Welcome to the Brydge Club podcast! I'm your host, Ruffin, and today I'm thrilled to be joined by Allison Hogan, Co-Founder and CPO of DeskSides. DeskSides is a platform connecting brands with journalists at a fraction of traditional PR costs, helping smaller brands get their stories told while journalists are compensated fairly. Before co-founding DeskSides, Allison worked in both PR agencies and in-house for brands, where she gained extensive PR experience. Fun fact: on her first day as an intern, she landed Reese Witherspoon as a contact! In this episode, we dive into Allison’s PR journey, discussing her experiences on both the brand and agency side. She shares tips for early-stage founders on securing PR and building strong media strategies, whether for luxury brands or emerging startups. We also explore the challenges Allison saw in traditional PR models and how they led her to launch DeskSides, along with a few success stories from the platform.  I hope you enjoy! More on Allison Hogan & DeskSides: https://www.linkedin.com/in/allisonchogan/ https://www.instagram.com/desksides/ More on Host Ruffin Mitchener:  https://beacons.ai/ruffin About Brydge Club: Brydge Club, hosted by Ruffin Mitchener, aims to bridge the $1.7 trillion financing gap for female founders. Every Wednesday, the show features in-depth interviews with industry leaders and innovators, educating and empowering women in venture capital and entrepreneurship. Through insightful discussions, Brydge Club seeks to inspire listeners to break barriers and achieve success in the business world. 

Welcome to the Brydge Club podcast! I’m your host, Ruffin, and today I’m joined by Erin Levine, Co-Founder and CEO of Hello Divorce, a platform that revolutionizes the divorce process. Hello Divorce combines self-service software and expert services to make divorce less stressful and more affordable. Erin’s 15 years of legal experience have led her to create a service that costs a tenth of the typical divorce and resolves cases in a third of the time. In this episode, Erin shares her journey to Hello Divorce, insights into the common challenges of divorce, and how the platform supports users through different phases. We also discuss topics like prenuptial agreements, expanding into new states, her experiences raising $6.5 million in venture capital, and her advice on navigating funding and entrepreneurship. I hope you enjoy it! More on Erin Levine: https://www.linkedin.com/in/erinlevine/ https://hellodivorce.com/ More on Host Ruffin Mitchener:  https://beacons.ai/ruffin About Brydge Club: Brydge Club, hosted by Ruffin Mitchener, aims to bridge the $1.7 trillion financing gap for female founders. Every Wednesday, the show features in-depth interviews with industry leaders and innovators, educating and empowering women in venture capital and entrepreneurship. Through insightful discussions, Brydge Club seeks to inspire listeners to break barriers and achieve success in the business world.

Welcome to the Brydge Club podcast! I'm your host, Ruffin, and today I’m thrilled to be joined by Valentina Rodriguez, investor at Wonder Ventures, an early-stage venture fund based in Los Angeles. Valentina has been involved in investments such as Clutter, Tala, Honey, Whatnot, Coinbase, and Bird. Before entering venture, she began her career at Morgan Stanley and founded Cannaves Oliva, a functional foods company that introduced organic hemp-infused olive oil. In this episode, Valentina dives into her entrepreneurial journey, starting with the creation of Cannaves Oliva and how it shaped her transition into venture capital. She shares insights into Wonder Ventures’ investment thesis, her approach to navigating different industries as a generalist investor, and the lessons she’s drawn from her banking and founder experiences. Valentina also discusses trends she’s excited about in consumer tech and enterprise, the importance of relationships in fundraising, and tips for founders on achieving product-market fit. Plus, she offers advice for those looking to break into VC and a behind-the-scenes look at raising Wonder Ventures' latest $57 million fund. I hope you enjoy! More on Valentina Rodriguez: https://www.linkedin.com/in/valentinaro/ https://wondervc.com/ More on Host Ruffin Mitchener:  https://beacons.ai/ruffin About Brydge Club: Brydge Club, hosted by Ruffin Mitchener, aims to bridge the $1.7 trillion financing gap for female founders. Every Wednesday, the show features in-depth interviews with industry leaders and innovators, educating and empowering women in venture capital and entrepreneurship. Through insightful discussions, Brydge Club seeks to inspire listeners to break barriers and achieve success in the business world.

Welcome to the Brydge Club podcast! I'm your host, Ruffin, and today I’m excited to be joined by Jess Catorc, co-founder of Carry, the all-in-one platform for tax-advantaged accounts, investments, and strategy designed for business owners and high-earning professionals. Jess is an award-winning brand strategist who has helped thousands of entrepreneurs and startups scale their reach and revenue online. Prior to founding Carry, Jess led creator partnerships at Teachable, which sold for $250 million. In just two years, Jess and her team have grown Carry to $1 million in ARR, with backing from notable investors like Sophia Amoruso and Codie Sanchez. In this episode, Jess shares her journey from leading creator partnerships at Teachable to co-founding Carry. We dive into her experiences working at a high-growth startup and the lessons she’s brought into building her own company. Jess also discusses the challenges of understanding the tax code as a business owner, the inspiration behind starting Carry, and how they are empowering entrepreneurs to save money and grow their businesses. We also talk about the different tax strategies available, how Carry has grown its customer base, and the exciting future ahead for the company.  I hope you enjoy! More on Jess Catorc and Carry: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jessica-catorc-0635ba4b/ https://carry.com/ More on Host Ruffin Mitchener:  https://beacons.ai/ruffin About Brydge Club: Brydge Club, hosted by Ruffin Mitchener, aims to bridge the $1.7 trillion financing gap for female founders. Every Wednesday, the show features in-depth interviews with industry leaders and innovators, educating and empowering women in venture capital and entrepreneurship. Through insightful discussions, Brydge Club seeks to inspire listeners to break barriers and achieve success in the business world. 

Welcome to The Brydge Club podcast! I'm your host, Ruffin, and today I’m excited to be joined by Miri Buckland, COO and co-founder of Landing, soon to be rebranded as Zeen. Miri co-founded Landing alongside her Stanford Business School classmate, Ellie, and together they’ve scaled the product to nearly 1 million downloads and raised over $9 million in venture capital from investors like Cowboy Ventures and Defy Ventures. In this episode, Miri dives into the journey of building a high-growth tech startup, shares key lessons on knowing when to pivot, and offers practical advice for those applying to business school. She also reveals insider strategies for running a successful fundraising round. I hope you enjoy! More on Miri Buckland:  https://www.linkedin.com/in/claire-biernacki-71b1b24a/ https://www.bbgventures.com/about-us More on Host Ruffin Mitchener:  https://beacons.ai/ruffin About Play Brydge: Brydge Club, hosted by Ruffin Mitchener, aims to bridge the $1.7 trillion financing gap for female founders. Every Wednesday, the show features in-depth interviews with industry leaders and innovators, educating and empowering women in venture capital and entrepreneurship. Through insightful discussions, Brydge Club seeks to inspire listeners to break barriers and achieve success in the business world.

