Thanks for reading! I'm a glass-eating, overachiever, obsessed with true leadership in the Texas venture and startup world.

For nearly 15 years I've worked in multi-disciplinary and highly entrepreneurial roles, mostly in downtown Austin, Texas. For the majority of last decade I worked at what was Austin’s first venture studio, and have also spent time at an accelerator, angel network, and leading a local and then statewide venture capital network.

I am known for hosting 20+ venture-focused events, not including the most impactful one and largest in the country with nearly 3,000 Texans, called the Texas Venture Fest (formerly, Texas Venture Crawl). It was an example of what Texans can do when we act together, co-hosting a Texas-sized networking and educational experience in 10 cities, 16 venues, 40+ venture panelists, all on a Friday evening... and on our first try in 2023!

The Texas Venture Fest is a signature event launched and led by the Texas Venture Alliance, a non-profit I cofounded promoting the statewide ecosystem of startup support. I’m also editor of the Texas Venture Newsletter where we curate a list of investor-related events and resources for a fast-growing 8,000 readership, published twice a month.

At the age of 32, I was the youngest Executive Director of a venture capital association in the US while cofounding and launching the Austin Venture Association. The next year, I accepted an “Organization of the Year” award from the Austin Asian Chamber of Commerce recognizing work in the local Asian community.

When I was a junior executive at Austin’s first venture studio, I helped launch several early stage companies, concepts, and special projects for a handful of successful tech leaders, corporate executives & lifetime entrepreneurs.

Outside of startups and venture, I’m a World Economic Forum Global Shaper who spoke at Davos, a political campaign advisor & creator of multi-award winning campaigns for a few different Texas mayors, and… an IBM baby who grew up at computer shows!

VENTURE

For the majority of last decade, I worked at Austin’s first venture studio headquartered downtown helping launch several early stage tech companies and concepts for a handful of senior executives. There, I worked on special projects to launch startups and new initiatives. I also made recommendations to buy, build, or invest in new technologies supporting the portfolio.

I have also consulted with startup accelerators in portfolio and platform capacities.

For almost two years I served as an active member of Shaper Impact Capital, a World Economic Forum millennial group focused on impact investments. I’m proud to be a former Venture Fellow at Next Wave, a group investing in female founders working in impact.

I was also part of the very first graduating class for “Venture Capital School”, a National Venture Capital Association initiative.

In 2021, I was named a mover and shaker by Austin VCs in TechCrunch, creating success and helping entrepreneurs during the pandemic.

ENTREPRENEURSHIP

At the onset of pandemic, I cofounded ATX KIT, a direct-to-consumer local snacks company that supports over 50 different local food entrepreneurs. ATX KIT was given a “50 On Fire” award as a local startup that was the “most remarkable and inspiring”.

Simultaneously, I also created Founder House Austin, an entrepreneur co-living pop-up hosted inside two luxury hotels in downtown Austin.

In 2020, I also helped launch startup concepts via weekend hackthons via my On Deck fellowship in 2020 (ODF6) and helped win 3 different awards.

In 2017 I also started a coworking startup called Switch Cowork, that turned under-utilized restaurants into “underground” networks of workspaces during the day. For this company, I was selected to join and received a grant for a UBS and Rent the Runway intensive program in NYC.

The first startup I launched was in 2015, a young professionals’ networking app called The Dime Club.

GOVERNMENT

In 2018 and 2019, I was asked to work on Austin and Fort Worth mayors’ successful re-elections. Both campaigns I created/executed were awarded an AAPC Gold & Silver Pollie, and were Campaigns & Elections’ Reed Award finalists.

In 2018, I participated in the first invite-only, emerging tech division of “REALITY”, a leadership initiative hosted in Israel by the Schusterman Foundation.

In 2018, I also served as the first social media ambassador for the City of Austin after being invited to join their CityWorks Academy. I met with the heads of each major department in the city to learn about and better understand their goals and operations.

In 2017, I was the youngest committee member on the appointed 7 person group for the City of Austin’s Grant for Technology Opportunities Program. We reviewed and advised our local government’s deployment of a fund for nonprofits addressing technology accessibility.