Podcasts Business Piloting your Life Investing in startups and helping them reach their goals as an angel investor with Gotham Gal, Joanne Wilson

Investing in startups and helping them reach their goals as an angel investor with Gotham Gal, Joanne Wilson

Published: Oct. 16, 2018, 1 p.m.

Who\xa0is\xa0Joanne Wilson?\xa0\xa0

Joanne\u202fWilson\u202fis a New York City based investor and\xa0has had many careers. She started out in retail, eventually\u202fmoving to the wholesale arena. She then transitioned to the media side of\u202fthe technology world, before once again reinventing herself as an investor. She is\u202fcurrently an active angel investor with a portfolio of over 90 companies\xa0such as Food52, Sweeten, Vengo,\xa0Nestio,\xa0Shippabo, Flip, Clutter, and Union Station.\u202fShe has been involved in numerous real estate transactions from beginning to end and\u202fcontinues to make investments in that world.\xa0Joanne is\xa0an investor in a few restaurants in the New York\u202farea.\xa0\xa0

In addition to these endeavors,\u202fJoanne\u202fhas been involved in various\u202feducation projects and has served as chairperson at Hot Bread Kitchen, a non-profit\u202fcommitted to\u202fincreasing access to the culinary industry for woman and minority\xa0entrepreneurs. She currently sits on the board of The Highline and is the co-chair of Path Forward.\xa0

Joanne\u202fhas maintained her blog,\u202fwww.gothamgal.com\u202ffor\xa015\xa0years and has\u202frecently taken\xa0her talents to the airwaves on her podcast, "Positively Gotham Gal".\u202fShe loves to bake, cook,\u202fthrow a good party, travel, read, collect art, do the crossword and stay on\u202ftop of what's happening around the globe and in NYC.\xa0

Joanne believes her\xa0most successful venture is being married to her best friend, Fred,\xa0and raising their three kids\xa0Jessica, Emily and Josh\xa0\u202f\xa0

Show Highlights\xa0

  • Joanne shares her journey into angel investing\xa0and how she\xa0is able to\xa0see things coming down the pike\xa0

  • Joanne talks about what she invests in and how her investing has changed over the last 12 years\xa0

  • Joanne comments on some of her investments that are undercapitalized and the frustration she has around getting other investors excited about the startups and the founders.\xa0\xa0\xa0

  • She looks for tenacious, smart, scrappy people\xa0as founders\xa0who can articulate their vision from now until what it can be.\xa0\xa0\xa0

  • In, 70% of the companies she\u2019s invested in,\xa0Joanne\xa0was the first money into the companies.\xa0Joanne\xa0talks about how she\xa0works with her founders to get access to capital and resources and help them build their businesses.\xa0\xa0\xa0

  • Joanne and Terri talk about\xa0various different\xa0funding mechanisms and getting access to capital.\xa0

  • If Joanne could wave a magic wand, she would\xa0change the animosity in society that people have towards each other.\xa0 She would\xa0make sure everyone has healthcare, a roof over their heads, food on the table, and access to education.\xa0 With these fundamental needs met,\xa0she believes that\xa0they may have better caring for their fellow man.\xa0\xa0\xa0

Terri\u2019s Key Takeaway\xa0

It\u2019s difficult to be a generalist as an angel investor; it\u2019s better to choose a vertical that is most interesting to you and become familiar with the space.\xa0\xa0\xa0

References in the Podcast\xa0

Contact\xa0

Joanne\xa0can be reached\xa0through her website\xa0https://gothamgal.com/.\xa0\xa0\xa0

You can follow Terri on Twitter at @terrihansonmead or go to her website at www.terrihansonmead.com or on Medium:\u202f https://medium.com/@terrihansonmead.\u202f\xa0

Feel free to email Terri at PilotingYourLife@gmail.com.\xa0

To continue the conversation, go to Twitter at @PilotingLife\xa0and use hashtag #PilotingYourLife.\xa0