Episode 104: Carrie Colbert

Carrie Colbert

Intro: [00:00:00] Welcome to the Pretty Powerful Podcast, where powerful women are interviewed every week to share real inspiring stories and incredible insight to help women or anyone break the barriers, be a part of innovation, shatter the glass ceiling, and dominate to the top of their sport, industry, or life's mission.

Join us as we celebrate exceptional women and step into our power. And now here's your host, Angela Gennari.

Angela Gennari: Hello and thank you for joining me for another episode of the Pretty Powerful Podcast. My name is Angela Gennari and today I'm here with Carrie Colbert. Hi, Carrie. Hi, Angela. So good to be with you today.

I am so excited to talk to you. So Carrie is doing something that I have always envisioned as like what I want my grown up job to be after. I decide what I really, really want to do, but she, she's doing something that I think is just absolutely amazing. So Carrie is the [00:01:00] founding and general partner of Curate Capital, which leads, she leads a venture capital firm committed to investing in women, By women, her firm takes a distinctive approach, focusing on supporting female entrepreneurs and investing in women led businesses.

So, amen. And hallelujah to that, because my goodness, I can tell you it's a struggle as a woman to find capital. And I love, love, love that you're out there paving the way and making a difference. So thank you for all you're doing.

Carrie Colbert: Oh, thank you for that. It's a real privilege to get to work with so many wonderful women.

Both: Yeah.

Carrie Colbert: We're building great businesses.

Angela Gennari: Absolutely. So what made you want to get into the venture capital side?

Carrie Colbert: Yeah, well, this is kind of a second act for me, professionally speaking, I had a whole different career for almost 20 years. And all of those early decisions were just very practical and pragmatic in nature.

So I was the first in my family go to college and [00:02:00] kind of grew up in less than ideal circumstances. And so I knew that the path forward, you know, kind of in rising above those circumstances was education, and then You know, professional and financial success. So like I said, my early decisions were not necessarily based on passion, but more pragmatic and practical in nature.

So, um, I ended up studying, uh, engineering specifically petroleum engineering because I got a full ride scholarship at the university of Texas.

Both: Okay.

Carrie Colbert: And then, so after graduating with that degree, Not surprisingly, the best jobs were here in Houston in the oil and gas industry. And so I had a career in the energy industry for almost 20 years and it was a great career.

Um, I got my MBA along the way and had the unique opportunity to work for a company that most people haven't heard of but it's now I believe the largest privately held oil and gas company. It's called Hillcorp Energy and it was founded by a guy named Jeff He's a billionaire now. It wasn't when I started there, but what I love about [00:03:00] working at that company was that he ran the company with such an entrepreneurial culture.

So even though I wasn't necessarily passionate about the industry necessarily, I got to be part of such an incredible company, uh, and learn so many invaluable lessons about entrepreneurship. From him. And so I was in that industry for almost 20 years, about a dozen at that company. And really, uh, part of that entrepreneurial culture was having equity or ownership in the company.

Everyone had some level of that. And then we were allowed to kind of reinvest some of our own, uh, cash into the business. And so it was really a unique setup that eventually gave me the financial flexibility to just kind of walk away. Uh, and figure out what I wanted to do next. Um, that's amazing. It's a rarity that someone would lose that company because it's a wonderful place to work.

Uh, but I, I took that chance on myself. And so I left not knowing for sure what I was going to do, but I was determined that I wanted it to be entrepreneurial. I learned that I liked that, you know, [00:04:00] style of business and, and I wanted to be that, but I wanted it to be something that was just more personal, something I was passionate about myself.

And so. Uh, the long story short is that I very much stumbled into investing as the second career, um, via social media. In fact, I was on Instagram and yeah, the first week it launched, um, at the time I was still working, uh, my day job, uh, but I was, you know, single and had no kids and had a lot of disposal income.

So I was doing a lot of fun things. I was, you know, Traveling and going to fashion shows around the world. And I liked taking pretty pictures. And so back in the early days of Instagram, where you could take a pretty picture and post it, and you know, there was no algorithm and there wasn't no video and it was fairly easy to, to grow a decent size following and in short order, that's what I excelled at Instagram.

Now I can't keep up with it all, but yeah, I say that because I kind of accidentally became a, a. Small time, uh, influencer, if you will. Um, and that led into some [00:05:00] brand partnerships and as I would partner with brands, um, I would just very naively ask like, Hey, are you looking for any board members or investors or advisors?

If so, I I'd love to pitch in. I love to be a part of what you're building. And so over a period of five plus years, I basically learned on my own dime, if you will. So I reinvested most of the money I had made, you know, in my previous career into female founded businesses. And in so doing, three really important things happened.

One, I was having great fun, and I would not have used the word fun to describe my, my career, uh, before. It was great, but not fun. Uh, two, I was seeing great results. So, I was realizing that just, you know, like you alluded to in the, the opening, these women founded businesses are generally speaking, underfunded yet overperforming.

And so I saw that there were great results happening just from a small infusion of both capital and then maybe some guidance, you know, whether it be mentorship or advising or whatever, like we could partner together and do better, uh, uh, [00:06:00] together. So I saw it working, but then number three, and probably most importantly is I saw there was just a great opportunity set.

Way more than I could personally, um, handle. And so again, I, I once again, kind of very naively took that next step that I'm, you know, myself and also, you know, other women and said, let's start a venture capital fund. And so I was definitely an outsider to the industry, um, and, you know, did not know what I didn't know.

Um, but I knew I could figure it out. Right. And so I knew I had what mattered most and that's the deal flow in our, our world. That just means that I had, uh, companies reaching out, wanting funding. I had. Those, um, relationships within the space where I knew that I had the opportunity to invest in, you know, just really high quality businesses.

I just need to find a way to do more of it. And so, um, it's been a steep learning curve. Um, certainly knew nothing about fundraising or how to really run a fund. Um, but we've learned those things along the way. And so, um, We launched our first fund, had the idea for Curie Capital in 2020, then the [00:07:00] pandemic hit, so it was really 2021 when we launched in earnest, um, and I, again, like, knew nothing about fundraising, I totally did not think we were going to meet our goal of 10 million, but ultimately we closed at 15, so if you just look at the results, it looks like, you know, oh, great.

