Joanne Wilson Explained

Joanne Wilson
Alma Mater:Simmons College
Nationality:American
Occupation:businesswoman, angel investor
Spouse:Fred Wilson

Joanne Wilson (born 1961) is an American businesswoman and angel investor. She is known for backing female-founded companies.[1]

Biography

Early life and education

Joanne Wilson was born in 1961. Wilson studied at Simmons College in Boston, where she graduated in 1983.[2] She met her future husband Fred Wilson while in college and they moved to New York City.[3]

Career

Wilson began her career at Macy's, working in the retail apparel department for 4 years.[4] After Macy's she oversaw a company in the garment industry, then worked in sales for the startup magazine and events company called Silicon Alley Reporter.[5] She also chaired the nonprofit MOUSE (Making Opportunities in Upgrading Schools in Education), which focused on technology in inner-city schools.[6] [7] [8]

Wilson began investing in 2007.[9] [10] She also runs the entrepreneurship blog Gotham Gal. Through her investment fund, Gotham Gal Ventures, Wilson and her husband fund startups.[11] [12]

In 2010, together with Nancy Hechinger from New York University she co-founded and co-chaired an annual Women Entrepreneurs Festival.[13] [14]

From 2010 to 2015, she chaired the board of Hot Bread Kitchen, a nonprofit that promotes and trains female and minority bakers.[15] She also was the first co-Chair of Path Forward, a non-profit, established in 2018 with a mission to get people back to work after they’ve taken time off for caregiving.[16]

Since 2009, Wilson has been involved in real estate development in New York City.[17] [18]

Investments

Wilson made her first investment into Lockhart Steele's startup Curbed. Some of her early investments included Food52, Rick's Picks, DailyWorth, Hot Bread Kitchen and Scoot.[19] [20] [21] In 2014, she invested in Blue Bottle Coffee, a coffee roaster and retailer, and in Spoon University, a food media company, in 2015.[22] [23] Later in 2015, she invested in Nestio, the NY-based leasing and marketing platform for residential landlords.[24]

Wilson became known for investing in women-led startups. In 2012, 13 of her 17 investments were in tech and out of those 13, 10 were women-founded companies. As of 2016, around 70 percent of her investments were in companies led by women. By 2017, she has backed more than 90 female-founded companies, including 3 of the 11 black women-led startups to have raised over $1 million.[25] [26]

In 2017, Wilson made two angel investments in the cannabis industry: Octavia Wellness and Beboe.[27] [28]

Personal life

Wilson is married to venture capitalist Fred Wilson, a cofounder of Union Square Ventures. The couple live in New York City. They have three children, two daughters and a son.[29] In 2016, Crain's New York Business included Fred and Joanne Wilson into its "Power Couples" list.[30]

