What Would Lisa Suennen Say?
I’m currently winging my way on the friendly skies to Washington DC to act as a judge in the MedTech Innovator East Coast Pitch Event. Between this and teaching my UC Berkeley healthcare venture capital class and a few other discussions I’ve had lately about how investors think (really, they do…mostly), I’ve had numerous opportunities […]
If you were awake during 2023, it was a tough year in pretty much every way. War was the top line news story, second only to tales of the total breakdown of our political system. Women’s rights were shattered, and rising bigotry and prejudice of all kinds were in evidence. We have had environmental meltdown, […]
Proof Some people gonna call you up Tell you something that you already know Proof Sane people go crazy on you Say “No man that was not The deal we made I got to go, I got to go” Faith Faith is an island in the setting sun But proof, yes Proof is the bottom […]
Last night I went to see a show called Your Favorite Woman: The Joy of Sex Education. It’s a one woman show featuring the profoundly smart and funny Samantha Bee and it’s touring the U.S. If you are a) female, b) male or c) any or all of the above, you should run, not walk, […]
I was recently asked by a terrific group, the Women Alumnae of Mercer, to explain equity, stock options and related concepts to a group of people interested in entrepreneurship, startups, venture capital and the related pile of stuff. Jodi Hubler, a super cool healthcare expert and friend, also participated in this program as we explained […]
I saw the movie Air this weekend and man, it was great. Air is the story of how Nike and Michael Jordan became a brand match made in heaven. I love sports movies and I love biopics and this was kind of both, but also neither. Mainly it is a master class in great business […]
“The key to being a good manager is keeping the people who hate me away from those who are still undecided.” –Casey Stengel Ask anyone what the most important factor is when choosing a new job and, 9 out of 10 times, they will say “the people.” Ask any venture capitalist what the most important factor […]
Lately, rather than talking about AI day and night, everyone is talking about two particular AI applications: ChatGPT and Dall.e-2. If you haven’t heard about them, here’s the basic pitch: ChatGPT is basically a super-charged chatbot. You talk to it, it tells you stuff. It has been “trained” with a billion bazillion pieces of info […]
I have advised (and continue to advise) a number of companies large and small about go-to-market strategies and how to think about launch and market entry. There are, as you can imagine, huge differences in how to approach these depending on whether one is a pharma/medical device company, a health services company or a digital […]
Ever since the stock market realized that gravity was a real thing, people have been asking me, often multiple times a day, what this may mean for the world of venture capital and startups. And because this is my third rodeo (I was in venture capital during the 2000 stock market mini-implosion (aka the Dot […]
Lisa Suennen is a venture capital investor and the managing partner of Venture Valkyrie, LLC, which publishes the Venture Valkyrie blog and co-produces the Tech Tonics podcast. She is also co-founder of CSweetener, a women's healthcare mentoring organization.