Women ARE Raising Venture Capital: Kerry Cooper, CEO of ChooseEnergy (Part 1)

Kerry was brought into ChooseEnergy by Kleiner Perkins along with the seed funding. Since then, she has raised $25 million and is running a traditional venture-funded company. This interview includes a discussion on the controversial subject of women in technology and venture capital.

Sramana Mitra: Let’s start at the very beginning of your journey. Where are you from? Where were you born, raised, and in what kind of background?

Kerry Cooper: I was born and raised in New Mexico. I was born in Santa Fe and raised, mostly, in Albuquerque. Both my parents are veterinarians. My mom was one of the first women to go to veterinary school. However, I grew up in a lower middle-class environment. We didn’t have much money. I started working when I was eight. I started babysitting when I was 12. I got my first job at Baskin-Robbins when I was 15. I think I’ve had a thousand jobs since then. That was the very beginning. I graduated from high school in Albuquerque. >>>

10 Must Read Posts On Women And Entrepreneurship

The issue of women and entrepreneurship has been top of mind of late. It is a topic that I have written a fair bit about, and want to share with you a shortlist of key posts: >>>

Roundtable Recording On Oct. 29, 2015: Capital Efficient Entrepreneurship with Susan Mason, Aligned Partners

In case you missed it, you can listen to the recording here:

Roundtable Recap: October 29 – Capital Efficient Entrepreneurship with Susan Mason, General Partner, Aligned Ventures

During this week’s roundtable, we started with a conversation with Susan Mason, General Partner of Aligned Ventures, who talked about the dysfunctions of the broader venture capital model, and what her firm is doing to address those. Excellent conversation, please listen to it.

RentMyStay
As for the pitches, first up, Kiran N. from Bangalore, India, pitched RentMyStay, a marketplace for renting short-term housing. The company is already in revenue, growing nicely, and is executing very well.
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Long Journey in Healthcare: Canadian Entrepreneurs Matthew Sappern and Emily Hamilton of PeriGen (Part 1)

Perigen is an amalgamation of a couple of different companies. This story relates how the entrepreneurs navigated a long journey.

Sramana Mitra: Let’s start by telling us a little bit about your personal background. I’d like to do that with both of you since you are co-founders.

Matthew Sappern: Just for clarity’s sake, Emily developed this technology. I was brought in by the Board a number of years ago to essentially restart this company.

Sramana Mitra: I see. Emily is the founder.

Matthew Sappern: One of the initial founders, and the developer of the core technology. >>>

Roundtable Recap: August 27 – Showcase of Women Entrepreneurs

During this week’s roundtable, we had an unusual pitch roster of the first three entrepreneurs being women.

RegDesk
First up, Priya Bhutani from Chicago, Illinois, pitched RegDesk, a marketplace for healthcare regulatory experts who can complete projects for major pharmaceutical and medical device companies. The company also has a subscription-based regulatory information service, and is currently in revenue.

Gazillion Fund
Next Ann Shin from Santa Clara, California, pitched Gazillion Fund, a Kickstarter for fashion designers offered on a mobile app format. The concept seems fine. Execution will determine success.
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Feminist Father vs. Chauvinist Father

We hear a lot of complaints about sexism and chauvinism in 21st-century Silicon Valley. I want to share some stories from India in the mid-20th century. It may sound prehistoric, but it wasn’t that long ago.

I was born into an old family in Calcutta, India. We were a traditional extended family with about 25 family members and another 25 servants living in one family home. My father is the youngest of six siblings — three brothers and three sisters. His father, my grandfather, was a good man, a noble patriarch, well-meaning, trying to do the right thing.

The right thing, however, in his worldview, did not include treating his sons and daughters equally.
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Thought Leaders in Sales 2.0: Carol O’Kelley, CEO of Salesfusion (Part 5)

Sramana Mitra: Have you been tracking this area of influencer marketing that is getting a bit of attention these days?

Carol O’Kelley: I’m not sure what you mean. I’m certainly interested in the idea of Masons and that there are gurus in particular areas that can have enormous influence, but I’m not sure if that’s what you mean.

Sramana Mitra: There are two trends that I’ve observed. We’ve profiled a bunch of different companies in some of these spaces. One trend is that there are people with significant influence. These are people who have huge social media influence. Maybe, through their blogs or LinkedIn accounts. In their niches, they are very influential people. There’s a company called Influitive founded by the founder of Eloqua. That one is focusing more on really mining your customers and turning them into advocates. I was wondering if you were tracking any of that work. >>>