The Two Percent

In this special episode, we celebrate the 10-year milestone of the Female Founders Fund with its visionary founder, Anu Duggal, in conversation with Nayeema Raza, a journalist who has worked at New York Times and New York Magazine. Join us as Anu reflects on ten insightful lessons learned over the past decade, reflecting on the evolution of female entrepreneurship and the dynamic landscape of venture capital. From the art of the cold email to the importance of staying agile, Anu's journey offers invaluable wisdom for both aspiring and seasoned entrepreneurs. Tune in for an inspiring conversation filled with stories of resilience, innovation, and the future of female-led ventures. You can follow Nayeema's new venture, “Smart Girl Dumb Questions” on Apple, Spotify or wherever you get your content.

To close out season five, Anu is joined by Jessica Sibley, the innovative CEO of TIME, and a leading figure in the dynamic world of media. They dive into Jess's remarkable impact at TIME one year into the role – including transformative digital strategies, and the brand's expansion into new territories, including live events, branded content, and more! 

Anu is joined by Christina Tosi, the James Beard award-winning pastry chef and founder of Milk Bar, the iconic bakery and dessert brand with a cult-like following. Christina shares insights into her unique approach to innovation, team culture, building a brand that resonates deeply with consumers, and the strategic decisions behind Milk Bar's expansion into the online sphere and supermarkets.

Anu sits down with Nancy Twine, the founder and CEO of Briogeo, an award-winning clean hair care line. They discuss the journey that took Nancy from the finance industry to becoming the youngest black woman to launch a product line at Sephora, as well as the biggest lessons she learned along the way. Nancy shares her experience navigating the acquisition process, a framework for defining and creating clean beauty products, and the strategy behind her newest venture – nancytwine.com, focused on sharing content and resources to support female entrepreneurs throughout their journey.

In this episode of The Two Percent, Anu is joined by Allison Conrad, founder of Arey – the ‘wrinkle cream of haircare'. Allison shares the personal journey that led her to found Arey, the science behind graying hair, the challenges in pioneering a new category in the haircare industry, and her strategy in delivering a science-backed product that not only works but provides an exceptional customer experience.

This episode of The Two Percent podcast features Adrianne Nickerson and Elaine Purcell, who are on a mission to revolutionize maternity care as the co-founders of Oula. Their discussion delves into the problems with the current maternity care system in the U.S, the role of technology in maternity care, the importance of a personalized patient experience, and their vision for Oula's future. This episode is a must-listen for healthcare professionals, expecting mothers, and anyone interested in the advances of maternity care.

In this season premiere of The Two Percent, Anu engages in a captivating conversation with Fidji Simo, CEO and Chair of Instacart. Born in France to a family of fishermen, Fidji shares the journey that led her to Silicon Valley, where she started her career at eBay and Facebook before joining Instacart to lead the company in 2021. The episode delves into Fidji's people leadership philosophy, her experience taking Instacart public, role as a co-founder of Metrodora Institute, and more.

To close out Season 4 Anu sits down with Michelle Cordeiro Grant, founder of Lively, a community and ‘leisurée' brand inspiring women to live passionately, purposefully, and confidently. In this episode Michelle shares insights from her experiences building an empire by breaking all the rules, putting community before company, and successfully navigating the acquisition process as a three year old start up.

Today's guest is Olamide Olowe, Co-Founder & CEO of Topicals – the Gen-Z brand reimagining the ointment aisle with effective science-backed products and mental health advocacy – and the youngest Black woman to raise over $2M in funding. Olamide shares how she built a go-to-market strategy around her own experiences with chronic skin conditions, why storytelling is the greatest growth hack, and her best community building lessons for consumer brands.

Anu chats with FFF portfolio founder Babba Rivera of Ceremonia, the clean hair care brand rooted in Latinx heritage. Babba opens up about her experiences navigating identity and representation, innovating as an industry outsider, and takes us through her unique product and brand development thought process.

