Airstreams, Shoes, & Startups: A Silicon Valley Story of Success through Service

Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Tonya J. Long (00:00):
Welcome friends.
I'm Tonya Long and this isRESET.
Each week, we shareconversations with thought
leaders, innovators and thedreamers and doers who are
reshaping the future of work,technology, longevity and
purpose.
So settle in and let's explorewhat happens when purpose meets

(00:21):
possibility.
Oh my, there goes the music,because we are starting today
with RESET, with Tonya here atbeautiful.
I always give a weather reportand today it might be more
beautiful than ever this springhere in Los Gatos Beautiful blue
skies, the color of a robin'segg.

(00:42):
And I'm talking about robin'seggs because I've been visiting
with my friend, Keshia TheobaldVan Gent, and I'm sure that she
can say it much morearticulately than me, but we
were talking about all thisshared history we have.
We both have a pension forforeign countries, we both
travel in a lot of the samecircles, we both have an

(01:04):
affinity for shoes and we bothhave Airstreams.
And I just learned that aminute before the show started
and I thought, oh my God, thisis the most horrible time to
learn this, cause I could talkabout Airstreams with Keshia for
the next hour.
But we're gonna talk aboutresets, because Keshia has had
several fascinating resets inher career.

(01:27):
Starting with, she grew up nearme.
I grew up in Tennessee andKeshia was between Kentucky and
Indiana, so over on the easternside of the US, but then she
went to school in theNetherlands and we'll talk about
why, what brought her there.
And then she had a storiedcareer.
From the Netherlands.
She said she studied of allthings I have it here, look

(01:48):
global.
She studied here we go conflict, religion and globalization,
and today she's a vice presidentat one of the premier VC firms
here in the valley, and so Ithink her story about how she
went from conflict, religion andglobalization in the
Netherlands to an educationalnonprofit, to being one of the

(02:10):
top VCs and the top leader atthe firm is an amazing story,
and we might slip inconversations about shoes and
Airstreams.
So, Keshia, welcome.
Thank you so much.
Welcome, teresa.
I'm so excited you're here.

Keshia Theobald-van Gent (02:24):
Yeah, me too.
Thank you so much, and that isa very kind introduction.
I appreciate that.

We are, for once, not in a panel in front of a
bunch of industry people and wecan have the conversations we
want to here Agreed, and I dohope there's plenty of Airstream
and shoe talk.
Airstream and shoe talk.
All right, I wore some shoes.
I always wear shoes when I knowI'm going to see Keshia that
she hasn't seen before.
So my goal is to run out ofshoes because I've seen her so

(02:51):
much.
I think that would be a greatgoal.

That would be amazing.
Yeah, yeah, but you always havefabulous shoes Every time.
I've ever seen you, in fact,when we first met.

I believe my first words to you were I love
your shoes and, just for therecord, because of who I am and
where I come from, they're allcheap.
When she says she loved myshoes, they're not Louboutins,
they're not the red soled housepayment on my feet.
They are from, they're orderedonline and they're just fun.

But they're fabulous, but that's all
that matters.

We, we want to have fun.
Good, awesome, Keshia, tell uswhat you're working on.
I said you were a VC, yes, andI gave some of your history, but
tell us what your prioritiesare right now.

Yeah, thank you.
So I'm at BDev Ventures and atBDev we're investing in like
late C to series B startups.
We're something of a generalistfund, so we invest B2B software
with some exceptions, so we'renot looking at anything that's
really heavily regulated.
We're not looking at crypto oreven cybersecurity, so things

(03:52):
where it really we would needthat deep expertise built within
the team, our expertise isreally more around go-to-market.
So, in addition to capital, weprovide all of our portfolio
companies with access to acouple of lead generation tools,
provide all of our portfoliocompanies with access to a
couple of lead generation toolsand through that, we are able to
systematically add significantvalue to the companies that we
work with.

(04:12):
And this is really what thecore of our investment thesis is
built around.
And so, in addition to capital,we are, in addition to
traditional diligence, weactually run a pilot as a part
of our diligence process inthese tools.
So, before we ever invest,we're asking ourselves and of
the startup can we actually helpyou move the needle?
Today, we make up somewherebetween 6% and 65% of all new

(04:35):
revenue for the companies in ourportfolio that are utilizing
these tools, which is what agreat start for those who own
companies.

Yes, yeah, amazing.
And you've done.
I think I recall you've doneover 50 investments, so that's
50 and maybe more at this point.
From that stat 50 littlecompanies you've nurtured into
more success.

Yes, yeah.
So we have 64 investments, buta few of those are follow-on, so
in our portfolio we have about50 companies.
Nice.

Very nice.

In the last three and a half years, so
pretty high volume investors.
In April of this year we madesix investments and in March we
did five.
We're on track this month forseven, which is nice.
It's amazing.
We're all exhausted.

Yeah, but it's the good kind of exhausted I've
seen yourself about thecompanies that you nurture and I
think it's a deep heartattraction for you because you
get to be involved.
It's not just writing checks,it's the partnership and the
relationships that you developthat, I think, drives you.

Very much, I think, and we have
talked a little bit about this,but my background is
untraditional so I did not.

Let's take it back to school.
The Netherlands, yeah, religion, globalization, conflict yes,
gosh, what a fascinating area ofstudy in your 20s.
I'm assuming you did thetraditional route, age-wise.
Yeah, what took you to theNetherlands from Kentucky,
indiana, and of course it'salways a man?
It was probably a man.
The Netherlands, from Kentucky,indiana, and of course it's

(06:06):
always a man's probably a man.

I hope it was a man with you.
It was even before that, so Idid all my undergrad in Kentucky
.
Went to Northern Kentucky.

And there are a few people listening who
probably identify with theseschools from home, from my home,
so now hopefully from your homeas well.

Yeah, so I did my undergrad there and
I probably shouldn't tell peoplethis story, but it is
interesting.
So I, when we when I weretalking earlier about failing up
, and I did that big time I didmy undergrad in three years.
I was a research assistant.
I really like, I loved schooland I desperately wanted to go
to graduate school.
And this is right, 2008, jobswere non-existent anyway.

(06:45):
Oh, 2008,.

Not a good time to come out of school.
I was already well into mycareer at that point.
But yeah, it was a hard timefor everyone.
It was rough.

And so I really wanted to go to
graduate school, and I could not, for the life of me, get a
decent score on the GRE.
I took it multiple times.

