I’m having an allergic reaction to all the glossy playbooks and dry market outlooks.

Startups are freakishly hard. We haven’t talked about that enough during the hype market. We’re STILL not talking about it.

The reality of building something from nothing is that it often involves a string of near-death experiences and high-stakes moments. It’s not all up and to the right. There are moments that really matter, punctuated by anxiety, long odds and leadership juggling acts, when the fate of the company hangs in the balance.

Hard to describe but if you’re a startup founder or operator, you know the feeling — or you soon will. It’s like walking a tightrope with no safety net. A high-wire act.

In 2023 we will see more startups face these moments. That’s normal. It’s why startups are not for the faint of heart. But I feel compelled to acknowledge the struggle because we don’t observe it in public, these are quiet battles. Founders don’t want to show how dire or stressful it is (rightfully so). Operators are too heads down to air it out. It’s under the surface.

Whether you face your high-wire act in 2023 or in the future, I’d like to offer some advice. I hope it helps a little.

Note, this isn’t VC advice. It’s what I’ve learned from 5 startups and facing many of these moments as an operator. Here we go.

When stakes are high and options are few:

The do-or-die startup moments typically fall into one of 2 situations.

Most come down to getting a deal done. This could be a key customer contract, an M&A transaction or a fundraise. It could be a competitive government RFP or signing a critical commercial partner. One way or another, the high wire act requires getting a deal done, typically on a short fuse.

The other situation, which is common at early stage, is high-wire execution on a key product and resulting traction, knowing there’s no engineering time do-overs. You gotta SHIP.

There’s plenty of other anxiety inducing moments in startups but I find that the intense nail-biters are usually one of these two scenarios. Close a deal. Or ship a product. Under impossible constraints and while trying to keep a team focused and motivated.

It’s called a high-wire act for a reason.

10 things to remember during a high-wire act:

1. Lead fearlessly, with trust-building in mind. This is the time to provide clarity to your team and explain what is at stake. Showcase how you are creating options, making decisions and playing for the benefit of the team. The worst thing you can do is pretend that it’s all rosy when the team can read your anxiety. Startup teams are resilient but they expect to be in the loop, it’s a start up after all. Make sure your team has enough business and situational context, they don’t need to agree but they do need to understand. No one wants to follow a leader that hides the ball.
2. Transparency is laudable but not always possible. You might be working on an M&A transaction or strategic partnership that requires confidentiality, it’s the nature of a deal process. There are moments when you cannot be fully transparent and you don’t want that to be seen by the team as a betrayal or obfuscation. Try to thread the needle. Give the context you can, outline the constraints and “what if’s”. Invite questions but don’t play favorites with information and people based on personal affiliations. Protect the process.
3. Build an inner circle you can trust. There are times when the people you need to get it done aren’t necessarily the OGs or the most senior people in the room. When the stakes are high, you’ll need a fellowship-of-the-ring moment to rally the right team. Pick individuals you can trust. Truth seekers who will serve as an objective sounding board. Grounded leaders that will respect confidentiality and put the company first. Principled leaders that will see things through to the highest standards.
4. Deals take time. Whether it’s a partnership, M&A exit or long sales cycle, it takes about 6–12 mo to get a meaningful transaction done. It’s a rare and very fortunate situation when both parties are so motivated that it gets done in a few weeks or months. Be realistic about the timeline and manage it closely with respect to the runway.
5. Time kills all deals. The opposite is also true. Deals sag when things take too long, so won’t be too patient. Market conditions can shift. Companies can change priorities. Champions could lose their nerve. Pacing and momentum is critical. To get a deal done, keep up the urgency level, create forcing functions along the way and strengthen interpersonal commitment. Whatever you do, don’t let legal hijack the process and derail it. Keep it moving because any deal that isn’t clearly progressing is default dead.
6. The last 20% of any deal is the hardest. You’ve talked terms and ready to paper it, this seems like the home stretch but this is where deals take on an endurance sport like quality. The slog of final negotiations, reviews up & down the chain and the vibe of the legal interactions can all make the last 20% of the process quite complex and exhausting. Expect and anticipate the 11th hour surprises and persevere. Work harder and smarter than the other side to figure out how it gets done.
7. Crank up the intensity and energy. Don’t be afraid to push your teams to the limit. It’s counterintuitive but if you’ve hired well, you have people who would rather give it their all than face defeat. And they’ll resent you if you deprive them of the opportunity to do that. Simply ask your team to step up (in concrete, actionable ways) and you’ll be shocked at what they can do. Quite likely that you’ll unlock a new level of execution you didn’t even know was possible. The thrill of doing hard things and taking full ownership brings out the best.
8. Emotionally self-regulate, it’s your job. When you are under crushing pressure, you can’t let the cracks show too much. Teams rarely do their best work when they are dealing with the emotional outbursts of their leaders. It’s a distraction. Find a way to self-regulate by setting an intention for how you want to show up and using healthy habits to reset (e.g. walk around the block, help someone else). Self-coaching is key.
9. Leave it all on the dance floor. Don’t let pride or clinging to status get in the way of going that extra inch that could make the difference. Set the ego aside and just get the result. Ask your teams to do the same. You’ll never regret trying your best to walk that tightrope and your people will respect the heck out of you for it.
10. Never sacrifice your integrity. Don’t lie. Don’t cheat. Don’t put anyone else into an embarrassing situation. Great leaders find a way without.

One more thing for Founders, there might come a time when your incentives diverge from investors or the team. Own that. Do your best to give everyone a win. It’s all part of the game.

You can find me on Twitter @annbordetsky or subscribe to my substack. Drop me a line to let me know any feedback or thoughts from this post.

Disclaimer: Views and opinions here are my own.

As we kick off 2023, it’s tempting to focus only on what is changing in start-up land. What’s different, what’s new, what’s next?

There’s a flurry of market outlooks, tech trends and annual predictions. We get to work inside this magical cauldron of disruption. Whether it’s done by us (innovation) or to us (market reset, ugh) there is always change in store. It’s not often that we ask what stays the same.

I am reminded of this wonderful and wise quote from Jeff Bezos.

“I do get asked, quite frequently: ‘what’s gonna change in the next 10 years?’ I rarely get asked, and it’s probably more important — and I encourage you to think about this — is the question what’s not going to change? The answer to that question can allow you to organize your activities. You can work on those things with the confidence to know that all the energy you put into them today is still going to pay dividends in the years to come.” — Jeff Bezos

He is talking about commerce of course but his remark resonates in leadership, company build and venture.

