S1, E1: Women’s Networks as Secret Sauce: A VC’s Path to Impact in Latin America

[00:00:00] When people ask me, they’re like, Oh, you know, how do I get into VC? Or how do I do this? And I just say, don’t be intimidated by the fact that you don’t see yourself in this industry. You need to create that mold. And we are in an industry of investing in outliers. Did you know the average person will work 90, 000 hours in their lifetime?

What if you could use those hours to find fulfillment and become a disruptor for good? Welcome to the Work That’s Worth It podcast. I’m Georgi Enthoven, and I’m here to demonstrate that in an. Ambitious, meaningful and rewarding career is not just a dream, it’s achievable. Each episode will dive into conversations with global change makers who crack the code on combining income and impact.

If you’ve ever felt like you were torn between a paycheck and your purpose, or maybe you simply yearn for more purpose, you’re going to be exposed to the ambitious humans who have done it themselves ready to make your work worth it. Let’s get started.[00:01:00]

Today we have the pleasure of connecting with Christine Kenna. In addition to being somebody that I admire, she’s also a long term friend. Today, she’s here to share her wisdom and insights on being an impact investor for the Latin American market. She’s a general partner at Ignea, which is an early stage venture capital firm headquartered in Mexico.

As an investor for the past 15 years, Christine has been passionate about building an ecosystem of entrepreneurs, investors. And connecting professional women across Latin America. Networking is one of her superpowers. She is co founder of Mujeres Invertido, an organization bringing together female investors in the region, as well as MBA Mujeres de Mexico, which connects all women in Mexico with their masters in business before her venture capital career, Christine led operations at an [00:02:00] international education company called EF Education First.

as well as spending time at Google, the Guggenheim Foundation, and EY Parthenon, which is Ernst Young’s global strategy consulting arm. Christine graduated from Duke University, then Harvard Business School. She is also a Kauffman Fellow from the class of 2023. Christine, it’s so nice to have you. Thank you so much for being here.

It’s wonderful to be here talking with you. Oh, thank you. Well, I want to jump in and go straight to where you are now in your career. And what is your chosen career path? Great. So right now I am fully all in venture capital. And my chosen career path is focused on helping entrepreneurs realize their greatest potential and really, in particular, helping entrepreneurs in the best way that they need me.

Okay. And how long have you been doing this? Probably around [00:03:00] 13 years. Okay. And it’s certainly evolved. I think what people define as venture capital might mean many things to different people, but I very much got into this career originally because of the impact investing space and that evolved into being really full time VC, I would say officially around 2016.

How would you define impact investing to somebody who doesn’t know what it is? Wow. So today it definitely has evolved. And I think originally the term was coined with the idea of how can you use capital motivation. So how can you use investing and building companies and building founders with financial gain to create a business or an entirely new industry that has a substantial impact on new industries or people’s lives, right?

Very, very broad terms. I think impact in investing has evolved where people begin to ask the question of anything that we do that generates jobs is creating an impact [00:04:00] versus something that is really tangible and measurable and is sort of an objective change. Okay. And if you were to think back on your career about three to five steps that you took to get you to be a venture capitalist, what are three to five meaningful shifts that got you to where you are?

Yeah, I. Really did not plan to be a venture capitalist, and I think it’s easy to look in retrospect, and I can define those critical moments or those inflection points that brought me to where I am today. But I think it’s important to recognize that, you know, when I was growing up in Silicon Valley, my dream was not to go into VC, and I certainly, what I thought was a venture capitalist then is certainly not what I know to be true about VC today.

And when I was at business school, I certainly did not want to be a VC. And I also didn’t know what the potential of being a VC was about. And I also didn’t recognize myself as having the skills that I [00:05:00] thought were needed to do well in this industry until I finally jumped in. And so going to your question, like, what do I think prepared me for what I do today?

I think without a doubt, it starts with the foundation. I mean, that academic rigor or that learning to work really hard and learn new things quickly were skills that I picked up early on in my career. I would say first, even being in consulting, right? I feel like management consulting was a job for people that had no idea what they wanted to do with their life, but they love to learn.