That's amazing.
I love it.
I love this.

I studied.
I even took like the prepclasses where you're actually
like really studying, testtaking, and I could not get a
score that would get me into anygraduate school that I was
interested in.
And I took the LSAT.
I was graduating, I think, cumlaude, and so the university
paid for there was some programwhere it was like you got to
take the LSAT for free, and thisis not.

(07:28):
I could not repeat this,certainly couldn't do it now,
but I got an amazing test scorebecause I had been doing all of
this prep for the GRE.

Oh, interesting.

And then I killed it on the LSAT.
I went to law school and, to befrank, I went to a very
conservative law school inKentucky, at Chase Law, and it
wasn't a great fit.
But I got a full ride and Iprobably similar to yourself, I
don't come from a backgroundwhere, like free education is a
big deal.

You and I didn't get Stanford MBAs because we
went where we could.

I don't.
I'm not sure I know what.
I knew what Stanford was atthat time.

Yeah, we probably we didn't understand the impact
.

Keshia Theobald-van G (08:08):
Certainly not.
Maybe I understood it had afootball team.
Actually, they don't.
I'm sorry.

I'm saying that to all my friends out there.
My apologies.

Yeah, I went to law school and it was
a really poor fit, so I tooksome time off.
It was supposed to be a year.
I moved to Laos, worked for anNGO, taught English, among other
things.

What took you to Laos?
Just an interesting environment, or was it the impact of your
work?

Yeah, it was the opportunity.
I had traveled, I hadbackpacked a couple of summers
in Southeast Asia and reallyfell in love with the culture
and the people and the food andit was a place near and dear and
to some extent maybe a placereally far away from where I had
grown up and spent my time.
And I, on the way over, metthis fabulous Dutch guy, very

(08:57):
tall, blonde blue-eyed.

You said on the way over, so I'm like yes, I was
playing strings and automobiles, take your pick.

I was visiting a friend in the
Netherlands on my way over toLaos and was supposed to be like
couch surfing and use that as alaunch point other things in
Europe, and I didn't.
I ended up hanging out withthis guy and I basically said,
hey, moving to Laos, he had justfinished his MBA, he was moving
, he's Dutch, he's moving backfrom Boston and he was like,
didn't have a job lined yet.
We're all in our early 20s atthis point.

(09:25):
And I said, look, why don't youcome?
Let's be rational about this.
It's going to be much cheaperfor you to just hang out in Laos
on my couch and apply for jobsfrom there.
That was the logic that Iconvinced him with.

You invited him to your couch after having spent
a week with him in Europe.
A couple weeks, a couple weeks.

A couple weeks, that was okay,
yeah.

Yeah, still, he came, that was okay.
Yep, we, 15 years later, youwear, yes, you wear his last
name.

I do.
We've been married 12 years 12years.
He stayed with me in Laos.
We were there.

I'm assuming you at least dated a few years
before.
Yeah, we've been married 12.

Oh sorry, yeah, we've been married
12 years.
I love it, yeah.
And so we.
He stayed there with me forabout a year and a half and then
at some point we said okay, hehas this degree, I also have a
degree Like we should go dosomething.
That was maybe more in linewith our expected path.
And I moved back to theNetherlands and that was when I
didn't speak Dutch.
So I decided to go back toschool and I studied conflict,

(10:20):
religion and globalization, aswell as business.
So I did an honors program inbusiness as well.

So what I pull from this thread is you've did
you get your JD?
No, so you went to law school.
You didn't enjoy it, so youmoved on.
But you, it feels to me likeyou were at a time when you were
like what do I do?
Yes, because you had anundergrad.
You had partially gone to lawschool.
You were looking for your nextthing.

(10:45):
You were on the way to Laos andmy thread there is things happen
for you, not to you, Becauseyou.
It led you into that confusionand uncertainty Because I think
a lot of us exist in uncertaintyright now.

I have no idea what I want to do when
I grow up.
Still haven't decided.

That's one of the questions at the end, so you've
got 45 minutes to figure it out, but still, I love that you
have a firsthand story about howthe journey led you to
something that you'll have therest of your life.

Very much and I think for me, a lot
of that is.
We talked earlier about what'sthe through line, and I
genuinely sat and contemplatedthis last night and I was
talking to my husband about itand I think for me the through
line is probably a combinationof service and learning.
So even going to Laos, all ofthat was really about service.

(11:38):
Right, it's about giving back.
You were in the AmeriCorps, Iwas in AmeriCorps later on, yeah
, so that's been a big andimportant thing for me.
But also learning I love.
It's actually why I likeventure, because I get to kind
of perpetually be the if I cansay this like the dumbest person
in the room.

No, I think you're brilliant for knowing
that, for knowing I don't knowanything about their technology,
and what a privilege it is tobe able to learn about it
Exactly and learn about so manythings and not be stuck with
them.

Yeah, and I think that's why you and I
get along so well, because Ithink that's a trait that we
share.

Well wait, you're only a couple of months into
your Airstream.
I have been humbled by thatprocess, but it's been so much
fun.

The Airstream is so much fun.
I just got back.
We did a week in the EasternSierras and ours has a standing
desk in it.
Oh, the Eastern, so you wentover.

Yeah, we did, because Bishop's Reservoir is
one of my favorite little placesin the Western Sierras.
You may have gone throughBishop.

We did .
We were in Lone Pine and thenup toward Mammoth as well, but
today, with satellite internet,you can work from anywhere yeah,
I'm not gonna go.

I could do the rest of the show just on air.
I think we're having a silveralert okay, because if you guys
hear just a little kind ofgrowling in the background, it
sounds like one of thoseemergency alerts it does.
In california or in the bayarea we have those Haven't had

(13:05):
one lately when someone'smissing.
So that's how it works.

It's important, it's worth
interrupting it definitely gotus distracted.

Should we be leaving the building?
So you went to Laos With anadditional piece of luggage you
didn't expect for a year and ahalf.
What do you feel like youbrought back from that
experience that you've?
Besides, is Daniel yourhusband's name?
Ari Ari, thank you.
There's another Daniel that hasthis, so Ari besides Ari, what

(13:34):
did you bring?
Back from Laos that mattered.

Yeah, I think for me that Laos was
deeply humbling.

Yes, deeply, that's my experience with India.
Yes.

