Venture capital is the most expensive form of capital there is because of the equity and control you’re giving up so it is in your best interest to do your due diligence to research the people behind the big decision-making. This week’s episode 48 of How Women Inspire Podcast is about securing the right VC as a female entrepreneur!In this episode of How Women Inspire Podcast, Julie Castro Abrams and Lara Druyan share the importance of women mentoring, supporting, and lending a helping hand to other women in the ways that men often do and actionable steps you can take right now to pitch yourself to secure VC with investors that are in alignment. Today’s guest, Lara Druyan is the managing director with Silicon Valley Data Capital, a seed and early stage venture capital fund focused on enterprise software and financial technology Fintech. She serves on the board of directors of CIBC, US Bancorp and Syncron, the leading global digital transformation consulting firm focused on financial services. Lara also has 25 years of experience in all phases of technology, product creation, and associated change management. She is an award winning business transformation leader and leverages her understanding of how large enterprise buys technology to advance startups in which she invests. As she puts it, she is one of the very few venture capitalists who has been on the buying side of technology, an impressive accomplishment to say the least. Some of the talking points Julie and Lara go over in this episode include:What it means to be a product manager in every role you hold. Advice for female entrepreneurs to find the right investor for them (not all money is good money).Starting a company and investing in an economic downturn.  The impact and influence working moms have on their children.  Prioritizing relationships to maintain and expand your network. Achieving things that are difficult means that you are going to fail a lot of the time and that’s totally fine. The whole point is to dust yourself off, realize it wasn’t the right opportunity for you, and have the tenacity to keep going. Thank you for listening! If you enjoyed this episode, take a screenshot of the episode to post in your stories and tag me!  And don’t forget to follow, rate, and review the podcast and tell me your key takeaways!CONNECT WITH LARA DRUYAN:LinkedInCONNECT WITH JULIE CASTRO ABRAMS:LinkedIn - JulieHow Women LeadHow Women InvestHow Women GiveInstagram - HWLLinkedIn - HWLFacebook - HWLJoin us for Get On Board Week from October 16-20, 2023. Registration is now open at https://www.howwomenlead.com/getonboard  

When it comes to being a woman of color in the C-suite or corporate side of business, there can be a lot of pressures and residual inner dialogue that can make your own identity a blur. Women have edited themselves to fit the mold or the leader before them for a really long time, and this is even stronger in relation to those of color or with a different cultural belief than their white male counterparts. This week’s episode 43 of How Women Inspire Podcast is about understanding and redefining the shadow side to being a woman of color in business, with Deepa Purushothaman! In this episode of How Women Inspire Podcast, Julie Castro Abrams and Deepa Purushothaman are sharing the importance of redefining success for yourself, no matter what culture or society deems accurate for you, and actionable steps you can take right now to step into your power as a woman of color and powerful leader. Some of the talking points Julie and Deepa go over in this episode include:The significance and role of work on women of color, and how this plays a huge role in their lives and identities.How we as women edit ourselves and put ourselves on mute more times than we shout unless that’s the expectation.The shadow side to being a woman of color in business, and how this can lead to not only being forced to fit stereotypes but the other significant (unpaid) roles we play in corporations.Hiding your identity: why some people choose to do that, and how easy or difficult it may be to do that.In this episode, Deepa shares her new book, along with a few of the amazing stories held within, to help share how women of color are truly stepping into their calling as the power brokers of the future. Be sure to tune in to all the episodes to receive tons of practical tips and to hear even more about the points outlined above.Thank you for listening! If you enjoyed this episode, take a screenshot of the episode to post in your stories and tag me!  And don’t forget to follow, rate and review the podcast and tell me your key takeaways!CONNECT WITH DEEPA PURUSHOTHAMAN:WebsiteLinkedInGet Her BookCONNECT WITH JULIE CASTRO ABRAMS:LinkedIn - JulieHow Women LeadHow Women InvestHow Women GiveInstagram - HWLLinkedIn - HWLFacebook - HWLJoin us for Get On Board Week from October 16-20, 2023. Registration is now open at https://www.howwomenlead.com/getonboard  

How Women Inspire: Invest, Lead, Give sets out to bring the voices of empowered and inspiring women forward to share their stories of stepping into leadership positions. The goal of this is to share what is possible and to encourage more women to take the leap into striving for these board and c-suite positions themselves in order to change the path towards a more inclusive future. This podcast will share stories on how women lead and how their leadership opens the doors for the greater value of opportunities for others. By listening to this podcast, listeners will feel empowered to level up themselves or invest in women-led and women-founded companies to change the world of business.