Today, we travel to the West Coast of the United States where it is becoming increasingly clear that enterprise is dominating venture capital – where every company is becoming a software company. From retailers to established financial institutions and even health providers, the underlying technology has enabled everything from payments to CRM, information management and so, so much more. But how did we arrive at this inflection point and what next?
I chat with Cathy Gao, partner at Sapphire Ventures, a leading venture capital firm with more than $6.8B AUM across the group. For nearly two decades, Sapphire has been investing capital, resources and expertise in innovative startups and technology-focused venture funds around the world.
👊🏻 5 THINGS YOU’LL LEARN:
– How to actually manage diversity & not fall into the culture ‘fit’ trap
– Why conviction is core to succeeding as a new partner
– The tale of two cities in healthcare
– What makes a billion dollar founder
– Ethics in investing- where do you draw the line?
ABOUT CATHY
Cathy Gao is Partner at Sapphire Ventures (www.sapphireventures.com).
As a daughter of a software engineer and a small business owner, Cathy has been steeped in technology and entrepreneurship from an early age and today Cathy focuses on B2B SaaS, digital healthcare, and data businesses. Cathy led the firm’s investment in and sits on the board of SafeGraph, and is a board observer at Medable, UJET, and Splashtop. Prior to Sapphire, Cathy was an investor at AXA Venture Partners where she invested in Series B and C enterprise software businesses. Cathy also spent time at Gusto shortly after their Series B and watched the company scale from less than 200 employees to over 400, rebrand and launch two new products. Cathy graduated summa cum laude from the Wharton School at the University of Pennsylvania with a B.S. in economics and a minor in history.
What makes a billion-dollar founder/CEO?
— Sarah Chen (@SarahChenGlobal) July 16, 2021
(According to Cathy Gao @SapphireVC, $6.8Bn AUM) 🧵
1/Deep team understanding: Do you really understand your core lieutenants, their strengths and weaknesses; and see where they can grow into (beyond what they came into)?