Yeah, and I've spent some time not as
much time, obviously, as you inIndia, but I've spent some time
there and I think it's similar.
I really had the opportunity towork with people from a very
different background who, inlarge part and the population I
was working with who hadmaterially significantly less
than I had grown up with thatjust poverty is exists on a very

(14:06):
different level than I hadexperienced it here in the
United States and I think for meit was a major mindset shift to
understand the global world andunderstand that problems exist
so far beyond the scope of whatdress I should wear or what's
going on with so-and-so down thestreet.
And I think, because I hadgrown up in a fairly small

(14:28):
community and that is in manyways a beautiful, wonderful
thing, but also very limiting inyour exposure to the world I
think it made me I'd like tothink it made me a kinder person
and a better person.
I'm sure it did yeah to.

Really that was my experience.
Yeah, I would go to India likeevery month and be there for a
week or two, mostly a week, butI found that when my time
extended, like during theholidays, that I didn't go back.
I got edgy because being inIndia made me more grateful it
made me realize, instead ofbeing so pop, got to get it done
, got to get it done Very much.

(15:00):
There weren't the resources oraccess.
You had to wait, yeah, and itwasn't humbling as much as I was
humbled to see people so happywith their lives, who had so
little compared to other partsof the world.
But they didn't need it.
They had each other and theyhad their traditions, and
relationships were so deep.

(15:20):
Yes, and that's what I thinkthe experience was probably
similar for you.
Each other and they had theirtraditions and relationships
were so deep.
Yes, and that's what I thinkthe experience was probably
similar for you.
But I got edgy when I'd be heretoo long.

I knew I needed to go back to India
because it made me appreciatewhat I had Very much and also, I
think, opened up for me withoutgetting too far into politics.
Yeah, I grew up far intopolitics.
I grew up in a veryconservative area, it's not a
secret and I think for me itreally opened my eyes on how

(15:53):
similar we all are, on howthere's I think there's this
mentality sometimes in certainpolitical groups that it's an us
versus them and the resourcesare limited.
And I think that experience,and having traveled
significantly in other countriesas well, it's very clear that
no resources are limited.
But when we work together andwhen we support each other, all

(16:18):
boats rise in a high tide.
And I think that lesson when Iwas younger would have
considered myself veryconservative politically and I
certainly don't today, and Ithink that experience really
shaped that.

It does, it does.
That's amazing.
I'm going to break for just aquick second to do a quick
station ID.
We are at KPCR, lp 92.9 FM inbeautiful Los Gatos.
That sky has not changed.
It is still bright, baby blue.
Also calling out from SisterStation in Santa Cruz, kmrt LP

(16:47):
101.9.
So back to us, Keshia and Laos.
And how it changed your heartyou came back from Laos.
And did you after coming backfrom Laos is that when you
started your own startup in theeducational world, so yes and no
.

So I was in the Netherlands for a few
years, did my graduate workthere and had a small business
there working.

You had that entrepreneurial experience that
you're now Shepard.

Yeah very much.
And then we had an opportunity.
Actually this is, it's funny ISilicon Valley was not on my
radar again, just not.
I knew that I wanted to, justnot.
I knew that I wanted to work inbusiness.
I knew that I wanted to dosomething where I was community
building and working with others.
My husband got a job out here.
He got this great offer and Iwas like out here, I took a year

(17:33):
, something I'd always reallywanted to do was AmeriCorps.

I'd always wanted to give back and have that
service experience.
So you did AmeriCorpsseparately from Laos?
Yes, wow.

Wow, yeah.
So my first year in the BayArea, I did AmeriCorps.
I think I made don't quote meon this I think it was like
$19,500 for the year.

That's what I made running the dorms 35 years
ago.

Yes, yeah, if anyone's listening and
they're familiar with housingprices in the Bay Area, that was
not yes, what?

did you do?
Clearly, the salary is shocking, especially in the framework of
how much it costs just to livehere compared to other places.
But what activity did youfulfill?

So I ran a program for a nonprofit
called Playworks and I was acommunity organizer for them.
So I worked with low-incomeelementary schools in East Palo.
Alto, I love all thesebreadcrumbs, and their motto and
their mission is power throughplay.
So through games and somerecess, but think more like a

(18:47):
gym class, really building outsome of those cooperative skills
that students need, especiallyin those areas, and their
outcomes are amazing.
So if you're interested in thisat all, anyone listening
Playworks is a really greatorganization.
Can't say enough good thingsabout them.

Is it W-O-R-K-S?
Yes, sometimes there's funkyspelling, just how you would
expect.
Just how you would expect.

And I did that for one school year, so
it's nine months or ten monthsor something to that effect and
then at the end of that Irealized that it wasn't.
Even though there was anopportunity to maybe stay and
become an employee for them,that wasn't something I was
interested in.
I worked with a principal thatI met who was doing their
postdoc at Stanford and he wasan elementary school principal

(19:31):
in East Palo Alto at the timeand he and I created Dialogue to
Learn and basically our missionwas this was an ed tech company
and this is, you have toremember, this was at a time
when ed tech was like Corsair,was getting funded, like ed tech
was.
So it was a big time.
Big and Were you big?

No, in retrospect I knew I knew what the answer
had to be, but let's talk aboutit.
Yeah, because I know it was agreat experience.

It was an amazing experience and it
really launched me in many ways,launched my career into what it
is today.
But I think I built thiscompany.
It was focused around literacy,so we were pairing students in
low-income elementary schoolswith tech professionals, Okay,
and we had created I had workedwith volunteer engineers to

(20:19):
create an app that connectedthese students and professionals
over email, but it was verysafe.
There was an extensive backendfor teachers and that process of
managing a product roadmap,that process of fundraising
because I was still fundraising.
The process of creatingpartnerships with the schools,

(20:39):
school districts, othernonprofits because we were
working with, like the Boys andGirls Club, afterschool programs
, stuff like that and then alsowith all of the tech companies.
It was an amazing experience.
I learned a ton.
I did it full-time for about ayear, got everything set up and
then transitioned to a boardmember.
So it was not the intention,was never that it was going to
be my full-time role.

(21:00):
I knew that, but it wassomething I felt could just add
a lot of value to the communityI was working in.

We're not even halfway through your story and
there's that thread for you,that theme of you keep moving
because you make your impact,you have your value, you
establish or make somethingbetter and leave it in good
hands and then move on.
Yes, and I love that about you.

(21:25):
I was surrounded in tech by.
I've been managing QA forhardware for 30 years and you
and I don't sit still no.

