Last week at an angel investor forum I was privileged to meet Stephanie Spong, who is a Principal with EPIC Ventures, an increasingly rare early stage VC firm. Her experience includes helping startups for many years, and board positions on the Rocky Mountain and New Mexico Venture Capital Associations, New Mexico Angels, as well as several startups.
Her academic credentials include an MBA from Harvard Graduate School of Business Administration and a BA degree, cum laude, in Economics and Asian Studies from Brigham Young University. Stephanie also speaks Spanish and Japanese.
Marty: Welcome to Startup Professionals interviews. Tell us what you do.
Stephanie: I am a venture capitalist currently based out of Santa Fe, New Mexico, with EPIC Ventures. We invest in early stage IT startups and then oversee those portfolio companies through to exit.
Marty: What events led you to your commitment to venture capital investing?
Stephanie: I love building companies. I’ve run a $30m revenue operation with 150 employees and worked in finance and consulting, so I had a good broad business background with both line and strategic advisory roles which is a good fit for what we do in venture. When all goes well, it is a real partnership between the investors and the company management teams, figuring out the strategy, rolling with the punches you get from the economy and competition and working together to create a great company. This work uses everything I’ve learned, both about business and people, so it is a lot of fun.
To read the full, original article click on this link: Startup Professionals Musings: Stephanie Spong – Venture Capital Executive Interview
Author: Martin Zwilling