Yes, 2022 was a bruiser. It brought a dramatic reversal in the venture fundraising environment, a major public market correction and whiplash in post-pandemic consumer and corporate behavior. And we’re not even done yet. This year we’ll see the ripple effects flowing through, with more tech layoffs and a culling of startup fates and fortunes (i.e. tough fundraising, down rounds and the one thing no one talks about…shut downs). It’s an uncomfortable time.

In a moment of flux, it’s worth considering what will not change that we can lean into with confidence.

• What are the enduring forces that drive startup success
• What are the founder qualities that rise to the top
• What are the long-term innovation frontiers

Constant #1.

The market can’t kill you if it’s working.

Amidst the frothy market, the orientation of startups got warped (valuation hype over traction) but the fundamentals didn’t actually change.

• Startups are ultimately an exercise in building enduring companies.
• Companies that get to escape velocity, scale and endure are ones that build up market power and competitive advantage, deliberately and consistently over many years (through product, biz model, brand).
• Hype and frothy valuations don’t mean much. Intense customer pull and talent arbitrage is what counts, and you need both to build.
• If the bar seems high now, it’s worth remembering it was always this high for customers (even if not some investors). On the one hand, it’s never been easier to build but it’s never been harder to build a truly magical, 10x better product. A product that occupies a permanent place in people’s lives. But that’s the game, it’s not supposed to be easy.
• Scaling efficiently and managing talent to peak performance, i.e. making the most of your resources, is critical and never went out of style. CEOs that know this do spectacularly well in any market.
• True validation comes from customers, not investors or tech headlines. Venture is a catalyst and going for higher valuations is like cranking up the speed and incline on the treadmill at the same time. A winning product and ability to generate cash flow is what creates options.
• Venture underwrites future growth, big outcomes and L-T founder potential, not incremental progress. It usually comes with a multi-year personal commitment to the board / team. This level of conviction requires deep and detailed diligence from investors and that’s fair.

Startups are indeed serious and humbling work. That just doesn’t change. It’s also fun and the most energizing and creative endeavor out there!

Constant #2. Founders and teams with the right orientation tend to outperform, regardless of market conditions. We will see certain founder qualities propel companies through this time. Survive and thrive. Here’s a few that separate leaders from the pack:

• Discipline and business acumen beyond storytelling and vision.
• Clear-headed, truth-seeking decision making and judgment.
• “Long-term greedy” mindset in fundraising, team building, investor relationships and validation (it’s the ultimate marshmallow test).
• Relentless drive to win your space and ability to see paths to sprint past competitors (especially when to play offense vs. defense).
• Leadership and communication quality that earns trust, credibility and loyalty with customers and employees (it happens OFF twitter).
• Resourceful. Resourceful. Resourceful. Or as the saying goes — if you can’t go through the door, go through the window.
• Willingness to ask for help and solicit constructive feedback. Harder times require more vulnerability and self-management, not less.

In many ways, it’s easier for serious builders to stand out in 2023. Resilient, pragmatic and high-integrity founders will get rewarded in this time.

Constant #3. Trends shift but innovation frontiers unfold over many years. Incumbents wane but it takes years and decades. Timing is everything.

The question every investor is asking is what’s the new, new thing? What emerging tech can power companies into existence?

We just had virtual and remote work. Virtual learning. Crypto and decentralized web3. Digitization accelerated in nearly every industry. We’ve seen many fits and starts in the last 3 years, so I go back to Bezos’ quote on tuning into the things that are not going to change.

With that in mind, here’s a few of the innovation arenas that I’m paying attention to in 2023 and beyond:

Generative AI is having a Cambrian moment but broadly we are on an inevitable march of AI powering the next generation of software, mobile apps and human activity. We will see this transition in next 5 years.

Mobile brought us frictionless connection, creativity and commerce but that unfolded over a series of accelerating events along the way. We’ll see something similar with AI and it’s already under way. AI in software isn’t new (TikTok ahem) but the latest generative AI is a big step-function improvement. With each step, we will unlock new applications and reimagine familiar use cases. Here’s some things that are coming:

• Ubiquitous personalization in search, media, learning, commerce
• Synthetic, endless media and entertainment content, on demand
• New formats for self-expression and curated identities online
• Acceleration of independent work as creatives and skilled knowledge workers gain productivity superpowers with AI assistants and tooling
• Conversational AI that can be not just utilitarian (order me a pizza) but fulfill social emotional needs, like friendship and chit chat
• Recreating memories, people and moments from our past, a kind of easily retrievable individual memory bank (time machine?)
• Weird and wonderful new stuff we can’t imagine at the moment

There will also be massive productivity gains and automation benefits in Enterprise applications but it will be a race of startup vs. incumbent. SaaS majors are embedding AI and taking a big slice of the opportunity.

The most exciting, culture-altering uses of AI will be in Consumer first, I can’t wait!

Gen Z wants its own stuff and big categories are up for grabs.

Generational turnover is inevitable in tech (remember Yahoo?) and it is starting to manifest as Gen Z influences consumer and workplace culture. For Gen Z the 90’s and 2000’s are vintage, gasp! Enduring consumer needs that get reimagined for Gen Z:

• Communication and connection: social, dating, self-expression
• Commerce and lifestyle: conscious consumption, re-commerce, nomadic life, live shopping, and the proliferation of digital goods
• Careers: independent work, social learning, professional networks
• Entertainment: TikTok is winning but more will happen in gaming, media, immersive AR (Apple launching their headset in 2023?)
• Financial health and wealth for digital natives

Long arc of digitization and decarbonization in industry

I can’t do it justice here as this is a broad swathe of activity and I only look at a sliver of it, but I’ll note a few areas of opportunity:

• B2B marketplaces and commerce platforms
• Decarbonization software and business intelligence for enterprises
• Vertical SaaS for overlooked sectors (think boring but essentail)

Now, VCs definitely do not predict the future. Founders envision it, craft it and show us the way. We just try to keep up and strap some booster rockets on at the right time. 🚀

If you want to get in touch, check out my user manual and you can reach me at abordetsky@nea.com.

Disclaimer: The opinions expressed here are my own and do not represent NEA. They were not generated or edited by an AI, though I did wonder if it would do a better job than me.

