"Diversity has to be part of your culture and process. Creating a diverse team from the beginning will create a better product. At Microsoft, the more diverse teams we have working on our solutions, the better our products have been."
TAMARA STEFFENS
MANAGING DIRECTOR, M12"We’re currently in the fifth wave of technology evolution – an era driven by data and AI, which are accelerating the number of applications that can disrupt every industry due to the timely availability of actionable data-driven insights."
Young Sohn
CO-FOUNDER, EXTREME TECH CHALLENGE
CHAIRMAN OF THE BOARD, HARMAN INTERNATIONAL"The world's financial markets now recognize that unless businesses do something good for this planet, that this planet may not exist – and that there are investable companies that can be part of the solution."
BILL TAI
CO-FOUNDER, EXTREME TECH CHALLENGE
PARTNER EMERITUS, CHARLES RIVER VENTURES"We are balancing between the challenges of economic damage versus potential public health damage. This will define our generation depending on how we deal with it and how agile we can be. I think it’s clear that innovation will come out of necessity."
JERRY YANG
CO-FOUNDER & FORMER CEO, YAHOO! AND FOUNDING PARTNER, AME CLOUD VENTURES"The good news is that entrepreneurs can lead us out of this period. Entrepreneurs are the ones who create value and jobs in our economy. This is your opportunity as an entrepreneur right now to take the big risks. This is your time."
TIM DRAPER
FOUNDER AND MANAGING PARTNER, DRAPER ASSOCIATES"The experience of finding go-to-market fit is like going from paddling to surfing. You are burning a huge amount of energy to go a very short distance. On the other hand, when you catch the wave, what you feel is momentum."
TAE HEA NAHM
CO-FOUNDING MANAGING DIRECTOR OF STORM VENTURES AND CO-AUTHOR OF SURVIVAL TO THRIVAL"As a global startup, you have to think about how the world is changing today... It’s important to think how trillion-dollar industries are digitally transforming themselves because of Covid-19. You need to think about how you can ride these waves of change."
SHANKAR CHANDRAN
SENIOR VICE PRESIDENT AND CO-HEAD, SAMSUNG CATALYST FUND"I often tell entrepreneurs what they really need is the right amount of money from the right VCs for the right business plan. You need to unpack each of those elements. Don’t raise more money than you need."
RICHARD IRVING
CO-FOUNDER AND GENERAL PARTNER, POND VENTURE PARTNERS"Investors don't like surprises. They don't want to learn something from someone else that they should have learned directly from the entrepreneur. My advice is to always be transparent. Building trust and transparency starts with setting expectations."
RAFAÈLE TORDJMAN
CHIEF EXECUTIVE OFFICER AND INVESTOR, JEITO CAPITAL"I like to get to know the founding team anywhere from 12 to 24 months before actually investing. Building that relationship over time, getting to know each other, and seeing the progress, that makes things much easier when the time is right to invest."
PHILIPPE BOTTERI
PARTNER, ACCEL"We found that diversity drives innovation. You need a broad range of voices and perspectives to chip away at the biases that still exist in the workforce. And that will make your products even better."
PEGGY JOHNSON
EXECUTIVE VICE PRESIDENT, BUSINESS DEVELOPMENT, MICROSOFT"Some people are worried that when a corporate investor comes in, they will start controlling your roadmap. When I ran my startup, I didn’t find that. Nobody controlled our roadmap or asked us to do things unnatural to us. They are not there to make sure you only succeed for them..."
OMAR TAWAKOL
VICE PRESIDENT & GENERAL MANAGER OF CISCO CONTACT CENTER, CISCO SYSTEMS"I’ve always invested in people who have a background in disruptive technology. I like to identify the most talented people with the most relevant experience. That is always the starting point. Once you have the right leadership, then you can build a team around those people."
LIP-BU TAN
CHIEF EXECUTIVE OFFICER, CADENCE DESIGN SYSTEMS AND CHAIRMAIN, WALDEN INTERNATIONAL"Telemedicine and telepathology are here to stay in a post-Covid world. It’s clear that patients have wanted this to happen. We have gone from near zero telemedicine usage at the beginning of the year to now, where 40% of our encounters are completed with telemedicine."
ATUL BUTTE
MD, PHD, CHAN ZUCKERBERG DISTINGUISHED PROFESSOR, UCSF AND CHIEF DATA SCIENTIST, CALIFORNIA HEALTH SYSTEM (UC HEALTH)"Even though, with corporate venture capital, you are dealing with big companies, it always comes down to the people and the personal relationships you build. Finding the right person within the corporation you want to work with makes a big difference."
PHILIP KIRK
VICE PRESIDENT, CISCO INVESTMENTS"Diversity has to be part of your culture and process. Creating a diverse team from the beginning will create a better product. At Microsoft, the more diverse teams we have working on our solutions, the better our products have been."
