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It's awesome that you have a female CFO and a female GC, but if you look at the investing partners, and it's 15 dudes, I do think those people are going to get left behind if they don't get with where the world is going.
Aileen Lee
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I played with different words like 'home run,' 'megahit,' and they just all sounded kind of 'blah.' So I put in 'unicorn' because they are - these are very rare companies in the sense that there are thousands of startups in tech every year, and only a handful will wind up becoming a unicorn company. They're really rare.
Aileen Lee
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I've learned that you really cannot judge a book by its cover.
Aileen Lee
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My dad was a dentist; my mom managed his office.
Aileen Lee
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Some companies are worth paying for up front.
Aileen Lee
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Savvy companies are quietly changing up their boards of directors and teams, and this is giving them better collective intelligence, more community admiration, and better financial results.
Aileen Lee
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Male founders who come across as Type B are more likely to get the benefit of the doubt.
Aileen Lee
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You have to get under the hood and spend some quality time with someone to understand what they're really good at.
Aileen Lee
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If a firm hasn't hired a single female partner in its history, I don't think it will finally happen by accident.
Aileen Lee
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I really have become very interested at working with and helping entrepreneurs at the early stages of their growth.
Aileen Lee
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When I go visit my mom in the retirement community where my parents live, she has a bunch of friends, and she will say, 'These neighbors I play bridge with have a son with an idea,' and it goes from there.
Aileen Lee
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Comscore, Nielsen, MediaMetrix and Quantcast studies all show women are the driving force of the most important net trend of the decade, the social web.
Aileen Lee
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Women are the routers and amplifiers of the social web. And they are the rocket fuel of ecommerce.
Aileen Lee
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Spend the first six to 12 months building a great product or service that people love, rather than chasing investors. When the time comes to engage investors, you will be meeting them from a position of strength. This makes all the difference.
Aileen Lee
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We used to tie-dye T-shirts and sell them to classmates. We used to make egg rolls and sell them at street fairs. I worked at the mall. My parents probably spent more money on the gas driving me to different jobs than I made.
Aileen Lee
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There are not many people from top-tier venture capital firms who are focused on the seed stage.
Aileen Lee
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Some investors may grumble about entrepreneurs wanting 'unicorn valuations.' But let's be honest: most investors want them, too, and are supporting the massive capitalization of these companies.
Aileen Lee
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Starbucks did this magical thing where it took a product that people didn't really care that much about and made it this treat. It makes you feel better about your day and gives you a chance to reflect, makes you feel a little special.
Aileen Lee
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Super early-stage companies have a village that form around them for support.
Aileen Lee
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I think, from a woman's perspective, that my interest as an investor and the way that I relate to entrepreneurs is a little bit different.
Aileen Lee
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Why do investors seem to care about 'billion dollar exits?' Historically, top venture funds have driven returns from their ownership in just a few companies in a given fund of many companies.
Aileen Lee
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I'm a huge believer in power of women on the web.
Aileen Lee
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If you're looking to grow your user base, is there a best way to cost-effectively attract valuable users? I'm increasingly convinced the best way is by harnessing a concept called social proof, a relatively untapped gold mine in the age of the social web.
Aileen Lee
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Over the long term, there will be many more billion-dollar technology companies than there are today.
Aileen Lee