It’s been an intense year-end in venture too. Fundraising bonanza, the web3 tidal wave, new funds on the scene and a red hot talent market. With the number of fundraising rounds already teed up for Q1 ’22 and the influx of venture capital in the ecosystem I expect 2022 will be just as fast-paced as 2021 but I will spare you the hyperbolic VC twitter takes here.

Instead, I asked 10 trailblazing GPs that I deeply respect and admire to share their perspective for 2022.

• What tech trends inspire them? What’s top of mind for investment?
• What are they having fun with and want to dive into in 2022?
• How is the future of work shaping up?
• What’s next in VC ecosystem?

The GPs below are some of the most thoughtful, influential, quietly badass and awesome-human VCs in the industry today, leading and building seed stage funds. Read their perspectives below.

(Founders, you want these GPs on your cap table and in your corner.)

Deena Shakir

Partner at Lux Capital

“I am super excited about the investor and innovator appetite for technologies advancing health equity. From maternal to mental health, Medicaid to Medicare, there has never been a more urgent time to build for and with the communities that need it most.”

Deena Shakir

Sarah Smith

Partner, Bain Capital Ventures

“With prosumer venture fund admin tools from Angellist, Carta, and Sydecar, the proliferation of solo capitalists and super angels will continue. Founders are also giving up less ownership per round creating intense competition for lead and angel checks forcing all VCs to be even crisper (and referenceable) about their differentiated “value-add”. I expect the most interesting seed rounds will be done with no single lead and instead a dozen powerhouse super angels and solo VCs.”

“I’m inspired watching the adoption curve of Web3 play out with the latest wave of NFT ownership as a form of identity and attracting a diverse customer base. I love collections released by artists (Clone X, Robotos) and celebrating diverse women (World of Women, Crypto Coven, Women and Weapons).”

Sarah Smith

Lan Xuezhao

Founder & Managing Partner, BasisSet Ventures

“I’m personally very excited about digging into and investing in all kinds of infrastructure transformations (e.g. developer infra, commerce infra, fintech infra, manufacturing infra) anywhere in the world (e.g. U.S. Southeast Asia, LatAm). Infrastructure revamps every several years now and companies working on these are getting bigger and faster than ever.”

Lan Xuezhao

Sierra Peterson

Founder & Managing Partner, Voyager Ventures

“What inspires me for 2022 is the recognition of both the urgency and financial opportunity in systemic decarbonization! Climate tech is a community of fellow travelers, and I’m delighted that so many incredible people are joining the movement.”

Sierra Peterson

Elizabeth Weil

Founder & GP, Scribble Ventures

“A trend I’m watching closely is the unprecedented explosion of entrepreneurship in the U.S. Though the upswings in tech pre-pandemic might lead you to believe there were more startups than ever before, for years the rate of new business formation was actually declining. But the pandemic appears to have reversed that trend in 2020, and in Q3 this year, nearly 1.4 million new business applications were filed — the most through Q3 of any year on record. Now we’re seeing a new generation of creators enter the economy at the dawn of Web3, NFTs, cultural acceptance of remote work, and the technology infrastructure to support it. And as young children observe their parents starting more new companies than ever, I expect we’re at the beginning of a long wave of new technologies and new entrepreneurs to invent them. The future of work in 2025 and beyond will be marked by more entrepreneurs, and more startups, than ever before. (So perhaps the explosion of new VC funds will prove to not be “frothy” after all.)”

Elizabeth Weil

Jennifer Neundorfer

Founder & GP, January Ventures

Gen Z creators’ side hustles are here to stay — in fact, they’re redefining the very nature of SMBs. I think 2022 will be the year the software tooling finally catches up to help these creators grow and scale their businesses in the unique way they are building them — decentralized teams, distributed from the start, community-based decision making and revenue models, token-centric vs. fiat first. These changes make traditional SMB software solutions obsolete, and I’m excited to see the next-gen solutions that emerge to help Gen Z creators launch, scale, and manage their businesses.

Jennifer Neundorfer

Sara Adler

Founder & GP, Wave Capital

“There are so many options for founders when it comes to venture funding (crossover funds coming downstream, rapid pace of new funds being raised, solo capitalists etc). Going into 2022, the venture landscape will continue to turn into a barbell with mega-billion dollar funds on one end and small specialists at the other. Good news for founders!”

Sara Adler

Julia Lipton

Founder & GP, Awesome People Ventures

On VC trends — “Angels are crowding out VCs forcing VCs to rethink their models. Growth funds are investing earlier and ballooning companies’ valuations. I fear founders who are pre-product-market-fit, with huge valuations, will be in for a rude awakening in 2022.”

On Future of Work — “The traditional 9–5 is dying. Web3 is unlocking the next phase of the creator and passion economy. A year ago we didn’t have full-time DAO contributors, NFT traders, and chief meme officers. By 2025, people will be able to easily contribute and earn across project and roles.”

On what’s next — “I’m inspired by how decentralized networks can unlock human potential and new technologies. In 2022, I’ll continue to dive into DAOs, protocols, and Web3 products with strong UX.”

Julia Lipton

Cristina Cordova

Angel Investor & Advisor to Fintech, DevTools, SaaS startups (bio)

“Developer & Productivity Tools: I’m inspired by the tools that enable builders to focus on getting their best work done. One of the aspects I loved so much about Stripe is how we we enabled developers who didn’t want to bother with payments to integrate quickly and get back to work on their core product. There are a number of products across productivity, security, compliance and recruiting/HR that ensure we can all avoid the trap of building every tool or feature in-house and spending far too long reinventing the wheel. I love when companies can build tools that are far better than what someone built as a side project internally and is now languishing in maintenance mode. It also makes you realize how much more productive we can become when we have the right tools from a team dedicated to iteration and innovation.”

Cristina Cordova

Sara Deshpande

Partner, Maven Ventures

“We all kept holding our breath in 2021 waiting for things to go “back to normal”… and I hate to say it but that normal ain’t coming. There is an incredible volume of great startups and fundraises move fast, so I think VCs need to continue to build their own path to conviction. One way I am doing that is identifying themes and sectors where we can move quickly with conviction. For me that is consumer applications of Web3, the future of digital health and personalized medicine, family tech, and founders solving major pain points for consumers where there’s an opportunity to achieve hypergrowth.

