Purpose, Passion, & Perseverance

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 On Twitter @jessicafeiyali 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 --- Support this podcast: https://anchor.fm/jacob-fohtung/support

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! --- Support this podcast: https://anchor.fm/jacob-fohtung/support

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: Chloe Capital IFundwomen Jane VC Female Founders Fund BBG Ventures SoGal Ventures -Female focused startup communities: TopKnot Swaay bSmart 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. --- Support this podcast: https://anchor.fm/jacob-fohtung/support

In Episode 1 of a Part 4 Series, Jessica Li talked about COVID -19 Impact on the Venture Capital space through the lens of the key points below.  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! --- Support this podcast: https://anchor.fm/jacob-fohtung/support

This provides a glimpse of why I started this podcast and what’s in store in the coming weeks! Stay tuned :) --- Support this podcast: https://anchor.fm/jacob-fohtung/support

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Take one step at a time to invest in yourself! This is the final episode of this series: Investing in Yourself! --- Support this podcast: https://anchor.fm/jacob-fohtung/support

Practice Makes Perfect is key to ensure that you meet those things you hope to discover about yourself everyday! --- Support this podcast: https://anchor.fm/jacob-fohtung/support

You need people to support to invest in yourself! --- Support this podcast: https://anchor.fm/jacob-fohtung/support

Discovering new things everyday! --- Support this podcast: https://anchor.fm/jacob-fohtung/support

Success comes in uncertain phases of your life! --- Support this podcast: https://anchor.fm/jacob-fohtung/support

Make your own podcast: https://anchor.fm/jacob-fohtung --- Support this podcast: https://anchor.fm/jacob-fohtung/support