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She Said No to the Safe Route—And Built a Career on Courage
Manage episode 486846778 series 3464065
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Maddi Holman, co-founder and general partner at Daring Ventures, shares her unconventional journey from pre-med student to venture capitalist—and how she’s built a career championing overlooked founders and untapped opportunities.
• Entering uncharted territory as the only person with a biology background working on telecom deals
• Embracing “I don’t know” as a sign of strength, not weakness
• Pivoting from pre-med to VC after realizing surgery wasn’t her true path
• Discovering venture capital during a master’s program in London, thanks to a Belgian VC professor
• Navigating countless rejections while trying to break into VC with a non-traditional background
• Co-founding Daring Ventures to back underdog founders who don’t fit the typical Silicon Valley mold
• Seeking out founders with resilience, deep passion, and coachability
• Drawing strength during hard times by reflecting on past challenges and staying grounded in family
• Redefining success as living authentically, embracing failure, and having no regrets
• Choosing kindness as her legacy—because people will always remember how you made them feel
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More on Maddi:
Maddi Holman is a Co-Founder and General Partner at Daring Ventures in New York City. She knows something about being an underdog — from becoming a walk-on D1 athlete at Rice University while managing a pre-med courseload to pulling off a last-minute pivot from medicine to finance despite having never worked in the field. While in VC, Maddi worked at Touchdown Ventures supporting multiple corporate partner VC funds spanning healthcare, telecom, software, proptech, and entertainment. At Cigna Ventures, she focused on early to growth stage healthcare companies and led the women's health vertical. Having successfully navigated traditionally male-dominated environments, Maddi uses her resilient background to identify diamonds-in-the-rough and overlooked investment opportunities.
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Chapters
1. Introduction to Maddie Holman (00:00:00)
2. Finding Comfort and Authentic Self (00:03:47)
3. Overcoming Imposter Syndrome (00:06:07)
4. Pivoting from Pre-Med to Venture Capital (00:11:20)
5. Supporting the Underdog in Venture (00:16:30)
6. Traits of Successful Founders (00:21:48)
7. Finding Strength During Turbulence (00:25:53)
8. The True Meaning of Success (00:32:10)
70 episodes
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