really just speaks to if you have a different set of people at the table who they’re going to know and who will be referred to you and come into the door, and therefore your opportunity set is broader. And we think that’s a real advantage because we get a broader first look at a lot of companies that perhaps some other very good firms won’t get because they don’t have the connectivity to those folks.”
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