My family didn’t have a lot of means, so I had to be self-sufficient for everything besides the basics. So I worked everything from fruit-picking to gymnastics instructor. By 14, I had opened my first business raising and selling ducks. Everything I earned required commitment, sweat, and humility. I think that’s why I have perseverance in my DNA.

I really do: triathlons are my biggest drive. I competed in the national championship as a sub-15, sometimes the only one. I ran an Ironman 70.3 at 18. My next goal is a full Ironman.

My professional path hasn’t been any shorter either. I started out as a scientist. I got my Ph.D. from U.C. Berkeley in Environmental Engineering.

Then I became a tech founder, when I started GoodGuide.com. It might have been the hardest thing I ever did: I launched the company on the week my first child was born. But this mission-driven company had to be built. Backed by NEA and DFJ we created tools used by millions of consumers around the world, and by all sorts of companies, from small companies to large Fortune 500. 

Now I’m an investor. And I’m proud of it too. Proud of so many investments I did in areas as diverse as IoT or crypto. And I’m even prouder of the founders I mentored and helped around the world, in different ways and different fields, from Fintech to Sustainability.

So yeah. It’s been crazy. But it’s been fun.