Diane Yoo: 5 Things We Need To Do To Close The Gender Wage Gap

An Interview with Candice Georgiadis

Investing in industries that and sectors that typically draw more women. Not in a stereotypical manner but demographic wise, I was in the fashion business world which is not a space many older men in finance always want to invest in. he beauty industry for example, having a female VC invest is much more appealing than men. Looking to niche spaces and cultivating opportunities that will also reflect a brand better closes the gap of opportunity.

As part of my series about “the five things we need to do to close the gender wage gap” I had the pleasure of interviewing Diane Yoo.

Diane Yoo is a results-driven entrepreneur and venture capitalist with more than 15+ years of experience. As an accredited investor, she has invested in 35+ companies with a focus on diverse founders. She created 15 funds in the last year alone and is in the 1% of Asian-American female founders who are also a partner. Diane has founded angel networks, venture funds, and investment networks. She is Founding Partner for a Medtech and Healthtech venture capital firm in partnership with the largest medical center of the world. With VC and accelerator expertise, she works extensively with over 700+ global companies and her firm has deployed significant capital into the startup ecosystem. She has launched numerous venture funds for over 15 universities across the US and has built a powerful co-investor US network with offices in Texas and New York. Diane is Co-founder of Global She Ventures, an accelerator in partnership with Rice University to catalyze global women entrepreneurs. Diane is also Co-founder to a national media platform, Identity Unveiled highlights trailblazing Asian American women who have broken barriers and become firsts in their industry. She is also an investment partner to several Silicon Valley funds including the largest women’s fund and the first FemTech fund in the nation.

Diane is also mentor/partner to Global Venture Accelerator, a Rice University initiative. She serves as mentor/judge to Rice Business Plan Challenge, Rice University’s 48 Hr Accelerator, Gener8tor, Brandery, and Mass Challenge. She sits on numerous boards and advises other venture capital funds, diversity funds, and the largest women’s fund in Texas. Diane was awarded “Diane Yoo Day” on August 26th for her international achievements in diversity leadership. She received her MBA from Jesse H. Jones School of Business at Rice University.

Thank you so much for joining us! Can you tell us the “backstory” that brought you to this career path?

I was born to break stereotypes. Growing up with all brothers, I fought back with resiliency and didn’t see the difference in terms of capabilities.

Playing sports with guys was the norm and was more familiar with aggressive contact playing. My 5’ 8’’ stature was not only an advantage in the basketball court but also opened opportunities for modeling at the young age of 13. I was regularly accustomed to stifling stereotypes and capabilities based on society’s expectations as a woman and fashion model.

Shattering conventions was my comfort zone growing up. In college, I played our football team’s quarterback. My fast spinning spiral was more intimidating than most men’s performance. The advantage of growing up with brothers created a duality of having a thick skin, being fearless, but also encompassing the contrasting advantages of a woman’s intuitive intelligence.
Navigating hurdles, I pursued a Rice MBA and started a fashion tech company. I would pitch to investors, but it was difficult to connect. The majority of the investors were those who didn’t look like me nor resonant with my experiences, hence their expectation of what a founder looks like, didn’t align with who I was.

I was more accustomed to the constant rhythm of fearlessly paving forward through grit and resilience. Through these life building experiences, I proved that I am more than capable — as a business woman and an entrepreneur. Further, I founded Identity Unveiled which is a national media platform that showcases the trailblazing accomplishments of Asian women leaders. I also started an accelerator program for women in technology in partnership with academic institutions, and am an investment partner to the nation’s largest women investing group with over 1,200 limited partners. FemTech Fund is the first fund in the nation focusing on women’s health and wellness and I currently serve as investment partner to FemTech Fund I and II. I am also an active member of PEWIN, the premier women’s finance network with over $3 trillion AUM. Additionally, I serve as the US partner to a Korean government agency for Venture Capital, driving economic development and innovation through a pipeline of hundreds of technology investments and acquisitions. I am firmly committed to advocating for women and minority founders and serve as a mentor at the nation’s top ten accelerators. In recognition of my leadership in diversity, I was honored with an official “Diane Yoo Day”.

My entrepreneurial expertise drove the foundation to launch several VC funds, including a fund partnership with the largest medical center in the world, Co-Founder to Rice University’s official Angel group, Founding General Partner to both the #1 Entrepreneurship graduate and undergraduate schools, Founding Partner to a legacy acquisition fund in partnership to alumni groups, and Founder to 13+ university venture funds with access to thousands of diverse LP’s across the nation.