We’ll see new breakout companies building for families. Parents have been crushed by the pandemic and there are so many new ideas percolating to help them thrive as people, parents, and employees. Future of families tech is coming in a big way!

I ended the year minting my first few NFTs and am excited to see more women building, founding, and investing in web3. I see a lot more of that coming for me in 2022!”

Sara Deshpande

Now, I want to share what inspires me heading into 2022.

We are living through a perfect storm of disruption that will create a more global, diverse, decentralized and creative tech ecosystem than ever before. REALLY! We have 5 major trends converging that make this possible — rapid digitization of traditional industries, distributed tech cities, globalization via remote work, web3 frontier and increasingly more diverse investor base. For the independent thinkers and avid builders out there, this is your time. Soon, we will all be a glad we’re not stuck in industry status quo of 2019!

With a few days left in 2021, I’m signing off to enjoy precious time with kids and grandparents and recharge personally.

Wishing you a rewarding and joyful 2022!

When I made the leap from operating into venture earlier this year, I made a commitment to be as transparent as I can about how I operate as a VC.

First off, transparency is what I would offer if I were still an exec. I’m an open book when it comes to how I make decisions, how I hire, what I expect from my team, etc. I try to own and communicate my side of the equation.

More importantly, founders deserve transparency! After all, it’s what we ask of you — share your strategy, insights, plans for building your company.

After getting a pointed question on this recently, I realized that I have a pretty consistent “scorecard” in my head (really just a set of questions and signals) that I mentally go through when getting to know founders. It’s informed by a decade of experience evaluating talent for hiring, studying different leadership styles and CEO personalities and being genuinely curious about what drives outliers to beat the odds.

This goes hand-in-hand with evaluating the product and opportunity space, but for the person leading it all, here’s what I look for and try to get signal on:

• Motivation — What is driving the founder to build and create? Is there an intense interest, passion or deep personal reason for pursuing the particular problem? It’s not scientific but I want to see fire in the belly, whether its mission or personal conviction. The ‘why’ matters.
• Curiosity — Is this someone who is open to new data? Is this someone who is interested in others’ perspectives and able to engage with different views? Does the founder seek to understand their customers, partners?
• Growth mindset — Do they have high velocity of learning and a voracious appetite for personal growth? How fast does the founder up-level their knowledge base, skillset? Are they open to feedback and coaching?
• Command of the facts — Is the founder well versed in the problem space and/or do they have clarity on the opportunity ahead? It’s not about knowing everything but about demonstrating that they are in command of what is known and unknown, without overselling.
• Grit and hustle — I probably over-index for this one. In the startup trenches you can’t survive without resilience, grit and walk-through-walls problem solving abilities, plus high velocity execution. Has the founder demonstrated grit through prior work or lived experience? Have they shown resourcefulness or scrappiness? Do they have a knack for breaking down barriers and moving fast as a team?
• Unique insight —Some people just see the world differently or see things the rest of us don’t see at all. I’m interested in what is the “secret” that the founder knows that no one else does, what’s their unique perspective? It could be the problem space or a future trend or a new product angle, etc. Founders aren’t always able to articulate this explicitly (perhaps because it’s obvious to them?) but it shows up in the product and narrative.
• Unfair advantage — What is the unique superpower that the founder brings to the table? It could be functional expertise (product + UX), industry experience, deep customer networks, creative vision, or something else. If there’s 5 copycats tomorrow, why does this person win?
• Integrity — Hard to assess in the moment but easy to evaluate in backchannel references. Is this a trustworthy individual? Do they treat others with respect? (by the way, you can be an aggressive, charismatic, founder that is also respectful, those are not mutually exclusive)
• Magnetism — This one is stylistic and tricky to evaluate but…a founder does have to be able to get others to join the cause. Can they attract talent with their charisma, vision, zeal or professional credibility?

When someone shows up strong on these, it makes me want to RUN to work with them. Founder and founding team potential is a key factor in early stage investment decisions and frankly sometimes it’s the only one that matters.

With these signals, you can see how a first-time founder early in their career might have a totally different set of strengths than a senior exec or second time founder. It’s more art than science evaluating how these factors add up.

Note, I did NOT talk about pedigree or personality type or company logos.

Holding a fancy degree or having a big title is not a prerequisite, neither is being an extravert or living in Silicon Valley. Certainly relevant experience and networks matter on the startup journey (hence “unfair advantage”) but lazy pattern matching is a bad recipe for investing.

Venture is a people bets business. We bet on specific individuals to design new products, construct teams and then execute the heck out of it in the market.

I suspect that every VC has their own way of evaluating who we partner. However we do it, let’s be transparent about what goes into that magical decision-making box. It’s a great way to support diversity & inclusion in tech!

Hi, thanks for reading all the way through! I’m currently a Partner at NEA, investing in early stage founders reimagining how we work, live and play. I’m a serial startup operator, former biz exec (Uber, Twitter) and angel investor. More about me here, find me on Twitter or @annb 👋 Clubhouse.

I recently joined the venture world and as I go through the entry phase I am reminded once again of the amazing power of context switching in forging connection and collaboration between professional worlds.

(By the way, I’ve had an amazing first few weeks. The NEA team could not be more kind, collaborative and inspiring. This isn’t commentary on VC per se but a reflection on the importance of all manner of interdisciplinary careers.)

Starting at any new organization, big or small, is an assimilation process. We lovingly call it “onboarding” but really what we’re talking about is individuals assimilating into new tribes, cultures, norms and systems.

When we enter new institutions we naturally go through a steep learning curve. But it’s not just learning the job. We absorb into the language, lore and rituals (aka shared context) of the place.

This happens all the time, as employees join new companies, as execs take on new leadership roles and especially as we enter new professional domains.

I’m fascinated by the assimilation process because I’ve lived it many times.

My childhood was spent moving countries, states, schools and getting over the hump of new languages and culture shocks. As a kid these moments of assimilation were challenging and dramatic (ahem, that’s why immigrants are so resilient!). As an adult, the moments of assimilation were more subtle but still there with each career turn, organization and step on the ladder.

I like to throw myself into new arenas, so I’ve had many of these assimilation and context switching moments, for example:

• From DC policy wonk to MBA program (fish out of water!)
• From nonprofit sector to private sector
• From lean startup to big company
• From cleantech to consumer tech
• From meme culture (Twitter) to hustle culture (Uber)

On the other side of the entry process, what you get is a deep appreciation for the unique context, customs and motivations with which different people, institutions and segments of our socioeconomic system operate.

