Podcasts about sogal ventures

What does it take to carve a space in the entrepreneurial world when you begin feeling like an outsider? Pocket Sun, co-founder of SoGal Ventures, shares her transformative journey from setting up a community for female entrepreneurs to becoming a major player in the venture capital space. In a world where women are often underrepresented and underfunded, Pocket's journey has been anything but conventional, pushing boundaries to ensure women-led companies get the support they deserve.Pocket Sun is a trailblazing entrepreneur and venture capitalist whose work focuses on investing in underrepresented groups to solve often ignored problems. Starting with her first investment via AngelList back in 2015, Pocket has expanded her reach to over 150 companies worldwide, many led by women, across multiple continents. Her ability to foresee potential in underserved market segments and her relentless pursuit of impactful investments has made SoGal Ventures a pivotal force in the startup ecosystem.In this episode of The Angel Next Door Podcast, Pocket Sun opens up about her unconventional beginnings, her commitment to diversity, and her mission to invest in category-defining companies. She shares insights on building a global community, navigating cross-border investments, and leading SoGal Ventures to become a brand that signifies innovation and social impact. Whether you're an investor or entrepreneur, or just interested in the dynamics of creating change, this episode is rich with valuable insights and stories that reflect on the power of diversity and the potential for change in the venture capital landscape. To get the latest from Pocket Sun, you can follow her below!https://www.linkedin.com/in/pocketsun/ https://www.sogalventures.com/ Sign up for Marcia's newsletter to receive tips and the latest on Angel Investing!Website: www.marciadawood.comLearn more about the documentary Show Her the Money: www.showherthemoneymovie.comAnd don't forget to follow us wherever you are!Apple Podcasts: https://pod.link/1586445642.appleSpotify: https://pod.link/1586445642.spotifyLinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/angel-next-door-podcast/Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/theangelnextdoorpodcast/TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@marciadawood

On this women-focused episode of "Entrepreneur Elevator Pitch," contestants compete to earn life-changing money from elite investors. Across the globe, a new wave of leadership is emerging — 49% percent of startups are founded by bold and resilient women driven to make a significant impact on the world. On this episode of Entrepreneur Elevator Pitch, our board of investors hears pitches from women founders representing three innovative companies in industries ranging from apparel to health to tech. "I started my VC career by investing in women entrepreneurs," notes investor Pocket Sun, founder of SoGal Ventures. "I am so excited to see who is going to share their brilliance with us." Like all episodes, contestants have just 60 seconds to pitch their business. See what happens as they take their shot at earning life-changing money on an all-new Entrepreneur Elevator Pitch! Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

It's another day about startups and venture capital as The Evening Runway's Finance Presenter Chua Tian Tian reports from the Cyberport Venture Capital Forum 2024 in Hong Kong. Day 2's programme is structured around several workshops for startups, including one which aims to provide a practical playbook for founders raising capital and scaling in turbulent times.   Tian Tian spoke with Pocket Sun, Managing Partner of SoGal Ventures, the speaker of one of the workshops, on the actionable strategies for startups to expand right now.  She also talked to Steffanie Yuen, Managing Director and Head of Hong Kong, Endowus, and Anthony Ng, Co-founder & CEO, Hong Kong Virtual Asset Exchange on the opportunities and challenges in expanding their businesses and how they have benefitted from this year's forum.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Have you ever wondered what it takes to turn a personal experience into a thriving business? In this inspiring episode of The Angel Next Door Podcast, we dive into the incredible entrepreneurial journey of Jasmine Jones, a remarkable founder and CEO who channeled her life's experiences and challenges into creating a groundbreaking company. This episode offers invaluable insights for anyone interested in the power of resilience, innovation, and purpose-driven entrepreneurship.Jasmine Jones, the dynamic founder, and CEO of Myya, joins host Marcia Dawood to share her unique journey. From witnessing her father's real estate investments to selling diamonds at Tiffany's, Jasmine's path to entrepreneurship is anything but conventional. A former beauty pageant winner and Miss DC USA, Jasmine leveraged her varied background and life experiences to create Myya, a company dedicated to providing customizable and insurance-billable breast prosthetics for breast cancer survivors. Jasmine's inspiring story was also featured in the documentary Show Her the Money, showcasing her entrepreneurial journey to a global audience.This episode is a treasure trove of wisdom and inspiration. Jasmine discusses the evolution of Myya, from its humble beginnings as a boutique store to its current status as a scalable telehealth platform serving patients nationwide. Hear firsthand how Jasmine navigated the complexities of fundraising, securing over $2.25 million in venture capital, and why the COVID-19 pandemic was a surprising catalyst for her business growth. Whether you're an aspiring entrepreneur, a seasoned business owner, or an angel investor, Jasmine's compelling story offers invaluable lessons on persistence, adaptability, and the importance of aligning business with purpose. This is a must-listen episode for anyone looking to make a meaningful impact through entrepreneurship. To get the latest from Jasmine Jones, you can follow her below!LinkedIn - https://www.linkedin.com/in/jasminerjones/https://myya.com/ Sign up for Marcia's newsletter to receive tips and the latest on Angel Investing!Website: www.marciadawood.comLearn more about the documentary Show Her the Money: www.showherthemoneymovie.comAnd don't forget to follow us wherever you are!Apple Podcasts: https://pod.link/1586445642.appleSpotify: https://pod.link/1586445642.spotifyLinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/angel-next-door-podcast/Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/theangelnextdoorpodcast/TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@marciadawood

Are female entrepreneurs facing different challenges compared to their male counterparts?In this episode of The Angel Next Door Podcast, host Marcia Dawood sits down with Marian Leitner-Waldman, the founder of Archer Roose, a brand challenging the traditional wine industry by offering premium quality wine in cans. Marian shares her journey of building a successful brand in a predominantly male-dominated industry, her innovative approach to packaging and marketing, and the hurdles she faced as a female founder in the world of entrepreneurship. From her experiences navigating the wine industry to securing partnerships with major players like JetBlue and Elizabeth Banks, her story is an inspiring testament to resilience and the power of disrupting established norms.Marian's entrepreneurial journey began with a passion for building, from founding a nonprofit in high school to working with impactful organizations like the Gates Foundation. Her dedication to fostering social impact led her to challenge the status quo of the wine industry, where she identified a lack of options for consumers who simply wanted a single glass of wine without the snobbery often associated with the traditional wine culture.This episode is a must-listen for anyone interested in the intersection of entrepreneurship, social impact, and innovation. Marian's journey serves as an inspiring example of how questioning established norms and pushing through obstacles can lead to transformative changes in traditional industries. Her insights into the challenges faced by female entrepreneurs provide valuable perspectives for both aspiring business owners and investors, offering a compelling narrative of resilience, innovation, and the pursuit of creating positive change. To get the latest from Marian Leitner-Waldman, you can follow her below!LinkedIn - https://www.linkedin.com/in/marianleitner/https://archerroose.com Sign up for Marcia's newsletter to receive tips and the latest on Angel Investing!Website: www.marciadawood.comLearn more about the documentary Show Her the Money: www.showherthemoneymovie.comAnd don't forget to follow us wherever you are!Apple Podcasts: https://pod.link/1586445642.appleSpotify: https://pod.link/1586445642.spotifyLinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/angel-next-door-podcast/Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/theangelnextdoorpodcast/TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@marciadawood