She was 50 percent of her target, but there was a lot of, you know, uh, you know, sleepless nights in there and, um, a lot of hard lessons learned, but what I'm actually more proud of is not the, you know, just the result, but how we got there. And, and what I mean by that is we have over 80 percent of our investors are women, which is really unheard of in the venture capital world.

So as cheesy as it sounds We really are a case of women supporting women. I'm really honored to have so many successful business women who invested their resources to, you know, kind of fund the dreams and goals and visions of other women. So it's really cool.

Angela Gennari: That is amazing. Absolutely amazing. That is so cool because there's nothing more important to me than women supporting [00:08:00] women.

Excuse me as I cough, um, but I, you know, I see that all the time where, you know, women will kind of rah, rah from the sidelines, but to put your dollar behind it is it's a whole nother level. I mean, because that's where, that's where we're missing it, right? Like we can get on online and promote our friends businesses, but are we really out there spending our money where it matters?

And that's with other women owned businesses.

Carrie Colbert: That's exactly right, Angela. And so, you know, it's a real privilege to have women, successful women, entrust their resources to me. And then in turn, we entrust, you know, our collective capital to women who we believe are building the products and services that they want and need for themselves, their families, their home

Angela Gennari: and beyond.

So let me ask you when you started with investing in women owned businesses, is it because that's what we, you, we, you were interacting with on Instagram or was it, was it like a default or were you intentional about, I want to only invest in women owned businesses? [00:09:00] Well, it's a good question. It

Carrie Colbert: became intentional, but I would say again, like, you know, I, I very naively kind of get myself into situations and then I love it as I go.

Right. And so, yeah, this, um, well, I think, and it's quite the dichotomy because I am an engineer. And, you know, numbers person by nature. And so I can certainly like many others get myself trapped in the, the, um, um, pattern of overthinking things. But I think if I look back on my career path, the best moves I've made are those when I didn't overthink it, right.

When I took that leap and just kind of bet on myself or believed in myself. And so, um, I gotta be careful. I don't get in my own way sometimes, but. Yeah. So when it came to investing, I think you're right. I mean, I had never thought of it that way, but, um, I think it just was kind of happenstance that the brands I was working with on the influencer side that resonated with me happened to be female founded.

And so kind of carved out that niche. Um, in the world. But then as I looked at the data and the numbers, it's very compelling, [00:10:00] Angela. So, uh, study after study shows that, well, women are underfunded. I mean, less than 2 percent of VC dollars in the U S go to women. Great. We all know that, but something that, uh, people may not be as aware of is that there's multiple studies that keep putting out the same sort of result that women are more capital efficient, meaning for every dollar of capital invested, they're generating more revenue.

And in fact, there's one, uh, Boston consulting group study, um, as an example that showed for every dollar of invested, all female teams generate 78 cents of revenue, whereas all male teams generate 31 cents of revenue. So it wasn't even a close, you know, uh, contest there. And, you know, I, I do like though, to, to say that, you know, we are not exclusionary.

This isn't some, um, you know, agenda driven thing. I think it just makes good business sense to invest in women, women, um, you know, also, so not only are they under, underfunded over performing, but as we can all attest, um, in [00:11:00] most households, women control most of the spending, right? I think the number that I see.

Floated around a somewhere between 80 and 85 percent of household spending decisions are based or are driven by the women in the household. So if you think about that, you know, we have a core belief that women are developing the solutions that they want for themselves and their families. So if those businesses are underfunded yet delivering good results and we've got good relationships, well, then it just makes a good business sense to invest in women.

And beyond that, of course, you know, we think we're making a positive impact as well, but it's also just makes sense from a dollars and cents standpoint. A hundred percent.

Angela Gennari: Yes. Could not agree more. Well, and I find that for women, when they start businesses, generally the businesses that they start, Are because they, they can go work for somebody and that's usually the, you know, the path of least resistance when you start a business, it's, it's challenging as anyone who owns a business will tell you, it's not easy to start a business.

It takes a lot of, you know, women are generally a little bit more [00:12:00] risk averse, but when they do start a business, it's because they are trying to solve a problem that they personally have. So whether that is, you know, Hey, I, I need a more efficient. diaper bag. I need, you know, a safer EV charging station. I need this.

Like there's a problem that they recognize that no one has solved for them and they're out there to do it. And so when they're doing it, it's very mission driven. And I think that that's one of the things that, that is different with women and men. When we start businesses, men will do something because, you know, like, Hey, I'm going to start up.

An engineering firm and it's going to be just like every other engineering firm. But when a woman starts an engineering firm, there's going to be a different spin on it Like I was telling you prior to the podcast. I own a security company I don't have a security background, but I saw that there was a need to do things differently And so I learned the industry and I started a security company and it was probably one of the best things I ever did because what we do is vastly different than how men run security, [00:13:00] security companies.

And so while we are not perfect by any stretch of the imagination, but at the same time, I do feel like what we are delivering is a better service with higher, higher value to to the patrons that come to events.

Carrie Colbert: Angela, you're spot on. And I'd love to double click on that for just a minute, because I think, uh, you know, you framed it in a way that I don't usually frame it when I speak, but as you're speaking, I'm thinking about, you know, the portfolio of companies we have almost 20 companies that we've invested in, and they're all solving some personal pain point that they experienced or observed.

Yeah. Here's the thing, though, sometimes it may be a profound pain point. Sometimes it may be just a convenience or superficial pain point. For instance, we have one company that is called Joe. It's a better for you snack brand. And the founder Sabina started this in 2020 when during the pandemic, everyone was taking so many immunity supplements and vitamins and all that sort of stuff.

And [00:14:00] she thought, well, you You know, surely, you know, they've taken bad stuff out of some snacks, right? You know, we've, we've taken out the allergens and that sort of thing, but what if we put good things into our snacks? And so she was like, I'm tired of taking a handful of, you know, vitamins and supplements every day.

And what if we put those good things into our foods? So, hey, great. I mean, that is a right on trend for, you know, now we see that as a, a, a full on, you know, industry trend, but she was early on in the pandemic thinking about that. So she creates yummy, good for you, doughnuts and cookie doughs and things like that.

So, you know, A delicious solution, not necessarily the most profound problem in the world, but wonderful solution. On the other end of the spectrum, we have a company called Intuitab. And what she has developed is basically a stud finder for the spine to make getting epidurals easier. So she is solving a literal pain point for so many women.