Welcome to the Brydge Club podcast! I'm your host, Ruffin, and today I’m excited to be joined by Claire Biernacki, Principal Investor at BBG Ventures. BBG Ventures is known for being one of the most active investors in women and underrepresented founders across the U.S. Claire has been involved in investments such as Zola, Spring Health, and Blueland. Before joining BBG, she earned her MBA from Columbia Business School and began her career in investment banking and private equity.  Claire shares her inspiration for pursuing a career in finance before transitioning into venture capital. She discusses the decision to pursue an MBA and how it shaped her path in VC, as well as her strategies for breaking into the industry and landing key opportunities. Claire also provides valuable insights into how she supports founders after investing, the key metrics companies should focus on at the Series A level, and advice for founders on asking the right questions during investor meetings. I hope you enjoy! More on Claire Biernacki:  https://www.linkedin.com/in/claire-biernacki-71b1b24a/ https://www.bbgventures.com/about-us More on Host Ruffin Mitchener:  https://beacons.ai/ruffin About Play Brydge: Brydge Club, hosted by Ruffin Mitchener, aims to bridge the $1.7 trillion financing gap for female founders. Every Wednesday, the show features in-depth interviews with industry leaders and innovators, educating and empowering women in venture capital and entrepreneurship. Through insightful discussions, Brydge Club seeks to inspire listeners to break barriers and achieve success in the business world.

Welcome back to the Brydge Club Podcast! Today we welcome Emily Persky, Co-Founder of ‘I Have This Friend’, A curated directory of lifestyle services that allows you to book private chefs, interior designers, photographers, and more. They collaborate with top emerging talent to make these curated services accessible. Before co-founding 'I Have This Friend' with her childhood best friend Ingrid, Emily pursued a career in big tech, working at Instagram. Emily discusses her decision to pursue a career at Instagram in 'big tech' before launching her entrepreneurial journey. She shares her transition from Instagram to founding 'I Have This Friend,' how the platform was brought to life, the most popular services and talents booked, their strategies for expanding the marketplace, and much more! More on Emily Persky and I Have This Friend: https://www.ihavethisfriend.co/ https://www.linkedin.com/in/emily-persky-961793105/ More on Host Ruffin Mitchener:  https://beacons.ai/ruffin About Play Brydge: Brydge Club, hosted by Ruffin Mitchener, aims to bridge the $1.7 trillion financing gap for female founders. Every Wednesday, the show features in-depth interviews with industry leaders and innovators, educating and empowering women in venture capital and entrepreneurship. Through insightful discussions, Brydge Club seeks to inspire listeners to break barriers and achieve success in the business world.

In this episode of Brydge Club, we sit down with Cheryl Kellond, the founder and CEO of Play Money, a groundbreaking investment platform designed to help everyday investors build a diversified startup portfolio without committing to full-time angel investing. Cheryl shares her entrepreneurial journey and insights into the startups she has founded, including Bia Sport, Apostrophe, and Play Money. We dive deep into angel investing with a masterclass on the significant impact Play Money is making in this space. Cheryl also offers invaluable advice for first-time fundraisers, shares tips for avoiding common pitfalls in angel investing, and reflects on her experiences with the acquisition process and more! More on Cheryl Kellond & Play Money: https://www.linkedin.com/in/c2kprofile/ https://letsplaymoney.com/ More on Host Ruffin Mitchener:  https://beacons.ai/ruffin About Play Brydge: Brydge Club, hosted by Ruffin Mitchener, aims to bridge the $1.7 trillion financing gap for female founders. Every Wednesday, the show features in-depth interviews with industry leaders and innovators, educating and empowering women in venture capital and entrepreneurship. Through insightful discussions, Brydge Club seeks to inspire listeners to break barriers and achieve success in the business world. 

In this episode of Brydge Club we welcome Co-Founder and CEO of Bümo, Joan Nguyen!  Joan shares a glimpse of her entrepreneurial journey thus far, highlighting her path to Bümo, offering solutions to the US childcare crisis in 2024, her experience as a childcare provider, pivoting from brick and mortar to starting Bümo, navigating VC for the first time, plans to expand Bümo across the US and much more! More on Joan Nguyen & Bümo: Joan Nguyen is the founder of Bümo, the best way for families to book on-demand childcare at daycare, preschools, and drop-in camps for school-age children. Bumo is backed by venture capital investors and celebrity advisors including Jessica Alba. And has been featured in the Today Show, Forbes, Techcrunch and more. Prior to Bümo, Joan previously built a Global test prep and educational consulting company.  https://book.bumo.com/ https://www.linkedin.com/in/joannguyen/ More on Host Ruffin Mitchener:  https://beacons.ai/ruffin About Play Brydge: Brydge Club, hosted by Ruffin Mitchener, aims to bridge the $1.7 trillion financing gap for female founders. Every Wednesday, the show features in-depth interviews with industry leaders and innovators, educating and empowering women in venture capital and entrepreneurship. Through insightful discussions, Brydge Club seeks to inspire listeners to break barriers and achieve success in the business world.

In this episode of Brydge Club, we welcome Tanvi Lal, an investor at Intuit Ventures and the founder of VC Unleashed. Tanvi shares her inspiring journey from consulting to venture capital (VC). Learn about the glaring statistics on the lack of diversity in VC and how VC Unleashed is providing real opportunities for people of color to break into the industry.  Key topics discussed: Tanvi Lal’s career transition from Deloitte consulting to VC The inspiration and mission behind founding VC Unleashed Addressing the lack of diversity in venture capital How VC Unleashed is empowering people of color in the VC industry More on Tanvi Lal: Tanvi Lal is an Investor at Intuit Ventures focused on Series A-C fintech, commerce, and enabling tech. She is also the founder of VC Unleashed, a non-profit dedicated to increasing racial representation within VC investors. Prior to her role in venture, Tanvi earned her MBA at Berkeley and built a career in consulting with Deloitte.  https://www.linkedin.com/in/tlal/ Tanvi’s Guide to VC Recruiting: https://tlal.medium.com/tanvis-guide-to-vc-recruiting-part-1-set-the-groundwork-37b11b9ff58 More on Host Ruffin Mitchener:  https://beacons.ai/ruffin About Play Brydge: Brydge Club, hosted by Ruffin Mitchener, aims to bridge the $1.7 trillion financing gap for female founders. Every Wednesday, the show features in-depth interviews with industry leaders and innovators, educating and empowering women in venture capital and entrepreneurship. Through insightful discussions, Brydge Club seeks to inspire listeners to break barriers and achieve success in the business world. 

On this episode of Brydge Club we are joined by Founder & CEO of Aydn, Elizabeth Russo. We discuss Elizabeth’s journey to founding Adyn, modern issues in prescribing birth control, her personal battle with birth control side effects, her career in genetics, why she became an entrepreneur and much more! More on Elizabeth Ruzzo, PhD and Aydn: Adyn is the first and only test designed to prevent birth control side effects like blood clots, depression, acne, weight gain. Elizabeth received her PhD in Genetics and Genomics from Duke University and launched Adyn after her own experience with life-threatening birth control side effects. Elizabeth has raised $3.25M in VC funding from investors including M13, YC, Anne Wojcicki - the founder of 23&me.  More on Host Ruffin Mitchener:  https://beacons.ai/ruffin About Play Brydge: Brydge Club, hosted by Ruffin Mitchener, aims to bridge the $1.7 trillion financing gap for female founders. Every Wednesday, the show features in-depth interviews with industry leaders and innovators, educating and empowering women in venture capital and entrepreneurship. Through insightful discussions, Brydge Club seeks to inspire listeners to break barriers and achieve success in the business world. 