Right. And that was what I felt like in consulting. It was just you’re jumping from industry to industry, getting smart on something really fast. Yeah. Did you do that early in your career? I did. That was my first career out of college and I loved it. I really felt that it was just the most incredible thing to get paid.

To constantly learn and somehow process data and always be driven by data. And I learned sort of the basics of finance and all these business skills that I did not learn when I was [00:06:00] studying international relations and comparative areas studies in college. I did study economics, but you can’t apply anything you learn in undergrad economics to like what actually is applicable to life and business.

So I think that’s just sort of the working hard. The other thing that was helpful is that I did go to. you could say brand name schools. And so going to Harvard Business School, I think today in the VC world, it is simply just a check. It is not, I think, what is worth, particularly based on what you learn in the class, rather the signaling effect it can have to others when they start to want to trust you with their money and with their capital.

And so I worked hard also in business school. Particularly at Harvard, they had the case method, where they’re throwing every single class. You’re given a new scenario, and you’re forced to create your own opinion, back your ideas, and verbally defend them. And you could have half the class arguing against you and half the class arguing in your favor.

And it really just gives you this sort of rinse and [00:07:00] repeat training to do what we do today, which is quickly listen to entrepreneurs, hear about their vision and make a judgment if I want to continue to spend more time believing in their vision or not. Right. And so I think actually business school is a great preparation for that.

So that’s sort of the academic side. I think another critical part of being able to work in venture is having had operating experience. And I often think it doesn’t really matter what type of operating experience, but as long as you’ve really suffered with the challenges of having to build teams, how to grow businesses, how to implement technology, the power of technology, how to build product, how to hire and fire people, how to identify talent, like all of that is so key and being able to have.

Had those years for me, it was working in an education company and working with Google. I was able to have some empathy for the founders that I now invest in and they have the hardest job in the world. And so I can relate to that based on my [00:08:00] prior experience. I will never be better than them. I will never know nearly as much about them about running their businesses, but I can relate.

And then I think there’s a lot about getting into VC that is highly just circumstantial. In my particular case, I got into VC because I was living in Mexico City. I had a mentor of mine from HBS that was an investor in the first impact investing fund, which was Ignea, and I was looking to start my own company.

And she told me the best person you need to talk with is Michael Chu. And Michael Chu was a professor of mine I’d met from Harvard. And that circumstantial recommendation led to me sitting down with the co founders of Ignea and hearing about their vision and hearing about how they really believed that they could create sustainable change in Mexico by, you know, sort of the motors of private capital and by investing in founders.

And once I heard that purpose. I was [00:09:00] entirely sold and I said this aligns and absolutely everything I want to do really combining my strengths and my experiences and my circumstance. By being one of the very few people in Mexico at the time who actually knew what venture capital was, right? And having come from the Valley, having come from Google and come from all these different industries, I was sort of uniquely qualified to jump into this job.

When there was really no one else doing it. Yeah. I love that. Sometimes I think of the advantages we have in life. Some of them can be planned and prepared for, and others are just circumstance and it sounds like all the hard work you had done in consulting and working at Google. that had prepared you to jump in and take advantage of the moment and having been in Mexico.

Yeah. What are some of the other capabilities you have, thinking broadly on what perspectives you had, the values you treasured, skills, strengths, passions? What do you have in particular that gives you [00:10:00] an advantage in what you do today? So this took me a very long time to recognize, identify, and lean into, but I never realized that venture capital is a hundred percent of people’s business.

And one of my greatest strengths is working directly with individuals. And helping them realize what their greatest potential is. And it’s a combination of a number of things that I think starting out in my career, I felt they were undervalued soft skills and they have come to be, I think the most important skills and the hardest to acquire now at this stage of my life.

And, you know, I think about now, I’m part of a fund where we have, you know, we’re four partners, three incredible individuals that we are all very different. And we come from very different backgrounds and we have very different strengths. But what I can bring to the [00:11:00] table as one of those partners is, I think, Unifying the team and really helping us build a spectacular team within Ignea.