In fact, sometimes when people and
I have a ton of respect forpeople who can stay somewhere
and really operate, who candevelop that domain, yes, but my
God, I think I'd people who canstay somewhere and really
operate Develop that domain?
Yes, but my God, I think I'd bebored.
Yeah, like really bored.

Just a couple different.
Yeah, you talk personalityprofiles, yes, like Firesbridge
and Enneagram on a wholedifferent conversation.
But yeah, it's just some peopleare meant to stay and go really
deep and some people are meantto hit the tops of the waves on
many things yeah.
So from there I at this pointhad built a really interesting

(22:07):
network on the nonprofit side,but mostly in the tech space,
always have the communitypartnerships.

Yeah, and I ended up taking a role
because I started looking and Istarted saying to people hey,
this was amazing, I'm so happy Idid it, it's up and running,
it's looking good.
I'm so happy I did it, it's in,it's up and running, it's
looking good, I'm ready forwhat's next.
And I ended up at GSV labs.
So GSV capital the time Mo andthat crowd late stage tech

(22:35):
investor wrote 50 million pluschecks into like Lyft, lime,
coursera yes, that's a bigconnection.
Spotify Nikhil Sinha was theCEO at the time he had come over
from Coursera.
Yes, that's a big connection.
Spotify Nikhil Sinha was the CEOat the time he had come over
from Coursera.
So there was a deep ed techconnection.
So GSV Capital had the labs arm, which was their earlier stage
arm.
They had a significantaccelerator themselves, a big
co-working space.

(22:55):
Now they have a fund and theyhad teams here in Boston and all
over.
It's pretty global.
And they hired me on initiallyto work on a consulting arm for
them and then pretty quickly Iwas promoted to the director of
strategic partnerships and thatwas really the first experience
I had in venture capital andwith that world from the

(23:16):
investor side, not from theoperator side, which was amazing
.
Yeah.

This theme you've had of doing different things
and taking I don't even want tocall them risks, because risks
is an ugly word for a lot ofpeople, and these experiences
you curated.
The Bay Area is a big meltingpot of cultural backgrounds, of
these profiles of personalities,right, yes, there's just

(23:43):
there's so much diversity ofthought and style and all those
things out here.
Yeah, Do you think that havingthose experiences where you had
to fit yourself into the cultureof Laos you hadn't you might've
visited before, but youcertainly hadn't lived there
before Do you think having theexperience with different
cultures made you moresuccessful at dealing with all

(24:05):
the, especially because you haveto deal with so many companies,
therefore so many culturalprofiles of the?

Keshia Theobald-van G (24:10):
companies A hundred percent.
Okay, I think it.
I think a lot of thoseexperiences, whether it was
living abroad in Asia or Europe,whether it was I think my
educational background speaks tothis a little bit too but being
able to quickly walk into asituation and understand or
recognize the social rules andthat they're different and to be

(24:33):
able to quickly adapt to thatand maybe even more so than that
, understanding and beingexposed to different systems.
So not just the one-on-oneinteraction, because I think we
can all very quickly build someof those skills, but being able
to go in and understandfundamentally different systems

(24:53):
quickly and maybe, to thatextent, ask different questions.

I have a very different background About the
curiosity, yeah, and I want tostep into that systems thing
because systems for some of thepeople listening they might
immediately go to the mechanicaltechnologies.
But there's systems of people,like company.
I'm a big change, hyper changeleader and some companies have
very loose cultures and youcan't come in and apply heavy

(25:21):
process.
Some companies on the otherside of that spectrum are so
heavy process that when you tryto loosen up and ask why people
do things and what value itprovides, it's very
disconcerting for them becausewe've always done it this way
and we need to, and we have todo everything in triplicate and
we have to have 17 approvals onthings.
So the culture of the companiesthat we work with is a system

(25:45):
Very much the hardest one toread.
There's no PRD for that.

The hardest one to read, one that
sometimes, maybe even oftentimes, people within those systems
are not always fully aware.
So it's not stated yes If yousit down and you're getting that
upload, whether it's a new jobor a company that you're talking

(26:09):
with.
Oftentimes people within thesystem have a for them.
That's it's normal.
It's just normal.
It's just this.
Of course, this is what we do,right?
I think that's often why it canbe very difficult to understand
some of the, even just thehierarchy.
So there's a formal hierarchyoften, and then there's where
power sits, which is, in myexperience, somewhat similar to
the formal, but typically notexactly the same.
Yeah, I enjoy that type ofthinking, and actually I think

(26:34):
women in general are very muchso.
System thinkers tend to focuson these like long-term outcomes
, much more than our malecounterparts, and I do think
that's something that I canbring to the table as well.

There's been a lot said about men achieve
because they're able tocompartmentalize and very much
focus.
I came up during a time when Iwas almost always the only woman
in the room and I loved itbecause I was so uniquely
differentiated in what I focusedon and I existed because I
could go really broad and managevery broad, rather than those

(27:12):
really deep vertical slices thatI think male thinking often
prefers to be very linear aboutwhat it focused on, what I do,
how I'm measured and for me, mypersonal power, my heart, is in
how do I help lots and lots ofpeople?

Yes, and I don't know that's.
I think my take on that is it'sprobably not so biological as
much as it is.
That's how we're socialized aschildren, right?
Girls get Legos and girls getdolls, so girls are often
encouraged More collaborativeand that's possible.

I still think there's some genetic.

A biological Biological
predisposition too.

Yeah, because, but still.

It's always nature and nurture.

It is nature and nurture and but we will say this
, women have.
I think, I'll say it, I thinkwomen care more about the
breadth and all thedimensionality of how are people
reacting to ideas, how are wecommunicating purpose, what are
the layers of things people needto know to enroll in something

(28:17):
new, where men can be very.
This is the roadmap.
This is the roadmap.

Yeah, I think and I will say I think
women are definitely socializedas very young ages to be more
cooperative and to think aboutthe group and think about others
.
We're often socialized to becaretakers.
Yes, and I think that is 100%how it translates into the work
world or business world.
Is I lead with empathy andsometimes even, maybe even to a

(28:46):
detriment?
Right, sometimes I care, maybeeven too much in the sense of
sometimes I envy some of mycolleagues that are able to just
be like nope and walk away.
This is my box.

This is my box.
Find somebody else to do that.
It's outside my box.