Yes. And what I love about that even, because it's a great example that These solutions don't have to be rocket science, even though that's like something in the medical field. [00:15:00] It's not even cutting edge technology. She just observed a pain point of women and look for a solution. Whereas, you know, if you look back historically, you know, maybe most anesthesiologists have been male, um, and they think they're doing a decent job just kind of feeling along your spine with their fingers.

But she said, no, no, no. What if we brought in just a simple imaging device? It's not complicated. It's not cutting edge technology. It's also not expensive. And we've now got FDA approval for that. And so that'll be coming. Yeah, it's really fabulous. And so, you know, we're honored to support Jessica and her team into a tap and we have for, you know, Three plus years now, and now we have FDA approval.

And so we're excited that in pretty short term, that device will be available to women as they're giving birth. So, you know, don't think my point being, it's great that there are people like Jessica, you know, solving literal, huge pain points, but it can also be just a, you know, superficial or a problem or something inconvenient that you observe.

Like it doesn't have [00:16:00] to be this, you know, whole world changing thing necessarily. But if you're experiencing a pain point, Probably other people are too. And so if you're developing a solution for yourself, there are going to be other people that need that as well.

Angela Gennari: Totally agree. Totally agree. I mean, there's so many amazing products that have come out, invented by women, to solve problems that we experience because we experience the world slightly differently than men do.

And so, I mean, everybody knows that from, you know, from whether it's, you know, sexual harassment or whatever that might be, just also to you. The size of us, you know, and the skills and the ability to strengthen, you know, so we experience the world differently. So why should we have the same products that everybody else does when it doesn't necessarily work for us?

So I love that women are out there leading the charge on Hey, I'm making this world a better place for me and for other people. So that this is so amazing. Yeah. Yeah. So talk to me a little bit. There was an

Carrie Colbert: outdated phrase. Oh, no, no. Go ahead. Yeah. I was just gonna say, [00:17:00] there was an outdated phrase in the marketing world, you know, back when, uh, you know, men ran all these consumer brands and where, um, it would just say if they wanted to make a woman version, they would just shrink it and pink it, make a smaller size and make it pink and that'll be fine for the women.

Right. So I'm glad we've got some, uh, appreciate that. There's a bit more nuance. That goes into making products for women. Now, we've got some women who are actually saying, well, we'll know, you know, there's these, you know, different aspects and considerations to take into account.

Angela Gennari: Yes, a hundred percent agree.

So, you know, when you're funding these women owned businesses, tell me a little bit what you, your thoughts are on the systemic, um, funding gap that's out there, because I mean, it, it's a major gap.

Carrie Colbert: Oh, goodness. Yes. I could go on and on about this, but I think, you know, it's great that there are more funds that exist and are trying to get funding to, uh, to women and, uh, we can sit here and bemoan it and say, Oh, we got to move the needle.

I think, you know, you've got to go more to the source. And, and what I mean [00:18:00] by sources, breaking down barriers to women, understanding investing, um, and getting more women check riders, right? Like you can't just go out with some, you know, you know. Talk about, Oh, this is horrible. You know, guys, you need to get more capital to women.

Well, they're not always going to see the world the same way we do in terms of, you know, what's a good idea for a product or a company. And so we need more women putting their, their money, you know, behind the cause and becoming check writers, whether that's, you know, as an angel investor, yourself investing into a venture capital fund, you know, some crowdfunding campaign, you know, whatever I think, but what I found.

Okay. Is that, um, you know, we, we talk a lot about women being risk averse, then there's, there's some, some truth to that. I know there've been studies, but I also think one of those things that, that makes women not, um, leap into investing is just the barriers to understanding. So as I was raising, uh, my first I just found, and this is just me, like I [00:19:00] was an outsider to venture capital who had to learn a lot about it, um, as I started the fund.

And so it became kind of a secondary mission of mine to just break down the barriers to understanding, like we don't have to talk about it in all these jargony lingo terms, because, you know, quite frankly, it's not that complicated, but, you know, I'm a firm believer that knowledge is power and a certain, you know, demographic has.

Kept that knowledge themselves because then they have the power. Right. But as we, um, talked about curate capital, as we talked about venture capital, as we talked about investing in women just in normal everyday terms, I had so many women approach me, whether in person at conferences or on social media said, Oh, well, I didn't know that's who can invest, or I didn't know that's how that worked.

Or, Oh, I'm a customer of that brand. I didn't know that. It was a possibility for me even to invest in these sorts of companies. So sign me up. I mean, I had women who I had never met a person, but they knew me, you know, a decade or more on social media. And so I had that trust [00:20:00] factor with them, but women I had never met who really just jumped in and maybe wrote a 500, 000 check or in one case, you know, over a million dollars.

Um, but they just didn't know before. And so, you know, I think education is so important and we're fortunate that we live in a day and age where we've got so. Much information at our fingertips, some good, some bad, so you have to sift through that. But, you know, as much as we can, we want to explain and just break down those barriers to understanding because then people can make their own decisions.

And, you know, venture capital investing, for instance, may not be for everyone. And that is totally fine. You know, it comes with a certain risk threshold, it comes with a certain time frame, and that is not for everyone. I get it. But you must understand the game before you can decide if you want to play it.

Angela Gennari: Absolutely. Do you think any of that is societal? Because like, for me, I can tell you that one of the frustrations I have, even as just a business owner, not even an investor, is it just feels like when I'm going out and about in my own social circles, there's so many [00:21:00] taboos, taboo things that women just don't talk about.

You know, you are free to talk about your vacation, your kids, your husband, your house, your neighborhood, but don't dare talk about finances. Don't you dare talk about your job because a lot, you know, a lot of women are stay at home moms, which there's nothing wrong with that. But it just limits the conversation sometimes when I'm trying to, you know, Hey, you know, I'm just trying to find a new workers comp company and I'm trying to deal with this issue right now.

I'm dealing with that issue. And you realize like you, you need the people around you who could have those same conversations. And for women, sometimes that can be a little tricky. Like I find myself gravitating, you know, when you go to a party and all the men go to one side of the house and the other women go to the other side of the house.

Like I find I have more in common with the men because They're in businesses and I might be able to talk to them about like, Hey, for your liability, who are you, you know, do you have a good attorney you can recommend? Like, cause I, I need to know those questions. And when I go to the women, they're talking about, oh yeah, the bus driver's retiring.