And that is one of the greatest rewards for me is working with these incredible analysts, associates, people that come through Ignea’s door. It’s our interns. And that goes without saying our founders and being able to help them develop their own skills and grow. And I think that’s been enormously beneficial in this journey.

That is continuing, you know, is I think we’re never finished in what we’re doing, but I think that’s something unique. I bring to the table. Yeah, I have known you. I don’t know when we first met, but we both married Mexican men from Mexico City. And so we’ve known each other a long time. Some of the other qualities you have, which I assume really help your work life, is that you love a challenge.

Yes! Like you don’t shy away from challenge. Yeah. [00:12:00] You have mentioned already today, like, oh, you’re always learning. Learning is sort of a real key for you. And the piece that I know, like, threads from years is this generosity of spirit, and really believing in others and being curious of what other people are up to, and what their dreams are, and what they want to make happen.

Do you see those as part of your urgency? Thank you, Georgi. That’s amazing to hear. That’s really lovely. That’s lovely. I would say the first thing, loving a challenge. That is a hundred percent. I think when I begin to get scared about something or feel nervous about it, that’s when I know what I’m doing is the right thing.

Like, putting myself out of my comfort zone is when I think I’m at my best. And I really love those moments when it’s like trying to identify, like, what is making me nervous here? And I’m like, Oh, because I’ve never done it before or it’s hurt, but that is exactly what motivates me. Yeah. You give me chills.

Like I feel I relate to that. And it’s sort of like having that belief that, you know, I don’t know how we’re going to do it. Like [00:13:00] no one knew how to do VC in Latin America. No one had done this before. And I think it’s sort of like, well, okay, well, you don’t know until you try. And the other thing is, I think it’s also taken like decades to realize this, but it’s sort of like, the more mistakes you learn, the better you get at what you’re doing.

And so sort of that owning that it’s okay to make mistakes. And it’s by definition, your job is to make mistakes. Like we are going to invest in companies that will fail. That is the business model and learning from those mistakes. I remember one of the hardest things I did when I first got into this industry is I was used to coming from a place where we could have an enormous amount of data.

and analyze everything to as perfect as we could get to create a decision. And now, like, we have to be very comfortable with the uncomfortableness. And what is that? Is that a gut feeling? Or is that, like, how, obviously you have some data, but then what? What is added on there? I think there’s a lot to say with building Kaigo.

It’s like getting experience. And I [00:14:00] think that experience and that scar tissue is what allows each decision, I think, to trust my gut a little bit more and to really sort of like own up to saying, you know what, I’m not sure if this is the right thing, but it’s better to make a decision than not to make a decision.

And also really working with great people. My partners push me on this all the time. I think one of my greatest challenges is even today, you know, like I still like to overanalyze. And I sort of, you can, you get paralyzed with not making that decision, but having people around you who will call you out on it, I think is super, super helpful.

Yeah. So on challenges, I think of challenges as you have external challenges of what it could be being a woman or. There’s some barriers, um, external that are challenging. And then there’s these internal challenges where we’re in our own way. And it sounds like overanalyzing can be one of those triggers for you where it makes your job harder if you can’t make a decision.

Right. I think that’s [00:15:00] it’s so interesting you talk about what are the challenges that are just sort of the maybe it’s the environmental circumstantial challenges like the fact that you could say that the majority of limited partners in the world do not feel comfortable investing in Latin America like that is a fact like they’re not.

familiar with the region. They have a lot of assumptions, a lot of their own preconceived ideas about the risks associated with Latin America. So like, that’s just like a fact, that’s just the world that I’m operating in. But I really do think the greatest challenges are our own internal challenges. So, you know, you talk about in this job, like we receive, knows, For our own fundraising process, like 99 percent of the time.