Catherine Gray, the host of Invest In Her, interviews Pocket Sun, the Co-founder and Managing Partner at SoGal Ventures which is a top-performing early stage venture capital firm backing world-class women and diverse entrepreneurs outside of Silicon Valley. She founded SoGal at age 23 to solve the deeply rooted inequity in VC and to deliver superior, consistent financial returns by investing in underestimated founders, undercapitalized geographies, and underserved problems. Since 2015, Pocket and co-founder Elizabeth have invested in 150+ startups worldwide, managed $40M LP capital, and built a track record of picking five $1B+ unicorns from the earliest stage.    Pocket Sun will be featured in the upcoming documentary, Show Her the Money https://showherthemoneymovie.com/ www.sheangelinvestors.com  https://www.sogalventures.com/   Follow Us On Social Facebook | Instagram | Twitter | LinkedIn  

To kick off Season 2 of the Give Her Dollars podcast, Thamina is excited to be joined by Elizabeth Galbut, Co-Founder of Venture Capital Firm SoGal Ventures, a global community that spans over 50 cities across 6 continents, dedicated to uplifting female and minority entrepreneurs.In a candid reflection on the VC landscape, Elizabeth points out the industry's shortcomings in supporting women, urging the importance of intra-community support. Through avenues like angel investing, Elizabeth emphasizes the power of women's wealth in effecting meaningful change, citing this as one of the most invigorating eras to be a woman entrepreneur with fresh opportunities and innovative funds at our fingertips.Elizabeth shares her excitement about the AI tools emerging in the market, tools that promise to revolutionize businesses, making them more economical, efficient, and providing a more equitable start for female entrepreneurs, even with limited capital.Beyond tools and finances, Elizabeth strongly believes in the power of authentic networking, urging women to embrace a networking style that aligns with their unique personality.Delving into the nitty-gritty of startup dynamics, Elizabeth delineates the qualities she values in founders and offers invaluable advice for budding female entrepreneurs. Her insights on generational wealth are especially profound: She challenges the notion that a conventional 9-5 job, combined with traditional investment avenues, might not necessarily be the path to big financial success. Instead, she champions the notion of 'learning money', urging young women to take calculated risks early in life, to view money as an enabler of their financial future, and to invest wholeheartedly in themselves.Check out the Fempire x SoGal course: https://fempire.iamsogal.com

Don't miss out on the next #womenintech podcast episode, get notified by signing up here http://womenintechshow.com.Be featured in the Women in Tech Community by creating your profile here http://womenintechvip.com/“Pocket Sun of SoGal Ventures: Next Gen Investing”#womenintech Show is a WeAreTech.fm production.To support the Women in Tech podcast go to https://www.patreon.com/womenintechTo be featured on the podcast go to http://womenintechshow.com/featureGuest Host,Angie Carrillohttps://www.linkedin.com/in/angiecarrillor/Guest,Pocket Sunhttps://www.linkedin.com/in/pocketsun/Listener Spotlight,Mike Veldhuis https://www.linkedin.com/in/hwveldhuis/In LA? Here's some awesome resources for you to become immersed in the LA Tech scene -For a calendar of all LA Startup events go to, http://WeAreLATech.comGet Podcast Listeners, http://getpodcastlisteners.com/Resources Mentioned:SoGal Ventures, https://www.sogalventures.comCaliban and the Witch, https://www.amazon.com/Caliban-Witch-Women-Primitive-Accumulation/dp/1570270597Clay, https://twitter.com/clayhqPeople Mentioned:Melanie Perkins, https://www.linkedin.com/in/melanieperkinsElizabeth Galbut, https://www.linkedin.com/in/egalbut/Credits:Produced and Hosted by Espree Devora, http://espreedevora.comStory Produced, Edited and Mastered by Cory Jennings, https://www.coryjennings.com/Production and Voiceover by Adam Carroll, http://www.ariacreative.ca/Team support by Janice GeronimoMusic by Jay Huffman, https://soundcloud.com/jayhuffmanShort Title: Pocket Sun

Lisa Barnett and her co-founders put their talents together, identified an opportunity missing in the market and built Little Spoon, a subscription based children's food company from scratch to over a million units sold in their 1st year, now only a few years later LittleSpoon.com was ranked as #93 on the #inc5000 list of fastest growing companies! Lisa shares her story and experiences of working in venture capital, how this idea started and what it takes to build a successful company on @Got Invention Show with Inventor Host, Brian Fried !About Lisa Barnett and Little Spoon:Lisa Barnett is the Co-Founder & President of Little Spoon, the fastest growing direct-to-consumer children's food and nutrition company reinventing the modern parent's experience of keeping their child healthy. She has been recognized as one of the ‘Women Changing the Food Industry' by Well + Good, and by Forbes as 30 Under 30 in Venture Capital. She is responsible for raising over $50M in venture and growth equity capital, leading the charge with financing from a number of institutions including Valor Equity Partners, Kairos, and SoGal Ventures among others. Lisa also sits on the board of and advises a number of consumer products startups in strategy, fundraising, brand and growth. She is an active angel investor in a number of companies across consumer, healthcare, and technology. Prior to Little Spoon, Lisa spent nearly a decade as an investor in and operator at some of the world's top consumer brands including Estee Lauder Companies, Calvin Klein, Weight Watchers and a number of other Fortune 500 Companies. As an investor, she was focused on investing in brand-driven startups aimed at transforming the everyday life of consumers in the wellness, health and CPG space.Visit www.littlespoon.comGot Invention Show audience receive 20% discount using the coupon code: gotinvention --------------------------------------------About Got Invention Show:Welcome to the Got Invention Show!Listen to inventors interviews sharing their invention story to the world!Are you patent pending?Do you have a prototype to show and demonstrate?Are you looking to earn royalties from your invention?Are you looking for a manufacturer?Do you want to raise money or find an investor?Do you want to sell your invention?Learn from other inventors or let's see and hear about your big invention idea! Show & tell us about your invention, have your very own video interview to be proud of!Your video can be used to:Post to your social mediaAdd on your websiteSend to bloggers & editorsPitch to licensees or investorsListen to inventor interviews or sign up: www.gotinventionshow.comYour Host of Got Invention Show, Brian Fried. Brian is the host of Got Invention Radio, with interviews of high profile guests including the U.S. Patent & Trademark Office, Lori Greiner from ABC's Shark Tank, & over 150 individual interviews. www.gotinvention.comBrian connects and guides inventors to earn royalties from their inventions to licensees and brand properties looking for new ideas and intellectual property to expand existing or add to new product lines. Inventor Smart: www.inventorsmart.com Host Inventor Expert and Mentor Brian Fried: www.brianfried.com#inventions #inventors #tvshow #ideas #startup #gotinvention #inventorsmart

Invest In Her host Catherine Gray talks with Pocket Sun who is the Co-founder and Managing Partner at SoGal Ventures, a top-performing early stage venture capital firm backing world-class women and diverse entrepreneurs outside of Silicon Valley. She founded SoGal at age 23 to solve the deeply rooted inequity in VC and to deliver superior, consistent financial returns by investing in underestimated founders, undercapitalized geographies, and underserved problems. Since 2015, Pocket and co-founder Elizabeth have invested in 150+ startups worldwide, managed $40M LP capital, and built a track record of picking five $1B+ unicorns from the earliest stage.  www.sheangelinvestors.com  https://www.sogalventures.com/   Follow Us On Social Facebook | Instagram | Twitter | LinkedIn

In this episode, Pocket Sun, founder of SoGal Ventures talks about her trailblazing career and gives practical advice to women who are looking to start businesses of their own. Pocket discusses tactics for finding funding, the practicalities of working with investors and what to do when faced with a “no.” Pocket is also joined by Nicole Denholder, founder of Next Chapter, who brings her own unique perspective to the discussion.Inspiring Progressive Female Entrepreneurs is a podcast miniseries produced by HSBC, in partnership with Allbright, that seeks to empower and support women who are on the journey of growing and scaling their business.To access more resources for female entrepreneurs, visit: https://www.business.hsbc.com/business-banking/female-entrepreneur Our GDPR privacy policy was updated on August 8, 2022. Visit acast.com/privacy for more information.