I'm like, I don't care. I don't care. I want to know the thing. [00:22:00] Is it societal? Do you think

Carrie Colbert: that? Yeah, I think there's a big component of that and, uh, your, your point made me think of a recent story, a little anecdote to share with you and we in Houston have this local group of, um, uh, it was an informal kind of socializing group of, uh, bloggers.

Those probably started 10 years ago and, you know, we get together once a quarter, um, About it, maybe once a month, I don't know, um, to, you know, just kind of socialize. I mean, kind of just talk about business, but it's turned into, it was more of a social thing is what it turned into. And frankly, I don't always have time to go socialize.

And just based on talking with other members, I should point out that most of them have changed from being bloggers to being entrepreneurs. Now everyone's kind of got their own business of some sort, you know, over the 10 years, it's all morphed. And so I kind of sensed there might be an appetite for, you know, some actual like.

Business content, you know, uh, rather than just sitting around chatting. And so last spring I, um, for another reason that had brought into town, one of, uh, the [00:23:00] business coaches that, that I most trust and refer founders to often. She's wonderful. Her name is Sally Ogden. And so Sally had flown into Houston for, for something else, but I had her come to this little breakfast event with, with this, you know, blogger slash entrepreneur group, and, um, you know, they are not used to talking business.

And Sally just walks up and she's like, you know, three seconds into a conversation like, well, what was your revenue last year? How much profit did you make in that? And she's like asking money questions and you can just see the jaws drop and the eyes get big. And she's like, Oh, Oh, is that not, you know, she's Southern and kind of comes from that old school, you know, um, you know, genteel mindset as well, but like, She, she has no holds barred.

She'll just go in and ask you about your numbers. And, you know, we've got to get out of this mode where any of that is taboo. I mean, obviously like if there's something that's like confidential for, you know, business reason, that's one thing, but, you know, we are better together. And we've got to be willing to open up within a trusted community because we don't need to, to kind of build the will from scratch or whatever the idiom [00:24:00] is, right?

Like there are trusted resources that we can share and we can get from, you know, Faster and more successfully and without so many headaches. If we are willing to lean on, you know, the experiences of others.

Angela Gennari: A hundred percent. A hundred percent. Yes. I agree with you because one of the things that I have found that when I'm trying to get, um, when I'm trying to get those conversations started is that they'll give me a little information, but they, they kind of feel like, well, I don't know how much I can share.

And I'm like, listen. Just be transparent. The only way I can help you when somebody comes to me for advice, the only way I can help you is if you tell me what exactly is going on, like, don't, don't make it so that you're only giving me this big picture, like, oh, but marketing is this, and, you know, sales are this, like, give me the real nitty gritty of what's going on, you know, don't, don't nice it down, you know, and so that's what I feel like women do is they nice it down.

They, they figure out a way to tell you the, the, the. The version of it that's [00:25:00] very people pleasing and very nice and, you know, watered down. And I'm like, just, just, if somebody is a jerk dummy, they're a jerk, you know, well,

Carrie Colbert: sometimes with the money talk, I mean, I think sometimes there's shame if things aren't going well in the business or they almost feel like they're bragging too much.

If things are going well, it's like, no, like numbers are just numbers. Data is just data. And if we're trying to help one another, like you gotta, you gotta be open. So anyway, yeah, so we certainly have a

Angela Gennari: ways to go on that front for sure. Well, and you know, even with this podcast, cause I, my, one of my concerns was, am I going to find guests who are truly willing to talk about their experiences and their journey and, and then promote themselves because women generally don't like to do that.

Generally they will. They will defer the accolades to somebody else. They, Oh, you know, it was the team. It was, it was this person who really stepped up and helped me. And it was, you know, I wouldn't have done it without him. And, you know, and I've done the exact same thing. So I can't, I can't say that this is other women and [00:26:00] not me.

I mean, I've done this exact thing. And so, but I'm like, I want you to own your power. Own what you've done, own your status, own the hard work you've put into this and the things that you've earned. So that was a, that was one of my concerns starting the podcast, but thankfully, you know, we've had, I think women are starting to be comfortable in that space now.

Carrie Colbert: Yes. That's a great to hear and great to see. I see it slowly shifting as well. So fingers crossed.

Angela Gennari: So in the venture capital space, do you feel like, uh, women ask for less? Cause I've heard that women generally will ask for less than what they need. Do you feel that there's any truth behind that?

Carrie Colbert: Yeah. Now I'll, I'll say come at this from a couple of perspectives.

So being an outsider to venture capitalists, I don't always espouse all the traditional wisdom or conventional wisdom as, as it were, uh, you know, and one thing that I observed when I came into the space is so many founders almost. As a badge of honor, um, [00:27:00] how much capital they've raised. And I was a little bit confused and put off by this when I saw it because I would see people bragging about, you know, raising 30 million.

But their company was not successful and they didn't deliver any returns to their investment. Wait, the goal of this game is not to raise money. The goal of this, this game is to build a successful business that is acquired by someone else in the end. And we all make a lot of money, okay. And the key is to do that as capital efficiently as you can.

Um, so anyway, that, that's a little, a soapbox issue on the side. Um, you know, so the, the name of the game is not just how much capital can you raise, but how well you can build your business. Now, having said that, There's all sorts of, um, studies and examples I could give from personal experience. The questions that are asked when investors are meeting with founders, the questions that investors ask men are very different from the questions they ask women.

What do I mean by that? The questions they, they tend to ask men, and this is data driven. The [00:28:00] questions they ask men are around how big could this be? What if everything goes right? How successful could this be? So they're about upside, right? Whereas the questions posed to women are about downside. Well, what if someone knocks you off?

Isn't there too much competition in this space? Well, I mean, is there really enough demand for this? So it's about like protecting, um, from the, the, the negative. So even the questions asked of women are different

Both: and,

Carrie Colbert: you know, so psychologically that probably plays into how much women ask for. Now, I think that actually can turn out to be a good thing for women in the end, because you know, if you don't raise.

You know, huge amounts of capital that you learn to be very efficient and you also preserve more ownership for yourself. So if you do ultimately have that successful exit, you're going to benefit more rather than being diluted out by a bunch of investors. So, you know, yes, I think that's the case, but I think it can actually be a positive, um, when looked at correctly.

