Jesse Draper is back for an encore! She was on the podcast back in 2018 and this time I had the pleasure of sharing her wisdom with the members of my private, online membership community, ALIGN online. It was SO good. I’m calling it, “Jesse Draper Unplugged.” She’s just raised $21M to invest in the next generation of female-founded businesses and on this episode, she takes a deep dive with us!
Jesse started her career in the entertainment industry and along the way discovered she had a “superpower” or maybe it was “x-ray vision” when it comes to knowing what it takes to be a winning idea in business. She started focusing on building an early stage venture capital fund focused on female-founded consumer technologies, which led to the creation of Halogen Ventures.
Jesse talks how she found her footing in the venture capital world, her best tips on pitching ideas to investors, the importance of insane optimism, and why you should always ask for feedback.
If you’re looking for investors or bootstrapping, this episode is for you.
You can be what you can see.” – Jesse Draper
You can Subscribe and Listen to the Podcast on Apple Podcasts. And be sure to leave me a Rating and Review!
For women, we are taught to give away money before we are taught to take risk with our money and that’s a problem.” – Jesse Draper
Show Notes:
- How Jesse went from the entertainment industry to the venture capital world
- Everyone suffers from Imposter Syndrome and why you need to just keep going
- Her Insider “SECRETS” on pitching investors – PURE GOLD!
- Why Jesse decided to focus on female-founders and her perspective on female-founder disruptors
- 3 Must-Haves she looks for before giving the Green Light
- The BIGGEST challenge for female founders (and her expert advice on how to overcome it)
- Why asking for FEEDBACK is key
- The Type of LEADER you have to become to succeed – BRILLIANT
- The Essential ingredient to every business (you may be surprised!)
Bootstrap as long as you can.” – Jesse Draper
Connect with Jesse Draper:
Facebook | Instagram | Twitter | Halogen Ventures
You can’t do anything alone.” – Jesse Draper
My guest, Melissa Vitelli, had a successful career in fashion photography but she found her herself being drawn to the food industry through her hobby of vegetable gardening. She joined together with her sister-in-law Lauren and Jar Goods was born. They initially found success at Farmer’s Markets and this led them directly into the arms of Whole Foods.