It’s all of the hidden nuances you can’t read on Twitter, don’t find in books and media articles and can’t empathize with until you’ve experienced it.

Things like —

• How different kinds of institutions make decisions (corp vs. nonprofit)
• Structural and cultural incentives that shape individual behavior
• What makes people tick and the unique tribal identity of that place
• What it feels like to try to lead and create change in different environments
• Facts. Reality vs the media portrayal of how certain arenas work

The nonlinear career path has its challenges of course (topic for another time) but I have to say, having worked in 3 of the 4 major “spheres of influence” in our society — companies, nonprofits, government — is priceless.

Now I’m on to #4! Capital.

We need more context switchers and sector “hoppers”

Moving across sectors what I’ve noticed and fascinates me to no end is this —

There is a wide chasm in mutual understanding between spheres of influence in our society, even ones that are in constant interface with each other (e.g. government & industry, nonprofits & private sector, investors & founders).

• How many aspiring entrepreneurs understand investor incentives?
• How many investors have spent time operating and building?
• How many tech leaders have worked in government and public service?
• How many regulators have spent time building tech companies?
• How many activists have worked in the corporate world?
• How many in academia have been practitioners in their industry?

We have so little cross-pollination of talent across sectors, industries and spheres of influence that we exist in different dimensions and speak different languages. Have you watched a Congressperson trying to cross-examine a tech a CEO? Things get lost in translation. Literally.

The digital media bubbles we live in only exacerbate that. And nowhere is that more evident than the day-to-day on social media.

Why is it then that policymakers struggle to understand technology businesses and startup people can’t wrap their head around government? It’s a simplistic example but the answer is more complicated than just politics.

Not enough of us are moving around to cross-pollinate expertise, norms and knowledge. We need to find more ways for individuals to move freely industry to industry, public and private spheres, sector to sector.

Why does this matter?

Well, human progress requires all manner of collaboration!

• If we want to solve complex problems in our society, we need to bring together individuals from public, private and nonprofit to get it done.
• If you want to build a fast-growing tech company, you will need to collaborate with many different stakeholders — investors, customers, employees, regulators, media.
• If you want to build a diverse society with upward mobility, you will have to co-create with people who don’t think and talk exactly like you.

Our world is multi-faceted and it requires increasing levels of human coordination and communication to solve just about anything.

Take climate change for example.The most interdisciplinary problem of all.

If we manage to get it under control it will be because of unprecedented global collaboration between scientists, policymakers, innovators, company builders, civic leaders, activists and consumers all working in concert to make it happen. Like the Avengers final battle, we need ALL the superpowers working together to pull this off.

In almost every arena, we are in need of more individuals with interdisciplinary knowledge and experience. That requires breadth.

Yet our modern workforce rewards specialization and actively discourages career, sector and domain switching. Organizations are designed to elevate leaders that come up via functional tracks. Mastery of narrow band builds prestige and career equity faster than breadth. Niche dominance is the way to get noticed, whether you’re a scientist, academic or content creator.

The downside of that is tunnel vision. We lose out on working side by side with individuals who have different reference points, insights and context.

We need individuals bringing diversity of thought, experience and knowledge into established institutions. We need cross-pollinators as much as specialists.

As we reimagine the future of work (from education to workforce training to career progression and economic mobility), I’m interested to see how we can design for fluid careers, portfolio talents and cross-sector acumen. We need a generation that is capable of leading across and not just within institutions — and better yet having the span of talents to design entirely new ones.

Interested in Future of Work, Talent and Education? Me too!

Find me on Twitter or subscribe here.

If I could pick a week in which to start off a new chapter, I couldn’t imagine one better than the historic week we just lived through in America. With the inauguration of President Biden and our first woman Vice President, we opened a new page in our collective history and I couldn’t be more optimistic.

This backdrop is a poignant reminder that we can create the world we want to live in. It’s also a humbling one, as we consider the challenges ahead and the opportunity for Tech as a community of innovators, investors and instigators to step up to the plate with scalable solutions. In securing our health, helping businesses adapt and individuals to thrive, unlocking economic opportunity and de-carbonizing our economy — we have a lot of work to do!

Necessity is the mother of invention and we are early in a decade of incredible technology-enabled transformation of how we work, live, play and relate to each other. In 10 years, I hope to look back and say that I spent these years empowering entrepreneurs with the brightest ideas and solutions.

After 12 years of building tech startups, I am excited to share that my new chapter will be in venture capital as a Partner at NEA.

Anyone who has worked with me before can tell that what gives me energy and optimism is working with entrepreneurs who dare to dream, dare to try to new things, dare to push through brick walls and glass ceilings to make things happen. I love working with people who just can’t stand the status quo and are compelled to create something better, even when it’s unpopular and against the odds. That pretty much explains every career choice I’ve made.

What you see up close when you build startups is how insanely HARD it is. I have infinite admiration for founders and teams who take on the challenge of creating and building. And I have a special spot in my heart for builders who are no-nonsense problem solvers and will go to bat for their teams.

“At some point, everything’s gonna go south on you and you’re going to say, this is it. This is how I end. Now you can either accept that, or you can get to work. That’s all it is… You solve one problem and you solve the next one, and then the next. And if you solve enough problems, you get to come home.”

— from The Martian (but really about startups)

Startups are also insanely fun and the greatest craft there is! I’ve spent most of my career working in service of founders — from early stage pioneering startups (Rival, Wheelz, BetterPlace) to hyper-scale unicorns (Uber, Twitter), helping founders build category defining products, scale fast, broker strategic partnerships and cultivate diverse, high-performing teams. It gave me a lot of gray hairs but I am so grateful for that breadth of experience, from the trenches to the c-suite.

As a Partner at NEA, I’m still serving founders every day, just with more capital and resources to bring to the table. 😁

For all the snarky comments about venture capital, the truth is entrepreneurs need high integrity, trustworthy and committed capital partners to build and scale their products into world-changing companies. It’s a long road to overnight success. Who your investors are matters.

I’ve seen up close how founder / investor relationships can play out, in good times and in challenging moments, and the way committed investors can make a difference in a company’s trajectory. Learning from that experience, my intention is to be the kind of investor I believe is most helpful to entrepreneurs — trusted partner, honest broker, strategic sounding board and constructive problem solver. Also, your cheerleader and confidence booster!

