If Not Now Wen Podcast

From $1M Capital Raised 'Pheramor Lady' to Successful VC - Brittany's Path of How to Rise to the Occasion and Stay True to Her Path of Making an Impact in Women's Health

Interview with Brittany Barreto, Serial Entrepreneur & Venture Capitalist

Dr. Brittany Barreto is the Co-Founder, Executive Director, and Podcast Host of FemTech Focus. While finishing her PhD in genetics at Baylor College of Medicine, Brittany became the CEO and Co-Founder of the revolutionary dating app Pheramor. The ambitious venture was the first nationwide DNA-based dating app. She then embarked on a new path into venture capital as the Senior Venture Associate at Capital Factory, She was tasked with launching the fund's Houston branch. Under her leadership, the Houston accelerator portfolio grew by an impressive 205% and she led due diligence on several successful investments.  

Brittany now has her sights on advancing the women’s health and wellness community through her latest world-changing venture - FemTech Focus. She is the host of the FemTech Focus podcast which has over 100 episodes, 30K downloads, and subscribers in 100 countries. FemTech Focus has assisted hundreds of femtech founders to build, launch, and succeed through their events, resources, and market research reports. Additionally, Brittany is the founding partner and emerging fund manager at Coyote Ventures, an early-stage femtech investment firm.

https://www.linkedin.com/in/brittanybarreto/  

https://www.coyote.ventures/   

https://femtechfocus.org/

Is this true that 98% of startups are not fundable? In this episode, David shares with us his American dream, his journey from being an engineering, transition into a serial entrepreneur, and eventually turn into a successful VC. We discussed:

How to lead the business and make the right decision during challenges?

What makes a successful entrepreneur & VC?

What is the future for healthcare tech?

How to successfully raise money?

David is a pioneer and passionate leader of the venture capital ecosystem in Silicon Valley and built the F50 ecosystem system, where he drove the selection of 500 startups to the F50 platform, and lead the investment into 30 of them, including Knightsope (IPO 2021), Doc.AI (Sold at 20X), Plastic, Flirtey, Oculii, Seven.ai, Zeitro, Voke VR (Sold to Intel), Invi (Sold to Google), David has intensive experience in healthtech, deeptech.

David founded Silicon Valley’s largest grassroots entrepreneur community SVE, where he hosted SVE Talk and SVE Demo. He is the producer of F50 Global Capital Summit, and F50 Global Insights youtube channel. He is also serving or served as an advisor for DocuSign, Ehouse Capital, Peakview Fund of Fund. David Cao was the Founder & CEO of GWC US (Sold to holding company); the founding president of the Silicon Valley Entrepreneur Toastmaster Club; founder and CEO of ExtendLogic (Acquired by BeyondSoft). Prior, he was the VP of Engineering at PlayPhone (Acquired by Gungho), a leading mobile entertainment in USA, and Engineering lead for LightSurf, acquired by VeriSign for 274M USD.

In this episode INNW we are so grateful to have a conversation with Bobby Tang from Mana, to share his story of how he turns early failures and rejections into ultimate success. In this episode, you will learn:

- How to get over rejection and failures while staying true to who you are

- How to be intentional about the impact you are creating in this world

- How to carve your own path into the entrepreneurial world

Engineer by training, commercial and product leader by passion, Bobby's international experience spans Silicon Valley, Europe, Australia, India, and China.

His career highlights include working on trillion-dollar tech innovations and e-commerce platforms, building groundbreaking AI products that leverage computer vision and NLP, and founding companies that enrich human interactions and enable economic empowerment.

Bobby is a multi-hyphenate - outside of his "normal" job, he is a performer featured in commercials such as Dove for Men and Chelsea Football Club, and previously sang on-stage with Taylor Swift.

one of the most sought after minds in strategic communications, Rakia Reynolds is a thought leader, taste maker and branding expert who advises name brands on creative strategy. Her guiding principles as an intriguing storyteller focus on distilling equity in messaging, and her ability to navigate the ever-increasing complex cultural and social media landscapes are only some of the reasons Rakia has successfully created her own distinct brand of authenticity and expertise for over 15 years.   Rakia serves as Founder and Executive Officer of Skai Blue Media (SBM), a non-traditional communications agency that proudly hosts an eclectic group of storytellers, brand experts, and strategists. Rakia continues to be a key influencer in the creative business industry as she works with her team to launch, brand, re-brand, and revitalize lifestyle, technology, non-profit and entrepreneurial clients. This list includes Airbnb, Comcast, Dell, Serena Williams, Morgan Stanley, Jill Scott, and more. Recently Rakia has added #FanofYourBrand​ (tactical business tools) and clothing brand EVRYDAY Jane to her growing business portfolio.   

