StitchCrew Change Makers Podcast

Almost 60 million Latinos account for $2.3 trillion in economic activity and are projected to make up 30% of the U.S. population by the end of this year.
In addition, the number of Latinx businesses grew 34% over the past 10 years, making them the fastest-growing group of entrepreneurs in the country. Despite these numbers, when it comes to Venture Capital, less than 2% of venture led companies and venture capitalists are Latinx. Fortunately there are several new fund managers emerging and challenging the status quo.

To wrap up Hispanic Heritage Month, we invited one of the most badass investors in venture, Samara Hernandez, Founding Partner of Chingona Ventures.
As an immigrant struggling with english as a second language, Samara fell in love with numbers, the universal language as she describes it, and became an engineer. Prior to launching her fund, Samara was a partner at MATH Venture Partner and before that she worked at Goldman Sachs where she continually ranked top 5 in her field.
As one of less than one percent of Latinas in Venture, Samara actively recruits more women and people of color into STEM fields, venture capital and entrepreneurship. She also co-founded the Latinx Founders Collective, an organization bringing together Latinx founders, investors, and community leaders. Join us as we talk to her about her fund, the story behind the name and her passion for early stage investing.
You can find Samara at:
www.Chingona.Ventures
Twitter: @SamaraMHernandz
Linkedin: @samaramejia

You’ve heard us talk about the daunting statistic that almost 80% of all venture capital is spent on three coastal states. And while there are plenty of investors arguing why this trend will continue, there are contrarian investors looking beyond the coasts for their next homerun.

Steve Case, Co-founder of AOL, is one of those investors. Steve co-founded Revolution, an investment firm that houses multiple funds. One of those funds is the Rise of the Rest seed fund which made its debut in 2014 to invest in startups located outside traditional tech hubs. Since, Steve has raised a second fund backed by high profile individuals like Jeff Bezos, Sara Blakely, and Ray Dalio.

As part of their efforts, the Rise of the Rest Team hosts other investors, and first-tier national media on a bus tour every year making one-day stops in five different cities. The goal of the tour is to highlight the innovation happening across the nation. The team also invests in at least one startup per stop. This year, as part of their tour, they will be making a stop in both Oklahoma City and Tulsa.

Although it will be their first bus tour through Oklahoma, the Rise of the Rest Team is already familiar with the startup community in the state. Last year, the fund made their first investment in Oklahoma when they participated in Zero Card’s Series A round which closed at $7 million.

Join us as we talk to Anna Mason, Partner of the Rise of the Rest and find out more about their investment thesis and get a behind the scenes breakdown of the tour and pitch competition.

Venture capital (VC) has been a highly visible part of the growth of many well-known companies like Google, Amazon, Facebook, Rent the Runway, 23 and Me, among many others. But, while VC has been very helpful for some entrepreneurs, the industry is focused on a small percentage of businesses with high growth potential: in fact, only 0.6 percent of businesses ever raise VC. Venture Capital is also very concentrated, out of all the venture capital spent, 78 percent is spent in three states New York, Massachusetts, and California. But as these areas become more and more saturated, venture capitalists are starting to pay attention to startups located outside traditional tech hubs.

Last week, we hosted a fireside chat with two of these venture capitalists who are traveling across the country to meet with entrepreneurs, investors and key stakeholders in the startup community. Join us as we talk startups and early-stage investing with Nitin Pachisia, Founding Partner of Unshackled Ventures, a Venture Firm that recently raised its second $20M fund and is investing exclusively in immigrant founders, and Ben Bayat, Managing Partner of NextGen Venture Partners, a network-driven venture capital fund whose latest fund is $60 million dollars.

In 2018, we saw more women launch innovative companies accounting for 40% of new entrepreneurs in the U.S. We also experienced an increase of women investors and fund managers as well as a record number of women run for office and get elected to Congress. Today, we have more women than ever running to become President of the United States in 2020.
What is behind the drive of these women to build the businesses they want to see in the world and run for office to enact the change they want to see in their communities?

In today’s episode we talked to Congresswoman Kendra Horn, who in 2018 flipped the 5th congressional district in Oklahoma, a seat held by the opposing party since 1975, making her the first Democratic woman to be elected to Congress from Oklahoma. Many attributed Kendra’s success to the changing demographics in the district, others to the ongoing frustration of politics as usual in Washington. What captured our attention is Kendra’s similarities with female entrepreneurs. She outhustled her opponent, circumvented bias and figured out how to be resourceful, particularly in the early days of launching her campaign. Join us as we talk to Kendra about what drove her to run in the first place, the challenges of running and serving in office, what she considers to be the most critical problems facing our country and her views on the value of startups to our economy.

Managing the nuances of returning to work, while caring for an infant is a heroic endeavor. That’s why having the support of management and peers is not only encouraged but critical. Particularly for moms who choose to breastfeed. Nearly 4 million babies are born each year in America and according to the Center for Disease Control and Prevention, 8 out of 10 moms choose to breastfeed. Many of these moms are going back to work quickly for economic reasons -- in fact, it’s not uncommon for women to cut their maternity leaves short.

Companies that commit to supporting working mothers during this time, experience higher retention rates and increased engagement. Yet to this day, most workplaces don’t have access to a private and clean place to pump milk. This despite legislation requiring employers with 50 employees or more to provide ample break time and a private space other than a bathroom -- for nursing moms.

Stephanie Conduff wants to change that. A lawyer by trade, Stephanie considered becoming America’s premiere lactation rights attorney. But, she quickly realized, she could get settlements for her clients but she wouldn’t achieve the social change she ultimately wanted. So she took an entrepreneurial approach instead and founded Leche Lounge, a company providing portable units for pumping and nursing mothers (and as she explains in the episode, dads too). Stephanie is defeating the odds on multiple levels. She has pitched on national competitions to prominent female investors and leaders like Ariana Huffington. As a bootstrapped founder, she has managed to place her product in multinational corporations, like Nike’s Headquarters in NY, airports, convention centers and she is even working with the Air Force to provide a solution for our servicewomen who are deployed while still breastfeeding. She’s also been featured on Good Morning America, Entrepreneur, and Forbes. Join us as we learn more about her journey of solving problems for working mothers while creating employment opportunities for the Cherokee Nation.