In our first ever two-guest episode, Anu sits down with portfolio founder Lisa Mayer of Boss Beauties, a women-led global NFT initiative with huge momentum, alongside fellow Boss Beauties strategic investor Randi Zuckerberg. Lisa and Randi give listeners a crash course in the world of NFTs, discuss their shared passion for mentorship in the metaverse, and share onboarding advice for founders, investors, and newcomers who feel overwhelmed with where to start in their Web3 education.

Anu is joined by Female Founders Fund portfolio founder and Parisian makeup artist Violette, of VIOLETTE_FR – a cosmetics line made ‘avec amour' for people and the planet, and designed with the purpose of helping people celebrate their natural beauty. Violette walks us through the behind-the-scenes of building her personal and company brand with a loyal digital following – from discovering her passion for beauty, to creating a brand bible, fundraising while 8 months pregnant, last-minute launch day ideas, product development, an increased commitment to sustainability and transparency, and more.

Anu is joined by physicist Lisa Dyson, who is the founder and CEO of Air Protein, the company crafting the world's first carbon negative air-based meat alternatives. They discuss the NASA-inspired science, mission, and go-to-market strategy behind Air Protein, plus Lisa's thoughts on the broader macro environment surrounding sustainability.

Today's guest is Sarah Jones Simmer, who is currently the CEO of Found, a company focused on making evidence-based sustainable weight care for all, and previously was COO at Bumble, the female-first social networking app – where she helped build the company and then spearhead Bumble's IPO while battling a stage 3 breast cancer diagnosis. In this episode Sarah goes deep on scaling a business, gets personal on how her own health journey inspired her to build again, shares how she is approaching the most critical problem in public health, and advice for stepping into the CEO role.

To kick off Season 4, Anu chats with Female Founders Fund portfolio founder and branding expert Georgina Gooley of Billie, the leading shave and body brand putting women first. Georgina shares her experience leading Billie through two acquisition processes, including Billie's recent sale to Edgewell for $310M, and how she is thinking about Billie's first foray into retail.

In honor of the retirement of the GOAT, tennis champion Serena Williams – we are thrilled to re-release our most popular episode to date. In this conversation Anu sits down with Serena to discuss her inspiration behind the next chapter of her career at Serena Ventures, an early-stage venture fund investing in diverse leadership and individual empowerment. Enjoy and stay tuned for Season 4, launching next Monday, September 12th!

Anu is joined by Krystle Mobayeni, co-Founder and CEO of Bentobox, the platform empowering restaurants to create and manage their own digital storefronts. In this conversation Krystle and Anu dive into Bentobox's recent sale to Fiserv, the importance of early relationship building, her experience innovating to keep restaurants alive throughout the pandemic, and the importance of anchoring your team in a shared mission.

Today's guest is Christie Horvath, Co-Founder and CEO of Wagmo, the company reinventing pet insurance for a new generation of pet parents. In this episode, Christie shares the personal story that inspired her founding journey, how she approached building a product catered to millennials, and her advice for founders looking to connect with younger customers. Anu and Christie discuss accelerated pet adoption numbers throughout the pandemic, the impact on Wagmo and the insurance industry as a whole, plus PetTech industry predictions for the future. Use code GIFT21 for $20 off a wellness plan at Wagmo.io.

In today's episode Anu sits down with Amanda Hesser, co-founder and CEO of Food52, the company on a mission to inspire people to eat thoughtfully and live joyfully. They discuss her background in food journalism, the platform's evolution from content to commerce, thoughtfully responding to customer feedback, and lessons around building a constructive community. Amanda shares how she has seen the food industry continue to evolve throughout the pandemic as well on her thoughts on the future of food, her long term vision for the Food52, plus her favorite restaurant in New York.