On this episode of the Play Brydge podcast, we sit down with Ronit Menashe and Vida Delrahim, founders of ingenious his and hers prenatal supplement company, WeNatal. We discuss the modern fertility crisis, the conceptualization, launch and operations of WeNatal, Ronit and Vida’s personal journeys with prenatal supplements, tips on increasing your chances of a successful pregnancy and more! Purchase WeNatal Supplements Ronit Menashe LinkedIn  More on Ronit, Vida and WeNatal: Ronit Menashe and Vida Delrahim are the founders of WeNatal, a prenatal supplement company that is transforming the fertility space with the first prenatal supplement optimized for her AND him. WeNatal’s mission to change the narrative surrounding fertility and reproductive health is personal; after suffering miscarriages a week apart Ronit and Vida were given little direction on what to do differently. More importantly, the health of Ronit & Vida’s partners (including the health of their sperm) was missing from their fertility dialogue completely with doctors… something had to change. WeNatal shifts the fertility journey from "me" to "we” and is backed by industry leading Functional Medicine doctors, nutritionists, and fertility experts, including Dr. Mark Hyman and Kelly LeVeque. With 24 key clean, bioavailable nutrients, WeNatal steps up where other supplements fall short for all things preconception to postpartum for both parents and baby. WeNatal is transforming the fertility space with the first prenatal supplement optimized for her AND him. In just 3 pills a day, WeNatal provides 24 key nutrients that are clean, bioavailable and third party tested for label claims, heavy metals and toxins.  Where most other supplements fall short, WeNatal stepped up including nutrients like iron, choline and methylated B vitamins; essential for all things preconception to postpartum. By prioritizing the right nutrients WeNatal gives couples a path forward and are backed by industry leading Functional Medicine doctors, nutritionists, and fertility experts, including Dr. Mark Hyman and Kelly LeVeque. More on Host Ruffin Mitchener:  https://beacons.ai/ruffin About Brydge Club: Brydge Club, hosted by Ruffin Mitchener, aims to bridge the $1.7 trillion financing gap for female founders. Every Wednesday, the show features in-depth interviews with industry leaders and innovators, educating and empowering women in venture capital and entrepreneurship. Through insightful discussions, the Brydge Club seeks to inspire listeners to break barriers and achieve success in the business world.

For over 20 years, Alexandra has been a trailblazer in business innovation. She’s launched and scaled over a half dozen successful, multi-channel consumer brands. Now, as CEO of Alix, she oversees rapid growth while ensuring that each Alix family receives the world-class care they deserve.  Alexandra is a graduate of the University of California, Berkeley. Since 2021, she has served on the Board of Directors for Security National Financial Corporation (SNFCA).   In this episode:  Making the jump to entrepreneurship and brand creation  Challenges in estate settlements: what you need to know  Identifying everyday problems is the first step to building a business  Strategies for finding the perfect co-founder  Tips for finding funding and connecting with investors    Resources:  Alexandra Mysoor LinkedIn  Alix  Ruffin Mitchener LinkedIn  About:  They dared to dream and built empires. Join host Ruffin Mitchener as she unveils the inspiring stories behind the most inspiring female founders and women in venture. Every other week, we publish a new interview packed with startup secrets and the blueprint for your business success. Tune in on Wednesdays to meet the next game-changer!   

Kate McAndrew is a Co-Founder and General Partner at Baukunst, a collective of creative technologists advancing the art of building companies. She is leading pre-seed rounds in companies at the frontiers of technology and design from Baukunst’s inaugural $100M VC fund.  Kate has invested in over 70 companies at the concept stage, helping founding teams build businesses from scratch. Prior to starting Baukunst, Kate was a Partner at Bolt for eight years where she gained experience as a first-round lead investor & board member with a focus on companies that are evolving the cultural conversation. Kate is the founder of Women in Hardware, the premiere community for women and non-binary people building at the intersection of the digital and physical. She is the co-author of the forthcoming book, The Goddess Guide to Branding.  Kate graduated from McGill University in Montreal with a degree in Cultural Studies/Critical Theory and Analysis. She resides in San Francisco.   In this episode:  How Kate navigated promotions from Associate to Partner at Bolt  What she looks for in pre-seed founders and what she saw in her most successful portfolio founders  What it takes to launch a $100M inaugural Venture Capital fund  Resources:  Kate McAndrew on LinkedIn  Baukunst  Kate McAndrew on TikTok  The Goddess Guide to Branding.  Ruffin Mitchener LinkedIn     About:  They dared to dream and built empires. Join host Ruffin Mitchener as she unveils the inspiring stories behind the most inspiring female founders and women in venture. Every other week, we publish a new interview packed with startup secrets and the blueprint for your business success. Tune in on Wednesdays to meet the next game-changer! 

Mallory Contois leads Community at Mercury and founded The Old Girls Club, a virtual community for women in the second and third stages of their careers in male-dominated fields. She is also an angel investor & advisor to early-stage founders, focusing on those building in the consumer social, art & creativity, women's health, and marketplaces. Mallory previously spent time on the early teams at Pinterest & Cameo focusing on product-led growth and as the COO of Metafy, a marketplace for gamers to find community and master their skills.   In this episode:  Why women need communities like OGC  How to build a career portfolio  How psychology plays into building community  How companies should think about community  Resources:  Mallory Contois on LinkedIn  The Old Girls Club  Ruffin Mitchener LinkedIn   About:  They dared to dream and built empires. Join host Ruffin Mitchener as she unveils the inspiring stories behind the most inspiring female founders and women in venture. Every other week, we publish a new interview packed with startup secrets and the blueprint for your business success. Tune in on Wednesdays to meet the next game-changer! 

Natalie Barbu is a content creator turned entrepreneur. She began her social media career in 2011 on YouTube as a beauty creator. Since then she has grown her following to over 380,000 across platforms. She is also the host of The Real Reel Podcast, a show where she speaks to entrepreneurs, business leaders, and creators to talk about the real reel - not the highlight reel. Natalie is also the CEO and founder of Rella, a venture-backed software startup building the back office for creators.  In this episode:  Effective strategies for community building on social media  The process that businesses go through when hiring content creators  Pros and cons of being a content creator while also having a “traditional” job  Essential tips and tools for aspiring startup founders  Who would benefit from Rella and how they serve their customers     Resources:  Natalie Barbu LinkedIn  Natalie Barbu YouTube  Ruffin Mitchener LinkedIn  About:  They dared to dream and built empires. Join host Ruffin Mitchener as she unveils the inspiring stories behind the most inspiring female founders and women in venture. Every other week, we publish a new interview packed with startup secrets and the blueprint for your business success. Tune in on Wednesdays to meet the next game-changer!   

Kate Sanner is an entrepreneur and marketing expert with a passion for sustainability and consumer behavior. With over eight years of experience at Anheuser-Busch, Kate honed her skills in brand development, notably contributing to iconic campaigns such as Bud Light's "Dilly Dilly" era. Co-founding Beni during her time at Kellogg School of Management, Kate spearheaded the mission to revolutionize secondhand shopping by making secondhand shopping as effortless as purchasing new items. Since filming this episode, Kate has stepped into a new role as CEO of Beni. Kate continues to inspire as a female founder, embodying resilience, innovation, and a dedication to driving positive change in the retail industry. In this episode: The beginnings of Beni: exploring its origins and functionality Taking a strategic approach by collaborating with brands Leveraging marketing for social impact Evaluating the ROI of an MBA: Is it worth the investment? Resources: Kate Sanner (LinkedIn) Kate Sanner (TikTok) Beni Ruffin Mitchener LinkedIn  About: They dared to dream and built empires. Join host Ruffin Mitchener as she unveils the inspiring stories behind the most inspiring female founders and women in venture. Every other week, we publish a new interview packed with startup secrets and the blueprint for your business success. Tune in on Wednesdays to meet the next game-changer!