SoGal Ventures is the first female-led millennial venture capital firm, with an investment focus on exceptional, diverse founding teams that have plans for global domination through tackling major consumer or healthcare problems in the U.S. and Asia. SoGal Ventures represents how far our generation has come, and how deep our impact on the world can be.

SoGal Ventures is the first female-led millennial venture capital firm, with an investment focus on exceptional, diverse founding teams that have plans for global domination through tackling major consumer or healthcare problems in the U.S. and Asia. SoGal Ventures represents how far our generation has come, and how deep our impact on the world can be.

Jasmine Yu Zhang is the founding partner of Flying Tiger Capital, a financial advisory and investment firm, 2021 LinkedIn China Top Voice, Venture Partner at VU Venture Partners, an angel investor at Wharton Alumni Angel Group, LP of SoGal Ventures and Chicago Atlantic Group, and board member of ChildWise International. #ExpertTalkWithTGo #ExpertTalkXtra #TalkShow #PodcastToBroadcast #TheresaGoss #ExpertTalkFM #Roku #Pandora #iHeartRADIO #PodNationTV #talkshowtv #talkshowonline #talkshowhost #podcast #motivation #broadcast #listennow #entrepreneur #marketing #TGoTV #9at9 #FastFunInformative #LightsCamerasTakeAction

In this episode, we talk to Pocket Sun, Co-Founder and Partner at SoGal, about:The founding of VC firm, SoGal at USC (which she considers her first startup) and the initial challenges of raising Fund ISoGal's huge community-driven momentum, the portfolio journey so far and the raise of Fund IIHow SoGal is closing the diversity gap (gender and racial) through its investment thesis and many targeted programs and,Advice for aspiring female founders and investors looking to break into the industry or raise funding and who inspires herEaster egg for our listeners with a quick "Just Do It" failure story from a highly successful investor

On this replay episode of the Jason Cavness Experience I talk to Shaydi DeJesus – Venture Partner, 100 Women in Finance, Bunker Labs cavnessHR website: https://www.cavnessHR.com Jason's email: jasoncavness@cavnessHR.com @cavnessHR across social media @jasoncavnessHR across social media We talk about the following Her fishing adventures in Alaska Venture Capital Should you cold call/email potential investors Her experiences with the U.S. Military The Austin startup scene Shaydi's Bio Shaydi DeJesus is multi-dimensional diverse with demonstrated history working in national/global innovation networks, entrepreneurship, commercialization, venture capital and alternative investments. Bunker Labs Austin, City Lead (Southwest Region), SoGal Austin Lead, Venture Partner at Gitty Inc. Former: Venture Partner at Jon Brumley Texas Venture Labs; Senior Buyer – Austin Community College; Former Department of Defense Management Consultant, National Association for Latino Community Asset Builders (NALCAB) Entrepreneur - 2020 100 Women in Finance scholar; Masters, McCombs School of Business at University of Texas – Austin in Tech Commercialization; Undergrad Marketing/Management – UTSA and Governor Dolph Briscoe Scholar. Passions: Ecosystem Builder, Diversity, Veteran/Military initiatives Shaydi DeJesus is the Bunker Labs Austin City Lead (Southwest Region), an organization supporting veteran/military entrepreneurship nationally from idea stage through those who have raised $1M+ or 500K ARR. She is also the SoGal Austin Lead – SoGal the largest global platform for women & diverse entrepreneurs and investors that provides resources, education and community for a 100K+ person network with chapters in 40+ cities around the world. SoGal Ventures is the 1st female-led millenial venture capital firm. Ms. DeJesus is passionate about investment and entrepreneurship ecosystem building as a former Venture Partner at Jon Brumley Texas Venture Labs & being a catalyst for both pre- and post-revenue companies in all verticals. She currently is a Venture Partner at Gitty Inc. working with both Gitty and the investment fund/portfolio companies it serves. Previously she was a Department of Defense Management Consultant and early-staff of NALCAB – National Association for Latino Community Asset Builders. Since 2008, NALCAB has been a catalyst for more than $300 million in investment in Latino communities, much of which flowed through structured partnerships and consortia among the members. NALCAB is the hub of a national network of more than 120 mission-driven organizations that are anchor institutions in geographically and ethnically diverse Latino & minority communities in 40 states, Washington DC and Puerto Rico. She is an underrepresented entrepreneur herself, 2020 100 Women in Finance scholar and holds a Masters from McCombs School of Business at the University of Texas in Austin – in Tech Commercialization and undergrads from University of Texas at San Antonio in Marketing and Management. Governor Dolph Briscoe Scholar. Shaydi's Social Media Shaydi's Twitter: https://twitter.com/shaydidejesus Shaydi's LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/shaydidejesus/ Shaydi's Advice I'd like for folks to challenge the status quo. My particular advice and that is I never would have thought I would be in the circles and doing the things that I am now like 10 years ago. The more that I pushed forward, the more that I was able to break down doors and glass ceilings. So now everything seems pretty limitless. For a lot of founders out there, they just feel like they're going to win overnight and then most folks are not going to win overnight. It's like a 10 year journey itself. Your journey. I've seen folks that raise several rounds and they're still, like needing to raise more rounds. Really believe in yourself, surround yourself with other folks that believe in yourself. But also challenge you to be better. If you enjoy the podcast, would you please consider leaving a short review on Apple Podcasts/iTunes? It takes less than 60 seconds and it really makes a difference in

Elizabeth Galbut is a venture capitalist, designer, professor, and philanthropist. She is Managing Partner of SoGal Ventures, the first female-led millennial venture capital firm, which invests in diverse founding teams in the US and Asia. With over 90 investments to date, she is actively seeking to back exceptional startups revolutionizing how the next generations live, work, and stay healthy. Elizabeth has been recognized as Entrepreneur Magazine's 100 Most Powerful Women, Forbes 30 Under 30, JPMorgan's Diversity Champion, and NYC's 33 Under 33 top innovators.This is a very special episode with a slightly different format than usual! Shauna and Elizabeth take a deep dive on the investor side of the startup scene where Elizabeth shares many actionable tips for founders who are looking to get venture capital to scale their brands. Elizabeth openly discusses the perspective of investors, which is a side that a lot of us are not able to see or hear. She goes into detail about the realization of how difficult it is for startups to get funding (especially women) is what led her to be an investor and the research behind female-led startups overall performing better. Elizabeth even takes a moment to talk about how without capital being invested in startups, it's hard for businesses to truly get anywhere. Check out this episode to hear more about:How female founded startups are being funded compared to their male counterpartsHow you can invest in yourself when nobody else has yetWhat to look for when investing in a company or teamWhy becoming an angel investor might be the next step in your future!Check out the full episode here. 