So how do you get comfortable with that? And then just like pull yourself back up and believe in yourself and go back out to battle and continue to, you know, how do you do that? Yeah, I can say it’s very hard. It’s very hard. But when this is when I come down to like my purpose, my why. My motivation every day has to be crystal.[00:16:00]

Tell me about that. And so for me, I think I can add back into this layer. What are all of those personal challenges, those intrinsic challenges? And let me give you a real example is being a mother of three children. Okay, every child that I had, I would say my family and peers assumed that I would stop working because they’re like, okay, but now you have one kid.

Oh, now you have two kids. You know, it just gets harder. Now is time to focus fully on your family. And for me, and every time I went back to work, I realized that I am actually a much better person, much happier person with much more energy and motivation when I’m fulfilling my own personal purpose.

outside of being a mother. And while that will always be the most important role that I have in my life and all the other hats that we have of being, you know, a spouse, a friend, a daughter, a sister, you know, all of those hats for me, knowing that every day I can go to this space and I can really [00:17:00] feel that I’m adding value to the world by working as a VC.

By helping our founders, our team fundraising, whatever, even if it’s filling out tax documents, you know, like the boring mundane stuff, it’s like we are moving the world towards a better place. And for me, that is what gets me excited every day, despite all the barriers and doubts and conflicts and complexities of having this crazy, crazy life and complicated schedule.

And, you know, I always go back to igneous mission statement from the very beginning was, we are creating a more equitable world. How do we do that by supporting the best entrepreneurs? and founders that are bringing the best products and goods and services to the emerging middle class in Latin America.

So there’s a big lofty statement, right? But when I think about it, you break down each one of those points and we say, how do we do that? We do that by investing capital and generating phenomenal returns to create new industries that will in turn [00:18:00] bring better products and better services and make our world a better place.

Honestly, like every day, that’s really cool to say to my kids, you know, like I’m out at work. I’m making the world a better place, you know, like in my own, my own little trinchera, like my own little space. I can make friends in this way. And my kids get that, you know, they like, I think they feel really aligned with what I’m doing and they can see me come back from quote unquote work.

Right. Because now we work from everywhere. But come back and they see me excited to talk about, you know, this new founder I met or this new company that I’m building or this conference I went to. You meet such fascinating people in this industry. Like they see me happy. And so therefore I think it’s this positive cycle.

I’m a better mom because of that. Yeah. You have a true excitement for what you do. Yeah. Well, thinking about the rewards for your work. Obviously, there’s monetary rewards. Tell me about that, and also, what else gives you energy so that you can keep going? I [00:19:00] think of compensation as anything that’s sort of feeding back to you.

Tell me what keeps you fired up for a long time in this industry, and you’re still so excited about it. Well, I love your definition of compensation, right, because the big misconception I had about BC is I thought it was about white men trying to get more money. Like I thought it was all about getting rich or, you know, making these fortunes or whatever.

And frankly, to me, that is not my motivation. I think financial rewards is extremely important. It aligns everyone’s interests and it provides an enormous amount of freedom. And I think, from the basic freedoms alike, I could never do what I do without an incredible support at home. Right? I have a full time nanny that has worked with us since our kids were born.

Like, she runs my household. I could not do it without her. Right? And that is an incredibly fortunate position to be in. But I need to earn money to pay for that nanny. Right? Like, it’s something [00:20:00] as basic as that, right? And having the freedom to really, you know, travel the places I want to travel, spend the quality time with my kids.

Have the compensation so that you can live the life that you need to, to be happy and function. I think that’s one thing. But the compensation that I think when I get the most joy and sort of satisfaction is seeing that the platform that I’ve had by being in venture capital has allowed me to do many other things.

And I can talk about one of those things has been building first, the women’s network. Which was MBA Mujeres de Mexico. So basically professional women that had studied a professional degree in Mexico and has become an enormous motor for support and I think connection and network for women in Mexico across industries.

So I have invested in founders that have come from that group. I have hired countless number of women into my team from that group and they have invested in me. So it’s sort of this full circle, [00:21:00] but that was a group that we had to start from zero because it did not exist. Like, I didn’t see it, I needed this network, so I built it.