Joan is the co-founder and CEO of Arise, whose vision is to create a world where everyone, everywhere has the freedom to heal from eating disorders and disordered eating. Joan brings her own lived experience with eating disorders and mental health conditions alongside a deep empathy for the diversity of the mental health journeys of so many others to drive her work as a product leader in the mental health tech space. Most recently, Joan was a product leader at Headspace Health where she led initiatives that empowered members to get into clinical care faster than ever before and led personalization initiatives with the AI/ML teams. Before Headspace, Joan led product at Click Therapeutics where she launched their first clinical trial product, a novel digital treatment for major depressive disorder that was recently approved by the FDA. Before her work at mental health tech startups, Joan started her career in management consulting at Deloitte where she led projects to implement robotics process automation at a top global pharmaceutical company and EHR systems for a state-wide development disability service provider. Joan holds a B.A. cum laude in Psychology with a minor in Computer Science from Harvard College, where she conducted fMRI research to understand how stress impacts our ability to utilize cognitive reappraisal and also published a book on the mental health experiences of Asian American students at Harvard. Joan lives in Houston, TX with her partner (Eric) and their endlessly entertaining puppy (Ari) and perpetually grumpy cat (Charlie). Since moving to Houston from NYC during the pandemic, Joan has been focusing on spending more time with family and building an intentional community. In this episode, Joan talks about: Joan's personal experience with disordered eating and her advice for navigating care Navigating her career from writing a book at Harvard to Deloitte Consulting to leading Product at Headspace Raising over $10M from mission-aligned venture capital investors like BBG Ventures  Drawing inspiration from female founders and investors like April Koh  Resources: Joan Zhang Arise Arise on Instagram Arise on Twitter/X Arise on TikTok Ruffin Mitchener LinkedIn  About: They dared to dream and built empires. Join host Ruffin Mitchener as she unveils the inspiring stories behind the most inspiring female founders and women in venture. Every other week, we publish a new interview packed with startup secrets and the blueprint for your business success. Tune in on Wednesdays to meet the next game-changer!

Madeleine Cohen is the founder of Nelle Atelier, a premium off-the-rack denim brand for women under 5’4”.  Madeleine has built a career in brand building and start-ups - most recently at Bala, Casper, and Estee Lauder. Her story is simple: She had a closet full of jeans but nothing to wear. At 5'1", she always had to stand on her toes and imagine what her new jeans would look like hemmed—then spend $50 at the tailor to get them to fit. She isn't alone: Half of women, like her, are under 5'4"–and they need jeans, too.  Today she is here to discuss her journey from startup operator to founder. How she’s landed her many opportunities including being featured in Vogue…twice. Madeleine shares more on her background and how that influenced her to launch Nelle Atelier.  In this episode:  The funding, networking, tools, and tips that helped Nelle Atelier start and grow  What is the most expensive parts of a denim brand (and other product-based businesses)  One of Madeleine’s biggest tips: negotiate amazing terms from your suppliers  Madeleine talks about her career journey and how she went from turning down Macy’s to starting Nelle Atelier  How Madeleine sold her first pair of jeans and the “power of the presale”  Leveraging brands (and Substack) to buoy your own brand  The lessons Madeleine has learned from her funding experiences  Resources:  Madeleine Cohen LinkedIn   Nelle Atelier website  Nelle Atelier Instagram  Ruffin Mitchener LinkedIn    About:  Join Ruffin Mitchener to learn from the most inspiring female founders and women in venture. Tune in every Wednesday for a new interview packed with startup secrets and investor insights for business success.   

Gale Wilkinson is the founder and GP of Vitalize VC, an early-stage fund & angel community investing in worktech software, and financing at the pre-seed and seed stages. Her portfolio companies include Placer, The Mom Project, and, Workmade. In this episode, we discuss Gale’s journey from Angel to Venture, what decisions she made to get where she is, and how her due diligence process has changed through time. She is a big proponent of opening access to investing to everyone, especially women. Vitalize VC is working to shift and change the LP landscape and make it more approachable and welcoming to the public and fledgling investors. In this episode: Gale’s career story as an entrepreneur and MBA grad running Irish Angels  Vitalize’s investment thesis and strategy for investing into any b2b software that dramatically affects work outcomes Common themes found in the unicorns in Gale’s portfolio  How Gale’s typical due diligence process has changed over the years The potential angel exits in comparison to a 30x from VC Co-founder dilemmas: checking out troubling relationships and interactions  Who should and shouldn’t go after venture capital  Suggestions for who should invest in this asset class  The stage when you should invest micro checks and how much you should invest What needs to happen to get more underrepresented people funded and writing checks  Resources: Gale Wilkinson LinkedIn Gale Wilkinson Twitter/X Ruffin Mitchener LinkedIn About: They dared to dream and built empires. Join host Ruffin Mitchener as she unveils the inspiring stories behind the most inspiring female founders and women in venture. Every other week, we publish a new interview packed with startup secrets and the blueprint for your business success. Tune in on Wednesdays to meet the next game-changer!

In this episode, we’re chatting with Julia Haber, founder and CEO of Home From College. Julia quit her job at Snap to build Home From College, the professional development platform built specifically for career starters and young professionals.   Home From College offers a mix of opportunities from research assignments to social media campaigns for college students, while empowering students to showcase and build their brands. In this episode, Julia shares her strategy for building community with Gen Z and leveraging TikTok for organic growth. Julia’s journey demonstrates the power of strategic vision and adapting to challenges providing valuable insights for budding entrepreneurs on navigating the complex startup landscape.    In this episode:  From building Soho House for college campuses to Home From College  Building the Home From College brand  Building trust between schools, brands, and students   Fundraising, strategies for female founders  The vision for a future billion-dollar business  Resources:  Julie Haber LinkedIn  Home From College  Ruffin Mitchener LinkedIn  About:   They dared to dream and built empires. Join host Ruffin Mitchener as she unveils the inspiring stories behind the most inspiring female founders and women in venture. Every other week, we publish a new interview packed with startup secrets and the blueprint for your business success. Tune in Wednesdays to meet the next game-changer! 

Natalie Sportelli, Director at Bullish, a consumer venture capital firm and creative agency based in New York, joins us to discuss consumer investing and her journey from Forbes to Venture Capital. Natalie previously joined Thingtesting, a B2B platform for brands, as employee number four and has worked across journalism as an Associate Editor at Forbes and served as a Director at venture capital firm Lerer Hippeau. In this episode, we also discuss cultivating genuine, community-focused brands and the shifts in consumer behavior.     In this episode:  Natalie Sportelli from Bullish shares insights on consumer venture capital and brand consultancy  The impact of shifting consumer behaviors on business strategies  Content strategy for venture capital success  Personal transition stories from journalism to venture capital careers  Insights on brand building and the importance of community feedback  The potential of AI and Gen Z's influence on consumer behavior  Analysis of consumer brands with long histories experiencing cultural resurgence  Challenges and strategies in investing in consumer-focused companies  Breaking into venture capital with a compelling personal narrative  Transparency in investor-founder relationships  Debunking the concept of Total Addressable Market (TAM)   Resources:  Natalie Sportelli LinkedIn  Natalie Sportelli Twitter  Lerer Hippeau  Bullish  Ruffin Mitchener LinkedIn    About:   They dared to dream, and built empires. Join host Ruffin Mitchener as she unveils the inspiring stories behind the most inspiring female founders and women in venture. Every other week, we publish a new interview packed with startup secrets and the blueprint for your business success. Tune in Wednesdays to meet the next game-changer! 

