Nancy Pfund | Founder & Managing Partner, DBL Partners

As a pioneer in impact investing, Nancy has demonstrated the potential of venture capital to drive social change and environmental improvements. She is an active voice in the field, frequently writing and speaking on impact investing topics. Nancy serves on the boards of several companies, including Zola Electric, Bellwether Coffee, and Farmers Business Network, and has previously worked with Tesla Motors, SolarCity, and Pandora before their public offerings. Before founding DBL, she was a Managing Director in Venture Capital at JPMorgan and began her investment career at Hambrecht & Quist in 1984. Her diverse experience also includes roles at Intel Corporation, the State of California, Stanford University, and the Sierra Club.

In 2024, Nancy received the Impact Leadership Award from Impact Capital Managers and was recognized in 2023 by Forbes and the San Francisco Business Times as one of the Bay Area’s most influential business leaders. Her accolades include the 2022 Financial Woman of the Year and appearances on Fast Company’s 2016 Most Creative People in Business list. A frequent lecturer at prestigious institutions such as Harvard and Stanford, she has held numerous leadership roles in organizations focused on clean energy and social impact.

DBL Partners was formed with a “Double Bottom Line” investment strategy to invest in companies that can deliver top-tier venture capital returns (First Bottom Line), while working with our companies to enable social, environmental and economic improvement in the regions in which they operate (Second Bottom Line). DBL Partners uses venture capital to accelerate innovation in a way that positively affects an organization’s social impact, as well as its financial success. We strongly believe these two drivers –positive social change and a healthy financial performance– are inherently connected. DBL invests in and helps nurture outstanding entrepreneurs and companies in Cleantech, Information Technology, Sustainable Products and Services, and Healthcare.

Show Notes:

[2:47] - Nancy shares a bit about her incredible career, and what she would title a book about her journey.

[7:02] - Before founding DBL, Nancy was a Managing Director at JPMorgan. She shares the experience of breaking off with DBL during a time of uncertainty.

[11:10] - Nancy describes her experience with Tesla and how the investment in strong talent benefits an entire organization.

[13:12] - Start-ups are all about resilience and perseverance, especially during times of economic challenges.

[14:32] - In this environment, it is difficult to stay positive and survive in the short term.

[16:35] - A first-time fund investor is slightly different because of the risk involved.

[18:01] - Nancy describes and explains venture capital and impact investing.

[22:52] - Sustainability is a key interest of Nancy’s and her colleagues.

[26:29] - Nancy describes some of the challenges faced at Tesla in the beginning of her work there.

[30:08] - Whatever the block is, you can make a difference.

[31:57] - Initially, the car industry was not designed to support the development of electric vehicles.

[34:42] - What is the difference between Founder mode and CEO mode?

[38:07] - There are habits, including drinking coffee, that are “carbon habits”.

[39:39] - The good news is that the list of talented and visionary entrepreneurs is getting longer, increasing impact.

[42:18] - What are the soft skills that are valued at DBL and the VC world?

[44:09] - At the founder level, there has to be an insatiable drive to change the world.

[46:19] - Create several scenarios in your analysis and do some stress testing.

[51:53] - There is a lot of uncertainty right now, especially when it comes to policies.

[54:24] - Even with uncertainty, there are many things to like and be positive about with policy transitions.

Links and Resources:

DBL Partners

Credits:

Editing: Desta Wondirad, Wondir Studios