In this episode Anu sits down with Anjali Sud, CEO of Vimeo, the world's leading all-in-one video software solution. They discuss Anjali's non-traditional path from Director of Marketing to CEO in 3 years, the opportunity she saw to internally champion and pivot Vimeo's business model, biggest lessons learned leading the company through two acquisitions, a pandemic, and an IPO, and the skills she is most focused on developing as a leader. Anjali shares advice around thoughtfully designing culture, becoming a more self-aware leader, and playing to your strengths during periods of extreme change.

Anu is joined by serial entrepreneur Julia Collins, founder and CEO of Moonshot Snacks and Planet FWD, the startup tackling climate change through the power of our food system. Julia explores how her background in both the food and tech worlds inspired her to innovate at the intersection of these industries, the pandemic's impact on the future of sustainability, the trends and opportunities she is most excited about in the space, and more. Julia shares advice for brands, investors, and individuals looking to reduce and understand their carbon footprint, and provides tips for founders around fundraising, building a diverse cap table, and creating a leadership community. Use code "MOONSHOTVIP" at moonshotsnacks.com for 15% off your first purchase.

Today's guest is Female Founders Fund portfolio founder, Ariela Safira of Real, the platform redesigning the mental health care experience. Ariela dives into her experience pivoting Real's long-term strategy and offerings throughout the pandemic, the trials and tribulations of leading a remote team, the nuances of building in consumer healthcare, and her thoughts on the future of mental wellness. She shares her advice for founders making their first key hires, purposefully choosing investors, and responding to user feedback. For 50% off an annual membership with Real, use the code FFFISREAL at www.join-real.com (offer eligible until 12/1).

Anu sits down with Sheila Marcelo, Founder and former CEO of Care.com, and current Venture Partner at NEA and Executive Chairwoman for The Wing. Sheila shares how her experiences growing up in a matriarchal society in the Philippines and as a young mother in the business world sparked her passion and lifelong commitment to ensuring women have the resources they need to level the playing field and succeed. Sheila and Anu discuss what it will take to break down the biggest barriers to equality in the workplace, the three main factors that differentiate the best businesses, the most important question founders should ask themselves before going public, and advice for founders thinking about their next career move.

Today's guest is technology leader Stacy Brown-Philpot, a founding member of Softbank's Opportunity Fund and the former CEO of TaskRabbit. In this episode Stacy dives into her experience pioneering the shared economy, her advice for navigating critical career transition points, thoughts on the future of work, why community is at the core of everything she does, her commitment to changing the face of wealth creation, and more.

To kick off Season 3, Anu chats with Katrina Lake, founder of Stitch Fix, an online personal-shopping service transforming the way people find clothes they love. Katrina walks Anu through her journey scaling Stitch Fix from seed to IPO and beyond, including how her leadership style has evolved alongside the platform, experiences navigating the transition to a public figure, advice for founders thinking of going public, dealing with early critics, and much more. She speaks passionately on the importance of authenticity, representation, transparency, and self-care with personal anecdotes that any founder will relate to.

Join us for this bonus Q&A episode to learn more about the host behind The Two Percent and Female Founders Fund Founding Partner, Anu Duggal! Anu sits down with FFF investor Adrianna Samaniego to answer listener questions across a range of topics from fundraising to networking, and much more. Anu shares stories and lessons learned from her formative years, her early-career as a consultant, her time in culinary school and as a founder of two successful food ventures, to eventually entering the VC world as a solo GP with Female Founders Fund in 2014.

Today's guest is FFF portfolio founder Shivani Siroya of Tala, the leading financial app across three continents in emerging markets including Kenya, Mexico, the Philippines, and India, serving over six million users. Shivani shares how her global upbringing and background in finance and data science inspired her to enter the world of fintech, how the platform has evolved to meet user needs, how Tala has been able to maintain first-mover advantage, and why she uses ‘radical trust' as a core value. She discusses her experience innovating and managing a global team and customer base through COVID, fundraising for a product that is not catered to the US market, and more.