Paige Hendrix Buckner is the CEO of All Raise, a community and mission to accelerate the success of female and non-binary founders and funders to build a more prosperous and suitable future. Female representation at the partner level across fund sizes is consistently low, and All Raise is grounded in reality and measurable outcomes.  Prior to All Raise, Paige has founded ClientJoy, a modern business gifting solution that transforms the way professionals show gratitude.  Find out more about All Raise here: https://www.allraise.org/ Connect with Paige here: https://www.linkedin.com/in/paigehendrixbuckner/

Anna is the co-founder and CEO of Trayd, a construction payroll platform designed for same-day pay, replacing multiple outdated solutions with an all-in-one platform designed with payments at its core. Trayd is backed by Y Combinator and the team is based in New York City. Prior to founding Trayd, Anna worked on the global marketing team at Marriott and was the co-founder of Curtn, a video dating app backed by Sam Altman and Joel Simkhai, the founder of Grindr. Connect w/ Anna: https://www.linkedin.com/in/annajberger/ Connect w/ Ruffin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/ruffin-mitchener/ All things Brydge Club: https://beacons.ai/ruffin

In this podcast episode, I'm chatting with Adela Jamal, the General Partner & Co-Founder at Milemark Capital, an early-stage venture capital firm focusing on diverse teams utilizing applied AI to transform existing business models. Adela shares insights into Milemark's investment thesis, emphasizing their commitment to startups leveraging applied AI. She discusses her decision to pursue an MBA at MIT and highlights the importance of normalizing non-linear career paths, especially for women. Adela offers advice for women aspiring to enter the VC space and shares her experiences as a leader advocating for women in business and tech. The episode concludes with Adela debunking the venture capital concept of "Limited Partner". Listeners can connect with Adela on LinkedIn here: https://www.linkedin.com/in/adelajamal/ Find all things Brydge Club here: https://beacons.ai/ruffin

Melody Hahm leads community and platform at Harlem Capital, an early stage venture capital firm. There she is responsible for Harlem's content and partnerships strategy and works closely with the fund's portfolio companies to equip them with resources to succeed. Prior to joining the venture world, Melody was a business and financial reporter. Most recently she was Yahoo Finance's west coast correspondent, covering entrepreneurship and the startups.

Julia O'Mara is the Co-founder and COO of Pickle, the peer-to-peer rental marketplace making it easy and affordable to rent high-quality clothing and accessories within your community and beyond. In less than a year, Pickle introduced a new way to shop , brought 50,000+ items into circulation, and powered lucrative side hustle. Before founding Pickle, Julia served as Senior Product Manager at The Blackstone Group, where she led product analyses for the Investor Relations and Fundraising teams. Shop Pickle: https://shoponpickle.com/ Connect w/ Julia: https://www.linkedin.com/in/julia-o-mara/

Julie Wroblewski, the Co-Founder and Managing Partner of Magnify Ventures, which debuted a $52M fund investing into the care economy. Before launching Magnify, Julie spent over a decade as an investor and advisor with institutional-scale family offices and mission-focused organizations, including Pivotal Ventures, led by Melinda French Gates. Julie is a Kauffman Fellow, member of All Raise, and a frequent speaker on purpose-driven venture capital, gender lens investing, and the care economy. https://www.linkedin.com/in/juliewroblewski/ https://www.magnify.vc/

Steph is the founder of PIN (Power in Numbers), a VC-backed company that enables communities of people (like people from Stanford, YC, and Coinbase) to invest in startups together. She's also writes the newsletter, "Demystifying VC", to help founders navigate the fundraising process and to teach new angels about early stage investing. Steph was formerly a VC at NEA where she helped invest over $150M. And she’s also a graduate of Stanford GSB. Find Steph & PIN: https://www.linkedin.com/in/stephmui/ https://www.getpin.xyz/

Amber is a General Partner and full-time investor at The Council Fund, where she invests at Pre-seed stage in software built for legacy industries like Construction, Logistics, and Healthcare. Before transitioning to running her own venture firm full time, Amber worked at companies like Eli Lilly, Apple, Snap, and Cruise in various Operations leadership roles. She's worked at every stage from Seed to Fortune 500 and interfaced with many of the legacy industries she invests in today. In addition to The Council Fund, Amber runs The Council Angels, a community of over 100 operators turned angel investors. Members are able to invest in select deals alongside the fund and learn along the way. Apply to Join the Council Angels: https://www.thecouncil.co/angels Connect w/ Amber https://www.linkedin.com/in/amberillig/https://twitter.com/AmberIllig More from Brydge Club: https://beacons.ai/ruffin

Maggie Zheng is the Head of Fundraising at Wefunder, a YC company, where she works with early and growth stage startups. Before Wefunder, she was the sixth employee and Chief of Staff at Doorvest, building it from pre-seed to post Series A, working across many functions including product, marketing, operations, and strategy. Maggie is also an investor at Potluck VC, a venture firm focusing on AAPI founded growth stage companies. Connect with Maggie: LinkedIn TikTok All things Brydge Club: https://beacons.ai/ruffin

Kristine Locker is the Founder and CEO of Locker, the social commerce platform supporting shoppers at every step of their consumer journey, from initial discovery until purchase. Locker enables users to save any product they want while browsing online into one, organized place. As an avid online shopper, Kristine found herself constantly taking screenshots of products or keeping dozens of tabs open, but there wasn't a platform that provided the utility or social aspect she craved as an "everyday" consumer and non-influencer. Kristine's story of becoming a founder is unconventional. She spent her first two years out of school as a real estate analyst at Goldman Sachs, then worked alongside her dad as a commercial real estate broker. But, something in her gut told her that Locker was worth risking it all. She stepped away from a lucrative and stable career in 2020 and invested every penny she had into building Locker - so she could provide the solution to the problem that she and millions of other shoppers face. Connect with Kristine: https://www.linkedin.com/in/kristinelocker/ Download Locker! https://www.wantlocker.com/ More from Brydge Club: https://beacons.ai/ruffin

This week on the podcast we’re chatting with Dulma Altan. If you dont already know her, she’s a creator on TikTok and host of the Due Dilligence Podcast where she’s interviewed guests including Sophia Amoruso founder of Nasty Gal and creator of GirlBoss. Before TikTok, Dulma started her career with Google before jumping into the world of startups and venture capital. Dulma has been such an inspiration for me and my journey into the world of content, SO i was beyond excited to get her on the show. Find Dulma: https://www.dulma.co/ TikTok for Startups: https://open.spotify.com/episode/7EmrsIJVFDyiEVLDKxi0Gt?si=39f46b77a76c4ba7

This week on the show I’m joined by Madeline Darcy, the founder & GP of Kaya Ventures, an early stage venture capital firm building a healthier, happier, and more connected future. Previous investments include Ellevest, Sanzo, Brightland, and Republic. Prior to launching Kaya Ventures, Madeline was a VP at Visible Ventures, Harvard Business school graduate, and consultant. Connect with Madeline https://www.linkedin.com/in/madelinedarcy/ Finda Kaya Ventures https://www.kaya.ventures/ Join Brydge Club on Slack https://beacons.ai/joinbrydgeclub

