(#2) Jennifer Gill Roberts: Grit Ventures, Deep Tech Investing, Insatiable Curiosity, Labs to Launch, Physical Infrastructure & The Power of Diverse Teams.
Jennifer Gill Roberts, is the Co-Founder and Managing Partner of Grit Ventures. Jennifer, a technologist, repeat entrepreneur, and dedicated advocate for diversity, is also an early-stage venture capitalist. She specializes in sourcing and investing in groundbreaking sustainable technology innovations from the nation's top labs. These innovations tackle real-world challenges, from rebuilding our physical infrastructure to accelerating manufacturing and incorporating AI-powered robotic applications across industries like construction, agriculture, and logistics.
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OUTLINE:
00:00 Start
02:29 Mission
07:06 5-Minute Origin Story
17:39 Early Career Navigation
24:10 The Mobile & Social Gaming Wave
26:22 Early-Stage Venture Fund Model
27:44 Raising Grit Fund #1
33:57 The Conviction Portfolio Model
35:40 Investment Examples (Construction & Hospital Robotics)
37:46 Pre-Seed Investing in Deep Tech
45:43 Average Work Week
52:58 Portfolio Support
58:13 Shaping The Technology Landscape
1:01:05 The Importance of Diversity
1:12:30 Challenges of Commercializing New Tech
1:15:51 12-18 Month Market Outlook
1:21:02 The Rise of Intelligent Applications
1:23:25 Generative AI in the Physical World
1:25:05 The True Definition of Grit
1:27:04 Identifying Winning Teams
1:29:32 Strategies for Filling Critical Talent Gaps
1:34:07 Personal 12-18 Month Focus + How You Can Help
1:39:29 5-Year Crystal Ball
1:45:50 An Experience Few Will Believe
1:50:10 Hiring Failures & Successes
1:57:47 Career Advice
2:10:23 Personal Insights
2:16:09 Closing Thoughts
Honorable Mentions:
More info on Jennifer Gill Roberts:
Jennifer leads Grit’s investment team and helps build companies that are pioneering automation and logistics and transforming core industries. Jennifer is a California native. Before founding Grit, Jennifer spent several decades as a technologist, repeat entrepreneur and venture capitalist.
Jennifer started her venture career at top tier firm, Sevin Rosen Funds, where she co-led the telecom practice, investing in early stage market-leading companies in optical and wireless equipment including Ciena (NYSE:CIEN) Diamond Lane Communications (Nokia), Monterey Networks (Cisco), Lightspeed (Cisco), Sentient (Cisco), Metawave communications(MTWV), Everypath, Shomiti (Finisar), and Kabira (Tibco).
Jennifer is devoted to serving universities through formal and informal advisor roles. She co-founded Grit Labs and chairs Grit's Academic Council. She has served on numerous Advisory Councils including University of Texas at Austin, Indiana University, UC Santa Cruz, Chapman University, and Stanford.
As an early champion of women entrepreneurs, Jennifer co-founded Watermark in 1992. She has been dedicated to creating opportunities for women in technology ever since.
Connect with Jennifer Gill Roberts on LinkedIn.
More info on Grit Ventures:
Grit Ventures is building an Impact Economy based on commercially scalable transformative technology.
We have big problems to solve and younger generations care less about consumerism and more about tackling these complex global challenges. Our regulatory environment is changing and big capital is moving. We have a once in a lifetime opportunity to build better solutions across automation, supply chain, sustainability and connectivity. We need automation in place of unavailable labor, domestic manufacturing, and modern infrastructure. Grit is investing in a better future.
Grit's Strategy is Deep Tech: Labs to Launch — sourcing innovation from the nation's top labs, de-risking by leading early-stage rounds and focusing on recruiting, team development, funding and go-to-market strategy. Grit bridges the mature activity centers of Silicon Valley and Boston — Stanford and MIT — to the growing and undercapitalized hubs of emerging innovation across America like Austin, Denver, Atlanta and Pittsburgh. Grit is investing in trillion dollar opportunities in real assets and infrastructure in industrial automation, logistics, sustainability and communications based on scientific breakthroughs in the labs.
Visit Grit Ventures on the web.