That brings me to why I’m so excited to join NEA.

In Tech, we are so used to short attention spans and fast-moving hype cycles. What I admire so much about NEA is it’s built on taking the long view and serving many generations of entrepreneurs. As Scott Sandell said to me, “we set out to be a 100+ year firm.” In this noisy, hype-driven world, it’s refreshing to work with a team that is motivated by serving founders over the arc of their companies, long-term value creation and enduring relationships.

Impact happens at scale and over time.

NEA has supported >65 $B companies, 230 IPOs, and helped companies to create 600,000 jobs. That’s just the beginning! More recently, the firm has backed companies like Robinhood, Plaid, Masterclass, CRISPR, Databricks, and breakout women-led companies like Cloudflare, Houzz, ThirdLove, Tamara Mellon, Mejuri. Working across 5 continents and multiple U.S. tech hubs, I like that NEA doesn’t need to be convinced that exceptional entrepreneurs can come from anywhere and build $B+ companies outside of Silicon Valley. That’s a given.

Founders are the architects of tomorrow. Let’s have them show us the way!

I’m looking forward to working with Rick Yang, Liza Landsman, Vanessa Larco, Tony Florence, Jonathan Golden, Pete Sonsini, Forest Baskett, Aaron Jacobsen and the rest of the NEA team. Thank you for the warm welcome!

Finally, it’s not lost on me that venture is a blackbox kind of industry. It was that way for me too. I have a steep learning curve ahead but I am committed to bringing as much transparency as possible and sharing what I learn along the way. Whether as Founders, CEOs, Operators or Investors, we must strive to throw open the doors of the tech ecosystem. It only gets better with more diversity of backgrounds, experiences and voices at the table. LFG!

Follow me @annbordetsky or subscribe at annbordetsky.com. DMs open.

P.S. Naturally, my interest in the Future of Work / Talent, Commerce and Climate Tech continues (my prior angel investments). More to come on that.

THANK YOU and special note of gratitude to a few amazing individuals who helped me start this new chapter by cheering me on, offering radical transparency and sound advice — Jana Masserschmidt, Nathan Hubbard, Emil Michael, Elizabeth Weil, Aileen Lee, Sarah Smith, Kara Nortman, Josh Kopelman and the January Ventures and All Raise tribes. ️❤️

This crazy insane 2020. A relentless barrage of maddening news, hyperbolic reactions and a rollercoaster of personal and societal events. Just sucking up all that perfectly good emotional energy, optimism and sanity.

Where to escape from the noise? Books!

At some point this year, I had to intentionally turn off Twitter and get my brain out of that pavlovian reaction mode. And it’s been wonderful!

Book after book, just picking up new reads out of curiosity and seeing where it takes me. Catching up on some oldies (finally!) and diving into notable newly published books. They’ve each been a welcome mental stretch break from the frenetic activity and angst in the world — and the self-absorbed rhetoric of Tech Twitter (sorry tech folks but you know it’s a little much at times).

“A book is proof that humans are capable of working magic.” — Carl Sagan

It’s not travel (which I love and miss) but it’ll have to do as brain vacation in this pandemic year. Here’s my list of mini-escapes for the mind in 2020.

“The idea that the brain can change its own structure and function through thought and activity is, I believe, the most important alteration in our view of the brain since we first sketched out its basic anatomy…the realization that the architecture of the brain differs from one person to the next and that it changes in the course of our lives.” — Norman Doidge, The Brain that Changes Itself

TLDR: Incredibly interesting deep dive into the hidden abilities of our brains and how we discovered neuroplasticity

“The future can’t be predicted, but it can bee envisioned and brought lovingly into being. Systems can’t be controlled, but they can be designed and redesigned… Living successfully in a world of systems requires more of us than our ability to calculate. It requires our full humanity — our rationality, our ability to sort out truth from falsehood, our intuition, our compassion, our vision, and our morality.” — Donella H. Meadows, Thinking in Systems

TLDR: a bit wonky but will appeal to those with interest in sustainability and innovation

“One thing that doesn’t get a lot of attention in the leadership discussion is frank acknowledgement that it takes tremendous energy to do it well. Building trust, maintaining high standards and deep devotion, unleashing the potential of more and varied people: these are nontrivial challenges. If you want to excel at them, do us all a favor and please be bad at something else.” — Frances Frei, Unleashed

TLDR: A candid, to-the-point leadership handbook (yes with lots of Uber examples!) arming execs with practical frameworks for building and managing diverse companies

“Our willingness to examine outcomes is asymmetrical. We are more eager to put bad outcomes in context than good ones. Becoming a better maker requires us to try (difficult though it may be) to put those good outcomes in perspective.” — Annie Duke, How to Decide

TLDR: You can’t control luck but you can control the quality of your decisions (investing, strategy, career choices, etc). Great workbook to do with your team or on your own to develop better decision hygiene.

“I have a definition of evil that’s different from most people. Evil doesn’t have to be an overt act; it can be merely the absence of good. If you have the ability, the resources, and the opportunity to do good and you do nothing, that can be evil.” — Yvon Chouinard, Founder & CEO of Patagonia

TLDR: My favorite book from this list. An inspiring personal story, a principled and novel approach to company building, and a founder mentality you will not find in Silicon Valley.

“Nothing raises the stakes in life like having kids. Suddenly, the future matters. Emotions take on an amazing resonance. Love bounces off the family walls and multiplies. Everything you do with your kids lives on in their memories as well as yours; everything’s more valid because it’s shared.” — Peter Barton, Not Fade Away

TLDR: Beautifully written, poignant reflection on life and living in the moment. What you cherish when you lose everything.

“A good definition of an investing genius is the man or woman who can do the average thing when all those around them are going crazy. Tails drive everything.” — Morgan Housel, The Psychology of Money

TLDR: No finance worship in this book! It’s an easy, highly readable take on the mental traps and mitigating strategies for doing well with money.

“In the cases of well-managed firms, good management was the most powerful reason they failed to stay atop their industries.” — Clay Christensen, The Innovator’s Dilemma

TLDR: MBA classic but actually most relevant to Big Tech today. You have to chew on this one. It’s best consumed with 10+ yrs of operating experience to reflect on.