Angela Gennari: Yeah. Yeah. I think so too. Well, [00:29:00] and like what, and I was telling you that I bootstrapped my business for the past nine years and we got our first SBA loan this past year. And you know, that was a huge turning point for me. I'm like, Oh my gosh, somebody believes in me besides me. Like, even if it's a bank, like somebody believes in me besides me, it just, you know, it's, it's a testament to hard work, but at the same time, you're nervous, you know, taking on money.

It's like, okay, now I owe somebody we're not debt free anymore. When I bootstrapped, I could do it. But, you know, I feel like. By not going after capital, I was perhaps slowing our growth. I was not, you know, even though I was super efficient with money, and we were, you know, growing very organically and very slowly, I feel like I potentially missed some opportunities in growing quicker.

So there's, there's just so much great There's so much behind getting funding that I think is positive for a business, as long as you're doing it with the right intention and you have the right mindset behind, you know, spending appropriately and not just giving yourself [00:30:00] massive raises after you've raised a bunch of money.

Like I've seen a lot of CEOs do.

Carrie Colbert: Absolutely. Lots of wise words there, Angela. And, and again, being an outsider to VC, you know, I feel very strongly that very few companies should actually take on venture capital money. There are other sources of funding potentially that would be a better fit for most companies.

So venture backed companies are, are just the ones that are addressing a problem with a huge potential market. And they have the ability to grow really fast with the infusion of capital. And I actually. Uh, tell a lot of people, no, no, no, don't, you don't want venture capital or think twice about that.

Because really you have to understand what you're signing up for. I've seen too many women get on this, you know, venture capital treadmill, so to speak, without understanding the implications. And the fact of the matter is there are both spoken and unspoken expectations when you accept capital. Of any form, particularly venture capital.

So in, in the venture capital world, you know, as I'm [00:31:00] investing, I'm not taking dividends, you know, a piece of your profits or revenue or anything along the way, I actually don't make any money until you exit your company. And so that, again, that's why I say it's only a small portion of businesses that, that even need to sign up for that, because I'm looking for someone that wants to.

You run really fast and grow this thing really big and then wants to sell it and be done with it. So if you're someone who maybe is building a company you want to pass on to your children, or run for, you know, the rest of your career, venture capital is not a good fit. But there could be other funding sources and we could get creative and go down, you know, a whole big rabbit hole about that.

But, you know, people need to think twice before accepting any money because, you know, as you said, there are certain strings attached and expectations

Angela Gennari: that come along with that capital. Absolutely. Well, and I get, you know, so many people will come to me, uh, and say, Hey, I really want to start a business. Um, how do you think I should look for investors?

I'm like, why do you need an investor? Well, you know, I have, I want to be able to, to launch this business and I don't have any [00:32:00] money and I'm like, well. But what you need investors right away, because that's going to be a tough, it's a, you know, it's a, it's a tough sell when you're, you know, you have an idea, you know, and it's like some ideas are investable before they start, but very few, I mean, because you need to make sure as an investor, I would imagine that not only do you have the right product or service, but you have the right person leading it.

And there's, that's the trick is, is the person that you have willing and able to do what it takes to make that a success because you know, the venture capitalist doesn't want to necessarily come on as the person operating the business.

Carrie Colbert: Yep. You know, certainly, you know, uh, most VCs will claim to be value added investors and we like to help where we can, but, um, you know, the fact of the matter is that, you know, an investor is not going to be in the trenches with you on a day to day basis.

Hopefully they can provide some strategic support and, you know, occasional input, but you know, you're still going to have to be building it. So [00:33:00] I think twice, especially when you're just in the idea phase about giving away a big piece of your ownership to someone else.

Angela Gennari: Yeah. Cause I see that a lot. I see a lot of women who will, or just people in general say, you know, when they just have an idea, I want, I'm ready to launch my business, but I need an investor.

And I'm like, this is not the time for an investor that this is the time for. Credit cards, a business loan, friends of family, things like that. That's kind of how you want to get started generally. Is that what you would say or no?

Carrie Colbert: I agree. I think take your idea as far as you can to prove it up, because if you've got, you know, proof of concept, whether that's, you know, a prototype or maybe that's product market fit and you're already generating revenue, when you do bring in capital, your company will be worth so much more than it was at idea stage.

So say, you know, If you're bringing in 100, 000, well, maybe at the idea stage, you might have to give up half of your business, you know, for 100, 000, whereas then if you've got it to that point where, you know, you've got it as far as you can [00:34:00] on your own, you've developed a good product, maybe you're generating revenue, or maybe for 100, 000, maybe then you're just giving up.

5 percent or 10 percent of your business, whatever the numbers dictate, but it's going to be substantially less than it would have been at idea stage.

Angela Gennari: 100 percent agree. So tell me how important is mentorship when you're, when you're aligning with a VC firm, mentorship, strategic guidance, you know, those are, those are pretty important.

So um, tell me about that and how you approach working with women differently. When it comes to mentorship and guidance.

Carrie Colbert: Yeah, that's a great question. You know, I think that's really critical, especially with women. I think in general, we're very relationship driven and as an investor, um, you know, one of my key, key jobs is to be a good, uh, pattern spotter, uh, if you will.

Uh, I recognize patterns. And if I look back over my most successful investments, they all have one thing in common. They started with a relationship long before there was an investment decision. And what I mean by that is. It's like we love getting to know [00:35:00] founders over a period of time before we ever invest.

So if you are going down this, you know, crazy, uh, uh, path of raising venture capital and investment, um, I would totally suggest that you should start making those relationships and building that network. Before you actually need the money. So, um, and then, you know, there are all sorts of best practices, you know, staying in touch with the, the investors, including them on your regular investor updates, you know, the more transparent you can be and build that trust up from both sides, um, prior to when you need, uh, uh, the money, the more fruitful that decision will ultimately be.

In other words, you know, I jokingly say like. Um, entry into a founder investor relationship is very much like marriage, but without the good parts, you know, love and all that stuff, you know, so, I mean, it's because it's very hard to unwind. I mean, really it's, it's practically impossible in many cases to unwind.

