FLM: Share why helping BIPOC and female founders should be important to anyone looking to invest in a promising startup.
DVW: To me, it’s really about investing in the best founders with the best vision and growth mindsets. First time founders build solutions for problems they personally understand. Often for
women and founders of color, those solutions are solving for big market opportunities that more traditional investors just don’t understand. It’s one of the reasons I think it takes a diverse funder to really source and evaluate these great opportunities, which I think helps me do well at both investing and mentoring.
FLM: What three words describe your style?
DVW: Sophisticated, sexy, joyful
FLM: Describe how your outlook on fashion has evolved over the past decade.
DV: When I first started my career in the early 2000’s, I was at a conservative organization and it was the era of the pantsuit. I did my best to fit it. But one too many times I got asked at a conference where the bathroom was, because I was younger than other attendees and everyone assumed I was event staff. I decided that once I started my own company, I'd dress the way I wanted. Since then, I think I toe the line of work and fun...subtly sexy but still professional.
FLM: Share three goals that you hope to aggressively accomplish over the next 5 years.
DVW:
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