The Two Percen‪t‬ Female Founders Fund

Today’s guest is Female Founders Fund portfolio founder, Shan-Lyn Ma of Zola, an online platform reinventing the wedding planning and registry experience. Anu and Shan discuss her experience learning from product experts during her time at Gilt Groupe and Yahoo!, how customer feedback has guided Zola’s growth, and the future of events and weddings post-pandemic. Shan shares her best fundraising tips, how to expand beyond core product offerings, building a culture that encourages innovation, and much more!

Today’s guest is Morgan DeBaun, Founder and CEO of Blavity, the leading media company for Black culture and millennials. This conversation is jam-packed with Morgan’s top learnings building Blavity and her valuable advice for female founders around topics like growth hacks to reach your first million users, using your emotions as a motivator, managing the added weight female founders carry in the public sphere, building your early team, switching your mindset from founder to CEO, and much more. Morgan shares her thoughts on the pandemic’s impact on the future of media, what it will take to bring lasting racial change to the industry, and her vision for Blavity’s future.

Anu is joined by FFF portfolio founder, Michelle Kennedy of Peanut, a social platform designed to provide support, connection, and community for women throughout every stage of motherhood. Michelle has built a safe space for women unlike anywhere else on the internet, where two million users feel comfortable asking questions, engaging in intimate conversations, and finding support with complete strangers around traditionally taboo topics like IVF, miscarriage, and other "silent struggles”. Michelle dives into the lessons she learned working at Bumble and Badoo in the early days, why she’s building Peanut’s community with safety, authenticity, and empathy at the forefront, how her app is breaking down societal stigmas, and more.

Anu chats with Female Founders Fund scout investment founder, Beatriz Acevedo of SUMA Wealth, a revolutionary financial wellness brand with a mission to close the Latinx wealth gap in the US. They discuss the unprecedented power and growth of the US-born Latinx population, what marketers and brands are still getting wrong in connecting with this demographic, and why the future success of all American businesses is predicated on the financial inclusion of this group. Beatriz dives into the opportunity she saw to bring her expertise as a marketer and community builder into the world of fintech, and why building trust and community is critical for any financial brand looking to build lifelong brand loyalty.

Anu sits down with Female Founders Fund portfolio founder, Kate Ryder of Maven Clinic, the first digital health clinic for women. Kate dives into the opportunity she saw to disrupt the healthcare system, her experience building women’s healthcare as a new category, and how the landscape has evolved since founding Maven Clinic in 2014. They discuss the future of women's and family healthcare, explosive telemedicine growth amid the pandemic, and what all of this means for long-term adoption of digital health. Kate also shares her candid advice for female founders who are fundraising, and for leaders looking to build culture in a remote environment.

Today’s guest is Mellody Hobson, President and Co-CEO of Ariel Investments, the first Black owned asset management firm. Anu and Mellody discuss their shared belief of diversity as a strategic advantage, the passion Mellody feels towards her work at Ariel, the responsibility she has in boardrooms across the country, and in her role as a national leader for greater financial literacy. Mellody shares what has kept her at Ariel for 30 years, her advice around how businesses can be braver on addressing issues of racial inequality, life lessons that every female founder can take notes from, and candid stories that will keep you laughing along the way.