713 Amy Errett: Resilience and Gratitude

What Stands Between Female Founders and Venture Capital – And What to Do About It

Women founders of companies with the potential to scale to $1bn or more still only get less than 2% of pool of venture capital money – a number that hasn’t moved in more than 2 decades.

As a serial entrepreneur who has raised investment capital before and in the process of raising and closing a round right now for my company Podopolo, I know how hard it is.

So, what can be done to close the gap?

Amy Errett has raised some $200 million as the founder and CEO of the fast-scaling Madison Reed hair color company, and as a partner of True Ventures, she also admits there is a lot of unconscious bias out there, even from female investors.

Today, brought to you via a live Podopolo video recording from the stage this past Memorial Day weekend in sunny wine-soaked Napa at Feast It Forward, we dig deep into how to get women founders funded and Amy’s own journey founding and scaling the beauty company that is changing the way women color their hair.

Madison Reed uses natural healthy ingredients, proprietary color-matching technology, and a team of professional, on-call colorists to help women choose the perfect shade of hair color, which is delivered to their door for under $25. For women who prefer to have Madison Reed color applied with the help of a licensed professional colorist, Madison Reed Color Bars are open nationwide with over 50 Hair Color Bars in major US cities and growing.

Amy was featured in Forbes 50 over 50 last year, and has raised almost $200 million for Madison Reed, now on track to hit the $1bn revenue mark and beyond. She’s also an investor and partner at True Ventures, which has backed Madison Reed along with other top tier Silicon Valley VC firms Norwest Venture Partners, Comcast Ventures, and Portfolia.

Amy was recently featured in Fast Company and Lesbians Who Tech & Allies Queer Inclusive Badass in its third annual FCQueer50 List. In 2015 and 2018, Amy was named one of the “Bay Area’s Most Influential Women in Business” by the San Francisco Business Times. She was also a finalist for Ernst & Young’s Entrepreneur of The Year® 2018 Award in the Northern California region, which she won in 2006 for the consumer category.

Prior to founding Madison Reed, Amy was a General Partner at Maveron, a leading venture capital firm focused on the consumer sector. Before Maveron, Amy was CEO of Olivia, where she repositioned the travel business as a complete lifestyle company. Amy also served on the senior management team at E*TRADE where she diversified the company beyond its brokerage offerings and ran a $200 million business. This followed 10 years as Founder and CEO of The Spectrem Group, a worldwide strategic consulting firm. Amy sold Spectrem to NFO, an IPG subsidiary.

Amy believes in the power of giving back and dedicates herself to supporting humanitarian organizations. Amy is a member of San Francisco’s Barbary Coast chapter of YPO (Young Presidents’ Organization) and serves on the boards of the University of Connecticut Foundation, Common Sense Media, Glide, and Madison Reed.

Today you’ll hear our inspiring conversation about the barriers to venture funding for women and minorities, what makes a successful entrepreneur, and what Amy has learned along the way as she’s built so many successful businesses, including Madison Reed.

More about Amy Errett at www.madison-reed.com

Be sure to join the conversation with Amy and me over on the interactive podcast app Podopolo, where you can share your perspectives and she’ll take your questions. You can also check out all the interactive video streams, including this interview. Download Podopolo here and invite your friends.

More about Amy Errett at Madison Reed

Amy Errett is the founder and CEO of the fast-scaling Madison Reed hair color company and a partner of True Ventures. Featured in Forbes 50 over 50 last year, Amy has raised almost $200 million for Madison Reed, now on track to hit the $1bn revenue mark.

Get the Transcript HERE