Co-founder and managing partner of the first female-led millennial venture capital firm, SoGal Ventures, Elizabeth Galbut sits down with Women on the Move host Sam Saperstein to discuss how she's going beyond investing in women to creating a global ecosystem of both women and men who are investing in women. The Accidental Venture Capitalist As the only child of two doctors, Elizabeth “grew up in the healthcare system.” “And very early on, I was seeing that there were a lot of problems in healthcare from a business perspective, as well as, how do you improve patient care for all of us in the U.S.?” Initially, Elizabeth's goal was to enter the healthcare industry to solve some of these broad issues. In the end, she says, she's doing something very similar as a venture capitalist, by investing directly into innovative companies that are currently changing the landscape of healthcare. “So I call myself a bit of an accidental venture capitalist,” she tells Sam. “It definitely wasn't what I went into graduate school thinking I was going to do, but looking back, it really makes sense.” During graduate school at Johns Hopkins she recognized the need for venture capitalists to invest in healthcare ideas. At Hopkins, she saw so many entrepreneurs with amazing backgrounds who weren't able to find capital to finance their businesses. “I thought,there's really this arbitrage investment opportunity of backing these founders.” Through early, small investments she learned the value of even very small investments in talented people with great ideas. “It's not always about the dollar amount, but it's really about being that supporter and,helping somebody understand that what you're doing is actually valuable and you should keep going.” Building an ecosystem Elizabeth was just 23 when she and her 25-year-old partner decided to launch a venture capital firm. Going to career fairs and conferences as an MBA student had opened her eyes to the gender issues in the VC field. “Sometimes the men venture capitalists would say we don't hire women,” she recalls. Rather than join a male-dominated firm she and her partner founded SoGal, with an investment focus on exceptional, diverse founding teams that have plans for global expansion focused on tackling major consumer or healthcare problems in the U.S. and Asia. Elizabeth and her partner identified early on that they were interested in supporting not just women entrepreneurs, but also other women investors. She describes those efforts as creating an ecosystem for investors, empowering founders and investors, and creating a support system and community. “There are trillions of dollars to be unlocked by empowering women. So of course I want to empower women from a social perspective, but it's also a deep business opportunity that we should all be paying attention to.”

OUR SPONSORS FOR THIS EPISODE:Founders Livethe global venue for entrepreneurs to experience events, content, and community.Check out founderslive.com to join and to find a live event streaming from your city.In this episode Bee and Dan discussed:Being the only young black girl who liked Japanese AnimeWhat derailed her journey to be a doctorHow blogging uncovered a community, and a businessQuirktastic's reset from COVID-19Working with HBO's Lovecraft CountryEpisode Shout Outs:Digital UndividedSnap's Yellow AcceleratorUNC Charlotte5-star reviewer: Jean-Que, Artiste ProBee Law is the Founder and CEO of Quirktastic (soon to be QuirkChat), a networking platform where geeks and hobbyists can join fandom communities and create collaborative social video. If you are into Manga, Marvel Universe, or Cosplay - they have a place for you. It's no wonder Bee created Quirktastic (from quirky + fantastic). She grew up in North Carolina as the only young black woman she knew who liked Anime and metal rock. Bee felt the sting of bullying and the struggle for acceptance. As an adult, she tapped into her uniqueness, and once online she realized there were large communities who wanted to connect and share the joy of their fandom. This epiphany led her to start Quirktastic - a community now 200,000+ strong. Bee and her company have been featured in TechCrunch, Essence, and Forbes. And she's been backed by Digital Undivided, SoGal Ventures, and Snap Inc's prestigious accelerator Yellow.Come hear Bee's journey, which goes from Anime enthusiast and non-profit pioneer in high school, to cytogenetic scientist and aspiring doctor, and now to fast-moving tech founder. Her energy and positivity are simply inspiring. Listen in!MORE on BEE AND QUIRKTASTICBee:twitter.com/bossassbee_instagram.com/bossassbeelinkedin.com/in/bryanda-lawQuirktastic:quirktastic.cowefunder.com/quirktastictwitter.com/QuirkChatinstagram.com/quirkchatFollow Founders Unfound : Like and share - help us grow!PODCAST TRANSCRIPT See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

Today's guest is Haley Hoffman Smith, a professional speaker who was recently named one of today's most influential speakers by Forbes. With a TikTok community of over 140K+ strong, she is passionate about helping others bring their ‘pipe dreams' to reality. She is the author of Her Big Idea, a book on creativity, ideation, and women's empowerment which named a must-read by the Tory Burch Foundation and Forbes. Haley graduated from Brown University in 2018, and stays close to campus with her Her Big Idea Fund in partnership with Brown University's Nelson Center for Entrepreneurship, which awards grants to women who apply with BIG ideas. Haley has spoken at institutions such as Harvard, Yale, SoGal Ventures, and more, and coaches 1:1 to help ambitious women to manifest and create plans of attack for their dream lives. She lives in NYC, where she is a signed model and actress with MMG and the host of a podcast called Big Conversations. In this episode, Haley walks us through her journey of entrepreneurship and explains where her passion for helping others go after their dreams came from. She recalls her first public speech and how that has led her to become a motivational speaker. We also talk about the benefits of overcoming limiting beliefs, the power of affirmations and the subconscious mind, releasing expectations when starting a new idea and much more! Make sure you guys follow Haley on her social platforms below to be in the know of her future projects. Website | Instagram | Tik Tok Feel free to direct any questions, feedback or comments to thecityconfessions@gmail.com/ --- Support this podcast: https://anchor.fm/thecityconfessions/support

    Kay Van-Petersen is the Director and Global Macro Strategist at Saxo Bank. He looks at the world from a top-down perspective, assessing the big picture and meta trends of monetary policy, fiscal policy, and geopolitics. He has a passion for deciphering the tailwinds and headwinds that push the world and how they cascade across traditional asset classes for investment strategies in equities, bonds, commodities, and currencies. He is also an advisor and a proud investor in SoGal Ventures, pioneering venture capital funds for female entrepreneurs. Kay has a Masters in Applied Economics & Finance from the Copenhagen Business School and a BA in Finance from Niels Brock, Leicester Business School.   Kay joins me today to discuss what ‘Country 1.0’ might look like if we could start from scratch and how we could edit inequality out of the equation. We discuss corporations, leaders, and educators' roles and share the mindset changes that need to occur to create a country, nation, or world where there is no consideration of color, gender, ability, ethnicity, age, or geography. We discuss why people in leadership need empathy and an understanding of other people and discuss how words play their part in intent or deception. Kay shares how gender prejudices exist in venture capital and the biases within our public education system. We also explore if society can aid the actualization of people's potential and the need to upgrade basic human rights.       “The overall objective here is to bring humanity back into everything we are doing.” - Kay Van-Petersen       This week on Insert:Human   How COVID-19 affected the response to the George Floyd incident Why we need to forget the current system and start from scratch to transcend biases Why we need to build in transparency and accountability into policymaking and Country 1.0 Why we should embrace AI integration in decision making to remove human ego and bias How the ‘growth at all costs’ business model is starting to fail and cause social unrest Where leadership and the role of parents fit in Country 1.0 How legacy has played a different role in different generations The issues surrounding virtue signaling and the intent and deception of words The skewed paradox of 98% of venture capital going male when women lead consumer spending How venture capital is sculpting where society is going Why we need to upgrade basic human rights and introduce rights to healthcare, education, and income     Resources Mentioned:   Trillion Dollar Coach by Eric Schmidt and Jonathan Rosenberg Your Undivided Attention Podcast     Connect with Kay Van-Petersen:   Saxo Bank Saxo Bank on LinkedIn Saxo Bank on Facebook Saxo Bank on Twitter SoGal Ventures Kay Van-Petersen on LinkedIn         Insert:Human - For a Better Life & Better World   Thanks for tuning into this week’s episode of Insert:Human. If you enjoyed this episode, please subscribe to the show and leave a review wherever you get your podcasts.   Apple Podcasts | TuneIn | GooglePlay | Stitcher | Spotify   Be sure to share your favorite episodes on social media to help me reach more seekers and problem-solvers, like you.   Join me on Twitter, Instagram, and Linkedin. For more exclusive content and to claim your free copy of the first chapter of my upcoming book, Technology is Dead, visit my website.  