Anu is joined by four time entrepreneur and ex-investor, Amy Errett of Madison Reed, the beauty company revolutionizing hair coloring. Amy shares how she pivoted her staff and supply chain throughout lockdown to overcome extraordinary challenges and take advantage of unprecedented demand, reflects on 2020's silver linings and leaning into her strengths as a leader. She emphasizes the importance of building a strong company culture, shares her top learnings for founders working to cultivate trust, and why she believes people are everything.

Today's guest is Female Founders Fund portfolio founder, Shan-Lyn Ma of Zola, an online platform reinventing the wedding planning and registry experience. Anu and Shan discuss her experience learning from product experts during her time at Gilt Groupe and Yahoo!, how customer feedback has guided Zola's growth, and the future of events and weddings post-pandemic. Shan shares her best fundraising tips, how to expand beyond core product offerings, building a culture that encourages innovation, and much more!

Today's guest is Morgan DeBaun, Founder and CEO of Blavity, the leading media company for Black culture and millennials. This conversation is jam-packed with Morgan's top learnings building Blavity and her valuable advice for female founders around topics like growth hacks to reach your first million users, using your emotions as a motivator, managing the added weight female founders carry in the public sphere, building your early team, switching your mindset from founder to CEO, and much more. Morgan shares her thoughts on the pandemic's impact on the future of media, what it will take to bring lasting racial change to the industry, and her vision for Blavity's future.

Anu is joined by FFF portfolio founder, Michelle Kennedy of Peanut, a social platform designed to provide support, connection, and community for women throughout every stage of motherhood. Michelle has built a safe space for women unlike anywhere else on the internet, where two million users feel comfortable asking questions, engaging in intimate conversations, and finding support with complete strangers around traditionally taboo topics like IVF, miscarriage, and other "silent struggles”. Michelle dives into the lessons she learned working at Bumble and Badoo in the early days, why she's building Peanut's community with safety, authenticity, and empathy at the forefront, how her app is breaking down societal stigmas, and more.

Anu chats with Female Founders Fund scout investment founder, Beatriz Acevedo of SUMA Wealth, a revolutionary financial wellness brand with a mission to close the Latinx wealth gap in the US. They discuss the unprecedented power and growth of the US-born Latinx population, what marketers and brands are still getting wrong in connecting with this demographic, and why the future success of all American businesses is predicated on the financial inclusion of this group. Beatriz dives into the opportunity she saw to bring her expertise as a marketer and community builder into the world of fintech, and why building trust and community is critical for any financial brand looking to build lifelong brand loyalty.

Anu sits down with Female Founders Fund portfolio founder, Kate Ryder of Maven Clinic, the first digital health clinic for women. Kate dives into the opportunity she saw to disrupt the healthcare system, her experience building women's healthcare as a new category, and how the landscape has evolved since founding Maven Clinic in 2014. They discuss the future of women's and family healthcare, explosive telemedicine growth amid the pandemic, and what all of this means for long-term adoption of digital health. Kate also shares her candid advice for female founders who are fundraising, and for leaders looking to build culture in a remote environment.

Today's guest is Mellody Hobson, President and Co-CEO of Ariel Investments, the first Black owned asset management firm. Anu and Mellody discuss their shared belief of diversity as a strategic advantage, the passion Mellody feels towards her work at Ariel, the responsibility she has in boardrooms across the country, and in her role as a national leader for greater financial literacy. Mellody shares what has kept her at Ariel for 30 years, her advice around how businesses can be braver on addressing issues of racial inequality, life lessons that every female founder can take notes from, and candid stories that will keep you laughing along the way.

Anu chats with Female Founders Fund portfolio founder, Holly Whitaker of Tempest, a modern, digital approach to helping individuals change their relationship with alcohol. Holly shares her personal addiction story and what she saw missing from the existing sobriety landscape that inspired her to create her own holistic recovery plan. They dive deep into the challenges and advantages of building a product through personal experience, the unique societal pressures women face to drink alongside a growing sober-curious movement, the power of community and more.

