Serena Williams uses her killer instincts to invest in early-stage companies

Serena Williams recently broke the hearts of tennis fans around the world when she announced her retirement from professional tennis. But today, on stage before a packed audience at TechCrunch Disrupt, she reminded us that while she brings that competitive mindset to the leadership of Serena Ventures.

Serena Ventures an early-stage venture capital firm, her professional mindset is “quite that Opposite” of her is the investor’s personality. “I think it’s a different Serena. I’m very calm,” she says. “I’m the one who brings such a calm nature.”

Just don’t confuse this calmness with passivity. Williams still uses her killer instincts to invest from her fund, along with her founding partner, Allison Rapaport Stillman. It also makes diversity non-negotiable. Her LPs feature women and people of color, something virtually unheard of in the venture industry. Williams also invests at the pre-seed, seed and Series A stages with the understanding that financial inclusion is much more than a buzzword.

“We spend a lot of time on consumer-centric technology because we want to create products for the communities we want to serve…” she said. “We spend a lot of time on racial and gender equity within the healthcare system — mental health, mental health and well-being. These are issues that all communities face, but especially women and people of color, there are not enough tools and services for them. That’s what we’re really focusing on.

Additionally, Williams prides herself on authenticity and passion, and unsurprisingly, these are traits he also looks for in founders. According to Stillman, one of Williams’ greatest strengths is being able to read people with a single meeting: being able to tell if a founder is really fast, whether a founder is someone he wants to get to know better or not. One of the questions he asks of potential portfolio companies is whether they’re trading because “it’s a blank” or they’re doing it “because it’s something you care deeply about.”

“I’ve found that if it’s close and dear to you and there’s a spot available, that’s usually the winning combo,” Williams said. “But if you’re just doing it because you see it’s a great opportunity, no matter how big and open it is, it’s usually never as good as someone who actually has something they’re really passionate about.

“We like to keep things very authentic,” she emphasized. “SV has its own brand. We will not do anything that we do not believe is authentic or that we do not believe in.”

She is also interested in more than just the past successes of a founder. She wants to know what the founders failed to do. “It shows me that when times are tough, you know what to expect and what to expect, and failure is great,” Williams added that’s what it should be for me.

For those who don’t know, William’s husband is venture capitalist Alexis Ohanian, founder of 776 and former co-founder of Reddit. Though they’ve done a little business together in the past, Williams said the couple doesn’t discuss business at all at home and at work in order to “keep on their own terms.” “We’re both so competitive,” she said. “I’m so competitive inside. You can’t read my face when I’m screaming and dying inside.”

We don’t want that, so we keep it very separate. Speaking of past investments, both Williams and Stillman have regrets at one point or another. Early in her investing career, Williams said she gave up on a French startup because she “just didn’t have the infrastructure or the time. . right.

Stillman also says the company stopped investing in the Series B round for delivery giant Instacart, which is now poised to go public, because it was a bit late for them. “Nevertheless, there was still a lot of room for growth,” she laughs.