Description

Episode Summary

When it comes to entrepreneurship and investment, underrepresented communities face many challenges. As a female investor in a male-dominated field, Marjorie Radlo-Zandi, has overcome her own set of challenges and helped others to do the same. In conversation with Marjorie, Syd explores how successful entrepreneurs and investors operate and the tools they need to make it to the top of their field. 

Syd Finkelstein 

Syd Finkelstein is the Steven Roth Professor of Management at the Tuck School of Business at Dartmouth College.  He holds a Master’s degree from the London School of Economics and a Ph.D. from Columbia University. Professor Finkelstein has published 25 books and 90 articles, including the bestsellers Why Smart Executives Fail and Superbosses: How Exceptional Leaders Master the Flow of Talent, whichLinkedIn Chairman Reid Hoffman calls the “leadership guide for the Networked Age.”  He is also a Fellow of the Academy of Management, a consultant and speaker to leading companies around the world, and a top 25 on the Global Thinkers 50 list of top management gurus.  Professor Finkelstein’s research and consulting work often relies on in-depth and personal interviews with hundreds of people, an experience that led him to create and host his own podcast, The Sydcast, to uncover and share the stories of all sorts of fascinating people in business, sports, entertainment, politics, academia, and everyday life. 

Marjorie Radlo-Zandi 

Marjorie Radlo-Zandi is an experienced angel investor, board director, mentor and consultant who focuses on investing and mentoring early-stage companies in life sciences, diagnostics, software/IT, clean technology, ed-tech, food/beverage/ag and related food related technologies. She invests primarily for impact with an eye to diversity through two angel investment groups where she is a member, Launchpad Venture Group and Branch Venture Group.  Launchpad is the most active angel investment group in the Northeast and top three-ranked group in the U.S. It invests in life sciences, diagnostics, medical devices, software / IT, ed-tech, web and e-commerce, media/social media, and clean technology. Branch invests nationwide in start-ups in the food/beverage/ag CPG and related technology space. Fifty percent of her investments are in women-led businesses and fifty percent are led by people of color. 

Prior to becoming an angel investor, she was a senior executive and leader in Silicon Valley and the Boston life science diagnostics sector, where she developed a reputation for driving domestic and international organizational growth through innovation, global market expansion and building robust cross-cultural teams. She also improved organizational performance by both positioning and evaluating companies for acquisition. Her biggest achievement: grew the food diagnostics company she led with angel funds, expanded in over 100 countries, and sold it to a two billion dollar publicly-held firm. This company she led positively impacted the lives of millions by protecting and enhancing the global food supply. 

Marjorie grew up in a family of entrepreneurs, so entrepreneurship is in her blood. Her first entrepreneurial venture at age 19 was a high-profile sailing program where none existed previously in Burlington, Vermont. She now focuses her time on investing, being a board director, mentoring and consulting in companies which makes an impact with an eye to diversity. 

Marjorie holds a bachelor's degree from the University of Vermont, and a master's degree in business administration from Northeastern University in Boston, Massachusetts.

Insights from this episode:

• How to predict individual and entrepreneurial success using algorithms  
• Different ways to foster success in others by providing thoughtful and sustainable support 
• The best problem-solving strategies used by both successful entrepreneurs and investors 
• The benefits of targeting investments that align with personal values 
• The essentials of successful angel investing 
• The secrets to preparing a successful pitch for an angel investor as an entrepreneur
• Benefits of expanding the workplace and the workforce through investing in virtual corporations and e-commerce 

Quotes from the show:

• “Virtual Corporations are going to expand the workplace opportunities, so those people who are in Montana, South Dakota, North Dakota, Wyoming who didn’t have the richness of opportunities of Silicon Valley or Boston or New York City are going to have that open to them with the advent of work from many different places.” - Marjorie Radlo-Zandi [00:10]
• “We all like to complain, we all like to wonder, we all like to think, but actually fix the problem. And fix it in a way that could be beneficial to other people, and if it leads to wealth generation, that’s a good thing” - Syd Finkelstein [11:10]
• “The most important thing is have your vision, execute your vision, get the go-to market plan, and go and market well.” - Marjorie Radlo-Zandi [12:12]
• “Technology is in the DNA of the economy. It’s not going away. The mutation has occurred.” - Syd Finkelstein [16:44]
• “It was a very male-oriented culture, mostly white males. But yet, yes there was sexism along the way. But I’d say I had some fabulous mentors in Silicon Valley, and the learning opportunities were tremendous…There were some challenges along the way, but you can't let that get in the way of your progress.” - Marjorie Radlo-Zandi [18:56]
• “If I’m targeting for anything, it's investments that make a social or environmental impact.” - Marjorie Radlo-Zandi [22:49]
• “I think where there’s an opportunity for President Biden is helping those underserved communities and putting investment in underserved communities who don’t have the friends and family round.” - Marjorie Radlo-Zandi [34:43]
• “I think there can be an algorithm for a lot of different things, but there is a direct human element in terms of evaluation and working with different groups to assess them. I’m not quite sure that an algorithm could do that.” - Marjorie Radlo-Zandi [42:42]

Stay Connected:  

Syd Finkelstein

Website: http://thesydcast.com

LinkedIn: Sydney Finkelstein

Twitter: @sydfinkelstein

Facebook: The Sydcast

Instagram: The Sydcast

Marjorie Radlo-Zandi 

Website: https://www.jazzas.com/ 

LInkedIn:Marjorie Radlo-Zandi

Twitter: @margorieradlozandi 

Subscribe to our podcast + download each episode onStitcher,iTunes, and Spotify.

This episode was produced and managed by  Podcast Laundry (www.podcastlaundry.com)