WELCOME to our first episode! In each episode we feature experts and influencers who use Positive Affirmations and the ThinkUp app to achieve goals, overcome challenges, and transform their lives. We're thrilled to have Haley Hoffman Smith as our first guest! Haley is a big believer in affirmations. On today's podcast she shares her personal success story and how affirmations helped her fulfill her dreams . Haley will also guide you through a brief positive affirmations meditation using her own most powerful personal affirmations. ABOUT Haley: Haley Hoffman Smith is a professional speaker who was recently named one of today's most influential speakers by Forbes. She is the author of Her Big Idea, a book on creativity, ideation, and women's empowerment which debuted as a Top 3 Bestseller in Women & Business and was named a must-read by the Tory Burch Foundation. A recent Phi Beta Kappa graduate of Brown University (2018), she wrote her honors thesis on how women develop their sense of self agency in entrepreneurship and venture capital. She is the founder of the Her Big Idea Fund in partnership with Brown University's Nelson Center for Entrepreneurship, which awards grants to women who apply with BIG ideas. She has taken the stage at Harvard, Yale, Microsoft, SoGal Ventures, Columbia, TEDx (twice), and more, and founded cosmetics company featuring bold false lashes called Her Big Lash. She writes for Entrepreneur and Thrive Global and hosts a weekly podcast titled Big Conversations. Finally, she is a host, model, and actress signed with MMG in NYC.

In this episode of Fundraising Radio, Jasmine Yu Zhang explained how Venture University works, how do they source deals and how their deal sourcing is different from other firms and individual angels. We also discussed the current situation and talked about fundraising during pandemic. Venture University: https://www.venture.university/ SoGal Ventures: http://www.sogalventures.com/

Interview starts: 6:10Debrief starts: 43:34Elizabeth Galbut is the Founding and Managing Partner of SoGal Ventures.SoGal Ventures is the first female-led millennial venture firm, and they are leading the way in investing in diverse founding teams and products across the USA and Asia. Their focus includes companies working on female sexual health and wellness, aging, and death-related decisions.A Forbes 30 Under 30, Elizabeth is incredibly knowledgeable and experienced in the fields in which she invests. In today's episode, she walks us through some of the issues she and SoGal Ventures are tackling through their diverse outlook.We discuss: AD: Finding experienced employees for your new business with Integrity Power Search (4:45) Sextech and underrepresented groups in venture capital (7:08) Raising a fund as two millennial women (10:36) Gaps in venture capital due to bias (12:24) Finding the underrepresented in VC (17:29) Death-tech and anti-aging technology (20:40) Sustainability and healthtech intersections (30:04) Who is solving and who should solve these problems? (34:31) Mental health and healthtech (36:36) Investing in health with potential future health policy changes (39:17) Optimistic perspective (41:16) Learn more about SoGal Ventures: http://www.sogalventures.com/Follow Elizabeth on Twitter: https://twitter.com/design4innov8Follow upside on Twitter: https://twitter.com/upsidefmAdvertise with an upside classified: https://upside.fm/classifieds--This episode is sponsored by Integrity Power Search, the #1 full stack high growth startup recruiting firm between the coasts. They partner with venture capitalists, private equity groups and CEOs to build amazing teams for the world's most disrupting companies.Learn more about or get in touch with Integrity Power Search: https://upside.fm/integrity

Introducing our Angel Host, Ariel Xue. She is currently the CEO of Sydney School of Protocol (SSOP) and China Innovation Capital. Originally from China and now based in Sydney, Australia for nearly 10 years. Ariel served as the Director of SoGal Sydney and proudly brought the SoGal powerful global network of millennial diverse entrepreneurs and investors to Australia. Inspired by SoGal Ventures (the first female-led millennial venture capital firm), Ariel started her own innovation fund China Innovation Capital to invest in startups in wellness and preventive health.

Bethany Quinn is the Founder and CEO of Street Investors Exchange (SIEX), which aims to move the needle on diversity in early-stage investment by enabling institutional investment in startups. She also runs SIEX (SIGH-ex) Paths, where she helps clients achieve wild success in the gig economy. Before that, she worked at the Service Employees International Union (SEIU) on their private equity campaign and as a Legislative Assistant, and did a fellowship at SoGal Ventures. She has a BA from the University of Miami and an MBA from Johns Hopkins University. Website: https://www.siex.vc/   Twitter: SieXVC Facebook: https://business.facebook.com/SieX.vc Wild Success in the Gig Economy: https://medium.com/@bethany_71768/wild-success-in-the-gig-economy-2cf24a4626c9 Changing the Face of Venture Capital: https://medium.com/@bethany_71768/street-investors-exchange-how-to-change-the-face-of-venture-capital-f9266fa508f2

IN THIS EPISODE, YOU WILL LEARN: What it means to start a long distance, long term relationship with a business partner Finding out what you both want in life, in the business, and with each other will help set the foundation for long-term success How owning our difference and uniqueness as a unique advantage and expertise Why women are still lacking access to capital and why it hasn’t changed over the decades How investing in women and diverse backgrounds is the best business arbitrage What the number 1 hazard is in startup failure and what you can do about it How to take stressful periods as formative and crucial years in business Why we should embrace our multi-dimensionality in order to do well as chief best friends RESOURCES FROM THIS EPISODE: Consumer Technology Association selects first two recipients of $10 million investment (press release) Bottle of lies: Inside the story of the generic drug boom by Katherine Eban (book) Read: In Defense of Jenny Schecter, The L Word Character You Love to Hate (After Ellen) Watch: Losing Sight of Shore (available on Netflix) Pocket’s TedX Talk: Use your difference to make an impact (video) SAY HI, CONNECT WITH SOGAL VENTURES! SoGal Ventures website SoGal on Twitter Pocket Sun on Instagram Elizabeth Galbut on Instagram ENJOYED THIS EPISODE? Leave a review and help others find us Let us know on Instagram

Welcome to Episode 82 of The VentureFizz Podcast, the flagship podcast from the leading authority for jobs & careers in the tech industry. For this episode of our podcast, I interviewed Elizabeth Galbut, Co-Founder and Managing Partner at SoGal Ventures. Elizabeth has founded two venture capital firms. While attending business school, she founded A-Level Capital, the first student-led VC firm powered by John Hopkins students. Her current firm, SoGal Ventures is the first female-led millennial VC firm. They focus on investing in diverse founding teams that are trying to solve major problems in the consumer or healthcare industry. Elizabeth and her Co-Founder & Partner, Pocket Sun, have invested in over 50 companies including EverlyWell, Function of Beauty, Little Spoon, and many more. In this episode of our podcast, we cover lots of topics, like: -Advice for founders on getting media attention. -Elizabeth's early professional background and the story of how A-Level Capital came to be. -What led her down the path of starting SoGal Ventures, as well as all the details behind the firm and what they are targeting for investments. -The importance of diversity in entrepreneurship. -How Elizabeth manages her time. -Plus, a lot more. Did you know that we have a weekly digest email that has all the “must know” information about the NY tech scene? It is one email a week that will keep you plugged in. Go to venturefizz.com/email to sign up. Lastly, if you like the show, please remember to subscribe to and review us on iTunes, or your podcast player of choice!

