Tracy McWilliams created Jaspy because she noticed an enormous gap between corporates and early stage companies. As the founder and CEO of Inspire Global Ventures and a former investment banker, Tracy is passionate about both investing and entrepreneurship and wants to simplify the investment process for people interested in funding startups. In this episode, Tracy breaks down the key factors that contribute to a successful startup, including criteria to look at when evaluating a potential investment. She also talks about the idea that anyone can be an entrepreneur, and she shares advice for founders who want to pivot but aren’t sure if the timing is right.
As the founder and CEO of Inspire Global Ventures, Tracy bridges her experience as an investment banker with a passion for entrepreneurship, knowledge of government entities, and advocacy of technologies that inspire breakthrough problem-solving. Most recently Tracy founded and launched the Jaspy technology platform, creating a new standard for people and corporations investing in private transactions.
Key Insights:
- The problem with early stage investing
- Careers are not linear
- Characteristics of a great entrepreneur
- How to pivot the right way
- Advice for investing in startups
Guest Bio:
Tracy McWilliams is an investor, board member and advisor to teams, technologies and firms that disrupt their industries. As the founder and CEO of Inspire Global Ventures, Tracy bridges her experience as an investment banker with a passion for entrepreneurship, knowledge of government entities, and advocacy of technologies that inspire breakthrough problem-solving. Most recently Tracy founded and launched the Jaspy technology platform, creating a new standard for people and corporations investing in private transactions.
As an investment banker, Tracy rapidly advanced inside of corporate financial services firms, financing debt and equity for corporates, government agencies and manufacturers. She was the founder of Heritage Capital, CEO of Heritage Advisory, and served as a banker at Kemper Securities before leading a private family trust. Tracy has invested in and advised a portfolio of 20+ companies in financial technology, real estate technology, artificial intelligence, and crowdfunding industries. Companies include: PayForward, Crowdstreet, Realty Mogul, Wavemaker Labs, Potrero Medical and PopID. Tracy invested in the seed round and served as an advisor to Random Forest Capital, which was purchased within 18 months from inception by Franklin Templeton.
She serves as an advisor and board member to numerous early stage founders and established the Early Stage Leadership Council to connect early stage companies with communities and governments where they operate. Tracy earned a bachelor’s degree in business finance from the University of Southern California.
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