On this week’s episode of Silicon Valley Impact, we have four remarkable women discussing Femtech, startups, leadership, and forging strategic alliances. Joining us in the studio are Marian Bekkar, Nola Masterson, Ariel Watson, and Shagun Maheshwari.

Nola is the lead investor of the Portfolia Femtech Fund and a seasoned board member for both public and private companies, as well as nonprofits. With over 25 years of experience, she has served on audit, compensation, and nominating/governance committees, playing a pivotal role in guiding companies through IPOs and startup growth. As Co-chair Emeritus of the Women Corporate Directors Northern California Chapter, Nola has global experience as an investor, entrepreneur, and executive in sales and marketing for scientific products, ranging from diagnostics to genetic analysis tools. Known for her ability to simplify complex scientific concepts for investors and analysts, she brings deep insights into synthetic biology and human nature, paired with a strong sense of market trends and social needs.

Shagun is the Founder and CEO of Papaya, a company dedicated to women's health and sustainability. A mechanical engineer from Duke University, Shagun has a passion for solving complex problems. Before launching Papaya, she worked at Applied Materials in semiconductor manufacturing, Mojo Vision in AR contact lens development, and a stealth-mode biotech startup focused on wearable biomarker monitoring. With a hands-on approach to engineering, Shagun excels in interdisciplinary projects and loves working in the lab to bring innovative solutions to life.

Ariel is the Founder & CEO at Red Tent PMDD, and a passionate advocate for mental health, deeply aware of how each interaction with an app can have an immediate impact on a user’s well-being. She believes in creating products that not only meet business objectives but are also ethical, responsible, and designed with empathy. Ariel strives to balance functionality, profitability, and user experience while ensuring that her work contributes positively to mental health and overall user wellness.

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Disclaimer: The opinions expressed by the host and guests on Silicon Valley Impact are for entertainment purposes only and should not be considered financial advice or solicitation. Listeners are encouraged to consult with a professional before making any financial or business decisions.

On this weeks episode of Silicon Valley Impact we speak with Vishal Verma, General Partner at Edgewood Ventures, LLC.; and Vrinda Agarwal, of Penny Jar Capital. Listen in as we unpack the insights of these two high energy investors and map how they view the startup ecosystem from their experience.

Vishal is General Partner at Edgewood Ventures, LLC, a single-family office (www.edgewoodvp.com), and Redwood Collective, LLC, a venture fund of funds (www.redwoodcollective.net). He serves on the Boards of Darwin Ventures, Fortinet, Opthealth, and Witt Security. As a Senior Advisor, he consults Honorable Dick Gephardt and former Secretary Michael Chertoff on international strategy.

Vishal founded Sidebar Summit (www.sidebarsummit.com) , a leading networking platform in Silicon Valley, and remains actively involved in The Chicago Club and The Indus Entrepreneurs. He also participates in the US-India Cybersecurity Track 1.5 Dialogue, led by the Council on Foreign Relations and Observer Research Foundation.

Committed to education, Vishal sits on the Board of Trustees at the University of California, Merced, and supports the RFK Foundation and Best Buddies. He founded Hyde Park Angels while pursuing his MBA at the University of Chicago Booth School of Business, where he earned his degree in Finance. He also holds a B.S. in Marketing from Santa Clara University.

Also in on the show is Vrinda an Investor at Penny Jar Capital, where she focuses on sourcing and evaluating promising early-stage B2B software companies. With a deep-rooted passion for fostering startup growth, Vrinda also actively supports portfolio companies in scaling their businesses.

Vrinda has spent the last 3 years investing in software companies, during which she has sourced and led investment diligence for startups across AI, enterprise, and fintech. Before her work in venture, she was an investment banker at Goldman Sachs and then transitioned to Google, driving product strategy and developing financial analytics for new Nest products. Vrinda holds an MBA from Harvard Business School and a Bachelor's degree from the University of California, Berkeley.

This and much more on Silicon Valley Impact!

Disclaimer: The opinions and views expressed by the host(s) and guests on Silicon Valley Impact are for entertainment purposes only and should not be considered financial advice or a solicitation. Listeners are encouraged to consult with a professional before making any financial or business decisions.

On this week's episode of Silicon Valley Impact, we talk with one of Silicon Valley’s legendary disruptors, Rajat Suri, co-founder of Lyft and serial entrepreneur. Also in the house are Nick Larson, creator and host of Silicon Zombies, and Delya Jansen, co-founder and CEO of Partner Utopia.

Rajat, or 'Raj,' is a long-time serial entrepreneur, having co-founded Lyft and Presto, both of which went public. He is now the co-founder of Lima, a premium concierge service for immigrants to the United States, and Tribe, a re-imagined group chat app. He lives near Stanford University with his wife and two young kids. He also co-hosts the Founders in Arms podcast. Listen in as we walk through Raj’s experience and unpack his wisdom and insights for running multiple companies at a high level.

Nick is a Bay Area native with a passion for people, technology, and surfing. As a serial founder, Nick has started and scaled mission-driven companies like Willow (an AI social media platform; investors include Google and Green Park Ventures; now worth $200M+), and OnePiece Work (co-working/accelerator, scaled to 12 locations; invested in by UpHonest Capital). He was named one of the 25 most influential people in communications technology by PRWeek in 2021. Nick is the host of Silicon Zombies, a live show and ecosystem that demystifies emerging technology and highlights the best minds (reaching 50+ countries, top 5% of podcasts on Spotify, with 100k+ views/month). His angel investments include Skunklock, SidePocket, Agrisonix, Palmia, and others. Nick was awarded LinkedIn’s “Top Voice” distinction (given to 300 people per year).

Delya is a visionary partnership strategist and the CEO and co-founder of Partner Utopia. With over 15 years of experience in the tech industry, Delya has made a name for herself by transforming companies with zero partnership strategy into revenue powerhouses, consistently driving 25%+ of revenue from partners in record time. Her expertise spans software, hardware, cloud, and SaaS, having built partnerships from scratch for industry giants like SanDisk, Snowflake, and NetApp. Recognizing a critical gap in the partnerships platform space, Delya pioneered the world's first SaaS product focused on partnership strategy. Her mission is to revolutionize how companies make partnering decisions, empowering partnership managers with a game-changing platform that simplifies the complex world of tech partnerships. Her unique approach and dedication to improving the partnership landscape have positioned her as a thought leader and innovator in the field.

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