Episode 35 is on fire with Author, Speaker, Entrepreneur, and Director of Community at NextGen, Haley Hoffman Smith. Hayley brings a tremendous amount of insight into this episode and shares her early journey with starting a non-profit organization, writing books, and helping build a community of entrepreneurs.About Haley:Haley Hoffman Smith is the author of Her Big Idea, a book on creativity, ideation, and women's empowerment which debuted as a Top 3 Bestseller in Women & Business. She is a regular keynote speaker who recently spoke at Harvard, Yale, Microsoft, SoGal Ventures, and more. She has been featured in Forbes, Entrepreneur, and the Washington Examiner, and writes for Entrepreneur and Thrive Global. A recent Phi Beta Kappa graduate of Brown University, she wrote her honors thesis on how women develop their sense of self agency in entrepreneurship and venture capital. She is also the founder of the Her Big Idea Fund in partnership with Brown University's Nelson Center for Entrepreneurship, which awards grants to women who apply with BIG ideas. Having founded an international nonprofit for girls’ literacy and empowerment at age 18, she has harnessed her own self agency to surpass doubt surrounding her age and gender.She is the Director of Community for Next Gen Summit, the premier entrepreneurship community of 5,000+ members, and sincerely enjoys consulting and connecting with other entrepreneurs. She cares deeply about identifying and obliterating the limits women feel in the pursuit of their ventures, so they may live in their full power and create their own BIG ideas.Find Haley Online:Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/haleyhoffmansmith/Website: http://haleyhoffmansmith.comCouple shout-outs on the episode:New Degree Press where she worked with them to publish her book- https://www.newdegreepress.comLink to her book, Her Big Idea -> https://www.amazon.com/Her-Big-Idea-Genheration-Entrepreneurs-ebook/dp/B07DJY56PNBooks she'd recommend:Grit by Angela Duckworth - https://www.amazon.com/Grit-Passion-Perseverance-Angela-Duckworth-ebook/dp/B010MH9V3W/ref=sr_1_1?s=digital-text&ie=UTF8&qid=1546296992&sr=1-1&keywords=grit+angela+duckworthThe Creative Curve by Allen Gannett - https://www.amazon.com/Creative-Curve-Develop-Right-Idea-ebook/dp/B075PVQ99T/ref=sr_1_1?s=digital-text&ie=UTF8&qid=1546297026&sr=1-1&keywords=The+Creative+CurveFor more episodes of the Just Get Started Podcast or learn more about the host, Brian Ondrako, check out https://www.brianondrako.com or find Brian on Instagram at @brianondrakoLastly, intro music compliments of https://www.bensound.com/royalty-free-music – Thank you! See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

Natasha Nurse talks with Taarini Kaur Dang, a fourteen-year old (8th-grade) student in Silicon Valley. She is a Venture Fellow at SoGal Ventures, which is world’s first female millennial-led cross-border VC firm, investing in diverse startups. Taarini is the youngest person to win the Young American-Indian Award, which she received from the Indian Ambassador to the US Navtej Sarna, for her work in Entrepreneurship. She joins Our Voices to discuss her entrepreneurial journey at such a young age.

Natasha Nurse talks with Taarini Kaur Dang, a fourteen-year old (8th-grade) student in Silicon Valley. She is a Venture Fellow at SoGal Ventures, which is world’s first female millennial-led cross-border VC firm, investing in diverse startups. Taarini is the youngest person to win the Young American-Indian Award, which she received from the Indian Ambassador to the US Navtej Sarna, for her work in Entrepreneurship. She joins Our Voices to discuss her entrepreneurial journey at such a young age.

Elizabeth Galbut of SoGal Ventures joins Nick to discuss Better Diversity, Better Outcomes. In this episode, we cover: Her involvement in creating the first VC investment group at Johns Hopkins What the focus is at SoGal and why that creates their edge How she and her partner divide responsibilities How the establishment has reacted to her and her firm We talk about her experience as a design professor and how that impacts her approach she gives an example of a design-centric investment she discusses her thinking when evaluating an early stage business we review their dealflow and sourcing strategy and we wrap up w/ Elizabeth's advice for a younger version of herself if she had the opportunity to give it   To listen more, please visit http://fullratchet.net/podcast-episodes/ for all of our other episodes. Also, follow us on twitter @TheFullRatchet for updates and more information.

SoGal Ventures is the first female-led millennial venture capital firm. Founded by Elizabeth Galbut and Pocket Sun, SoGal aims to invest in diverse, inclusive, and female-led businesses. This disruptive VC firm is making an impact for female led companies (including SWAAY!), and the company values human-centered design and globally oriented business. Listen in to this episode to hear Elizabeth discuss what makes SoGal especially revolutionary and why now more than ever entrepreneurs have more control and power over who invests in their company. In SoGal's own words: Live, Work and Stay Healthy!