“If you’re working on well defined and well understood problems, specialists work very, very well. As ambiguity and uncertainty increases, which is the norm with systems problems, breadth becomes increasingly important.” — David Epstein, Range

TLDR: I feel seen after reading this book! It’s the case for having varied interests, testing and iterating on your career and allowing yourselves to evolve, rather than occupy a narrow niche. Innovation and creativity happens at the messy edge.

“Ask a woman who she is, and she’ll tell you who she loves, who she serves, and what she does. I am a mother, a wife, a sister, a friend, a career woman. The fact that we define ourselves by our roles is what keeps the world spinning. It’s also what makes us untethered and afraid.” — Glennon Doyle, Untamed

TLDR: I’ve never read a book quite like this one. Raw, intimate, honest, simply badass. The ultimate real life story of coming alive. It’ll make you love yourself.

Last but not least! This one I’m still working through but it’s definitely making the 2020 list.

“To really show political power, you had to show the effect of power on the powerless, and show it fully enough so the reader could feel it.” — Robert Caro on his own writing

TLDR: Fascinating glimpse into why Robert Caro dedicated his life to unearthing the truth about political power. What a legend! His scrappiness, grit and curiosity reminds of the startup hustle. I hadn’t read his books (bad on me) and now I can’t wait to read them.

Special shout out to Dimitri Dadiomov for recommending two books on this list — Not Fade Away and Working. Fantastic recommendations, TY!

Perspective shift.

It’s a strange thing that’s crept in over the last 40 days of this contained existence. As life has been stripped down to its essentials, I’m finding myself seeing and noticing more of what this daily life has to offer.

I sit here on a weekday with my 5-year old daughter, perched at the top of our hilly, weedy yard (that we used to be too busy to visit) looking out at a slice of Silicon Valley. It’s peaceful and breathtaking. No place to rush to in traffic. The sky is crystal clear with no smog and it’s so quiet now you can actually hear the birds singing. My daughter hugs me tight. She’s still at that precious age where she wants ALL the snuggles and I’m here to receive them.

With all the pain in the world and the weight of what we have to carry it feels wrong to talk about anything GOOD that’s going on, as if we’ve made joy taboo. Have you felt this? I know I have. A joke here or there is OK but talking about happy things or things going well, seems really off. Going on this way is a mistake though. As individuals, as parents, as leaders we have to allow ourselves to the good things happening now, to honor it and to learn from it.

“Mommy, I missed you” is how she greets me sweetly when I emerge from my office (well, it’s just the kids repurposed playroom but whatever). Later at family dinner I ask my son if he is getting tired of having us (the parents) around 24x7. After all, this is our 41st sit down family dinner in a row! He adamantly declares “NEVER!!!” I believe him. Joy upon joy upon joy.

Zoom out from there and life is a HOT MESS. A wild mix of chaos and monotony every day — what day is it again?

I curse this new routine as I wrestle professional life and homeschooling the kids (badly), powering through a jumble of work meetings, classroom zooms and chores. In an act of defiance, I refuse to pre-plan “what’s for dinner”, that feels like the final surrender of my brain to this WFH mode. Better to freestyle and focus on more important things, I say to myself. After all, there are so many worthy causes and not enough hours in the day to help everyone.

I really really miss childcare and workouts and seeing people IRL. The Zoom fatigue is real and it’s not the same. It’s suffocating to live like this, especially for an active extrovert. And then I just get mad, like who are these people baking bread all the time? Who has time for that?… I digress.

No one said this was easy.

“Gratitude is a celebration we are all invited to.”

— Cleo Wade

Perspective shift. Forty days in, I welcome it with open arms. I’m giving myself full permission to notice and celebrate the seedlings of joy all around. For my own sake, yes, but also because as parents and as leaders we have to find ways to replenish our energy, boost our resilience and have the emotional bandwidth to capably serve others in a challenging time.

Here’s what I’m noticing. What about you?

• Time with kids. Last year I traveled a ton. Now I’m getting a chance to makeup for all those missed dinners and bedtimes. What a precious gift!
• Family dinners every day of the week. That has never happened before.
• Deeper and more frequent conversations with friends. It used to be impossible to schedule a dinner date, now we can just Zoom any night.
• At work, seeing more of our whole selves. In our homes and with our kids, we are seeing more of the whole person and that is a beautiful thing.
• Addiction to our digital lives rebalanced with appreciation of IRL interaction, connection and physical affection (hugs and high fives). We didn’t know how good we had it but we know now.
• Seeing people appreciate and miss their teammates. We all have a new respect for the value of our office / work life and the people in it.
• Countless examples of kindness and generosity. Meals for health workers, groceries for the elderly, PPE supply delivery, etc. Communities forming to care, contribute, innovate in this time of need.
• Immense gratitude and appreciation for our teachers, schools and classroom learning. I hope we never take you for granted again.
• Watching grandparents go digital and get “on the zoomline”
• Seeing kids become more independent and have time to just be kids. I’m hopeful this generation will have the grit to solve big problems.
• Clearer skies and simpler lifestyles. Did we really need all that? Could we be kinder and gentler to our planet now?
• Superhero parents who are carrying companies + communities + families on their shoulders, squeezed between kids and grandparents.
• Melting away of pretense. More vulnerability and authenticity from men and women. Less focus on visual appearance and wearing “the uniform”.
• Midday family lunches and neighborhood walks. It won’t last.
• Safe and happy home. The ultimate luxury. I am grateful for that.

I would keep going with the list but this post has to end at some point.

This crisis isn’t just to be passed through, it’s here to teach us something. What are you noticing? What have you learned? What’s filling up your cup?

Give gratitude to all that you have.

Make space in your mind so you can help others.

“Clean out your thoughts. They have the power to cover your entire life in dirt.” — Cleo Wade

I yelled at the kids to get off their iPad as I sat down with my laptop to write for a while. What a double standard! The kids acquiesced and I felt triumphant, only to emerge from my office later to find utter chaos all over the house. “But mom, we didn’t use the iPad!”

(Smile, ok, they got me there)

📝 Save this story in Journal.

👩‍💻 Wake up every Sunday morning to the week’s most noteworthy stories in Tech waiting in your inbox. Read the Noteworthy in Tech newsletter.

Follow the money to see who is shaping the next decade of tech

Hold the coffee, I have something to say.

