Welcome to The Vitalize Podcast by Vitalize Venture Capital

Manifestation Mindset and the Intersection of Grit and Ambition, with Bo Ren of Silicon Valley Bank

Justin Gordon (@justingordon212) talks with Bo Ren (@Bosefina), Director of Early Stage Startups at Silicon Valley Bank. Bo is a liberal arts thinker, PM turned investor, and incubation partner. She marries deep tech expertise (5G, edge, AI) with consumer applications (strong interest in AI apps). She loves to invest and empower product-driven founders building weird shit at the earliest stages.

In her free time, she writes about product management, private and public markets, responsible AI, behavioral science, and career pathing. Her writing has been featured in The Atlantic, New York Times, FastCompany, and Women 2.0. Bo is also a public speaker, covering topics such as creative thinking, designing products for behavioral change, millennial career paths, and why curiosity matters. She is passionate about inspiring people through her nontraditional career path and focusing on building a more inclusive future.

Website: https://www.svb.com/
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/bo-ren-0ba2218/
Twitter: https://twitter.com/Bosefina
Medium: https://medium.com/@Bosefina
Substack: https://bosefina.substack.com/

Show Notes:
-How Bo got her start in angel investing through advising
-What pushed Bo to make her first investment
-Bo’s perspective on when to start investing
-Shifting from an opportunistic approach to sourcing deals through a women’s angel group
-What key elements Bo looks for in the teams she invests in
-Bo’s value-adds as an investor and how she works with founders
-The importance of matching a founder’s needs with an investor’s expertise and approach
-How being a “nerd herder” benefits her portfolio companies
-How being the child of immigrant parents affects how Bo invests
-The double-edged sword of immigrant survivalist mentality
-The value of resilience and the intersection of grit and ambition
-Bo’s thoughts on work-life balance and identity
-Moving from the achievement mindset to the manifestation mindset
-Bo’s journey to joining Silicon Valley Bank and being at the epicenter of the innovation economy

More about the show:

The Vitalize Podcast, a show by Vitalize Venture Capital (a seed-stage venture capital firm and pre-seed 300+ member angel community open to everyone), dives deep into the world of startup investing and the future of work.

Hosted by Justin Gordon, the Director of Marketing at Vitalize Venture Capital, The Vitalize Podcast includes two main series.

The Angel Investing series features interviews with a variety of angel investors and VCs around the world. The goal? To help develop the next generation of amazing investors.

The Future of Work series takes a look at the founders and investors shaping the new world of work, including insights from our team here at Vitalize Venture Capital.

More about us:

Vitalize Venture Capital was formed in 2017 as a $16M seed-stage venture fund and now includes both a fund as well as an angel investing community investing in the future of work. Vitalize has offices in Chicago, San Francisco, and Los Angeles.

The Vitalize Team:
Gale - https://twitter.com/galeforceVC​
Caroline - https://twitter.com/carolinecasson_
Justin - https://twitter.com/justingordon212​

Vitalize Angels, our angel investing community open to everyone:
https://vitalize.vc/vitalizeangels/