Yeah, something I'm still working on,
still learning that one, I getit.

We'll have more conversations on that, we will.

Yes.

But first it's time for another station ID.
We're at the bottom of the hourand we're at Pirate Cat Radio,
kpcr, lp 92.9 FM, and lovely LosGatos and sister station KMRT
LP 90, sorry 101.9 in Santa Cruz.
And we have a program thissummer that we're putting on for
those of you out there who haveteenagers and you're wondering

(29:28):
what you're going to do withthem after out of school.
And we are doing a radio campstarting on June 9th to bring 13
to 17-year-olds into the studioand it's over the course of
several weeks.
We will teach them to put ontheir own show.
Now you might say to yourself mykid's not gonna be a radio host
, no, but they're gonna learn tospeak and they're gonna learn

(29:49):
to organize and it could lead toa podcast for them.
So I think there's lots ofapplicability.
I've had some adults say wewanna come.
We'll figure that out later,but there is a program this
summer.
Look online at kpcrorg if you'dbe interested in sharing that
with your teenager to see ifit's something they might like
to do for a few weeks thissummer.

(30:09):
So that's awesome.
Yeah, I think it is greatbecause you are such a clear
communicator and a delightfulcommunicator.
I've seen you lead discussionsas a panel moderator.
I've seen you be handed thequestions as a member of panels
or even as a solo fireside chat,and no matter what environment

(30:30):
you're in, the way you presentyourself is always so authentic
that is very kind.
Thank you, it's true it's notkind.
It might be kind, but there'sgood things to say and it's a
skill.
It's a skill that I think youand I probably started curating
a long time ago.

Yes, I often I was a lifeguard all
through high school and, asweird as this sounds, I think a
lot of it goes back to that andgiving swim lessons and just
being able to, and I think thisis something a lot of people
struggle with being able to beloud I won't do it here because
there's a microphone.
I can imagine that would be hardon everyone's ears.
But just being able to be loudand still happy, that ability to

(31:11):
translate ideas simply, and Ithink so much of that goes back
to childhood.
So I think the radioopportunity for kids is really
cool.
Yeah.

And kids are.
Many people are so intopodcasts these days.
I think for them to come out ofthat, get the framework to
build their own.
It's pretty amazing.
We were talking about all thisvariety of things you've had
that led you to venture, but youwere an entrepreneur before you
came into venture.
Yes, so you've sat on bothsides of the table.
Yes, what did that duality helpyou do as you nurture other

(31:47):
companies into?

their own maturity levels.
It's a really good question, Ithink.
Fundamentally, as weird as itsounds, I've cried those tears.
I know how difficult it can beto build, to have limited
resources, to not make payrollto.
Back to empathy.
Yeah, back to empathy, I dothink it.
I ask different questions whenI talk to founders than a lot of

(32:11):
my colleagues and I think a lotof it goes back to I understand
oftentimes when you hear stufflike it's on the product roadmap
and you're like, okay, cool,why is the order this way?
I think sometimes, if you'recoming straight out of business
school and you don't have thatexperience of accepting reality,

(32:31):
a little bit right, yes, no, weknow that's important, but we
haven't done it yet.
And here's why I think there'salso an element there certainly
empathy, but also there's ahuman element that I think
sometimes is lost in venture.
I make it a point I try reallyhard to respond to every
LinkedIn outreach, all of myemails.

(32:51):
It's overwhelming.
Sometimes it can be veryoverwhelming.
But it's a priority for you yeah, and because, at the end of the
day, I've been there and evenif the answer is no, I try to
say why and I try to givegenuine feedback.
And I think that is at times,very much so lacking in the
venture community and oftentimesbecause the feedback is, if
we're honest with ourselves,we're not going to invest what

(33:14):
we, just we found a differentcompany.
That's just a better investmentfor us today.
And that can be very difficultfeedback to give a founder, but
it's meaningful and it's helpfuland I don't see enough of that
in our ecosystem today, thatkind of human approach to you're
a human, you're not just afounder, I'm not just an
investor, we're both humans.
Let's have a conversation.

How?
Because you've done the journeyand you really appreciate how
complicated it is to be anentrepreneur, and I'm sure it
affects you when you see a story, because people are stories,
yes, and they're just not readyat all.
What are?
What's your?
Because I think we are all, nomatter what vertical we work or
live in, there are times when wehave to tell people, we want to

(33:55):
tell them yes, but there's just, it's just not something we can
sign up for.
What's your advice to people onhelping, on saying no and
protecting your own boundariesyeah, and in versus and keeping
them whole so that they growfrom it.
What's your advice?

It is such a good question.
The truth is, I'm probably not.
I don't know.
There are very few people whoare really great at this.
It's hard.
It's difficult to tell people.

When you're good at it, you're mean.
When you're comfortable sayingit, you often come across as
mean, as mean yeah and I thinkI've gotten.

But look, the reality is my a lot of
my job is saying no.
I often, I'm sure, yes, I oftentell our associates.
So I lead a team of our, I leadour investment team at BDEV and
as well as our operations andproduct team.
But oftentimes I'll tell ourassociates your job is twofold.
Your job is like when you'recommunicating with the founder.
You are equal parts gatekeeperand salesperson.

(34:58):
You're a salesperson.
Sales is everywhere we are.
I hate that, but yes, it istrue.
I am trying to convince you, ifI find an amazing investment,
that I'm the right investor foryou, that I can help you,
whatever the argument might be.
And it is somewhat sales, butthe majority of the job is
gatekeeper, being able to say noin many cases, saying no very
quickly.
Yes, it's being able to say noin many cases, saying no very

(35:19):
quickly, yes, which I genuinelyeven though it doesn't always
feel nice genuinely think it's akindness to say no quickly, to
not lead people through long,arduous discussions.
Yes.

And expectation building yes, if you know the
answer is going to be no.

Keshia Theobald-van Gen (35:36):
Exactly so.
I don't want to give theimpression that I don't royally
make people very upset sometimeswith my feedback.

I do?

I absolutely do.
We've had founders before thathave gotten really mad.
But I try to be genuine, I tryto be honest because I do
believe in the end that will bethe most helpful thing, even
when it's hard to hear.

I love it.
Yeah, I love it.
It as, segueing into otherconversations, I didn't mention
in my intro that you were justrecognized as a 2025 woman of
influence.
Thank you.
What does that mean to you tohave your peers and people
across industry recognize youthat way?