So you want to be sure of that decision that you're comfortable with the person. And, you know, there's [00:36:00] no better way to kind of get to know the character of someone then than time. Right. And so, you know, we like to spot companies early on. Maybe when they're too early for us, you know, idea stage, or maybe they're just starting to sell their product and, and stay in touch and even provide value hopefully for them.

Maybe we can make some, you know, uh, crucial introductions, or maybe we can, you know, share a lesson learned, you know, over in this company that would be relevant to them. So, you know, not only staying in touch and watching them, but it's a two way street. We want to prove our value to you so that when it is time to make an investment decision that we're top of mind, that you have a good impression of us.

And, you know, then it's, it's easy to make those decisions, um, to invest or not.

Angela Gennari: Absolutely. So, um, when you're, when you're investing in these women owned businesses and you're giving them guidance and you're giving them that, you know, really key mentorship that they really, really need, um, do you find that they're still dealing with some different challenges than, than are traditionally men [00:37:00] run businesses?

And what would those challenges be?

Carrie Colbert: You know, You know, I mean, we can talk about, you know, it's hard to raise capital. It's hard to, you know, I think, um, we don't traditionally have the same sort of, you know, open support systems like we were talking about. I mean, guys will go play golf and talk about their business all right.

Right. Right. Whereas that's not necessarily what a group of women is discussing over brunch. Um, beyond that, right. I think this is a weakness of mine, not just other women, but I do think sometimes we take things a bit too personally. So like, if I'm a mentor or advisor, or if I'm an investor and I noticed something in your, you know, PNL that maybe you've missed or overlooked, I'm not pointing out a flaw.

You don't need to feel attacked. You don't need to be defensive. Like I'm trying to help you get better. And if I'm your investor, we all want to, um, have a better outcome. And so I think, Unfortunately, um, I have observed and this is probably a flaw of mine too. It's like when someone finds a flaw, like we [00:38:00] almost want to be like, Oh no, no, like hide it or really feel bad about it or feel defensive or whatever.

It's like we really are on the same team. Like we're all working towards the same outcome. And so when I come to you, it's not, Finding fault. It's not being critical. It's just like, Oh, hey, maybe this was overlooked. Like, what if we thought about this differently? Or what if we brought in this resource that could help with it?

So I think we as women have to be very careful, like not to get, you know, too emotionally, you know, wrapped up, um, in feedback. Um, you know, cause I know these, these businesses we're building are our babies to, to a large extent, but no one is really attacking our baby. They're trying to help nurture our baby and make it more healthy and successful in the long run.

Angela Gennari: Absolutely. And it's a great analogy because you're right. I mean, we, we, we nurture our businesses the same way we nurture our children. You know, we want to make sure that it's growing well and that it's healthy. And, you know, if you think of that analogy, it's the same thing. You know, you want to have a healthy.

Grown [00:39:00] business that eventually can become independent without you. Yes,

Carrie Colbert: please.

Angela Gennari: That's awesome. So tell me about when you started into the venture capital space, what challenges did you have coming into it without a venture capital background?

Carrie Colbert: Well, I think I had a steep learning curve, uh, particularly on fundraising, uh, which we can dive into.

I also knew nothing and did not enjoy the fund administration part, you know, getting everyone's tax documents and, you know, annual reports. And so I, I found that one, I need to learn a lot. And then two, I needed to build up my own support system. Uh, but I would say that, you know, just another, um, more, um, Esoteric point was, you know, four or five years ago when I was coming into this space, um, I looked around at all the other venture capital funds and frankly, they all looked and felt the same.

If you were to go to any of their websites, they would all have navy, uh, as their color and they would all have very [00:40:00] serious looking fonts. And, you know, I was coming into this as an outsider and I, just happen to have a very colorful style. This is relatively neutral for me, actually, but I love it.

Usually very colorful, like rainbows and pinks and all this. And, and so like, I came to this, I'm like, well, let's make things look fun and approachable. Obviously we still have a serious, um, you know, take on investing and we have the skillset and the, you know, kind of. business chops to back that up, but let's make this look more fun and approachable because really a lot of the businesses we're investing in are fun.

The women we work with, both as investors and founders, they're fun, dynamic women. And so I kind of came onto the scene, um, back in 2020 or 21 with, you know, I've got pink and neon yellow and green and these kind of bold fonts. And it was very like, uh, different at the time, you know, when I was talking about it on social media, And that was really unheard of now.

I see. the trend happening where, you know, all these venture capital funds are trying to, you know, have a brand [00:41:00] identity. They're all trying to build social media followings and all that sort of stuff, you know, become these content creation machines, but really just a few short years ago, that was not the case.

They were all more serious and buttoned up and pretty homogenous. I mean, all the websites that we are value add investors, and they all have the same fonts and the same colors and, you know, said the same words. And so it's nice to see, you know, some more personality come out in the space. And, um, you know, I'm not giving us credit for starting that trend, but as an outsider, I was like, you know, none of these are interesting and appealing to me.

So let's create, create what we wish existed.

Angela Gennari: Well, and I think that's what women do best, right? And just like we were talking about with the founders, they're creating what they wish they already had, or they're solving a problem for themselves and other people at the same time.

Carrie Colbert: I think that's fantastic.

Yeah. And, and, and then going back to it, cause it's kind of tacked onto this, the fundraising lessons learned. I think one mistake I made was trying to convince people of my values. So say I went out to, you know, guys from my [00:42:00] oil and gas days who had known me for, Multiple decades where I thought would be an easy sell and they did not get the value proposition of curate capital.

Like why is investing in a, you know, food brand or a makeup brand? Why, why carry? And, and I also got all sorts of comments about, you know, what's happened to you. Have you gone off the deep end and become some, you know, leftist feminist, all sorts of things.

Both: Right.

Carrie Colbert: I'll spare you any further, um, uh, uh, recounting of that, but I spent a lot of time at first, like trying to convince them, no, this just makes good business sense.

Here's why. Yeah. And I probably wasted a lot of time. A dear friend who is actually one of the founders we've invested in. Her name is Jane. Jane told me, no, no, no, Carrie, you want to get them to know as quickly as possible. And I never thought about it that way because frankly, I hadn't been told no a lot in my business life.

And so she really helped me reframe that. And my takeaway from that is. You know, to stop trying to convince someone of my worth that you're the people that are really, you know, meant to be, uh, in your world, they'll get that value proposition right [00:43:00] away. And in, in fact, that was really the turning point.