And then again, with Mujeres Invertiendo, when I joined VC, it was the first time that I really felt a huge divide for being a woman, because there just simply were no other women in the industry. in Mexico and in Latin America. And the few that we saw, we looked into each other’s eyes and were like, we got to stick together.

Like we got to hear and just support each other. Right. And so that slowly what started from, I think just sort of an absolute need. Became real genuine friendships, and then we were able to put that into motion and do things like start the diversity and inclusion committee, which became the ESG committee on the Association of private capital in Mexico that later then led to so many other things.

And I think now I look at the group will hit us in Britain, though. It is run by such exceptional [00:22:00] women. There are hundreds of women working in private capital across asset class and private equity and venture and infrastructure, family offices, whatever, that are continuing to find friendships, train themselves, network, find deals, get sponsorship, you know, all of this stuff through this group.

I could have never have done that. If I were just Yeah. Yeah. I love that. And it sounds like you have a mission through Ignea at your work, and then you have this personal mission and there’s a big overlap with them. And the personal mission is really creating these pathways for women and building this network for you, but for the generations to come through as well, whether it’s support, which I call the safety net or the trampoline to let people jump higher.

Mm hmm. Well, the really, I think, exceptional aspect of this is that through each stage of my career, I’ve had incredible mentors. And they use these tiny words now like sponsors, I would [00:23:00] say, I would say much more there have been sponsors and people that I’ve been able to learn from everything from like the first time sitting on boards.

I was able to shadow Leon Craig, in my case, and the other partners at Igna on boards for many years before I took my own board seat myself right and so learn from them and then they would call me up and they would. Really encourage me to apply to things that I thought were far out of my realm. And, you know, I think something that has been really surprising and so rewarding to me was joining the Kauffman fellows board about a year and a half ago, and the Kauffman fellows is a global network, a venture capitalist, the most connected group of VCs in the world, and it was a group that.

First, I joined to learn. I joined because I knew that I wanted to be the best investors in the world. And so I knew I had to go where the best investors were to learn from them. So it’s a two year [00:24:00] program that is really focused on helping you as an investor focus and learn what your zone of genius is.

And it’s sort of like a behavioral fitness program is what they call it. And that, for me, was transformative. And then I was able to bring the Kauffman Fellows to my hometown and chair this whole summit that we put together in Mexico City where we brought 400 VCs from around the world to come and see and taste and feel and look and get to know the ecosystem in Mexico.

And that was super rewarding. And then, because of that moment, I’ve just been receiving countless number of returns and I think just opened my world to the potential of that. You sort of said like, what is that generosity of spirit of more VCs now opening up their backyards to hosting these summits? So we just came from Montreal, Canada, where we had a great summit and being on that board is where I can just get a glimpse of the catalytic [00:25:00] impact that the Kauffman fellows can have around the world.

On really supporting the greatest future VCs that we have today. Yeah, that’s amazing. I think of that as sphere of influence and often that sphere of influence is broader than your day job. But if you invest in a sphere of influence outside, that’s something larger than what you’re doing. Your day job benefits, but it opens up pathways.

Yeah. For many people. Yeah. So in a way, the collaborating piece is also important to you. It’s like collaborating versus competition. Like you’re opening up doors and pathways for a whole community. You said it, Georgi. Like, totally. I mean, people, I think a lot of people think of VC and it’s like, oh, they’re cutthroat, you know, super competitive sort of spirit.

And for me, that has not been my path, right? Rather, I think I really lean into when it is that collective spirit. And I believe that even with our co investors, like when we’re Working on a [00:26:00] deal. It’s like the best investors that we can bring around the table is better for everyone than trying to, you know, jealously keep the entire captain, all the goods for you.

Yeah. And it’s because you have a greater vision or you’re motivated by the impact of these entrepreneurs and the success of their business. And it’s more than just you investing in them on a transaction. Yes. A hundred percent. One of the concepts I really like is this idea of standing on people’s shoulders, which you’ve brought in a few.