Bibliography

Notes and References

  1. Web site: How this investor is bridging the 'bravado gap'. O'Brien. Sara Ashley. CNN Business. May 5, 2015. https://web.archive.org/web/20150410124142/https://money.cnn.com/2015/04/08/technology/dreamit-athena-joanne-wilson/index.html. April 10, 2015. December 1, 2019.
  2. Alumnae/i achievements. Simmons. Simmons University. 14. Fall 2012. 2012. November 10, 2019. yumpu.com.
  3. Web site: FRED WILSON Q&A: The Legendary Investor Talks Retirement, Tumblr's Exit, And Getting Over A Tough Year. Shontell. Alyson. Business Insider. April 13, 2014. https://web.archive.org/web/20181124031900/https://www.businessinsider.com/fred-wilson-interview-2014-4. November 24, 2018. November 10, 2019.
  4. Web site: 8 Startup Lessons You Could Learn From Gotham Gal. Suster. Mark. Fast Company. April 19, 2011. https://web.archive.org/web/20131110012442/http://www.fastcompany.com/1748507/8-startup-lessons-you-could-learn-gotham-gal. November 10, 2013. November 10, 2019.
  5. Web site: Silicon Alley Reporter Seeks Some Silicon Alley Investors. Rewick. Jennifer L.. The Wall Street Journal. February 29, 2000. November 10, 2019. subscription.
  6. Web site: Joanne Wilson: The Woman Empowering Angel Investor. Columbia University. 2016. https://web.archive.org/web/20160620173107/https://entrepreneurship.columbia.edu/pride/joanne-wilson/. June 20, 2016. November 10, 2019.
  7. Web site: Activate New York 2013: Judging panel. The Guardian. September 18, 2013. https://web.archive.org/web/20140905003543/https://www.theguardian.com/media-network/2013/sep/18/judging-panel-activate-tech-talent. September 5, 2014. November 10, 2019.
  8. Web site: A MOUSE THAT ROARED The crusade to get city students online. Allbritton. Chris. New York Daily News. April 23, 2000. https://web.archive.org/web/20191110182445/https://www.nydailynews.com/mouse-roared-crusade-city-students-online-article-1.864048. November 10, 2019. November 10, 2019.
  9. Web site: Gotham Gal Joanne Wilson is an angel investor — and 'chick magnet'. Johnson. Mary. Albany Business Review. February 18, 2016. https://web.archive.org/web/20170302062611/http://www.bizjournals.com/bizwomen/news/profiles-strategies/2016/02/gotham-gal-joanne-wilson-is-an-angel-investor-and.html?page=all. March 2, 2017. November 10, 2019.
  10. Web site: Shontell . Alyson . February 29, 2012 . Meet Joanne Wilson, an investor in 17 startups who's part of a tech power couple . https://web.archive.org/web/20130327134523/http://articles.businessinsider.com/2012-02-29/tech/31109352_1_wilson-investment-strategy-women-professionals . March 27, 2013 . November 10, 2019 . Business Insider.
  11. Web site: Sweeten.com Tries to Make Home Renovation Process Less Bitter. Chernova. Yuliya. The Wall Street Journal. February 28, 2014. https://web.archive.org/web/20191112004444/https://blogs.wsj.com/venturecapital/2014/02/28/sweeten-com-tries-to-make-home-renovation-process-less-bitter/. November 12, 2019. November 17, 2019.
  12. Web site: The Most Innovative Women in Food and Drink. Kowitt. Beth. Fortune. September 3, 2014. https://web.archive.org/web/20190825002545/https://fortune.com/2014/09/03/the-most-innovative-women-in-food-and-drink/. August 25, 2019. November 17, 2019.
  13. Web site: Looking Forward at the Women Entrepreneurs Festival. Allison. Keith. New York University. April 11, 2014. https://web.archive.org/web/20190423033959/https://wp.nyu.edu/connect/2014/04/11/women-entrepreneurs-festival-2/. April 23, 2019. November 17, 2019.
  14. Web site: What Women Want. Marinova. Polina. Fortune. January 28, 2016. https://web.archive.org/web/20190901080647/https://fortune.com/2016/01/28/women-entrepreneur-festival/. September 1, 2019. November 17, 2019.
  15. Farewell to Outgoing Board Chair Joanne Wilson. Waldman Rodriguez. Jessamyn. hotbreadkitchen.org. December 7, 2015. https://web.archive.org/web/20191117212225/https://hotbreadkitchen.org/2015/12/07/a-farewell-to-outgoing-board-chair-joanne-wilson/. November 17, 2019. November 17, 2019.
