Tales from a Female VC: Blockchain Genesis

I am often asked “How did you get into the Blockchain Space”? How did you start a fund? What is your favorite project? So I took an old interview I did last year and refreshed it.1. Give us a summary of your background and how you got into Blockchain & Digital Currency / Cryptocurrency?My roadmap:- Computer Science, UC Berkeley- Traditional Career path, Architecting, Designing Software Systems, programming, management.- Started a company in 2001, TechGenii – Wireless/Digital Strategy. Helped bring wireless to the US masses.- 2007 & 2010 – Introduction to Angel Investment and Private Equity- 2011 – Went back to coding root, and in 2014 won a Gartner Cool Vendor Award.- 2015 – Became a CTOI learned about Bitcoin in 2012. When I first learned about it, I thought it was not real. In 2015, I attempted to get into the Blockchain space as a developer after hearing Andreas Antonopoulos speak on “The Internet of Money”. In 2017, I got my first Blockchain client 2TransFair (payment and remittance on the Blockchain). The rest is history.#2 Tell us about your current position, responsibilities and some day-to-day activities that you look forward to?– Managing Director, Women’s Innovation Fund Accelerator – mainly concentrating on 3 things (1) Fundraising, (2) Accelerator Co-Horts and helping them fundraise and/or get clients and (3) Incubating our IP within the Fund.- Founder & CTO, Trailyn Ventures – strategic technical advice for emerging tech companies.Since I love what I do, some things I most enjoy are helping companies solve their problems.#3 If you had to be critical about yourself, which part of your career would you like to improve on?I would work harder on my mindset earlier in my career. Overall, I’ve had a wonderful career, since all experiences I have had, both positive and negative (which are just lessons), have led me to what I’m doing now.#4 What advice do you have for children / youth (10 – 18 years) today, especially young women about the Blockchain world? How do we nurture interest in this new Technology?Kids need exposure to the emerging technology. Learn Computer Science concepts (encryption, distributed networks, big data, quantum computing), and economic principles.My Advice: can’t be afraid, study your craft, practice your craft, trust yourself and your intuition, don’t let anyone knock you off your path, think for yourself, do your own research.#5 What kind of skill set would you be looking at in job applicants?– Can they code (can be checked via Github)?- Can they solve complex problems?- Can they communicate?- Can they work well in a team environment?- Do they know how to use the tools?- Are the lifelong learners?#6 Blockchain to me is a forward thinking force of snowballing Technology, but where I’m from a lot of people still see Bitcoin as a scam. How do we bridge the gap between the Technology and people that are sceptical about it?We need a practical use case that everyday people can use that has a simple interface (like the Starbucks App).A good example is the Brave Browser (which could be the email for Blockchain technology).#7 Can you please provide the details of an educational facility in your area or country if anyone reads this article desires to find out more about Blockchain.CryptoBlockchainPlug (CryptoBlockchainPlug.com) is the best place to find out more about Blockchain. They run crypto currency classes, blockchain classes, have a co-working space. They run CryptoKidsCamp, a 1 week camp for kids ages 5 – 18, whose theme is BEAST MODE. Beast Mode stands for: B-Blockchain, E-Evolution of Money, A-Artificial Intelligence, S-Security (Cyber), T-Technology M-Machine Learning, O-Online Gaming D-DApps E-Engineering.#8 What is your current opinion on the Digital Assets, (Cryptocurrency) market and share with us your opinion on where you think this Technology will take us?The cryptocurrency market needs to grow from some traditional banking and centralized thinking so that people who are not interested in trading it can use it. The technology will get us efficiency, sovereignty (ownership over our digital self), transparency and eventually new business models which we have not yet seen or created yet.#9 What new exciting projects are you working on or planning?The Women’s Innovation Fund Accelerator, is the most exciting and important project that I’m working on. It’s an impact/opportunity zone fund for emerging tech companies with a gender-balanced C-level. We use acceleration and sustainability techniques to grow and scale the companies. We’ve deployed our first investment into Fuego Fino, who is a graduate from our accelerator, capital stack program and a part of our “Invest alongside a VC” program. For any interested investors, register for our webinar: https://wifaxvc.com/qoz#10 What is your favorite Blockchain project and why?We are excited about the Noahdex, which is our Sustainability Tracker. We track the company’s sustainability plan for 1 year. We plan to put the product on the Blockchain and have it become a global carbon registry.We are also excited about Project New Dawn, the CBDC for the unbanked and under-banked.