Audrey Micay Wisch dropped out of Stanford University to build her ed-tech startup Curious Cardinals, which did $600K ARR its first year of business. This year, Audrey was named Forbes #30under30 at just 20 years old. Audrey was in her first year of Stanford, when she started tutoring a 7th grader on criminal justice, gender equality & more. Since then, Audrey Micay Wisch and her co-founder Alec Katz have built Curious Cardinals to be a network of over 200+ college students, who have mentored more than 3,000 high-school and middle students on topics like bitcoin, venture capital, skincare and more. Audrey Micay Wisch is making big changes to the outdated education model. So much so, that a parent asked if to withdrawal his son from school and enroll full-time into Curious Cardinals. That parent/customer has so much conviction in the ed-tech startup that he angel invested into the business. The Curious Cardinals team has also raised $6.8M in seed capital from top investors including Anthos Capital and Audacious Ventures. https://www.curiouscardinals.com/ https://www.linkedin.com/in/audrey-wisch/

Nichole Wischoff is the solo-founder & GP of Wischoff Ventures where she’s investing into pre-seed & Seed stage unsexy businesses out of a $20M fund II. Before venture, Nichole started her career working at 2 successful fintech companies, one that was acquired by Walmart. In this episode we chat about everything from, tips for having a successful startup career, how she got started angel investing, and how she’s built such a break-through career in venture. https://www.linkedin.com/in/nicholewischoff/ https://twitter.com/NWischoff https://www.wischoff.com/

Nicole DeTommaso is an investor with Harlem Capital, a seed stage fund investing into diverse founders. She is a former Investment Banker and Forbes 30 Under 30. Today, Nicole dedicates her free time to providing investor education and helping others break into venture capital. If you don’t already follow her on LinkedIn and Twitter, it’s a must!Nicole DeTommaso shares weekly job openings in venture, tips like 10 questions to prepare for your VC interview, and examples of VC exit models. In this week's episode of Brydge Club, we get into many of those topics plus more of Nicole's story! Connect w/ Nicole: https://www.linkedin.com/in/nicoledetommaso/https://twitter.com/nic_detommaso Harlem Capital: https://harlem.capital/ Harlem Capital Intern Syllabus: https://harlem.capital/wp-content/uploads/2022/10/HCP-External-Syllabus-October-2022-vF.pdf?utm_source=brydgeclub.beehiiv.com&utm_medium=newsletter&utm_campaign=let-s-play-brydge

Avni Barman is the founder & CEO of GenShe, a community of 16K+women in startups, with a mission to connect 1 billion GenZ women to opportunities in tech. She first got started after working in CS with big tech and realizing how few women break into the space. Avni started hosting make-athons, the first at Snap Chat headquarters, which attracted women from accross the country. Avni bootstrapped the business for several years, and recently completed her first fundraise. P.S. she is currently hiring across marketing & engineering, so make sure to check out the opportunity to work with her and her amazing team. https://www.generationshe.co/ https://www.linkedin.com/in/avnibarman/

This week, I'm chatting with Miray Tayfun, the co-founder of Vivoo, an at-home health & wellness tracking startup that helps you monitor your hydration, magnesium, vitamin c, and more. Since launch in 2017, Miray and her team have scaled to 50K users in over 100 different countries and attracted over $7M in venture capital funding from Techstars, Draper Associates, and Halogen Ventures. Try Vivoohttps://store.vivoo.io/

This week on the Play Brydge podcast, we welcomed Sam Safer Valentine, Co-founder & COO of Norby. Norby is an AI-powered communications platform that helps creators and entrepreneurs amplify their work through a lightweight website, event hosting, texting and email campaigns, lead collection, and so much more. Before Norby, Sam pursued a career in marketing and worked at organizations including the MET. During this episode, Sam and I chatted about everything from her career pivot, marketing to tech founder, and her team’s $8M fundraise from investors including BBG and Gradient Ventures. Connect with Sam 👋 https://www.linkedin.com/in/samanthasafer/ Try Norby with 50% off the Growth Plan for your first two months! https://join.nor.by/?cid=7nf

During this week’s episode, I spoke with Zehra all about her experience building founder community at Republic and with the Z list, her community of 12K investors and founders in NYC. Zehra first started learning about venture capital investing while studying at Columbia. After graduation, she accepted an offer with the Republic venture team. Since then, Zehra has focused her work on democratizing access to venture capital investing and education. In this episode, she shares tips and thoughts from her own angel investments and so much more! Subscribe to the Z-List: https://thezlist-irl.beehiiv.com/subscribe Connect with Zehra: https://www.linkedin.com/in/zehranaqvinyc/ https://twitter.com/zehranaqvi_

Amy Molk is the founder & CEO of Beanstalk, the future of kids’ entertainment, combining AI , real-time animation, and educational expertise to create engaging experiences for children. Prior founding Beanstalk, Amy built a career in Hollywood with big name companies including CAA and A&E Networks. Since then, she has led her startup Beanstalk through Techstars and a $1M pre-seed fundraise. Beanstalk all started with a zoom room offering live, interactive shows for kids. During COVID, the business exploded globally across the US, the UK, Brazil, and more. Now, Beanstalk is innovating with AI to provided interactive animation for kids! Try Beanstalk: https://www.beanstalkai.com/ Connect with Amy: https://www.linkedin.com/in/amymolk/ Subscribe to the Brydge Club newsletter! https://brydgeclub.beehiiv.com/

Tiffany Faith Demers is the CEO & founder of Upkeep, the trusted way to book your botox, facial, & other MedSpa needs. Tiffany was working in skincare, when she started to notice millennials and gen z consumers shift spending from beauty products to medical aesthetics. In fact, the Global Medical Aesthetics Market Size is expected to surpass $30 billion by 2030 💅 Upkeep Beauty is backed by notable investors including MrBeast's venture arm Night Ventures, Anthemis Group, and 1517 Fund. In this episode, we discussed everything from new trends in the beauty space like Morpheus 8 to how Tiffany successfully broke into med-tech without a Harvard or Stanford degree. Special shoutout & thank you to Emily Herrera for the introduction 💫 Find UpKeep: https://apps.apple.com/us/app/upkeep-medspa-treatments-now/id1573485456 https://www.instagram.com/upkeepbeauty/?hl=en https://www.upkeepbeauty.com

Loved having an honest conversation, with Claudia Laurie, all about her journey co-founding Prive, the revenue platform for commerce enabling subscriptions & more. Claudia is also a podcast co-host of The Room Podcast, which is ranked top 5% globally. Fun fact, Claudia first met her Prive investor, Jesse Draper of Halogen Ventures, while recording an episode for her show 💥 In this episode of the Future is Female, we talk all about Claudia's journey from Harvard University to her experience working at Uber to launching her business. Connect with Claudia: https://www.linkedin.com/in/claudia-laurie-5ba47bb4/ Try Prive: https://www.tryprive.com/ Listen to the Room Podcast: https://www.theroompodcast.com/