So when I was fundraising, I think for the first 11 months, I raised. A grand total of 7 million. I had this goal of 10 million and we only had 13 months to raise it. And I'm sure they're going, we are not going to meet our goal. Oh my gosh, what's going to happen. Right. Really some key things happen. And in the next 60 days, I raised 8 million.

So 7 million and 11 months, and then eight. Eight million in 60 days. Wow. Really? I started leaning into my people. Um, and what I mean by that is the women who automatically got the messaging. Um, and we also partnered with a group of influencers who had seen some of these brands like we invest in. Really lean into influencer marketing and grow really well.

And they were left going, how do I get a piece of that pie? So we really pioneered this, this concept of influential investing where influencers invest their own personal money into curate capital. And then we use their money and they're able to use their skills to grow their [00:44:00] investment. So we really leaned into people that automatically got our message and our vision versus trying to convince people of our value.

Angela Gennari: That's amazing. I love it. And so this is what you get when you have people from the outside coming in, is you get new strategies, you get fresh insight. These are the things that I think move the needle in the industry. And that that's where change is born is not on the inside. It's change, change is born on the outside.

And so it's outsiders coming in that drive change because they're like, this doesn't make sense. But when you're, when you're looped into something, like if I've always been in this industry, I'm going to do what I've always seen and heard. Whereas if you have somebody from the outside coming, they're like, that doesn't make sense.

I could do this better. I could do this differently. And, you know, similar with me and security, I thought, you know, I don't really like the way hospitality is being presented in these stadiums. I think we could do better. And we did. And so it's just a matter of, you know, stop doing the things that have always been done and get a fresh perspective.

And that outside [00:45:00] energy is where that comes from.

Both: Yes.

Carrie Colbert: Well, and, and I'll dive a little deeper on that because I think it's, it's something I'm most proud of, not me personally, but just our whole community is that we basically raised zero dollars from either the East coast or the West coast. And that's typically the, the VC hotspots.

So conventional wisdom would say, go to Silicon Valley, go to Boston, go to New York. We didn't raise any money from those places. So we, um. Unintentionally, but successfully raised from a new, you know, really, um, and heard of, you know, gender, you know, we have 80 percent of our investors are women. We raised practically all of our money from what I'll call middle America.

So neither East Coast or West Coast states like Texas, Tennessee, Indiana, not traditional VC hotbeds. And then over two thirds of our investors are first time VC investors. So, you know, it's a whole new demographic in several ways, activated into this asset class. And I think that's exciting because there are just so many successful [00:46:00] entrepreneurs and business men and women across America who want access to this and maybe have historically been overlooked.

By traditional VC. So, so yeah, we're investing in women who are traditionally overlooked, but also our investors are, are new to this. And so it's really a great energy, um, that that's happening within our community.

Angela Gennari: Oh my gosh. I love it. I love it. And again, you're bringing in that fresh perspective of, you know, you're not, you're not doing what's always been done.

So I think that that's where the success is coming from. So I have two big questions for you. Um, and they're kind of the. Same but different. So how does one become a venture capital investor? And then how, what are, what are your tips for somebody who wants to raise venture capital? Like let, if I'm a company and I want to go out and raise venture capital, what do you consider to be investable?

So who, who is a good investor and who is investable?

Carrie Colbert: Right. So in terms of, um, investing in venture capital, the SEC has some pretty clear guidelines, [00:47:00] but this again is all caught up in that jargon and lingo we talked about. And, um, so as I started talking about it, whether in person or online, people like, Oh, that's it.

Well, I qualify. I had no idea I qualified. So that's our starting point, right? So the SEC says you have to be an accredited investor. And you throw out that term. I don't even know what that

Angela Gennari: means.

Carrie Colbert: Some test or certification or some one percenter thing, right? Right. Well, no, actually it's a very simple definition.

And I'll, I'll preface this by saying this is my, my short term or short summary of it. If you want more information, go to the SCC website or Google, and you can get the, the more, um, you know, fine tuned details, but basically it says you either have a certain income level or a certain net worth level, and those levels are not as high as people perceive them to be.

The SEC says as an individual, if you make more than 200, 000 a year, Or have a net worth [00:48:00] greater than a million exceeding or excluding your primary residence, then you are accredited. It's not an end statement. You don't have to have the income and that we're so most people I find qualified or the income requirement.

And that is simply that you as an individual have more than 200, 000 of annual income or the household, you have more than 300, 000 in the five. Prentice that you've had that for two or more years and you can reasonably expect it into the future or something like that, right? Yeah, that's where you need to consult the actual SEC website

Both: But

Carrie Colbert: it's a lower threshold than what most people perceive and it's not some like a credit You know some form you have to fill out or some test you have to pass It just says okay.

Do you make this much income or not? And so that is the only barrier to entry there. And so if you meet that, then you are eligible to not only invest in venture capital, but to be an angel investor, you know, uh, private equity, hedge funds, all that stuff that's considered like private investing. And what that means is like, generally speaking is like investing outside of the public stock markets.

Okay. So that's the [00:49:00] only thing. So that's who can invest. And then I'll give really briefly, you know, if you want to go down that road, there are all sorts of angel investing platforms you can look into or, you know, invest in a fund, but the key, whether you're doing angel investing or a fund is to diversify your portfolio.

So, um, as the, um,

Both: you know,

Carrie Colbert: Colloquially as the saying goes, as the cliche goes, make sure you have eggs, um, in, in every basket. Don't put all your eggs in one basket, right? So don't throw all your net worth into maybe one, you know, startup, that's a risky business, but write smaller checks into multiple startups, or write a check into a VC fund and you'll automatically get that portfolio company.

Uh. Sorry, portfolio effect. In other words, spreading your risk out across multiple companies and giving yourself more chances of success. So that would be my very brief, um, uh, primer on, um, who can invest and how to start your investing career in terms of, uh, tips for looking for capital. [00:50:00] If you're going down the venture capital route, again, only go down the venture capital route.

If you're building a business that's addressing a. Potentially large market and has the ability to grow really quickly with the infusion of capital and so then when it comes to fundraising though again, I would caution you to put off officially accepting a VC check if you can as long as possible and there are even right now companies that do that.

Our VC backable and VC backed are having trouble raising from, um, VC investors because there's just an uncertainty in the market with the election, all that. So a lot of VCs are kind of sitting on the sidelines right now. So even those sorts of companies I'm having to encourage to think outside the box.