How can people stand on your shoulders today? Like of what you have set up, like, is there something tangible where you say, we really need X, we’re missing this piece. You go stand on my shoulders and I, you know, hand you a package of what’s next or something. Sort of more broad, like the sphere of influence where people can enter venture capital in Latin America as a woman.

How can someone stand on your shoulders? That’s an interesting question. I really think the most important thing or the trait that I think I most [00:27:00] admire is when I see people not afraid of things that haven’t been done before and they’re able to just go after it. And so when people ask me, they’re like, Oh, you know, how do I get into VC?

Or how do I do this? And I just say, don’t be intimidated by the fact that you don’t see yourself in this industry. You need to create that mold. And we are in an industry of investing in outliers. Like if everyone looked the same, and I can say this, this is proven again and again in returns of investments through VC funds, the VC investments that are made when the decision is consensus.

And all of the partners, and it’s sort of obvious to everyone, those are the lowest returning investments. Whereas the highest returning investments are those that one person saw something that no one else did and was maniacally, you know, sort of forceful getting that through and getting it done. And those are the outstanding returns.

And I think the same thing in people, [00:28:00] when you’re investing in someone, you don’t look like everyone. Well, that could be your zone of genius. You have unique insight. You have a unique path. And so you just really need to do that scary thing and jump in and own it. And you might fail or you might be great at it.

So if anything, if I can encourage others to do is just to go build their own paths, take a risk and go do it. Yeah. We’re getting close to wrapping up and I just wanted to know if you have any resources that you think are really great, whether it’s a book or a podcast or something that you think is really valuable for somebody looking to get into venture capital.

So I’m going to answer your question in two ways. I’m first going to say, I’m going to put a gender lens on the first part. What are the greatest resources I see for women who are trying to be in great careers and be successful at what they want to do? And I always recommend a book called The Feminine Mystique is now [00:29:00] called The Feminine Mistake.

And this is sort of a play on words from like a 1950 book about how to entrap men. And the feminine mistake talks about all the, I think, misconceptions that women have today about why they can stop working in the world. And for me, that was a critical book to read at a juncture in my life when I was.

Questioning the value and worth of my career and if I should continue in my career or not. You gave it to me, actually. When I had my, probably my second child, you gave me that book. I remember it. So that is one that I continue to go back to because I always get women who are in the thick of having kids and they’re like, I just can’t do it.

It’s too much. I don’t know how to do it. And I’m just like, for me, that is just like, you don’t know what you’re capable of. And if I had dropped out of my career when I was going through that, I wouldn’t have done anything that I’ve done in the last couple decades, right? And then the second thing is, I think women, we really need to own our narrative.

And we need to [00:30:00] be a lot more assertive about forming our own narrative. For me, a woman that helped me find that narrative was Joanna Bloor. You can find her online on LinkedIn and social media or wherever, but Joanna is a person who really helps individuals put into words what they want to be known for.

Because 99 percent of the most important decisions in your life are made in a room where you are not. other people talking about you and your reputation and what they think about you. And so how do you help them know your best self, right? And I don’t think we can take that lightly. And I think anyone who just sort of assumes that other people will talk good about them without helping them along the way are just missing an enormous opportunity.

So I think that intentionally help define it versus leave it to others to come up with how you want to be And realizing that that’s not boastful. That’s not trying to, like a lot of women feel like they’re bragging or they feel really uncomfortable putting themselves in the spotlight. And this [00:31:00] is simply about owning what your potential is, right?

And I think men do this exceptionally well, and women often shy from that. So really being careful about the language you use about yourself. And I think there are lots of studies about that. And I think the more that we can be aware of sort of some of our own inherent habits, it can just help us be more articulate about whatever we want to do in life.

Can you share quickly, like a highlight of what you would like to be known for? Oh my gosh. Even if it’s a word or two. I mean, if you, a word or two, a change agent, a catalyst. Okay. I want people to know that when I become a part of their lives. That I will absolutely act and help them get where they want to go.