Isabella Mandis is a freshman at Harvard University and founder of Girls Who VC, the first organization dedicated to bringing young women in to the field of venture capital. 🔥 Isabella is the first undergrad student to be accepted into The MBA Fund. 💻 Prior to Harvard, she learned to code with Girls Who Code and worked with a number of startups 🤩 She's most inspired by Audrey Micay Wisch the founder of Curious Cardinals, an edtech company committed to empowering K-12 students Connect w/ Isabella: https://www.linkedin.com/in/isabellamandis/ Sign-up for Girls Who VC: https://www.girlswhovc.com/

Today welcome Dana Le. Founder of Wander Health. A medical concierge startup that connects travelers to vetted local healthcare services while abroad. Dana is a graduate of UT Austin. She holds her Master's in Health Administration from Columbia university. She's a former TEDx speaker and Forbes 30 under 30. Most recently her startup was accepted into both the Primary Ventures fellowship. As well as the Antler accelerator program. And those are just the highlights. I'm so excited to share my conversation with Dana! Sign-up for Wander: https://www.wander.health/ Connect w/ Dana https://www.linkedin.com/in/hddanale/ Connect w/ me! https://www.linkedin.com/in/ruffin-mitchener/

Meet Juliette Richert 👋 She's an investor at The Artemis Fund -- a seed stage VC firm investing in female founders building businesses that modernize wealth. Their portfolio includes Hello Divorce, UNest, Reel, Green Room + more! The fund was co-founded by two women, Leslie Goldman Tepper & Diana Murakhovskaya, who are on a mission to diversify wealth. During this episode, Juliette and I chatted all about she got started in venture capital, the Artemis investment process, + more. I always end the show with this question: 💜 Can you share a female founder, investor, or leader that inspires you...and a little bit about why? 💜 Special shoutout to Anna Barber for being a standout investor & educator! Connect w/ Juliette: https://www.linkedin.com/in/juliette-richert/ Find the Artemis Fund: https://www.theartemisfund.com/

Tech entrepreneur Jessica Chang is the CEO and Co-Founder of WeeCare, the largest childcare network in America. A committed early childhood education advocate and mom of two, she is set on solving the childcare crisis. Prior to co-founding WeeCare, Jessica was COO of Affinity China, a principal investor at Macquarie Capital, and VP of Marketplace at Radpad. A graduate of UC Berkeley, she is a preschool owner herself and resides in Los Angeles with her husband, Witt, and two kids, Teddy and Maddie. Jessica is WeeCare’s resident wine expert and exclusively follows food photographers on Instagram. WeeCare makes affordable, quality childcare accessible to all families. We are a childcare innovator company that uses technology to empower parents, employers, and the government to solve the childcare crisis. WeeCare partners with government entities to better facilitate sponsored care, helps employers of all sizes offer their employees childcare benefits, and supports home daycare providers in operating sustainable businesses. WeeCare's largest U.S. network of in-home daycares, nannies, and babysitters is conveniently located in neighborhoods, allowing parents to balance their work and family responsibilities more easily. Our childcare providers provide safe, nurturing environments — all while educating children in fun and engaging ways. Determined to reduce the day-to-day stress of childcare, we offer comprehensive employer-sponsored childcare benefits that are affordable for employers and employees. (The average cost of tuition through WeeCare ranges from $650 to $850 per month before employer subsidies, which is about 40% less than the average monthly cost.) Our childcare options — including tuition subsidies, backup care, and search assistance — are designed to be customized to the unique requirements of each family, meaning employers are able to better attract and retain qualified talent. Our work with governments is designed to support the supply and sustainability of childcare providers, as well as to improve the financial security and stability of families in need of care. WeeCare was founded to solve the childcare challenges facing millions of families, and we remain dedicated to helping parents and guardians secure a better future for their children. Follow WeeCare on Social: https://www.linkedin.com/company/weecare-inc/ https://twitter.com/WeeCareCo Connect w/ Jessica: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jessica-chang-1010402/ https://twitter.com/jessicajchang

Women make up more than half of the U.S. population, and control or influence 85% of consumer spending. Yet, female founded companies receive just 2% of venture capital funding. To Amrita Bhasin's point, we need more women creating the products and services we want and need, and more women in investment positions to fund them. In this week's episode of the Future is Female, I interviewed Amrita Bhasin, co-founder of Sotira, a Saas startup building financial tools to help e-commerce businesses thrive. Her and her co-founder, Gary Kwong were students University of California, Berkeley when they first founded the business. Today, they've completed the Envision Accelerator and received funding from Soma Capital. Connect with Amrita Bhasin: www.linkedin.com/in/amrita-bhasin/ Check out Sotira: www.sotira.co/ Find TFIF Community: www.thefutureisfemale.io/

Meet Meera Clark, she's an investor at Redpoint Ventures, former investment banker, Forbes 30 Under 30, & Kauffman Fellow ✨   In this episode of the Future is Female, Meera and I talked all about:  ⚡ Pivoting careers from investment banking to early stage investing   👼 How she made her first angel investments & tips for others looking to get started!  🎗 Her favorite investment themes + how to evaluate startup opportunities + so much more!   Special shoutout Charlotte Country Day School for making this episode possible 💚    Connect with Meera: https://twitter.com/itsmeeraclark?s=20

2% of venture capital funding is allocated to women, and of that, roughly 0.05% to Black women. Mitchella Gilbert, MBA is 1 of 200 black women who have raised over $1M in venture capital. Her advice: ignore the stats.    As a college athlete, Mitchella Gilbert, MBA learned that the leggings she wore daily make women 2X more likely to develop health issues. After realizing millions of women deal with the same problem, she developed Oya Femtech Apparel: the first functional athletic wear with women's health in mind.    Mitchella Gilbert, MBA has been such an inspiration since our time together as classmates at UCLA Anderson School of Management! So, I'm especially excited to share her episode on the Future is Female 💜   Check out Oya here: https://wearoya.com/ Find Mitch here: https://www.linkedin.com/in/mitchellagilbert/ 

Why are there so many dating apps to help us find love, but so little to help us keep it?  At Stanford, Ali Maggioncalda studied Human Behavioral Biology and researched how to improve relationships.   During grad school, Ali launched Lovewick: Relationship App: a new couples app that helps you learn about each other and share new experiences.   To celebrate Valentine's day, I'm sharing my conversation with Ali, founder of Lovewick: Relationship App...and here's a sneak peak!    💜 The common needs of couples + the Triangular Theory of Love   🔥 Boot-strapping to over 300K registered users (~ 90% from her own TikTok!!)  💰 Raising over $1M In pre-seed funding led by Sam Yagan (co-founder OkCupid)     Download Lovewick: https://www.lovewick.com/ Follow Ali on TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@withlovewick

After graduating from Harvard, Sophie Randolph launched a music agency side-hustle, while leading strategy for a high-growth tech startup.    Today, Sophie is the founder of Green Room, a business management tool for live entertainers.    To pursue her business, Sophie attended Rice Business - Jones Graduate School of Business as a Forte Fellow.  Green Room was selected for grant prize funding and was accepted into the Techstars Music program.   Sophie recently closed a $1.1M pre-seed round of funding to grow her business. Investors included The Artemis Fund and Mercury 🚀   Check out Green Room: https://www.greenroom.app/

Emily Herrera dropped out of Northeastern, launched her own female-focused syndicate, and now she's an investor at Mr. Beast's venture fund 💥    In this episode, Emily and I talked all about:  👩‍🎨 The fusion of people of influence, venture capital, & startups at Night Ventures   🐥 The power of Em's own digital brand on twitter & how she's using it to accelerate her career   📚 Why she dropped out of college & why she believes the college-experience is dying + so much more    Follow Em on Twitter: https://twitter.com/emilyhxrrera Check out her work: https://www.emilyherrera.com/

