A Conversation with Tasneem Dohadwala, Founding Partner @ Excelestar Ventures | Golden Seeds | Care.com | Lehman Brothers | MBA @ Harvard Business School

In this conversation with Tasneem, she talks about setting up Excelestar - building the fund's thesis and growing it to where its at today. She also talks about her efforts into promoting female entrepreneurs, via Golden Seeds - that is addressing the lack of funding and coaching for female founders. Finally, she shares what her aspirations are for women in investing.

Transcript

Here's a quick summary of our conversation with Tasneem.

• What motivated you to start a fund and what was the process like? 1:26
  • What motivated her to start a fund.
  • How the process of starting a fund started.
• How are you dealing with finding and funding companies in such a changing market environment? 3:39
  • Building a network and keeping relationships with entrepreneurs.
  • Finding and funding companies in a changing market.
• Investing in companies that are ready for the market. 5:52
  • Looking for market readiness in the companies they invest in.
  • Investing in serial entrepreneurs.
• Golden Seeds and the mission of the organization. 7:46
  • The mission and mission of golden seeds.
  • The role reversal in angel investing.
• How do we address the lack of funding and coaching for female founders? 10:14
  • How to address the lack of funding and coaching for female founders.
  • More female investors.
• The importance of getting more women in top positions. 13:31
  • Only 20 women have ever led an IPO(!)
  • Access to capital is crucial.
• What are your hopes and aspirations for the next generation of female funders and founders? 14:57
  • Hopes and aspirations for the next generation of female funders and founders.
  • Advice for funders.