And so whether you're just starting or you're well down your road, I think that always behooves us is to think like an outsider and, you know, think Think of who is passionate about you and your company and your product, your vision, something like that, right? And [00:51:00] you can have great fundraising success without going the traditional route.

So just as I didn't raise any money from the East Coast or West Coast, you too don't have to raise from traditional investors. Think about who are your power users or who are your super customers? Who's, you know, leaving, spending a lot of money with you and leaving great reviews, maybe Those are potential backers, you never know, or maybe you're really tied into a certain community or, you know, sorority or club or something, who knows, there could be some potential, you know, synergies there, you could raise money from that group.

And I'm telling you specific things that I've seen people have success with one of our founders, who's wildly successful, but was still having trouble with. traditional VCs right now because of the market. She started talking, um, at, um, different conferences where she was speaking. She's a wonderfully charismatic, warm personality and hugely successful and compelling, uh, with her business.

And as she was speaking, people would just ask, like, how can I [00:52:00] get more involved? How can I invest? And so they may not be million dollar checks, but maybe they're 10 or 20 or 50, 000 and you cobble those together. And that all makes a big difference. So that's one thing. And then this one particular company, um, we as a board, um, said, well, you know, uh, what about some of your, you know, top customers?

What about going to them and asking them to invest and, and going back to kind of how, you know, women are normally within society. She hesitated about that and felt a little weird about it and said, okay, well, we don't have to go all in on that idea, but why don't you just cherry pick? three or four or five.

And so she eventually came up with a plan she was comfortable with. And she, you know, made these, you know, lovely letters and kind of gift boxes and FedEx them to just, you know, the top three to five customers of the business. And you know what, she got two new investors out of that. And so then she felt good about the idea.

And so she expanded a little bit and, you know, certainly you've got to use prudence and [00:53:00] judgment when you use any of these ideas, but I'm just giving you a few examples of how, you know, women that I'm working with have thought outside the box and have raised money to support their business outside of these traditional, you know, venture capital or institutional investors.

There is money out there. You just have to find the people that resonate with you and your mission and your vision.

Angela Gennari: Absolutely. And I love your idea of, you know, going to influencers and not only taking money as an investor from them, but also having their platform promote. You know, cause it, it helps their own investment sense.

So that's an amazing

Carrie Colbert: idea. Well, that's what we say. It's, it's a creative to our whole ecosystem, right? It doesn't just benefit their own investment, but it benefits our companies and it benefits our other investors to have these really high powered influencers with these super social selling skills out there talking about our companies and their products.

So it's really a win win when we're everyone involved.

Angela Gennari: Absolutely. Man, this is a great conversation. I could just do this for the next like seven hours, but I want [00:54:00] to be respectful of everyone's time. You have been so enormously helpful and so insightful. Um, so normally I ask a whole series of questions.

Um, but, uh, the, the most important question I just kind of want to, I want to just lean on right now is what, what do you wish more people knew? Ooh,

Carrie Colbert: good one, good one. You're making me think, Angela. Well, I, I, I don't know if this is a thing I wish they knew. I wish more people were just curious, because there is just a world full of possibilities.

And there's all sorts of opportunities open to us these days. If we'll just be curious to ask question things, you know, in what I'm doing now, I knew nothing about it, you know, just 10 years ago, but you just take the next right step and ask the next question. And, you know, lo and behold, you'll find yourself in a whole new world that would not have been open to me had I not been curious [00:55:00] and challenged the status quo.

And, you know, just really, leaned into that outsider perspective. So don't think especially as women that you have to know it all. You don't, you just have to be curious and open to learning. And then, I mean, you're a perfect testament of that as well. I mean, there are just so many things that we can do, so many wonderful, you know, experiences, so many things we can create and build together if we're just open to learning and being curious about the world around us.

Angela Gennari: Absolutely. Yes, I agree. There's a quote I love and it's I don't have to know all the answer just answers. I just have to have to. I screwed it up. Okay. I don't have to know all the answers. I just have to know what questions to ask. So that that's really important is just getting to the question. You don't have to know the answer.

You just have to know the question. And so you'll find the answer.

Carrie Colbert: Yes. And, and I often think, you know, you don't have to know the whole path. You don't have to have a perfectly laid out business plan. Just take the next right step, whatever you can, and even if it's turned out to be the wrong one, [00:56:00] then you course correct, but just take a step.

Just don't be paralyzed with fear and, you know, get in that, that paralysis by analysis mode where we just don't do anything. So it can be scary, but just take that step and then take another and another and your life can look completely different in a year. If you just believe in yourself and take that step.

Angela Gennari: 100 percent agree. Yes, absolutely. And thank you for your bravery and your willingness to go out there and do something you've never done because it's changing lives and it's changing, you know, businesses. And I really appreciate that. So thank you for your support of women. Thank you for your encouragement and your mentorship, because all of that moves the needle.

For us, you know, as, as a gender just out there, you know, just trying to, to do what we can to start businesses and people like you are really kind of paving the way. So thank you for that. Well,

Carrie Colbert: thank you, Angela. And likewise, thank you for the work you do. And thank you for all the fabulous stories that you spotlight on your show.

It's really empowering to hear [00:57:00] the stories of other women. So thank you for all the work you do.

Angela Gennari: Absolutely. So thank you so much for joining me. You have just been the Best. I hate to even end this conversation because it is so insightful. But, um, Carrie, how can people find you?

Carrie Colbert: Certainly our website for curate capital is just curate.

capital, no. com or anything, just curate. capital. And there, if you want to learn more about investing, There's a little form that you can just fill out, uh, click on invest and, and we can get back to you with more information. Uh, and then on social media, it's also just at curate. capital where my personal Instagram is at Carrie C that's C A R R I E.

And then the letter C.

Angela Gennari: Perfect. Well, thank you again so much. And you can always find Carrie Colbert on prettypowerfulpodcast. com. And we will have links to Curate Capital as well. So thank you so much again, Carrie, you have just been so insightful and I've learned a ton from you today. So I appreciate it.[00:58:00]

And we will see you all. Thank you again for having me. Absolutely. My pleasure. Uh, we'll see everybody on another episode of the pretty powerful podcast. Have a great day. Thank you for

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