Crunchbase Spotlight is a series that celebrates diversity and inclusion in entrepreneurship, venture capital, and tech by profiling people of color, women, and individuals who identify as LGBTQ.
Ask five people how they got into the venture capital industry and you’ll get five different responses.
Some go the traditional route by getting a finance degree, working at a bank, and then transitioning into the industry. Others get into it through alternative means such as being on the receiving end of a large payday after selling a company or by sheer will and determination.
Meet Jessica David, Director of Marketing at SeventySix Capital, a venture capital firm based in Philadelphia that invests in startups focused on sports tech. She’s a perfect example of someone who transitioned to the venture capital industry through those kinds of alternative means.
The Path to Venture Capital
With a degree in fine arts focused on graphic design and a passion for business, there wasn’t a clear linear path to venture capital for David.
She started out as a marketing intern at the Pennsylvania Department of Education, which turned into a full-time role when she graduated from James Madison University.
There she would spend six years learning the ins and outs of communications, public relations, social media, and other marketing functions.
Eager for a new challenge and the opportunity to take her career to the next level, David joined Meyer Design, a national architecture and interior design agency based in Philadelphia. Little did she know that this would be the launchpad for her next great adventure.
As luck would have it, the opportunity for David to break into the venture capital industry, which has been notorious for its lack of diversity, came when she was helping a Meyer Design client build their brand. This client happened to be SeventySix Capital.
As if the stars were not aligned enough, David had been wanting to be part of a group of entrepreneurial-minded individuals and help build something bigger than what she was used to. SeventySix Capital just happened to be helping sports tech startups that were creating next-generation technology grow into industry-changing companies.
With the work David already put into building SeventySix Capital’s brand while at Meyer Design and the mission the venture capital firm embarked on, the match just made sense.
Fast forward to now and David has been, for the last three years, a key part of building SeventySix Capital into a venture capital firm that’s making a splash in the sports tech space.
A Message to the Venture Capital World
Jessica David joins a growing list of women who are not just adding a much-needed dose of diversity in a historically not-so-diverse industry, they’re thriving and creating a ton of value along the way.
As she continues her work with SeventySix Capital, she has an important message, “Everyone who recognizes that it’s [the lack of diversity] an issue and is part of the problem needs to get out there and meet as many people as possible. Something I like to say here [at SeventySix Capital] is that we have an open-door policy. We reply to every email, accept every call, and make it a point to invite diverse founders to apply for funding.”