Yeah, I was truly honored.
The opportunity popped up.
One of the PR people that wework with brought it to my
attention.
She was like hey, we're goingto nominate you.
And I was like, oh, are yousure?
Why me?
Yeah, okay, whatever, sure.
And then, yeah, when I got theemail, I was like, oh my
goodness, it's an amazingfeeling.
But the truth is that I thinkit's much more a testament to

(36:42):
the amazing teams that I'veworked with, much more so than
it is to me, because the realityis, like you mentioned earlier,
we've made since I've been inleadership at BDEV, we've made
over 50 investments.
We marked up 25% of ourportfolio last year.

Oh, that was last year.

Yeah, yeah, I didn't do any of that on
my own.
I don't do anything at BDEV onmy own.
I have an amazing team, andthat's been true for me on my
own.
I don't do anything at BDiv onmy own.
I have an amazing team, andthat's been true for me
throughout my career.

When you look back at your amazing career,
what do you think those commonthreads are that you've held on
to, because I think you'vealways been a leader, no matter
what the title was.
So what's been the thread thatyou think has facilitated your
success?

Yeah, that's a good question.
I definitely go back to service.
I'm very service-minded andeven, as a leader, very
consciously service-minded.
I don't ask my team to dothings that I wouldn't do.
I'm not happy to get my owncoffee and, quite frankly, the
proverbial get me my coffee.

(37:39):
Not that we actually do that.

We're all in different places, but Mad Men
was so fun to watch.

Full, different era.

Yes, I have been asked to get coffee.
I'm the age that I experiencedthat once with a gentleman from
Bain who didn't realize it wasthe project that I was leading.

Yeah, I've been asked and I don't mind
.
Actually, I make it a point nowto ask others.
I, yeah, I've been asked and II don't mind.
Actually I make it a point nowto ask others.
I'm B to get your coffee.

And, but I take that into work.
There's a difference, there's aoh, there's a big difference,
oh, there's a big difference.

Yes, especially as a woman, I and I'm
sure you've had this too Ialways got the oh, you're so
good at community building, youshould plan the party.

You're like I don't, yeah, this doesn't feel,
wait a second, I'm planning allthe parties and I will say early
in my career and I think thisis, I think this is, this
happens to all of us earlycareer, you just want to be
valuable and contributory yesand so you plan all the parties
and you load your car up withthings from Sprouts and get

(38:40):
there two hours early to thepark where your team's going to
meet.
But I think as we've grown,it's become more OK to.

As we've grown as a society, it's
been OK to say it's your turnnow Very much and I think it's
really important actually,especially for women, because we
oftentimes are pushed intothose categories.

Getting the snacks, all those things, yeah,
but I see things changing.
And I'm going to be and we don'thave to say on this topic but
I'm going to be harsh.
I think it's not changing forthe women who don't change
themselves.
It's not changing for the womenwho don't change themselves.
If you just and this will beharsh, I don't know how to say

(39:26):
it now that I've stepped intothis pile of steaming poo but
you have to change your life andif you just complain about it,
it doesn't change it, and thereare many examples and many other
people that are living intoequity to watch as an example or
to get input or guidance fromon your own teams, to stand up
for yourself.
You can't just whine, no, findthe way.

I think, yeah, I don't disagree.
I think that's true for men andwomen.
You see it across both genders.

Oh, that's interesting.

That this you can't be complacent,
right, you have?

to yeah, speak your truth.

You have to, yeah, and add value,
and I think, if you're doingthat, that you will see the
results.
I think Silicon Valley, likewhen I started, when I moved
here we were this was pre-Me Tooit was a different.
It was a different culture.
I actually think the culture inSilicon Valley has changed
significantly in the last decade.
I would agree.
Yeah, we used to have and Iwon't say where, but I'll say we

(40:25):
used to have I worked at acompany a lot of founders and we
had beer and wine on tap.

Oh yeah, this was common.

Oh, and also common, like Thursday
noon oh, come on, let's have abeer.
And then the beer continues.
I think this is not to saythere's not still a lot of
drinking and partying happening,but I do think it's a little
more contained today.

And.

I think that does provide more
opportunities for women.
I feel like as a woman.
Yeah, I often felt left out ofsome of that because, because
you didn't play golf, you knowwhat I'm very, do you?
Play golf you know what I'mdoing?
Play golf, not well.

I have closet.
Oh, oh, my gosh.
Okay, we've got crossfit andcommon airstreams and we're both
poor golfers but we want it's anice walk.

I have not played in years, but I was
actually on the golf team allthrough high school.
Oh wow, so you are better no,I'm not.
I know I'm I.
This is really embarrassing.
I took my team as like our.
We just had a big off-site atthe beginning of April.
It's like our fun activity.
We were together for three days.
It was really intense workshops, and so one afternoon we're
like let's do something fun,kind of bond over not Driving

(41:32):
Ranger Putt Top golf.
Oh, top golf is fun.
I was so embarrassed I had thelowest score and everybody was
like silently judging me becausethey all.
I was like, oh, I played golfall through high school.
Like I'm probably still okay atgolf.
No, it turns out it's not abike.
If you don't practice, you willlose that skill.

Maybe if you want to golf.
I'm on the board of ACG and wedo pretty frequent outings with
some of our different segmentsat.
Topgolf and it is a great way toenjoy the outdoors.
It's a great concept.
I love what they've built forTopgolf.
I agree, and I think it's agreat team exercise.
You're being hard on yourselfthat you missed the ball or

(42:15):
whatever it was you did, but Ithink for a lot of people,
people with zero golf skillsit's fun.
It is fun to be there.
It is, yes, kind of like me andbowling that's.

I once bowled.

I look like a clown when I bowl same.

Yeah, I once bowled a 19 and my mom
still has.
This was a long time ago shestill has it.

Yeah you'd love it.
Yeah, I love it.
That's, that's awesome.

That's awesome.
I am not athletic in that wayMore of a hiking, swimming,
CrossFit kind of girl than ahand-eye coordination.
Yes.

Yes, At Alkamaia we once had our Christmas party.
It was one of the times we weretough around the world.
And we had our Christmas partyat a really big bowling alley
here and it was like this funand it was fun and it was fun
and it was like all these lightsand it was very high
entertainment bowling.
It wasn't a crowd that wanted toput on a tux and show up at a

(43:12):
hotel in the old days, yes, soit was really fun.
I think that might have beenthe last time I went bowling,
but it was a great team building.
I agree, everybody can be goodat different things yes, I'm
very good at emailing andspreadsheets you are so much
more than emailing it.