And that can mean different things for different people. But I feel that with anyone that I interact with, if it’s a friend, if it’s a niece or nephew, or if it’s an entrepreneur, or if it’s an [00:32:00] investor of mine, sort of that ability to trust what I will do and that I will give it my all is super important to me.

Your reputation. Yeah, yeah, but I think it’s the promise of the experience of me. It’s an interesting way to look at things, but that I really hope is consistent, right? And I think the only way we can be consistent is that we’re really being, this is such a cliched word, but like our authentic selves.

Right. Like, and I realized that when all of the lines between work and private life were blurred, and I’ve learned this from so many different mentors also, but just sort of talking about the messiness that is life, like my life is really messy. You know, I’m involved in many things. I work on many time zones, I have multiple activities and commitments and kids stuff and family stuff, and they all intertwine.

But I think that’s my greatest strength at the same time, right? Because all of the entrepreneurs I work with also have very messy lives. Yeah. Living on many fronts. Yeah. Yeah. Firing in [00:33:00] all cylinders and all that. And then I think if, if you want to get into VC, I think nowadays the beauty of this industry is that there’s so much content that did not used to be the case.

One is like, it would be ridiculous if you didn’t just spend a lot of time absorbing all the content. So follow your favorite investors online, follow their social media pages, read venture deals. By Brad Feld and Techstars and all these, like, they’re these classic books, there’s, there’s so much sort of the factual stuff you can learn about VC, but the best thing you can do is just jump in and start doing it yourself.

Yeah. Can I contact you for a list, a short list, maybe three or four resources on VC? Oh yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. We actually, like, anyone who wants to work with Ignea, like, we’re kind of like, here’s our first reading list, like, jump in, like, Yeah, that would be great. You show up knowing the basic terminology.

You’ve got the language. You’ve got the language. Cause the hardest thing is actually. Putting the language to work, actually doing it, right? So you can learn [00:34:00] the terms in a term sheet, but the hard stuff is actually negotiating the terms, you know, putting them to use. I have one last question. I’m curious about how do you know you’re not for VC?

Wow. That is so good. I would say if your motivation is money and you want to make a ton of money, you know, like if anyone’s driven by that, this is not your industry. If you need instant feedback, this is a very long feedback loop. If you’re someone who thrives and you actually, if you think it’s all about you, because I really think so much of VC, a large part of VC is luck being in the right place at the right time, having the right contacts.

And I think the greatest fallacy is giving credit to a VC for a successful company. It’s like so far from the truth, you know? And so if someone has a huge ego in this industry, they should not be in this industry. Okay. Other places are better. Yeah. Christine, [00:35:00] you have given such a wealth of information.

I’m so excited about everything you’ve shared and I’ve learned a lot too. So thank you so much for your time. Yeah, all these great resources, ideas, thoughts, and it’s just really lovely to know somebody who’s so generous in the VC industry and really is rooting for so many others to do well. So thank you so much.

Thank you, Georgi. Yeah. Okay. Bye. So I want to share my thoughts on this interview. In order to succeed, Christine had to let go her preconceived notions of what it looks like to be a venture capitalist. And you may need to do that too. to get to where you want to be. Also, she seeks collaboration versus competition.

In a cutthroat, highly competitive industry, she found her place by collaborating and bringing people together and lifting them up. That was unusual. Third, Cristina’s always game to learn from others. Through mentors, peers, and through the founders she works with, she’s always tapping into their wisdom.

And [00:36:00] lastly, she taught us to believe in ourselves. And that’s directly evident in how we intentionally shape the narrative about ourselves. That’s something really important to think about. And that’s a wrap for today’s episode of Work That’s Worth It. Remember, every conversation we share is designed to empower you to build a career that’s truly worth your time and energy.

There are future disruptors out there just like you who would appreciate the conversations in this podcast. Please support me by spreading the word and sharing this episode with a friend or two, or visit my website at georgienthoven. com. That’s spelled G E O R G I. E N T H O V E N dot com. Until next time, ask yourself, what problems am I solving and are they worth my valuable time?

Your intentional choices today can lead to exponential impact tomorrow. Thanks for listening!