So, unless you’ve been living under a rock, it’s hard not to miss all the events, news, and general PR buzz about International Women’s Day that was recognised this month. Countries celebrate it in different ways. This year you would have heard about the Day Without Women in the US and many other western countries around the world such as Australia. It is an official holiday in a number of places including: Afghanistan, Armenia, Burkina Faso, Cambodia, Cuba, Georgia, Kazakhstan, Laos, Mongolia, Montenegro, Russia, Uganda, Vietnam. Zambia and in China & Nepal for women only. Many brands such as Nike and P&G  launch powerful ad campaigns, while companies around the world ranging from huge multinationals host an array of events, women’s breakfasts and conferences in recognition of the day.   If we move past all the marketing spin, is International Women’s Day still even important? Why do we still celebrate it? Is there an international men’s day? And, looking in to the future, what are the 6 things that we should be focussing on when it comes to gender equality. Let’s go back to the start for a minute or two. What is International Women's Day? And, is there an International Men's Day? Let’s start with Men’s Day - Is there an International Men's Day? Yes, it takes place on November 19 each year and is celebrated in 60 countries around the world. The objectives of the day include a focus on men's and boy's health, improving gender relations, promoting gender equality, and highlighting positive male role models. Now back to International Women’s Day - What is it? The Telegraph did a great short piece about this which I’ll link to in the show notes (http://www.telegraph.co.uk/women/life/international-womens-day-2017-did-start-important/) Basically, International Women’s Day (or IWD as it’s commonly referred to) is “a worldwide event that celebrates women’s achievements – from the political to the social – while calling for gender equality. It has been observed since the early 1900s and is now recognised each year on March 8. Is is not affiliated with any one group, but brings together governments, women's organisations, corporations and charities.” So, why is it still important? I think the best way to answer this question is to give you a few facts about the current situation of women in the world. Women make up more than two-thirds of the world's 796 million illiterate people. (UN Women) Only 22.8 per cent of all national parliamentarians were women as of June 2016, a slow increase from 11.3 per cent in 1995 (UN Women) As of January 2017, 10 women are serving as Head of State and 9 are serving as Head of Government (UN Women) It is estimated that 35 per cent of women worldwide have experienced either physical and/or sexual intimate partner violence or sexual violence by a non-partner at some point in their lives. However, some national studies show that up to 70 per cent of women have experienced physical and/or sexual violence from an intimate partner in their lifetime (UN Women) Worldwide, more than 700 million women alive today were married as children (below 18 years of age). Of those women, more than 1 in 3—or some 250 million—were married before 15. Child brides are often unable to effectively negotiate safe sex, leaving them vulnerable to early pregnancy as well as sexually transmitted infections, including HIV (UN Women) Around 120 million girls worldwide (slightly more than 1 in 10) have experienced forced intercourse or other forced sexual acts at some point in their lives. By far the most common perpetrators of sexual violence against girls are current or former husbands, partners or boyfriends (UN Women) At least 200 million women and girls alive today have undergone female genital mutilation/cutting in 30 countries, according to new estimates published on the United Nations’ International Day of Zero Tolerance for Female Genital Mutilation in 2016. In most of these countries, the majority of girls were cut before age 5. (UN Women) Adult women account for almost half of all human trafficking victims detected globally. Women and girls together account for about 70 per cent, with girls representing two out of every three child trafficking victims (UN Women) One in 10 women in the European Union report having experienced cyber-harassment since the age of 15 (including having received unwanted, offensive sexually explicit emails or SMS messages, or offensive, inappropriate advances on social networking sites). The risk is highest among young women between 18 and 29 years of age (UN Women) Evidence suggests that certain characteristics of women, such as sexual orientation, disability status or ethnicity, and some contextual factors, such as humanitarian crises, including conflict and post-conflict situations, may increase women’s vulnerability to violence (UN Women) Also, 34 per cent of women with a health problem or disability reported having experienced any physical or sexual violence by a partner in their lifetime, compared to 19 per cent of women without a health problem or disability, also based on data from the European Union (UN Women) Now we know what it is and why it's still important, what are the SIX things that we should focus on to accelerate gender equality? 1)     Accelerating Gender Equality for Women and The Environment The situation: Women, especially those in poverty, appear more vulnerable in the face of natural disasters. A recent study of 141 countries found that more women than men die from natural hazards. Where the socioeconomic status of women is high, men and women die in roughly equal numbers during and after natural disasters, whereas more women than men die (or die at a younger age) where the socioeconomic status of women is low. Women and children are more likely to die than men during disasters. (UN Women) "Similarly, in industrialized countries, more women than men died during the 2003 European heat wave. During Hurricane Katrina in the USA, African-American women who were the poorest population in that part of the country faced the greatest obstacles to survival" (IUCN Global Gender Office) Women and children bear the main negative impacts of fuel and water collection and transport, with women in many developing countries spending from 1 to 4 hours a day collecting biomass for fuel. A study of time and water poverty in 25 sub-Saharan African countries estimated that women spend at least 16 million hours a day collecting drinking water; men spend 6 million hours; and children, 4 million hours. Gender gaps in domestic and household work, including time spent obtaining water and fuel and processing food, are intensified in contexts of economic crisis, environmental degradation, natural disasters, and inadequate infrastructure and services (UN Women) So, gender equality goes hand in hand with climate solutions and that makes movements like 1 Million Women are super important and extremely relevant right now. They are a movement of 600,000+ women and girls (and growing everyday) who are pioneers in the gender and climate change arena in Australia and around the world. Climate solutions have to move past world leaders arguing about the proven science and for everyone to take control. Yes, the reality is that we need strong leadership and big decisions to be made now. And this can only happen when we all make it a priority so organisations like 1 Million Women aim for all of us all to be living a low-carbon lifestyle by inspiring 1 million women to take practical action on climate change in their everyday lives to cut carbon dioxide (CO2), the main greenhouse pollutant leading to climate change. According to them, if 1 million women all cut 1 tonne each of carbon pollution, it would equal to 1 million tonnes of carbon dioxide. This is the equivalent of growing a new forest of 5 million trees. They provide resources to guide you through ways to live a low-carbon life and cut C02 in the process, and ask you to kick-start your low-carbon life by making a personal goal to cut a minimum of 1 tonne of CO2 pollution from your daily life within a year. It's an easy way to educated start taking action so I suggest you check them out at http://www.1millionwomen.com.au as a first step. “Climate change responses cannot be effective unless they are gender aware, taking into consideration the different needs of women and men, the inequalities that compound the impacts of climate change for women and the specific knowledge women and men can contribute to solutions” (1 Million Women) If you want some further reading about climate solutions, Project Drawdown will be available from the 18th April which maps, models, and describes the 100 most substantive solutions to global warming. For each solution, they describe its history, the carbon impact it provides, the relative cost and savings, the path to adoption, and how it works. The goal of the research that informs Drawdown is to determine if we can reverse the buildup of atmospheric carbon within thirty years. All solutions modeled are already in place, well understood, analyzed based on peer-reviewed science, and are expanding around the world. So if you had any doubt about the solutions to climate change being available, this is proof that we already have everything that we need to make a difference. 2) Accelerating Gender Equality by Creating Access to Finance for Women The situation: The IFC has estimated that worldwide, a $300 billion gap in financing exists for formal, women-owned small businesses, and more than 70 percent of women-owned small and medium enterprises have inadequate or no access to financial services. Without access to finance, women face difficulties in collecting and saving income, growing their businesses, and pulling their families out of poverty. As a result, women remain largely excluded from the formal economy.  So to recognise International Women’s Day, I decided to make 2 loans to women micro-entrepreneurs in the Philippines through Kiva. And wow – what an impact Kiva made that day! They had a goal to lend $3 million USD to women on Kiva in one week, and not only exceeded it, but DOUBLED it! It was the biggest day for lending in Kiva’s 11 year history and as a result 16,473 women around the world are one step closer to following their dreams of starting or growing a business, going to school and investing in a better future for themselves, their children and their communities. The situation: Lack of access to finance affects women in other parts of the world too. According to Fortune, a 2015 study found that 92% of senior investment teams at top venture capital firms are male. Additionally, fewer female founders – 8% in 2015 compared to 16% in 2014 – received Series A funding in the Bay Area last year. And that’s why when I met Pocket Sun, co-founder of SOGAL Ventures, I knew she was on to something big. As the first female-led millennial venture capital firm, according to them, they are redefining the next generation of diverse founders and funders. Although female-led, they don’t just invest in women entrepreneurs, but changing the status quo and adding diversity to the mix is powerful. As Pocket puts it: “SoGal is all about changing the power dynamics in business and entrepreneurship. This power dynamic is not going to change unless women are sitting on the other side of the table and signing cheques.” 3)     Accelerating Gender Equality for Women in the Workforce The situation: Women’s economic equality is good for business. Companies greatly benefit from increasing leadership opportunities for women, which is shown to increase organizational effectiveness. It is estimated that companies with three or more women in senior management functions score higher in all dimensions of organizational effectiveness (UN Women) 71% of employers who said they had adopted diversity practices said these were having a positive impact on their recruitment efforts (PwC 2017 Report on Winning Female Talent) 86% of millennial women and 76% of millennial men think that an employer's policy on diversity, equality and workforce inclusion is important when they decide whether or not they should work for them (PwC 2015 Report on The Female Millennial)  In the United States, companies in the top quartile for racial and ethnic diversity are 35 percent more likely to have financial returns above their respective national industry medians. And, companies in the top quartile for gender diversity are 15 percent more likely to have financial returns above their respective national industry medians. (McKinsey 2016 Diversity Matters Report) That’s why when companies take this seriously, they can create huge impact. In April 2015, Salesforce Founder and CEO, Marc Benioff announced that the company would be taking a look at equal pay within their business. On International Women’s Day 2016 they announced their results. Their assessment showed that they needed to adjust some salaries—for both men and women. Approximately six percent of employees required a salary adjustment, and roughly the same number of women and men were impacted. Salesforce spent nearly $3 million dollars to eliminate statistically significant differences in pay. Wow. Salesforce also increased access to advancement opportunities through their High-Potential Leadership Program, which is designed to provide leadership skills to advance women in the workplace. The program has led to a 33 percent increase in the number of women who were promoted last year. In the last year, Salesforce increased parental leave to 12 weeks off at 80% of total pay. The company also introduced a new gradual return program which offers new parents the flexibility to work reduced hours for the first four consecutive weeks of returning to work, at full pay. The gender pay gap is widely discussed amongst businesses. But how many actually stop, acknowledge there might be an issue and then go on to audit their entire workforce? In the case of Salesforce, this was 17,000 strong. And, in the case of Salesforce, it’s men that benefitted from this exercise too.   4)     Accelerating Gender Equality by Educating Women  The situation according to UN Women: Women make up more than two-thirds of the world's 796 million illiterate people.  According to global statistics, just 39 percent of rural girls attend secondary school. This is far fewer than rural boys (45 percent), urban girls (59 percent) and urban boys (60 percent).  But, this doesn’t have to be the case. Every additional year of primary school increases girls' eventual wages by 10-20 percent. It also encourages them to marry later and have fewer children, and leaves them less vulnerable to violence. (UN Women) Increasing women and girls’ education contributes to higher economic growth.  5)     Accelerating Gender Equality by Ending Violence Against Women The situation according to UN Women: 35 per cent of women have experienced physical and/or sexual violence in their lifetime. Globally, 47 per cent of murders of women are committed by an intimate partner or family member, compared to less than 6 per cent of murders of men.  Women represent 55 per cent of victims of forced labour and 98 per cent of the victims of sexual exploitation.  Globally, an estimated 200 million women and girls have undergone FGM in 30 countries and 700 million were married as children (250 million before the age of 15).  What does this all mean? Apart from the fact that violence of any kind is horrific, it results in a HUGE economic cost to society. According to the OECD estimates suggest that “discriminatory social institutions – including violence against women – cost the global economy approximately 12 trillion US dollars a year. So while it is critical to put in place laws, budgets and plans to transform discriminatory social norms, we also need to empower women and girls, men and boys, to challenge – and change – these norms”. Examples of this by UN Women include: In India women can lose an average of at least five paid work days for each incident of intimate partner violence. This fact would mean the affected woman would get 25 per cent less of her salary each time an incident of violence happens. In Uganda, about nine per cent of violent incidents forced women to lose time from paid work, amounting to approximately 11 days a year, equivalent to half a month’s salary, affecting not only the incumbent person but her family and dependents. Also, research shows for example that women who are exposed to intimate partner violence are employed in higher numbers in casual and part-time work, and their earnings are 60 per cent lower, compared to women who do not experience such violence. Annual costs of intimate partner violence were calculated at $5.8 billion in the United States of America and $1.16 billion in Canada. In Australia, violence against women and children costs an estimated $11.38 billion per year. Domestic violence alone costs approximately $32.9 billion in England and Wales.   The Secretary General of the OECD adds that “across the 160 countries included in SIGI ( Social Institutions and Gender Index), one in three women agrees that domestic violence is justified; in some countries, these acceptance rates climb close to 90%. How can we even begin to tackle violence if women believe it can be justified” First responders are vitally important in dealing with the consequences of violence against women, but ultimately empowering women through education, increased leadership and economic opportunities, as well as access to finance are key in changing societal norms. One of the guests in an upcoming episode on the podcast said to me that we can end violence in one generation - we only need one generation to grow up without any violence to change this. That will forever stay with me. 6)     Accelerating Gender Equality by Advancing Women in Leadership Gender differences in laws affect both developing and developed economies, and women in all regions. According to UN Women (http://www.unwomen.org/en/what-we-do/leadership-and-political-participation/facts-and-figures) “90 per cent of 143 economies studied have at least one legal difference restricting women’s economic opportunities. Of those, 79 economies have laws that restrict the types of jobs that women can do. And husbands can object to their wives working and prevent them from accepting jobs in 15 economies”. The fact is, the more women that are represented in leadership positions around the world, the fast gender equality will become a reality. The World Economic Forum predicts that at the current rate of progress, the gender gap won't close entirely until 2186  If you’re happy waiting for almost another 170 years, then don’t bother doing anything more than you’re already doing. But if you see the economic, social, environmental and political reasons why closing this gap is important, then you need to start doing something about it now. You can start with education. Educate yourself more about this issue and talk to others about it too. In your circle of influence you can choose any one of the above areas that I’ve chosen to highlight and do something about it. Whether it’s joining the 1 million women pledge, funding micro-entrepreneurs around the world, working in your business to promote diversity or, speaking up when the societal norms that permeate a culture of violence against women rears it’s ugly head. You don’t have to wait - you can do something now. If you like what you’re hearing with this podcast, I'd love it if you could let me know what you think by subscribing, rating & reviewing the episodes. We all know that awareness is the first step to creating change so, don’t forget to share your favourite episode with your friends too! One more thing, if you'd like to stay in touch, check out the Doing Good Podcast on social media - I'd love to interact with you and hear your thoughts and ideas. Happy International Women’s Day!

