Opening the Door Wider: Cindy Padnos, Founder & Managing Partner of Illuminate Ventures
Description
Host Neha Sampat, CEO of Contentstack, and Cindy Padnos, founder and Managing Partner of Illuminate Ventures, get together over a glass of wine and discuss the realities of capital raising and how to increase access to funds for underrepresented populations.
Illuminate Ventures is a seed and early stage venture capital firm that invests exclusively in enterprise/B2B software companies. Cindy has been working with enterprise tech startups for more than 25 years - as a founder/CEO of a VC-backed company, a startup operating executive, and more recently as an investor. She is also the author of 3 research-based, widely-cited white papers addressing gender diversity in the tech sector.
Neha and Cindy discuss:
- How venture capital works
- What investors look for in a startup
- How to make your startup stand out from the rest
- The importance of a strong network
- Why startups fail
The Dreammakers enjoyed a glass of wine while they talked: Jean-Paul Droin Chablis Vaillons Premier Cru 2018. It's a Chablis from northern Burgundy, France. It’s floral and mineral with flavors of citrus, green apple, green olive and toast. It’s medium-bodied with sharp acidity.
Other show notes:
You Are My Sunshine is Cindy’s wake up song
1491: New Revelations of the Americas Before Columbus is Cindy’s book recommendation for her 19-year-old-self
Vin Perdu is Cindy’s wine recommendation
Follow Host Neha Sampat on LinkedIn and @nehasf
Follow Guest Cindy Padnos on LinkedIn and @IlluminateVC
Follow @Contentstack
United States
