Oct 9, 2026 · 12 min · 8 segments
What do venture capitalists actually invest in, and what does it take to build a $300 million company? Recorded live at…
Emilie Sydney-SmithGuest
Christina RodriguezHostWith a little bit about your background, with you working, um, as in venture capital, what have you seen that many venture capitalists are investing into, and what do you feel like is the next investment?
Well, I think the most important thing as a VC is actually to invest into the people.
And so someone who really understands how to, um, have a vision about where the world is actually going, and to be able to say, especially with AI growing so quickly, um, what's that gonna do? So how can we actually reinvent things? Not just take something that's, uh, you know, existing out there, make it a tiny bit better, but actually solve a customer problem that's never been solved before.
Um, so people who can really see that vision, but also who can lead a team.
And when I say a team, I sometimes mean humans, and these days actually mean agents.
Um, and you know, someone who can pull a really interesting group of people around them as they start to grow that team as well.
So someone who has that trust and that loyalty that they've built with people.
People are the actual center of everything, and it's so nice to bring people back to the humanity in AI and technology.
It was really important to me when I started this new company, um, that we weren't just actually focusing on, you know, AI just taking other people's jobs.
So for me, it was all about how can we actually raise people's self-esteem, and the Trojan horse to that is, um, is going through, uh, appearance, because when we say, "I want to look good," we actually mean, "I want to feel good in how, how we are about ourselves." And there's just not enough focus out there.
There's so much focus from brands about just selling you more, more, more, and, um, you know, shaming people into doing that.
We can actually buy the things that will make us incredibly happy, um, and a lot less of them."
You focus on an area that's going to allow the consumer to realize what she's actually doing.
With a little bit about your background, with you working, um, as in venture capital, what have you seen that many venture capitalists are investing into, and what do you feel like is the next investment?
Well, I think the most important thing as a VC is actually to invest into the people.
And so someone who really understands how to, um, have a vision about where the world is actually going, and to be able to say, especially with AI growing so quickly, um, what's that gonna do? So how can we actually reinvent things? Not just take something that's, uh, you know, existing out there, make it a tiny bit better, but actually solve a customer problem that's never been solved before.
Um, so people who can really see that vision, but also who can lead a team.
And when I say a team, I sometimes mean humans, and these days actually mean agents.
Um, and you know, someone who can pull a really interesting group of people around them as they start to grow that team as well.
So someone who has that trust and that loyalty that they've built with people.
People are the actual center of everything, and it's so nice to bring people back to the humanity in AI and technology.
It was really important to me when I started this new company, um, that we weren't just actually focusing on, you know, AI just taking other people's jobs.
So for me, it was all about how can we actually raise people's self-esteem, and the Trojan horse to that is, um, is going through, uh, appearance, because when we say, "I want to look good," we actually mean, "I want to feel good in how, how we are about ourselves." And there's just not enough focus out there.
There's so much focus from brands about just selling you more, more, more, and, um, you know, shaming people into doing that.
We can actually buy the things that will make us incredibly happy, um, and a lot less of them."
You focus on an area that's going to allow the consumer to realize what she's actually doing.
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