TAMARA STEFFENS
MANAGING DIRECTOR, M12"We’re currently in the fifth wave of technology evolution – an era driven by data and AI, which are accelerating the number of applications that can disrupt every industry due to the timely availability of actionable data-driven insights."
Young Sohn
CO-FOUNDER, EXTREME TECH CHALLENGE
CHAIRMAN OF THE BOARD, HARMAN INTERNATIONAL"The world's financial markets now recognize that unless businesses do something good for this planet, that this planet may not exist – and that there are investable companies that can be part of the solution."
BILL TAI
CO-FOUNDER, EXTREME TECH CHALLENGE
PARTNER EMERITUS, CHARLES RIVER VENTURES"We are balancing between the challenges of economic damage versus potential public health damage. This will define our generation depending on how we deal with it and how agile we can be. I think it’s clear that innovation will come out of necessity."
JERRY YANG
CO-FOUNDER & FORMER CEO, YAHOO! AND FOUNDING PARTNER, AME CLOUD VENTURES"The good news is that entrepreneurs can lead us out of this period. Entrepreneurs are the ones who create value and jobs in our economy. This is your opportunity as an entrepreneur right now to take the big risks. This is your time."
TIM DRAPER
FOUNDER AND MANAGING PARTNER, DRAPER ASSOCIATES"The experience of finding go-to-market fit is like going from paddling to surfing. You are burning a huge amount of energy to go a very short distance. On the other hand, when you catch the wave, what you feel is momentum."
TAE HEA NAHM
CO-FOUNDING MANAGING DIRECTOR OF STORM VENTURES AND CO-AUTHOR OF SURVIVAL TO THRIVAL"As a global startup, you have to think about how the world is changing today... It’s important to think how trillion-dollar industries are digitally transforming themselves because of Covid-19. You need to think about how you can ride these waves of change."
SHANKAR CHANDRAN
SENIOR VICE PRESIDENT AND CO-HEAD, SAMSUNG CATALYST FUND"I often tell entrepreneurs what they really need is the right amount of money from the right VCs for the right business plan. You need to unpack each of those elements. Don’t raise more money than you need."
RICHARD IRVING
CO-FOUNDER AND GENERAL PARTNER, POND VENTURE PARTNERS"Investors don't like surprises. They don't want to learn something from someone else that they should have learned directly from the entrepreneur. My advice is to always be transparent. Building trust and transparency starts with setting expectations."
RAFAÈLE TORDJMAN
CHIEF EXECUTIVE OFFICER AND INVESTOR, JEITO CAPITAL"I like to get to know the founding team anywhere from 12 to 24 months before actually investing. Building that relationship over time, getting to know each other, and seeing the progress, that makes things much easier when the time is right to invest."
PHILIPPE BOTTERI
PARTNER, ACCEL"We found that diversity drives innovation. You need a broad range of voices and perspectives to chip away at the biases that still exist in the workforce. And that will make your products even better."
PEGGY JOHNSON
EXECUTIVE VICE PRESIDENT, BUSINESS DEVELOPMENT, MICROSOFT"Some people are worried that when a corporate investor comes in, they will start controlling your roadmap. When I ran my startup, I didn’t find that. Nobody controlled our roadmap or asked us to do things unnatural to us. They are not there to make sure you only succeed for them..."
OMAR TAWAKOL
VICE PRESIDENT & GENERAL MANAGER OF CISCO CONTACT CENTER, CISCO SYSTEMS"I’ve always invested in people who have a background in disruptive technology. I like to identify the most talented people with the most relevant experience. That is always the starting point. Once you have the right leadership, then you can build a team around those people."
LIP-BU TAN
CHIEF EXECUTIVE OFFICER, CADENCE DESIGN SYSTEMS AND CHAIRMAIN, WALDEN INTERNATIONAL"Telemedicine and telepathology are here to stay in a post-Covid world. It’s clear that patients have wanted this to happen. We have gone from near zero telemedicine usage at the beginning of the year to now, where 40% of our encounters are completed with telemedicine."
ATUL BUTTE
MD, PHD, CHAN ZUCKERBERG DISTINGUISHED PROFESSOR, UCSF AND CHIEF DATA SCIENTIST, CALIFORNIA HEALTH SYSTEM (UC HEALTH)"Even though, with corporate venture capital, you are dealing with big companies, it always comes down to the people and the personal relationships you build. Finding the right person within the corporation you want to work with makes a big difference."
PHILIP KIRK
VICE PRESIDENT, CISCO INVESTMENTS"Diversity has to be part of your culture and process. Creating a diverse team from the beginning will create a better product. At Microsoft, the more diverse teams we have working on our solutions, the better our products have been."
TAMARA STEFFENS
MANAGING DIRECTOR, M12