See both sides of important issues— in 5 minutes a day.    The The Flip Side is a new kind of news source for liberals, moderates, independents, conservatives, and even the apolitical.   In this week's episode of the Future is Female, I chatted with Annafi Wahed, CFA all about:   👩‍💻 Her career pivot from finance to Hilary Clinton's campaign  ✍ Publishing an op-ed in the WSJ to gain 4.5K subscribers overnight  💰 Raising Seed capital from readers and the current WeFunder campaign  + so much more   Checkout the FlipSide here: https://www.theflipside.io/

Creator, investor, and #1 best selling author...all while studying computer science & English at Harvard University ✨    So excited to share my conversation with Catherine Yeo!    Here's a sneak-peak of our convo:  🎨 Growing an audience of 400K+, monetizing her passion, and how the creator economy has evolved since   📚 Launching a crowdfunding campaign to publish, The Creator Revolution, a #1 best selling book    📈 The intersection of creators, startups, and venture capital (Special shoutout to MrBeast + Night Ventures + Emily Herrera)   Learn more about Catherine and her book here: www.catherinehyeo.com/creator Connect with @catherinehyeo on Twitter and Instagram

Our very first Future is Female episode featuring an investor!! 🎙  Ashley Aydin is a principal at Vamos Ventures, an early stage venture capital fund backing diverse founders.   In this episode, Ashley and I dive into:   🖥 Her early career at Morgan Stanley & a YC startup  📚 Why she pursued her MBA at MIT Sloan (***and who the MBA might not be right for)  💥 Her drive to get more money in the hands of diverse founders  + so much more Check out Vamos Ventures here  Connect with Ashley here

What if Noom + Headspace + Betterment had a baby?   👶 Aura Finance is a mindful money management platform that helps you put your money to work and anxiety to rest.   In the first episode of 2023 🎇, I interviewed Kelsey Willock, my former WFU classmate (Go Deacs!) and co-founder of Aura.   We discuss everything from:  🏦 Her decision to leave Goldman Sachs  👋 Meeting her co-founder Courtney through OnDeck  🚀 Her team's acceptance into Techstars   + SO much more Want access to Aura? Aura is currently at capacity but we  secured 20 spots for priority onboarding. To claim your exclusive invite, sign up for a call here. Spots are limited, so this is first come, first serve. During this session, the founders will teach you how to use the app, answer any questions you might have, and help you make the most of the world’s first financial engagement platform and community. ️ BONUS: You will also unlock access to our Investing & Savings Optimizer coaching session (a $500 value). About Aura: Aura is a mindful money management platform that helps you put your money to work and anxiety to rest. You can think of us as your wealth manager meets money coach on a mission to heal your relationship with money, achieve your financial goals and align your investments with your values. We're like if Noom + Headspace + Betterment had a baby. Our mission is to empower individuals to live a life of abundance while growing passive wealth. To learn more, take our money personality quiz or visit us at Aurafinance.io.

Sandy Lin has over 500K followers on TikTok, and now she's building a tech business around it. Her startup, Creobase, is the new HubSpot for creators. Making it easy for creators to find, manage and automate their brand partnerships. It's fascinating to watch creators like Sandy build brand and community around their tech businesses. In fact, Sandy has already had success partnering and angel investing into other early stage tech startups including Copy.ai and Beacons. In this episode, I chatted with Sandy about: 🐶 Starting her entrepreneurial journey w/ an e-commerce pet business 🤑  The ins and outs of what it actually takes to secure a lucrative brand deal 👼 Making her first angel investments as a creator 🤝 Officially signing with a talent agency to propel her creator business + so much more

Try clothes on at home for free, from brands like ZARA USA, Reformation, & more 🛍    Adla is a new at home shopping experience, handling all delivery and returns at no cost to the consumer.    In episode 6 of the Future is Female podcast, I met Holly Leslie, founder of Adla.    She shared her story:   👩‍🎓 Going viral on college campuses in NC (including my alma mater Wake Forest University)  💰 The unexpected upside of not raising a round at YC demo day   📩 Her email hacks to get connected with CEOs at top brands like  Princess Polly    Sign-up: www.adlacity.com Connect with us:  www.linkedin.com/in/holly-leslie-57a692162/ www.linkedin.com/in/ruffin-mitchener/ 

Imagine a new search engine using generative AI. Instead of links,  Andi gives you answers - like a smart friend.    The tool uses language models combined with live data to generate answers to questions, and to explain and summarize information combined from the best sources.   When Angela Hoover and her co-founder met in the Denver airport, they found a shared passion for creating a new search engine. Agreeing that search is broken by SEO, spam, ads, surveillance, and more.    Give their new search engine a try here!! 🔎  https://andisearch.com/    In this episode of the Future is Female pod, Angela shares her story:   🤝 Meeting her co-founder in the Denver airport  🍎 Dropping out of college to start YC  🧠 How Andi works plus plans an ads free engine   + so much more   Connect with us:  https://www.linkedin.com/in/angela-hoover/  https://www.linkedin.com/in/ruffin-mitchener/

While working as a PM for Visa, Vrinda Gupta was rejected by the credit card she helped launch.    That's when she discovered 70% of women's spend is on noncredit building products, like debit cards and credit cards in other people's names.   In 2019, Vrinda launched Sequin Financial, Inc. (YC S21) , the first debit card by and for women. It's first card teaching women about the financial system and providing exclusive discounts to women led brands.    The startup has closed $5.7 million in funding from top investors including Y Combinator, Matrix Partners, Scribble Ventures, IDEO, Thomvest, and Commerce VC.   In this episode, I chatted with Vrinda about:  👼 Receiving her first angel check while interning at IDEO  👭 Maintaining a cap table with 92% women investors   🚀 Going viral on medium and acquiring 10K+ signups at launch  + so much more    Tag a female founder or investor that I should interview next 🙏    Sign-up for the card here:   www.sequincard.com/   Connect with us here:   www.linkedin.com/in/vrindag/  www.linkedin.com/in/ruffin-mitchener/

In this episode, Ruffin Mitchener interviews Kristy Kim, founder of Tomo Credit.    We discuss everything from:  🎓 Dropping out of the MBA to disrupt the credit industry   💳 Reaching one million card-holders at Tomo  💥 Building a majority female executive team in fintech   + more     Get the card:  tomocredit.com Connect with us:  linkedin.com/in/kristykim7/  linkedin.com/in/ruffin-mitchener/

In this episode, Ruffin Mitchener interviews Aakruti Desai, founder of Puzzl.  We discuss everything from:  🚀 Raising $600K pre-seed  👩‍💻 People ops lessons from her lead investor  💰 Selling her prior startup Marketfly  + so much more   Sign-up for Puzzl: https://www.puzzlapps.com/  Connect with us:  https://www.linkedin.com/in/aakruti/ https://www.linkedin.com/in/ruffin-mitchener/

Download the Alinea app: https://apps.apple.com/app/apple-store/id1554623825 Follow the Alinea Team on TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@alineainvest https://www.tiktok.com/@eveandanam Follow Ruffin on Social: https://www.tiktok.com/@ruffinventures?is_from_webapp=1&sender_device=pc https://www.linkedin.com/in/ruffin-mitchener/