To kick off Season 2, Anu chats with Serena Williams, tennis champion, entrepreneur and founder of Serena Ventures, a fund with a mission of investing in early-stage companies that embrace diverse leadership, individual empowerment, creativity and opportunity. Serena shares what she is excited about as an investor, tips for investors looking to diversify their portfolios, the biggest lessons she learned as a founder, her entrepreneurial start selling donuts and much more!

Anu chats with Arlan Hamilton, founder and managing partner of Backstage Capital, a fund that is dedicated to investing in high-potential founders who are traditionally underestimated and underrepresented in the VC world. Arlan shares her experience building a network, the impact she hopes to have on the ecosystem, areas she is excited about as an investor, what still surprises her in the industry and what it will take to change the status quo. They discuss investing in diversity as an alpha strategy, performative activism vs lasting change, investor FOMO, Arlan's new venture and much more.

In this exclusive mini-episode, Anu chats with Melinda Gates, FFF limited partner and founder of Pivotal Ventures, an investment and incubation company created to advance social progress in the United States. They discuss innovation outside the Silicon Valley bubble, her decision to invest in diverse founders and funders, her advice for LPs looking to improve diversity in the venture capital industry, and ways society might benefit from this change of strategy and perspective.

Anu sits down with Mariah Chase, CEO of Eloquii, the category defining fashion brand for women's sizes 14-28 that is inspiring positive change through the transformative power of fashion. Mariah shares the ups and downs of spearheading the brand's revival, from what to do when the roof of your warehouse collapses to celebrating like Will Smith on launch day. They discuss her experience fundraising ahead of Eloquii's four year acquisition by Walmart, tapping into the historical neglect of the plus-sized customer in the fastest growing market in fashion, and lessons she's learned as a second time entrepreneur.

Anu chats with Female Founders Fund portfolio founder, Lisa Skeete Tatum of Landit, a personalized career pathing platform on a mission to democratize career success. They discuss the secret sauce to accelerating your career, a paradigm shift in mentorship, building a product for scale, and world domination. Lisa shares key advice for individuals, brands, entrepreneurs, and investors looking to unlock human potential and maximize professional development.

Anu sits down with Female Founders Fund portfolio founder, Jen Batchelor of Kin Euphorics, the first innovation in a 10,000 year long social drinking tradition. They dive deep into the growing “sober-curious” movement, her experience setting industry standards in a new category, building a brand consumers are passionate about, marrying concepts from Western and Eastern traditions, what it means to be well within, and reclaiming the meaning of the world euphoria.

Anu and Sima Sistani, founder and CEO of social group video app Houseparty, discuss everything from managing the enormous surge of coronavirus video demand and adding 50 million new users in 30 days, how the app has responded to consumer needs during lockdown, putting user safety above growth and monetization potential, the loneliness epidemic we are experiencing today, and what to do when you accidentally like your ex-boyfriends instagram.

Anu chats with Female Founders Fund portfolio founder and Scorpio, Banu Guler of Co-Star, an astrology app with a cult-like following among celebrities, millennials and Gen Z. They discuss what modern consumers are looking for in the next generation of social apps, creating a distinct voice and brand presence, how we talk about love around the world, COVID's impact on the future of connection and more.

Anu and Anne Wojcicki, founder and CEO of 23andMe, discuss disrupting the drug development industry, COVID-19's long term impact on digital health, bad-ass lesbian pirates, and why with data - there's no such thing as taking a secret to the grave anymore.

Female Founders Fund Founding Partner Anu Duggal sits down with Whitney Wolfe Herd, founder and CEO of Bumble to discuss the fascinating journey that led her to found Bumble at age 24, staying ferociously married to your mission, keeping your north star front and center, and why Disney stories need to be re-written.

Founding Partner, Anu Duggal introduces The 2% by Female Founders Fund. The series features deep dives with iconic female tech leaders like Whitney Wolfe Herd, Anne Wojcicki, Sima Sistani to get to the stories you won't hear anywhere else. The 2% debuts on 10/22.