Piloting your Life - The path from being an Air Force Flight nurse into High tech and ultimately venture capital and investing in startups with Amanda Lettman

The path from being an Air Force Flight nurse into High tech and ultimately venture capital and investing in startups with Amanda Lettman

05/15/18 • 31 min

Who is Amanda Lettmann?

Amanda Lettmann, a US Air Force Veteran, is an executive and serial entrepreneur with 20 years of global Business Operations and Transformation expertise for startups and Fortune 500 companies in the HiTech, InsurTech and FinTech industries. She has an extensive M&A background with $4B in acquisition execution in the past 10 years. As the Founder and CEO of Kardia Ventures, Amanda is an advisor, consultant and Angel Investor for tech startups. She is also the Co-Founder and COO of SimpleDisability Inc, a data analytics InsurTech startup in Silicon Valley. Amanda holds an MBA in Technology Management, she is a Business Advisor at The Founder Institute and EvoNexus, and Board Advisor at Girls in Tech San Diego and SmartMoney Veterans.

Show Highlights

Amanda was active duty Air Force and separated in 2000. She realized she didn’t want to be a flight nurse for the rest of her career
Amanda was recruited by someone in semi-conductor in 1999 by an esteemed colleague and was a business operations manager and then pursued her master’s degree in technology in 2000
She consulted at the Pentagon which led to consulting with other parts of the government. Her company was acquired by EMC so she went from a small firm to a massive firm.
At EMC, she proposed a new business plan that was ultimately accepted and moved her to Orange County to lead the West Coast consulting practice.
She then got recruited by Adobe and moved up to San Jose.
Terri comments on how Amanda takes advantage of and creates opportunities for herself.
11 years ago, Amanda was an athlete in good health and started getting ill. After collapsing she found out that a virus had attacked her blood and ultimately led to her organs shutting down. She was in the hospital for 6-9 months.
She later learned that her heart valves were damaged by the virus and that they were failing which lead to open heart surgery
Amanda was a medical anomaly because of the virus and the treatment, and she had many people studying and following her.
Amanda shares who was there to support her during her illness and recovery. She had to embrace vulnerability.
Amanda remembers her life before the illness. Her essence didn’t change but she found herself seeking high quality, deep substance people with heart. Her life before was all about competency. Her life after became more about heart and not just skill, which ended up changing her life.
She became more recognized because of her personal story which she uses to inspire others. People now get to know her for more than her skills.
Amanda is working with ESPN BisTalk Radio. She wants to do an inspirational series for women to share their stories.
She is creating a speaker series on ‘Women of Impact’. She finds that women talk about taking action to inspire others, to be proactive, to turn their potential into action. She thinks others are looking for this deep, inspiration.
Terri talks about why she started her podcast, Piloting Your Life, to give a platform for these voices and stories and inspire these same people.
Amanda has a consulting company called Kardia which means heart in Greek. She advises and consults enterprises, entrepreneurs, and does angel investing.
Amanda invests in seed stage, technology startups and looks to co-invest in SaaS companies looking to disrupt the market using artificial intelligence (AI), machine learning (ML), ALP, big data, and predictive analytics. She looks for female founders and veteran founders.
She is now a mentor with a new program called SmartMoney Veterans sponsored by UCSD and SmartMoney Startups. The experience for veterans is different as they need to relearn skills after getting out of the military.
Terri has seen a few startups that are helping veterans bridge the gap between military and civilian work. Companies like Skillmil and Shift are helping with this.
Terri comments on how impressed she is with UCSD and its support of the startup ecosystem. Amanda said that UCSD also supports veterans. There is a significant number of veterans in the San Diego area.
Amanda is an advisor for EvoNexus (an incubator/accelerator) and the Founder Institute in San Diego.
Transformation is an important concept for Amanda. She has been through several transformations and which led to coaching others on transforming. She loves seeing both enterprise transformation (through M&A) and individuals transform.
If Amanda could wave a magic wand, she would create a future where entrepreneurs and businesses come in all varieties and embrace their responsibility to co-create for equality and social good.
Terri asks how we can help with this wish. Amanda said that companies should be filling out the diversity of their teams. As in...

Who is Amanda Lettmann?