Thank you yes, quickly.

We are at KPC, our LP ninety two point nine FM
see this, these come up soquickly, as well as KMRT LP
101.9 FM See these come up soquickly.
As well as KMRT-LP 101.9 FM outof Santa Cruz.
And we are a community-fundedradio station.
But we want to give back to youand we've started something
called the Signal Society.
So we have membership tiers andfor as little as $5 a month you

(43:56):
can support me and you cansupport all of the artists that
come into the studio to delivercontent back to the communities
that listen, and thosecommunities aren't just here in
the Bay Area.
I have people on the East Coastwho are listening right now on
kpcrorg.
So if you'd like to join theSignal Society, you get a
membership card that givesdiscounts maybe on bowling, if

(44:18):
not, I'll have to check that outbut definitely not Topgolf.
I'm sure that Topgolf isn't onour membership card, but it
gives discounts on coffee andthere's a bakery down here.
There's all kinds of smallthings that are local I
shouldn't say small things smallbusinesses that are local where
you can use your membershipcard.
You can get a studio tour.
You can even get a one-hourguest DJ with one of our regular

(44:41):
studio hosts as part of yourmembership.
So it's pretty cool to be ableto give back.
It's starting in such a smallway If you want to give more
than five dollars we willcertainly take it but it's a
really wonderful way tocontribute to the work that this
station does for the community.
Again, you can find that onkpcrorg slash donate and you'll
see how to register for theSignal Society there.

(45:04):
So we were talking Keshia.
Yeah, I can see Keshia head.
I can see her brain turning.
She thinks about ooh, you canhave a DJ slot anytime you want.
Oh, that is very kind of you.
Anytime you want.

It's a great.
I think it's important tosupport local radio and to
support the local community.
And actually, you know whatScience?
There's?
Several studies that have comeout where supporting your local
community is ultimately whatleads to happiness, much more so
than Because you feel connectedto it.
That's exactly right.

And you and I have moved.
I wouldn't say we've movedaround a lot, but we have
experienced different parts ofthe world where we still retain
community.
Yes, bangalore will always behome for me, just like Tennessee
is home.
Bangalore is home and the BayArea is home, and I think that
it may be local radio, but thefact that technology has allowed

(45:55):
us to put this out in real timeto the rest of the world, yes,
our community is just so muchbigger and easier to access than
it would have been 20 years ago.

I agree, and also, let's be honest
and say Los Gatos, the Bay Area.
We've both lived in a lot ofplaces and amazing places, but
there is uniqueness to this partof the world and our local
community is yeah, it's uniqueand awesome.

I want to save some time here at the end for a
speed round.
I've not done a speed round,but any of my guests okay.
I've been doing this a fewmonths and I thought.
Keshia is my speed round.
Oh, if you could see her.
She just set up straighter.
She's almost going intocompetition because you set up
straighter.
Okay, your tone and your facegot so much more like intense.

Yes, I'm ready, you're ready, oh my.

God.
But see, let's just, let's havefun.
I like it Starting with startuppitch or CrossFit workout,
which makes you sweat moreCrossFit workout.

I love CrossFit.
I CrossFit is amazing.
Sorry, I know we're in speedrounds.

No, I left a little time for this, okay.

Keshia Theobald-van Ge (47:04):
CrossFit is.
For me, working out has is amajor stress reducer.
My job is stressful.
Our jobs are not.
They're not alwaysstraightforward, they're ups and
downs.
I love CrossFit and I love that.
It's super and we talked aboutthis earlier.
It's so community-based.
Yes, it is, and that is also, Ithink, for me, what keeps me
going back is like okay yeah,but People expect you there.

That's right, and if you're gone for a week,
they're looking for you they askyeah, I love it.
What's one question you wishfounders would stop asking VCs?

The question I get the most that I
find frustrating and frustratingbecause I've been a founder is
do you want to invest in us?
And without the context of itis very easy to see what I
invest in and what I don't.
It is very clear on our website.
It's on my LinkedIn we investin B2B software, linkedin, we

(48:03):
invest in B2B software, and sowhen medical device companies or
other amazing companies come tome if that sits outside of my
thesis, the answer iscategorically no, it's not
because you're not.
You could be the best companyin the world and I'm still not
going to invest in you becauseit's not.
That is not my job, that is notthe agreement that we have with
RLP, and so I think, from thatperspective, I get most
frustrated when founders don'tdo their homework because

(48:24):
they're not.
And it's not just that.
It's easy for me to say no, wedon't invest in that, but
they're wasting their own time,they're wasting a lot of
resources by not doing a littlebit of homework up front.

Yeah, Good, good, android or iPhone, iphone.
What is the one app on youriPhone that your professional
community would be surprised?
You have, oh, libby.
Well, I don't know if theywould be surprised.
What is Libby?
Oh my gosh.

If you're not, you have to get on
Libby.
She just lit up.
For those of you who can't seeher, she's glowing.
Libby is the best app ever.
It is your public library app.
It is free.
You can download Libby.
How cute.
Yes, you can downloadaudiobooks.
You can download books to yourKindle directly.
There's even some shows andstuff on there.

(49:10):
I don't do that.
Comorg L-I-B-B-Y Okay, so it'san app app.
It's an app Okay, love it andyour public library's.
Part of the support that theyget and the funding that they
get is based on usage from thecommunity.

Okay, and this is a great way in our heavily
digital world.

This is an amazing way to support
your library, which providesresources to your community that
they really need.

Oh, no wonder you glowed about that.
That's wonderful, I'm glowingnow, yes, and I'm a big reader.
I read a lot Wonderful,wonderful, all right.
Dutch cuisine or Silicon Valleyfood scene which one wins in
your and Ari's kitchen?
Have you ever had Dutch food?
I dated a Dutch man for about18 months once, and so I've

(49:53):
cooked lots of crazy stuff.
Yeah, they have.
Yeah, yeah, yeah, it's a whole.
I know it's interesting.
It's like my Southern foodgives people heart attacks, so
much grease, and Dutch food isjust heavy, it's a lot.