My goal is to inspire more representation for Asian women in Venture Capital.

My mission is to empower, connect, and advance Asian women to succeed to the most elite levels and impact the future of Venture Capital.

Can you share a story of your most successful Angel or VC investment? In your opinion, what was its main lesson?

Two of my investments hit a billion dollar valuation. The greatest lesson was having the expertise to know when to invest and the gut intuition from years of investment experience to know if this would be a great company or not.

Can you share a story of an Angel or VC funding “failure” of yours? Is there a lesson or take away that you took out of that that our readers can learn from?

Never commit until the deal is done. Getting caught up legally by publicly saying anything is a mistake. Keep things quiet until it’s done.

Was there a company that you turned down, but now regret? Can you share the story? What lesson did you learn from that?

Yes, we were committed to invest in a deal but the deal was so hot it closed in faster than we thought. It ended up getting flooded with investors.

Ok let’s jump to the main focus of our interview. According to this article in Fortune, only 2.2% of VC dollars went to women in 2018. Can you share with our readers what your firm is doing to help close the VC gender gap?

As a women and person of color fund founder and entrepreneur, I see firsthand experience of inequalities for venture funding towards women and minorities. Our firm focuses on hiring more talented women entrepreneurs to operate portfolio companies and hit home runs.

Can you recommend 5 things that need to be done on a broader societal level to close the VC gender gap. Please share a story or example for each.

1. Creating more opportunities for women and minorities which is one of my focuses on diversity emerging managers
2. I’ve had an “a hundred-pound gorilla” try to stop me time and time again or take away opportunities just because I’m younger than a typical VC, I’m a woman and a minority, so by women like me standing our ground and making a seat for ourselves and not letting opportunities get taken away we’re automatically paving the way for other women and closing that gap
3. Investing in industries that and sectors that typically draw more women. Not in a stereotypical manner but demographic wise, I was in the fashion business world which is not a space many older men in finance always want to invest in. he beauty industry for example, having a female VC invest is much more appealing than men. Looking to niche spaces and cultivating opportunities that will also reflect a brand better closes the gap of opportunity.
4. One of the greatest pieces of advice a VC mentor told me was to watch out for uncoachable founders. Such founders could be to the detriment of the fund if they are litigious and do not adhere to the advice of board or venture partners. My mentor suffered a $150 million lawsuit at the hands of an arrogant know-it-all entrepreneur. Ensuring you’re coachable and malleable for any up and coming VC regardless or gender or race is important, you’ll have more opportunity than someone who is bull headed or not nimble
5. Shifting the discourse of what it means culturally to be a VC is part of that and through articles like this and stories like mine that happens at a cultural and societal level.

You are a person of great influence. If you could inspire a movement that would bring the most amount of good to the most amount of people, what would that be? You never know what your idea can trigger. :-)

I was told “no” several times when I first entered the world of venture capital. Telling me no was essentially seen as an invitation for a challenge. My resilience was built through the tumultuous life of an entrepreneur and I forged ahead with grit building my career from the ground up to being the top 1% in VC as an Asian female partner in VC. As the VC ecosystem is largely white and male, my passion lies in creating an outsized impact on this world by breaking barriers to spur future women and diverse venture dreamers.

Can you please give us your favorite “Life Lesson Quote”? Can you share how that was relevant to you in your life?

What expertise do you bring to the table when you enter a room? What knowledge am I sharing and lead with that. I am the token Asian woman in the room. It’s about what value am I adding to the table?

Business is about building trust and establishing relationships. It’s not about what a person can be for me. Don’t assume anything.

Some of the biggest names in Business, VC funding, Sports, and Entertainment read this column. Is there a person in the world, or in the US whom you would love to have a private breakfast or lunch with, and why? He or she might see this, especially if we tag them. :-)

Serena Williams is the epitome of a powerful black woman shattering records and revolutionizing women’s tennis. As the highest paid female athlete and the only woman on Forbes’ “100 highest paid athletes”, Serena also smashed records in VC where we have a shared mission to invest and empower women and diverse founders. She has championed a portfolio similar to my interest in e-commerce, health, food, and fashion. Our synergies work together and would love to ace our way through the male-dominated venture industry. She leaves a lasting legacy that women can do it all.

This was really meaningful! Thank you so much for your time.