7 years ago I started Array Ventures to invest in founders like me - technical with high ambition and skills but unclear on how to build a venture scale business. As one of the few women (only Indian woman enterprise GP) OR solo GP (it wasn't a trend then :)) it wasn't easy.
Compared to many other solo GPs today when I started Array I already had 4 years of venture experience along with 3 exits (McGrawHill Education, Apple, and Samsung) and a few good high growth companies in my track record. Mind you I also had 10 years of operating experience in various engineering roles before I got into venture. I won't even get into my 3 degrees, 6 patents, and may publications before.
Most people didn't take me seriously. In the early days, I was told was go back to a large firm, get a partner to look serious, get a mentor to sponsor me, etc. I was a noname in Silicon Valley. I didn't have all the top silicon valley brands and I know I look silly in a Patagonia vest :) BUT there was a group that REALLY believed in me and has always believed in me. My Founders. It's my founders from before I started Array Ventures that put initial checks in Array and it's my founders who have continued to back me since then in all our funds. In our newest fund 3 over half of our founders believed in us and invested.
My founders have been my strength, support, and team that keep me going every single day. They have picked me however I show up. (And believe me there are fun stories around how I show up sometimes. Some founders picked me when I showed up with an infant on me :) ). The thing is we are all similar hungry to achieve, driven by ambition, figuring things out for each other. We are all made from the same thread making our own outfits that make a statement in the world.
After years of pandemic I was able to bring many of them together & meet each other in-person this week at our Array Founder Event. While many founders are missing in the picture we were able to capture a good group. I am touched by love and support from everyone & I am so lucky to have my founders as part of my journey as I build the next stage of Array Ventures.
To our future founders reach out at arraydeals@array.vc if you are building a new B2B company and haven't raised any or much capital then please reach out. We invest $500k-$1.5m at the enterprise pre-seed stage.
Founders in the picture: Lalitha Rajagopalan, Peter Fishman, Sudhir Bhojwani, Zander Matheson, Ashish Aggarwal, Madhu Mathihalli, Mohan G., Joseph Jorgensen, Gaurav Passi, Trevor Cox, Krishna Srinivasan, Dean Clark, Johnny Kinder, Christopher Van Dyke, Arul Jegadish Francis, Russell Nibbelink, Shashank P S, Madhusudan Kagwad, Dickey Singh 🙌, Maxime Gariel, Sammy Sidhu, Jay Chia, T. Scott Patterson, Kristopher Floyd, Benjamin D., Ashu Agarwal, Sandeep Madduri, Alex Shyba, Jasper Sone, Ahryun Moon
#onwardsandupwards #growthmindset #ambition #hustle #boom #founders #arrayvc #holidayevents #venturecapital #startup
Compared to many other solo GPs today when I started Array I already had 4 years of venture experience along with 3 exits (McGrawHill Education, Apple, and Samsung) and a few good high growth companies in my track record. Mind you I also had 10 years of operating experience in various engineering roles before I got into venture. I won't even get into my 3 degrees, 6 patents, and may publications before.
Most people didn't take me seriously. In the early days, I was told was go back to a large firm, get a partner to look serious, get a mentor to sponsor me, etc. I was a noname in Silicon Valley. I didn't have all the top silicon valley brands and I know I look silly in a Patagonia vest :) BUT there was a group that REALLY believed in me and has always believed in me. My Founders. It's my founders from before I started Array Ventures that put initial checks in Array and it's my founders who have continued to back me since then in all our funds. In our newest fund 3 over half of our founders believed in us and invested.
My founders have been my strength, support, and team that keep me going every single day. They have picked me however I show up. (And believe me there are fun stories around how I show up sometimes. Some founders picked me when I showed up with an infant on me :) ). The thing is we are all similar hungry to achieve, driven by ambition, figuring things out for each other. We are all made from the same thread making our own outfits that make a statement in the world.
After years of pandemic I was able to bring many of them together & meet each other in-person this week at our Array Founder Event. While many founders are missing in the picture we were able to capture a good group. I am touched by love and support from everyone & I am so lucky to have my founders as part of my journey as I build the next stage of Array Ventures.
To our future founders reach out at arraydeals@array.vc if you are building a new B2B company and haven't raised any or much capital then please reach out. We invest $500k-$1.5m at the enterprise pre-seed stage.
Founders in the picture: Lalitha Rajagopalan, Peter Fishman, Sudhir Bhojwani, Zander Matheson, Ashish Aggarwal, Madhu Mathihalli, Mohan G., Joseph Jorgensen, Gaurav Passi, Trevor Cox, Krishna Srinivasan, Dean Clark, Johnny Kinder, Christopher Van Dyke, Arul Jegadish Francis, Russell Nibbelink, Shashank P S, Madhusudan Kagwad, Dickey Singh 🙌, Maxime Gariel, Sammy Sidhu, Jay Chia, T. Scott Patterson, Kristopher Floyd, Benjamin D., Ashu Agarwal, Sandeep Madduri, Alex Shyba, Jasper Sone, Ahryun Moon
#onwardsandupwards #growthmindset #ambition #hustle #boom #founders #arrayvc #holidayevents #venturecapital #startup
