Opening the Door Wider: Cindy Padnos, Founder & Managing Partner of Illuminate Ventures
Neha speaks with Cindy Padnos, founder and Managing Partner of Illuminate Ventures, about resilience, the ins and outs of VC, and “opening the door wider” in tech.
Host Neha Sampat, CEO of Contentstack, and Cindy Padnos, founder and Managing Partner of Illuminate Ventures, get together over a glass of wine and discuss the realities of capital raising and how to increase access to funds for underrepresented populations.
Illuminate Ventures is a seed and early stage venture capital firm that invests exclusively in enterprise/B2B software companies. Cindy has been working with enterprise tech startups for more than 25 years - as a founder/CEO of a VC-backed company, a startup operating executive, and more recently as an investor. She is also the author of 3 research-based, widely-cited white papers addressing gender diversity in the tech sector.
Neha and Cindy discuss:
- How venture capital works
- What investors look for in a startup
- How to make your startup stand out from the rest
- The importance of a strong network
- Why startups fail
The Dreammakers enjoyed a glass of wine while they talked: Jean-Paul Droin Chablis Vaillons Premier Cru 2018. It's a Chablis from northern Burgundy, France. It’s floral and mineral with flavors of citrus, green apple, green olive and toast. It’s medium-bodied with sharp acidity.
Other show notes:
- You Are My Sunshine is Cindy’s wake up song
- 1491: New Revelations of the Americas Before Columbus is Cindy’s book recommendation for her 19-year-old-self
- Vin Perdu is Cindy’s wine recommendation
Follow Guest Cindy Padnos on LinkedIn and @IlluminateVC
Follow @Contentstack