Seed Investment: $150k, Patagonia Vest: $100, 5 Years with 500 Startups: Priceless.
After 5 ½ exciting years at 500 Startups, I’m moving on to find my next adventure. I have deep gratitude and respect for the team and mission behind 500, but am incredibly excited for this new chapter in my career.
As I wrapped up my last week, I couldn’t help but think about all the wonderful people I’ve met along the way. I started as an Associate in the Mountain View office with Batch 9 when 500 was only ~20 people. For context, Batch 25 had Demo Day about a month ago — that’s a whole lot of companies!
Before 500 I had only been on the startup side, working at a couple of AdTech seed-stage startups on the East Coast. Teams were lean and had to hustle. I found those same qualities to exist at 500. The fast-paced environment and diversity within the company reminded me of home.
Fast forward five and a half years and I’ve now worked on building over a dozen cohorts, worked closely with hundreds of companies, and met thousands of founders from all around the world. One of the unique advantages I gained at 500 was having visibility into what trends would emerge amongst Series A and beyond companies due to the volume of applications we would process. I’ve reviewed over 10k+ during my time at 500 from batch applications to cold emails, personal intros, etc. It helped me build a muscle for all things pitch deck and fundraising related.
Being part of a company that sees opportunity beyond all borders, I was able to work with entrepreneurs in almost two dozen countries. And while leveraging Silicon Valley insight overseas is valuable for founders, it was equally valuable witnessing emerging startup ecosystems develop in countries like Oman, Indonesia, and Latvia with my own two eyes. First hand experience is the best way to educate yourself about an unfamiliar market.
500 gave me the opportunity to increase its presence within the retail, beauty, and fashion verticals by leveraging my experience as a female consumer. I’m excited for these companies I advised/invested in within that space: Mejuri, GlamSt, Blume, & Copper Cow Coffee. It’s still a challenge for funds to allocate decision making power to people (like me) with unfamiliar perspectives — I owe a big thank you to Christine Tsai for always being my champion, and Dave McClure for making room for me at the table.
However, arguably the most valuable lesson I’ve taken away from my time at 500 is having a thorough understanding what my strengths are. I know I’ve added value to early stage companies through crafting their story, building a strong pitch, strategy development, and tying all of it into fundraising. While imposter syndrome lingers more on some days than others, it’s been helpful to ground myself amongst a community that reminds me of my superpowers.
For now, I’ll be taking some time to reset, recharge, and identify what excites me. I’ll still be involved within the startup and venture ecosystem in the Bay Area and look forward to getting back to work. Stay tuned!