Their most famous dish is called
stompot, which is literallywhere you put potatoes and kale
into a pot and you mash it downand then serve it with sausage?
Definitely not a regularexperience in our house.
I'll be honest, Ari doesn'tmiss the food from home.
We make a lot of like DutchIndonesian food at our house

(50:27):
Like a lot of satay or like nasigoreng, but actually we try to
eat fairly healthy so we're onlike the salads and we're
vegetarian.
So very Bay area, veryCalifornia.

I have learned so much about you and this and the
30 minutes before this isawesome, all right, so this
one's important because youmight have to follow up on it.
Okay, if you could instantlymaster one new skill tomorrow,
what?

would it be?
Oh, my goodness, that is such agood question.
I would love to improve mylanguage skills.
I do speak some Dutch At onepoint I was borderline fluent,
although I've lost a lot of thatand I love traveling and
meeting new people and I reallywish that I could communicate

(51:14):
better in other languages.

Yeah, Do you want that from a professional
business perspective, or do youjust have a desire to speak
different or multiple languagesto communicate with people when
you visit those?

Yeah, so I do a lot of work.
Today, about 30% of ourportfolio is Latam based, and so
I work with a ton of foundersthat speak Spanish or Portuguese
as their native language, andeven though, quite frankly, most
of their English is probablybetter than mine, these are
super bright people.
It is the one thing I oftenfind myself regretting that my

(51:49):
Spanish skills just aren't there, and it's because you miss
things.
You miss the jokes and thebonding.

Yes, yes, good, good, love it.
When you need a reset, becausewe are on reset with Tonya.
When you need a reset, beach ormountains, mountains, yeah,
yeah, good thing, because yourstreams don't do well with the
ocean salt.
That is good to know.
Oh, I can help you with that.

(52:16):
You need to meet Vinny up inCentral Maryland.
Get a ceramic coating.
I've got so many things to addto your list.
Okay, so good.
Oh, but mountains Love it.
Good, and you just came backfrom the eastern Sierras.

Yes, yeah, I love being in the forest
, like the Japanese concept offorest bathing, and there's so
much research around this right.
It's so healthy for your bodyand for your brain, not just
mentally or spiritually, butactually for the structures of
your brain.
Being in the forest andtouching the trees and touching
the grass is healthy.

There's a foraging state park, mushroom
foraging state park up north ofFort Bragg, so probably three
hours north of here on the oceanand I sat in the canopy of a.
It's a fairy circle whenthey're small, but it's where
redwoods have been beat down byfire and they've grown together
and then they've started to growagain, but it's like trunks of

(53:02):
trees that are in a circle.
So I was about 12 foot up inthe air and I could hear the
moisture hitting the leaves inthe forest and it was magical.
My friends were all out doing avigorous hike and I sat in the
crown of this cathedral and acathedral crown, I think that's
what they call it and it wasmagical.
I love the trees and the forestand yeah very good.

(53:24):
Last question on the spin listwhat's?

the most outrageous founder pitch
you've ever heard that actuallyworked?
That is a good question.
Oh, interesting.
You know what?
I should have a quick answerfor this.
I hear a lot of interestingpitches.

Sometimes you're like what's the craziest product
you've ever seen, withoutdefining it.

Keshia Theobald-van Gen (53:49):
Without saying the name.
I got pitched on many years ago.
Got pitched on a company thatwas a juicer, but instead of
buying fruit, you boughtprepackaged bags of juice from
them and then you processed itthrough their juicer.
But instead of buying fruit,you bought prepackaged bags of
juice from them and then youprocessed it through their
juicer.

I think I met him at an event over here.

Yeah, probably.

Because they were going to put it in hotels and
it was like eight dollars a bagfor the pre-bent juice.

That's right.
Yeah, and it did not do well inthe end and I remember thinking
team.
Yeah, I will say I haven'tworked too much with D2C
companies, but when I ranGermany Accelerator, I ran all
their US programs and when I wasdoing that we would get some
D2C brands from time to time.
And I am not an averageconsumer.

(54:34):
I try to be very sustainable.
I really make an effort to buyless and be very intentional
with my purchases, and we wouldget pitched on things and I
would just and some of thesecompanies and I won't say names
because that would be very rudeend up doing very well and
there's a few examples.

There's a market for nearly everyone.

Yeah, but I can remember sitting in
pitches like who would ever buya water bottle with a scent.
That's insane, but actuallyit's a fabulous company and I
have the product now and it's afabulous product.

But yes, I bought some rubber flip-flops in
Capitola that have scent.
They are vanilla-scentedplastic, almost like yoga mat
plastic flip-flops, and theysmell like vanilla.
I paid way too much for theconcept but it was a foolish
purchase.
But I bet a lot of people madethat foolish purchase.
Yeah, they're my Airstreamflip-flops.

(55:26):
They're slides.
I love that.
So it's the jump and run.
It's kind of like wearing Crocsflip-flops I have.
Crocs, but they smell likevanilla and I bet your Crocs
don't smell like vanilla.
My Crocs do not Love it.
All right, as we wrap up.
Where can people learn from you?
Watch you, even get in touchwith you?
Yeah, Meet your thesis and havedone their homework?

(55:46):
Yes, but where would you likepeople to watch for?

you.
So I am on LinkedIn and Irespond to almost all of my
LinkedIn outreaches and you canfind me.
One of the fun things aboutbeing Keshia Theobald Van Gendt
is I am the only one, probablyin the world, but definitely on
LinkedIn.
Look me up.
I'm very easy to find K-E-I-S,no K-E-S-H-I-A.

(56:09):
Well done, she did that frommemory.
I did not look at my notes,because my name is difficult to
spell.
Yes, k-e-s-h-i-a.
My last name is T-H-E-O-B-A-L-D.

hyphen V-A-N, space G-E-N-T, which is why I'm
the only one, and we will putall that in the show notes.
No people, it's amazing.
There is so much to learn fromyou.
There is so much to learn fromyou.
I have loved having you heretoday.
You can come back anytime.

Thank you, we'll have a.
You are fabulous.
I really appreciate yourconversation, thank you.

It has been a wonderful conversation.
Thank you everyone.
This has been reset, with Tonyahere today with Keshia.
Have a wonderful rest of yourweek.
We will see you next Thursdaymorning at 11 am time.
Ciao.
See you next Thursday morningat 11 am time.
Ciao, fun.

(57:05):
Thanks for joining us on RESET.
Remember, transformation is ajourney, not a destination.
So until next time, keepexploring what's possible.
I'm Tonya Long and this is home.
This is RESET.

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Tonya J. Long

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