Today, I opened up my Twitter (ahem, too early in the morning, my kids noticed) to the debut news of two new venture capital funds — Moxxie and Acrew Capital. At which point my neighbors could probably hear me scream WOOHOO from my kitchen, the glee was notable and here’s why.

The most exciting and transformative trend happening in the Tech community right now is a new generation of venture funds — founded, raised and led by experienced, badass women. This wave of Wonder Women will reshape Silicon Valley as we know it.

I know that sounds hyperbolic but it’s hard to overstate the importance of this trend. Because it’s not just a trend. It’s a fundamental shift in the inner workings of Venture Capital relative to the past. It’s absolutely going to change the game because it will impact:

• Who gets to write the checks and make the investment decisions
• Who is visible and vocal in the VC community
• Who is doing the “early picking” of founders and ideas
• Who controls valuable “relationship capital” to co-invest and pass deal
• Who LPs have confidence in to deploy $100Ms in capital
• Who is exalted by founders as the “investors to work with”

The class of female-founded funds that launched this year are setting the tone for the next decade of Silicon Valley and what we put out into the world. And it couldn’t be more inspiring!

Here’s who came on the scene in 2019, in no particular order — these are off the top of my head so call out if I missed anyone:

• WorkLife Ventures by Brianne Kimmel
• Backend Capital by Lucy Guo
• Operative Collective by Mallun Yen
• Acrew Capital by Lauren Kolodny & Theresia Gouw
• Inspired Capital by Alexa von Tobel & Penny Pritzker
• Cleo Capital by Sarah Kunst
• Moxxie Ventures by Katie Stanton
• Renegade Partners by Renata Quintini & Roseanne Wincek
• Blossom Capital by Ophelia Brown
• Wave Capital by Sara Adler
• Leadout Capital by Ali Rosenthal
• F7 by awesome FB alums like Sara Smith

When Jane VC launched in 2018, it was kinda lonely out there but no more! Can’t wait to see what 2020 brings, the more the merrier.

Did I miss anyone? Please comment below. I’ll add to the list.

And HUGE props to #Angels, pretty sure you inspired everyone on this list.

(P.S. In case not obvious, each of these funds is led by an exceptional individual(s) that have unique superpowers as operators, fund managers, community builders, dealmakers, etc. They are savvy investors and partners to founders. Building a new fund is no easy feat, they are here because they are great at what they do and have a differentiated fund strategy, not because they are women. I can’t believe I still have to explain the difference some times but there you go, just in case).

A few weeks ago the AllRaise Summit invite hit my inbox for the second annual event. It was like someone holding up a billboard sign saying: “Hey there, did you forget something important?” Uh-huh.

Last year the AllRaise Summit coincided with the debut of Jane VC, so it’s our 1 YEAR anniversary of launching a fund for visionary female tech founders.

Wow, what a year it’s been!

When we launched Jane VC, we picked up the sword on a really tough and important problem. Only 3% of venture capital goes to female-founded companies (welp!). Even our own sample data of tech founders shows that women raise about $0.37 for every $1.00 their male contemporaries raise at the early stage (and shockingly only $0.02 for black female founders).

That data stood in stark contrast to the reality we saw around us and among our contemporaries. Plenty of ambitious female founders and start-up builders. Talent coming up the ranks in the big tech platforms and women rising the ranks of mature industries as change agents. Basically, a rising tide of talent with ideas and ambition that is systematically underinvested in. And we thought — great, your blindspot is our opportunity, let’s go!

As it turns out, launching a new early stage fund is a lot like building a start-up. It’s the same scrappy hustle of building and iterating, investing and learning, going deep to understand your customer (founders!) and honing the strategy. (Not to mention fundraising, branding and partnerships).

But you know what? That makes it REALLY easy to relate to the founders we work with. We’re right there with them going after a big bold vision and putting in the sweat equity to get it done. We root for founders and they root for Jane VC. It’s amazing to experience and it keeps us going.

You can’t do all that without 100% passion and commitment. From day one, Jen Neundorfer and Maren Bannon have gone ALL-IN on Jane VC and it shows. Their passion, grit and execution is top notch, as fund managers and founder champions. I see it and I want everyone else to see it too. Unlike angel networks or collectives (many of which we love and partner with), Jane VC is a managed fund by design. We’re making long-term bets on female founders and Jane VC is being built to last.

Here’s what Jane VC has been been up to in Year 1:

• Launched Fund 1 to back female founders at the pre-seed and seed stage
• Invested in 15 visionary teams building in Enterprise, SaaS, Commerce
• Met 1,500 female led startups (our commitment to the cold pitch)
• Established presence 5 tech hubs (SF, BOS, NYC, LON, AMS)
• Partnered on 3 benchmark reports on female founders and VCs. You can’t change what you don’t measure! (read TableStakes by Carta)
• Built the largest female Operator Network in tech to support founders

We’re just getting started but here’s a few stats on our portfolio to date:

• 86% have female CEOs
• 79% of founders are over age 30
• 60% of our founders are non-white
• 29% based outside the US
• 100% exceptional people with big ideas

Our focus is primarily on technology platforms that are driving the future of work, commerce and business automation. We’re seeing an exciting wave of talent in B2B / SaaS right now. At the same time, given commitment to exceptional female founders, we intentionally keep our aperture wide across industries and sectors. Today, our portfolio is roughly:

• 1/2 Enterprise solutions for mature industries and employers
• 1/4 Commerce platforms and digital tools for builders and creators
• 1/4 Marketplace products

We look for visionary founders with bets timed well to a big market and with the right founding team to execute. Like any investor, we also look for that founder “je ne sais quoi”. We just do it knowing that it comes in many shapes, sizes and colors — talent is everywhere, different is an asset.

So what’s next for Jane VC?

We’re doubling down on our founders and our mission:

• We will 10x the amount of capital we deploy to female founders
• We will back 100 visionary female founders over the next 5 years
• We will partner, co-invest and collaborate in service of founders first

Finally, I’ll say this. It’s a whole lotta FUN to put a little dent in the universe. We are lucky to work in an industry where there are so many ways to do that.

Join us!

Subscribe to the Jane VC newsletter (quarterly, we won’t blitz your inbox)

Follow @JaneVentureCap (Twitter) and LinkedIn

Pitch Jane: pitch@janevc.com

Join the Jane Operator Network: ann@janevc.com

One Year of Jane VC was originally published in @januaryventures on Medium, where people are continuing the conversation by highlighting and responding to this story.