Elizabeth Galbut (SoGal Ventures co-founder) and I discuss entrepreneurship, venture capital, women empowerment, gender equality, and startup investing. In high-school, Elizabeth had perfect math SAT scores. And she was a mathlete. Yet not a single person in her network – including guidance counselors – suggested she pursue a degree in engineering or computer science. Why?… Read More » The post AD 006 : Elizabeth Galbut: SoGal Ventures, Entrepreneurship, and Women Empowerment – Her Incredible Mission to Make a Difference appeared first on Anthony's Desk.

Pocket is the Founding Partner of SoGal Ventures. Her mission is to close the diversity gap in entrepreneurship within our generation. With that in mind, she founded SoGal, a global community influencing 50,000 diverse entrepreneurs and investors in 20+ countries. We empower, inspire and connect entrepreneurial minds with high-impact communities, digital media, funding resources, networking, and startup advisory. Pocket was Forbes 2016 30 Under 30 Asia in Venture Capital & Finance and LinkedIn 2015 Top Voices in VC & Entrepreneurship. She has been featured in Forbes, Harper's BAZAAR, BBC World News, The Huffington Post, Inc., The Straits Times, Channel News Asia, The Business Times, Next Shark, e27, DBS Treasures campaign, East West Bank, CLEO Magazine etc and is a Tedx and keynote speaker.

Elizabeth Galbut is a Founding Partner @ Sogal Ventures, the first female led cross border venture capital firm and Prior to finishing business school, she founded A-Level Capital, the first student-led venture capital firm powered by Johns Hopkins students. Before graduate school, Elizabeth was a strategy & operations consultant at Deloitte Consulting focusing on large healthcare clients. Outside of her client-facing work, she contributed to business development efforts that led to over $200M of new work. If you love the show today then you can head over to syndicateroom.com and see all the previous episodes as well as accompanying angel articles and resources but for now I am delighted to hand over to Elizabeth Galbut, Founding Partner @ Sogal Ventures. In Today’s Show We Discuss: How Elizabeth made her way into the investing world? How Elizabeth looks to establish pattern recognition as a recent entrant to the VC community? What does Elizabeth look for in her co-investors? What does Elizabeth’s diligence process look life for prospective investments? How do this differ from deal to deal? What was the hardest element in establishing SoGal Ventures? What would Elizabeth most like to change about the early stage investing world? Learn more about SyndicateRoom: www.syndicateroom.com

In this edition of the Storytime Friday podcast, Lee Schneider reads a chapter from his upcoming book, Inside the the Mind of Your Angel Investor. The chapter contains material from an interview he did with Pocket Sun, co-founder of SoGal Ventures, the first female-led Millennial venture capital group.

My guest today is Elizabeth Galbut ( https://twitter.com/design4innov8 ) , one of the founding partners of SoGal Ventures ( http://www.sogalventures.com/ ). SoGal Ventures is the is the first female-led, next generation venture capital firm. In this episode we discuss how Elizabeth's interests led to thinking about consumer innovation, how she started a fund, the biggest arbitrage opportunity of her lifetime, and managing a two person global fund. Without further ado, here's Elizabeth. Some of the questions I ask Elizabeth: * You were originally in healthcare. What prompted you to make this transition to become a venture capitalist? * How did SoGal Ventures come about? What's your typical check size * I know Pocket is located in Asia, you're located in the United States and you are a two GP, how do you think about where to focus on investing since you are quite global and have a small team? * Walk me through your due diligence process * What categories do you spend the most time on? How do you analyze categories * What has to stand out when you talk to founders? * I know part of your focus is looking at products that serve the upcoming generation. What are you most surprised by Gen Z? * What's one thing you would change about venture capital? * What's one book that inspired you personally and one book that inspired you professionally? * What's the best piece of advice that you've received? * What's one piece of advice for founders?