  16. Web site: Notable Women in Tech. Crain's New York Business. April 8, 2019. https://web.archive.org/web/20190508182359/https://www.crainsnewyork.com/awards/notable-women-technology. May 8, 2019. November 25, 2019.
  17. News: On the Waterfront, Minus the Stevedores. Hughes. C.J.. The New York Times. September 21, 2012. https://web.archive.org/web/20150401230951/http://www.nytimes.com/2012/09/23/realestate/living-along-the-west-side-highway-on-the-waterfront-minus-the-stevedores.html. April 1, 2015. November 17, 2019.
  18. Web site: Five Stories Tall and Made of Wood. Hughes. C.J.. The New York Times. January 17, 2020. https://archive.today/20200122210738/https://www.nytimes.com/2020/01/17/realestate/five-stories-tall-and-made-of-wood.html. January 22, 2020. April 30, 2020. live.
  19. Web site: Breakfast of Champions: Joanne Wilson on writing, investing and mentoring. Boyd Myers. Courtney. The Next Web. December 11, 2011. https://web.archive.org/web/20161008035501/http://thenextweb.com/entrepreneur/2011/12/11/breakfast-of-champions-joanne-wilson-on-writing-investing-and-mentoring/. October 8, 2016. December 1, 2019.
  20. Web site: Venture capital deals. Primack. Dan. Fortune. January 6, 2012. https://web.archive.org/web/20191201161813/https://fortune.com/2012/01/06/venture-capital-deals-55/. December 1, 2019. December 1, 2019.
  21. Web site: Scoot, The "Zipcar For Scooters," Grabs $550K In Seed Funding. Perez. Sarah. TechCrunch. September 12, 2012. https://web.archive.org/web/20121008062228/https://techcrunch.com/2012/09/12/scoot-the-zipcar-for-scooters-grabs-550k-in-seed-funding/. October 8, 2012. December 1, 2019.
  22. Web site: Tech Investors Buy Themselves Some Blue Bottle Coffee. Tsotsis. Alexia. TechCrunch. January 30, 2014. https://web.archive.org/web/20140824040509/https://techcrunch.com/2014/01/29/coffee/. August 24, 2014. December 1, 2019.
  23. Web site: Spoon University Raises $2M To Serve A Food Network To Millennials. Shieber. Jonathan. TechCrunch. July 14, 2015. https://web.archive.org/web/20150715051908/http://techcrunch.com/2015/07/14/spoon-university-raises-2m-to-serve-a-food-network-to-millennials/. July 15, 2015. December 1, 2019.
  24. Web site: Residential Real Estate Platform Nestio Lands An $8M Series A Round. Tepper. Fitz. TechCrunch. December 1, 2015. https://web.archive.org/web/20160101045151/http://techcrunch.com/2015/12/01/residential-real-estate-platform-nestio-lands-a-8m-series-a-round/. January 1, 2016. December 1, 2019.
  25. Web site: Just 4% of Female-led Startups Are Run by Black Women—I'm One of Them. Kunst. Sarah. Fortune. February 22, 2016. https://web.archive.org/web/20170305042851/https://fortune.com/2016/02/22/just-4-of-female-led-startups-are-run-by-black-women-im-one-of-them/. March 5, 2017. December 1, 2019.
  26. Web site: Inside one woman investor's plan to get black female founders funding. O’Connor. Clare. Bloomberg L.P.. February 27, 2017. December 1, 2019.
  27. Web site: The Hermès of Marijuana. Williams. Alex. March 17, 2017. The New York Times. https://archive.today/20191110185707/https://www.nytimes.com/2017/03/17/style/marijuana-pot-california-beboe.html. November 10, 2019. November 10, 2019. live.
  28. Web site: The rising stars of marijuana's investment scene that everyone from Wall Street to Silicon Valley should know. Berke. Jeremy. Robinson. Melia. Business Insider. May 17, 2018. https://web.archive.org/web/20190831123618/https://www.businessinsider.com/marijuana-industry-rising-investment-stars-2018-3. August 31, 2019. November 10, 2019.
  29. Web site: Meet 'Gotham Gal' Joanne Wilson, an outspoken angel investor and a Woman of Influence. New York Business Journal. January 4, 2016. https://web.archive.org/web/20170106121138/https://www.bizjournals.com/newyork/news/2016/01/04/meet-gotham-gal-joanne-wilson-an-outspoken-angel.html. January 6, 2017. April 30, 2020.
  30. Web site: Fred Wilson & Joanne Wilson. Crain's New York Business. 2016. https://web.archive.org/web/20191109212520/https://www.crainsnewyork.com/awards/fred-wilson-joanne-wilson. November 9, 2019. November 10, 2019.

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