Today’s episode is full of real talk with Merci Victoria Grace. Merci is an investor, advisor and product builder. She was previously a venture capitalist at Lightspeed, Director of Product at Slack, and started her career as a founder of a social gaming company after pursuing a degree in fiction writing from USC.

Jana, April and Merci talk about their family backgrounds and what it’s like to navigate Silicon Valley having no exposure to the business cultural norms of the industry growing up, what to look for in founders they back, and why understanding what they call ‘invisible work’ is crucial for building customer empathy.

We wrap up each episode with a shout out to people who have inspired us along the way. Merci gives a shout out to her husband, Yanda Erlich, and Michael Dearing, founder of Harrison Metal.

The #ANGELS Pod brings you conversations about the latest tech trends with the people inventing and shaping them in Silicon Valley and beyond. Hosted by the co-founders of #ANGELS, an investment collective: Jessica Verrilli, April Underwood, Jana Messerschmidt, Chloe Sladden, Katie Stanton, and Vijaya Gadde. We cover personal stories about breaking into tech and scaling up, and inside looks at the most interesting startups, from the people building them.

This podcast is just getting started and we’d love your feedback. You can reach us on Twitter @HashtagAngels and thanks in advance for listening!

The #ANGELS Podcast is a production of Haitch Industries. Our theme music is by Tobey Forsman of Whipsong Music. The episode was produced by Matt Herrero and edited by editaudio.