Show Highlights

Amanda was active duty Air Force and separated in 2000. She realized she didn’t want to be a flight nurse for the rest of her career
Amanda was recruited by someone in semi-conductor in 1999 by an esteemed colleague and was a business operations manager and then pursued her master’s degree in technology in 2000
She consulted at the Pentagon which led to consulting with other parts of the government. Her company was acquired by EMC so she went from a small firm to a massive firm.
At EMC, she proposed a new business plan that was ultimately accepted and moved her to Orange County to lead the West Coast consulting practice.
She then got recruited by Adobe and moved up to San Jose.
Terri comments on how Amanda takes advantage of and creates opportunities for herself.
11 years ago, Amanda was an athlete in good health and started getting ill. After collapsing she found out that a virus had attacked her blood and ultimately led to her organs shutting down. She was in the hospital for 6-9 months.
She later learned that her heart valves were damaged by the virus and that they were failing which lead to open heart surgery
Amanda was a medical anomaly because of the virus and the treatment, and she had many people studying and following her.
Amanda shares who was there to support her during her illness and recovery. She had to embrace vulnerability.
Amanda remembers her life before the illness. Her essence didn’t change but she found herself seeking high quality, deep substance people with heart. Her life before was all about competency. Her life after became more about heart and not just skill, which ended up changing her life.
She became more recognized because of her personal story which she uses to inspire others. People now get to know her for more than her skills.
Amanda is working with ESPN BisTalk Radio. She wants to do an inspirational series for women to share their stories.
She is creating a speaker series on ‘Women of Impact’. She finds that women talk about taking action to inspire others, to be proactive, to turn their potential into action. She thinks others are looking for this deep, inspiration.
Terri talks about why she started her podcast, Piloting Your Life, to give a platform for these voices and stories and inspire these same people.
Amanda has a consulting company called Kardia which means heart in Greek. She advises and consults enterprises, entrepreneurs, and does angel investing.
Amanda invests in seed stage, technology startups and looks to co-invest in SaaS companies looking to disrupt the market using artificial intelligence (AI), machine learning (ML), ALP, big data, and predictive analytics. She looks for female founders and veteran founders.
She is now a mentor with a new program called SmartMoney Veterans sponsored by UCSD and SmartMoney Startups. The experience for veterans is different as they need to relearn skills after getting out of the military.
Terri has seen a few startups that are helping veterans bridge the gap between military and civilian work. Companies like Skillmil and Shift are helping with this.
Terri comments on how impressed she is with UCSD and its support of the startup ecosystem. Amanda said that UCSD also supports veterans. There is a significant number of veterans in the San Diego area.
Amanda is an advisor for EvoNexus (an incubator/accelerator) and the Founder Institute in San Diego.
Transformation is an important concept for Amanda. She has been through several transformations and which led to coaching others on transforming. She loves seeing both enterprise transformation (through M&A) and individuals transform.
If Amanda could wave a magic wand, she would create a future where entrepreneurs and businesses come in all varieties and embrace their responsibility to co-create for equality and social good.
Terri asks how we can help with this wish. Amanda said that companies should be filling out the diversity of their teams. As in...

Previous Episode

Redefining Success at age 35 and diversifying Angel Investments with CEO of Delta Nutrassentials and Angel Investor, Amy Chang

Terri talks to Amy Chang about how at the age of 35 she had checked all life’s boxes but wasn’t completely fulfilled. She found religion to fill the void and was able to redefine success for herself. Amy talks about how this changed the way she operates in the world and how she wants to see more women angel investing.

Who is Amy Chang?

Amy C. Chang is the CEO of Delta Nutrassentials, a consumer health supplement company. Previously, she was VP of Strategy & Investor Relations for AMN Healthcare and prior to joining AMN, she held various leadership roles with other companies in operations, customer service and finance after beginning her career with KPMG. Amy is an advisor, board member, and investor of various start-ups in San Diego, as well as a board member of Hera Angels and member of the Keiretsu Forum, Wharton Angel Network, and SheEO. She served as a board member of the National Investor Relations Institute - San Diego Chapter and has been a member of the San Diego YMCA Overnight Camps Board of Advisors. She is Chair-Elect of the San Diego YMCA Board of Governors and has been involved in homeless ministries and has served as a foster youth mentor and foster parent.

Show Highlights

Amy talks about being the driver’s seat of your life (similar to Terri talking about being the pilot in your own life) and not just letting life happen.
Amy talks about being driven and the importance of checking the boxes to achieve ‘success’ in her life and still being unfulfilled. She realized that she might have had the wrong measure of success in her life.
Despite checking all of the boxes, she realized she wasn’t happy enough. She became a born-again Christian at the age of 35 which has made the biggest difference in her life and has changed the way she looks at her life and the rewards she wants to get out of life.
Her definition of success has changed, and she worries about far fewer things as a result. She thinks that people are happier when they are living something beyond themselves.
Amy talks about what she looks for as an angel investor and some of the startups she’s invested in.
Three years ago, Amy didn’t know that angel investing was an option but has since invested in quite a few companies directly. She joined the Keiretsu Forum, the Wharton Angel Network and she is now on the board of Hera Ventures.
Amy likes to invest directly into a startup to help them fuel their growth which helps to create innovation and helps the local economy. She does caution that angel investing is not for everyone.
Amy talks about the importance of diversifying your portfolio and how networking has contributed to her deal flow. She has learned the most from other angel investors.
Terri talks about her experience in Sand Hill Angels being a great training ground.
Amy and Terri would like to see more female angel investors, and both shared the importance of being supported by other female angel investors.
Based on what she wishes she knew when she started investing, Amy recommends that women start with small checks and get to know the founders as much as you can.
If Amy could wave a magic wand, she would encourage people to get to know each other on an individual basis.