As a thought leader and proven authority in marketing, creative strategy and business development Rakia regularly contributes her expertise to the pages of Forbes, Inc.com, HuffPost, Fast Company, and more. Onstage, she captivates audiences across many industries as her talks span branding, media, multicultural business, economic development, and the entrepreneurial journey, all of which are more than relevant to the recent challenging and changing times. Rakia is recognized for her innovative approach and commitment to authenticity and has spoken at TEDx, SXSW, Inbound, and others. More than a keynote speaker, Rakia is often called upon to moderate panel discussions due her in-depth knowledge of a wide range of topics affecting the business community.

Kerry Rupp is General Partner at True Wealth Ventures, an early-stage VC fund investing in women-led businesses that are improving human and/or environmental health. She teaches for the NSF I-Corps program, mentors startups, and consults on innovation and strategy. Kerry was previously CEO at DreamIt, a Top Ten US startup accelerator and VC fund. She founded Holiday Golightly, a group travel service for women. Kerry holds an MBA from HBS and a BA from Duke.

Venture investor in World Positive Startups | 3x founder | Kitesurfer | Supporting minority founders

Flight Ventures is the largest group of online investors in the world. Using AngelList's platform, we source deals for a group of 3500+ investors and 30+ syndicates. The majority of Flight's partners live in San Francisco and NYC. I launched our international office out of London and ran that 2015-2017.

Having recently moved back to the USA during COVID 2020, Nancy rejoined the partnership. She is leading Flight's early-stage, positive impact deals - Seed and Series A (US-based) companies, which are addressing the world's most pressing problems.

Khulan is a Mongolian social-entrepreneur, public speaker and mentor who has founded her company Natural Essentials LLC in 2014. She started Mongolia’s first ever organic skincare brand LHAMOUR with the vision to be a leading role model. A lot of the focus in the last decades was on political reforms and natural resource exploitation. Khulan wants to change this image as she sees that she can use traditional ways to be incorporated into modern forms, which can be accepted globally. As Mongolia’s first organic skincare entrepreneur she is trying to pave the way for everyone else in Mongolia to try and overturn conventions and to contribute to positive social change and economic growth in Mongolia and even Asia. She is the founder of the “Finding your passion” program that provides teenagers with the skills and mindset to find their inner passion and get prepared for the international world.

She holds a MSc in Public Policy from Hertie School of Governance, Berlin (2011) and from Columbia University, New York (2012). She was the recipient of the Julius Brocker Scholarship and is the UN ambassador for Womenseday in Mongolia. She was awarded as Asia-Pacific’s best entrepreneur of 2016.

Yoon is a social entrepreneur and CEO at Pop. Pop is a relationship platform where students can make friends in college. It is meant for deep and meaningful relationship building. We are solving the problem of social media and feelings of emptiness among the generation. We dream of a world where we can love an authentic self and others, where we can build strong and genuine relationships wherever we go.

Yoon completed two years of military service, participated in a Korean TV talk show, and created a Non-profit Culinary Organization. Yoon received a business education from The University of Texas at Austin - Red McCombs School of Business.

Dena is a speaker, impact strategist, and consultant for private family offices. She is involved in business development for high net worth individuals, and partners of the royal family in the UAE. Dena serves as the bridge for multinational companies in the USA, as well as the MENA region. Dena also focuses on impact investing, she believes in the power of human capital.

Dena works with partners to facilitate lines of communication with business leaders while assisting them in building valuable relationships in the market. Dena consults influential figures in the entertainment space upon entering the UAE, evaluating opportunities that will expand their brand’s reach.

Dena founded Style & Resilience, a marketing & consulting company, providing lines of communication for high profile clients (UHNWI) & business deals in the UAE & US market. We provide PR/ Marketing services for brands, high-profile individuals, non-profits and family offices.

Style & Resilience connects qualified investors with companies and/ or high net worth individuals in order to allocate capital, as well as forge high-profile relationships.