Terri’s Key Takeaway

Founder integrity is critical when investing in a startup.

References in the Podcast

Venture Deals: https://www.feld.com/archives/2016/10/venture-deals-third-edition.html
JDoe: https://jdoe.io/
Delta Nutrassentials: https://www.deltanutra.com/
Keiretsu Forum: http://www.keiretsuforum.com/
Wharton Angel Network: http://www.whartonangelnetwork.co/
Hera Angels: https://www.heraangels.com/
Tech Coast Angels: https://www.techcoastangels.com/

Contact

Amy can be reached via LinkedIn at https://www.linkedin.com/in/amychang8/ or her company’s website, www.deltanutra.com.

You can follow Terri on Twitter at @terrihansonmead or go to her website at www.terrihansonmead.com or on Medium: https://medium.com/@terrihansonmead.

Feel free to email Terri at [email protected].

To continue the conversation, go to Twitter at @PilotingLife and use hashtag #PilotingYourLife.

Next Episode

Leigh Koechner's realization that she was on the planet to shine her light and how she helps others do the same.

Terri talks to Leigh Koechner about her journey to becoming a spiritual teacher. She now works with others to help them find greater meaning in their lives and answer the questions as to why they are on the planet and what they are meant to do.

Who is Leigh Koechner?

Leigh Koechner is a writer, speaker, and spiritual teacher (who likes doing the splits and sipping martinis). She inspires by being unapologetically who she is and maintains an open mind and heart. She is the parenting expert for Deepak Chopra’s Global Wellbeing App JIYO, Executive Producer on The Mindfulness Movement Documentary, and launched her most recent Facebook Live Series on April 11th called Coming Home, 33 Days of Self-Care.

She has appeared on Oprah Winfrey’s “Your Own Show”, The Comebacks, and her One-Woman Show “Miss Junior Overland Park” on the Oxygen Network.

Leigh is a stand-up comedic who has graced the stages of Flappers and The Comedy Store.

Leigh resides in the City of Angeles with her beloved husband, actor David Koechner, and their five beautiful children.

Show Highlights

Leigh explains what a spiritual teacher is and her journey to became one.
In working with a life coach, she found the language that spoke to her soul and decided to attend the University of Santa Monica for a Master’s in Spiritual Psychology.
She wanted to get an answer to these two questions: Who in the hell am I and why am I on this planet? She learned that she was on the planet to shine her light.
Leigh spoke at an event in Aspen on manifesting and ended up sitting next to a gentleman at the bar who had created a global wellbeing app with Deepak Chopra global called Jiyo. After he returned to India, he reached out and asked her to be the parenting expert for the app because she was living the life.
Leigh got past her own self-judgment and agreed to do it. She owned her own hard work.
Terri observed that Leigh seemed to have learned to express, and embrace, who she was while attending the University of Santa Monica.
Leigh was asked by another dad at her kids’ school about participating in a mindfulness documentary and she had to go look up the word. Mindfulness is giving all your attention to the present moment without judgment. She is now co-producer of the mindfulness documentary with Deepak Chopra.
Leigh does month-long Facebook programs on topics like mindfulness, finding your gift, owner-shit, and manifesting.
Leigh comments on how we have a choice in how we show up and we can choose to be happy.
Leigh believes that when we are good inside, things are better outside.
Terri talks about how we are rewarded for being ‘busy’ and how we can miss the magical moments in our lives.
Terri talks about how she was raised by two parents who had very different views regarding life: her dad emphasized the importance of planning for the future and her mom emphasized the need to pay attention to today. It was quite the tug-o-war. Terri is focused on living now and preparing for the future.
Leigh talks about how any time you are holding things or worrying about things that you are hurting your body. Don’t live in fear. Do your work and then enjoy life like looking both ways and then crossing the street.
Terri talks about how she realized how much time she spent planning for every eventuality and how she was missing out on the current moment. Terri realized that as a recovering control freak, that it was her way of establishing some level of control in times when everything was uncertain and out of her control.
Leigh’s mom was not involved in her life growing up so when her first child was born, she found that she was a blank slate. She had to learn behaviors that she had no basis from her own experience.
Leigh learned from her mom that she just wanted to be seen and heard and realized that this is what parenting is all about.
If Leigh could wave a magic wand, she would wave so it sprinkles like pixie dust into people’s hair, and when it touches them, that they have a flash of their greatness; that for a second, they could feel their power. Once you feel it, you can’t stop it.