Podcast: Judy Sindecuse, Top Quartile Female Venture Capitalist

Your next Shot Caller story is told by Judy Sindecuse, CEO of  Capital Innovators, a top rated venture capital and accelerator fund in St. Louis, Missouri.

Judy founded Bride & Groom magazine out of necessity and created a very successful formula for investing in future businesses.  Today, Judy is a top quartile rated female venture capitalist who has raised over $300 million in venture funds.  Unfortunately, Judy is still the only female asset manager in St. Louis, Missouri.

Judy’s first foray into entrepreneurship came on the heels of her experience as Missouri’s Miss Teen 1982 when she started expanding the Missouri Miss Teen into local/city franchises.              

She was then recruited by the engineering Dean of SMU to join their mechanical engineering school. She credits him with being ahead of his time, recruiting young women to the program. Disappointingly, by graduation, there were only 2 women left in the program having initially a 50% boy/girl ratio.

Judy went to Harvard Law School after graduating from SMU, with a view towards being a prosecutor. It was during her legal career she had her first career pivot and founded Bride and Groom Magazine. 

Judy is a fantastic inspiration for any young or mature women who may have pursued a competitive career path only to find that it isn’t as fulfilling as they thought it would be.

Judy talks about her love of math and hilariously tells us she is not the type of person to “blow off a penny” when balancing her checkbook!

We discuss the importance of hearing that you can do “whatever you want” as a young girl. If you are told you can, you never stop to think you can’t! We both credit our mothers with instilling this seed in our impressionable, young minds. 

She also tells a great story about how the smartest people she knows are never embarrassed to ask a question when they don't understand something.

One of the challenges that Judy encounters as a top rated venture capitalist is getting more women involved on the investing side. It is a trend she really hopes to change.

If you enjoy this podcast, reach out to Judy and tell her.  Please also share with as many friends, sisters, mothers, daughters as possible to inspire them to be audacious and pursue their dreams.

https://shotcaller.co.uk/subscribe-to-updates/ ‎

https://www.linkedin.com/in/judy-sindecuse-74118a19/

https://capitalinnovators.com/

Capital Innovators provides investment during Series A financing rounds for high-growth companies.

What is an accelerator?  Groups and mentors who provide "seed" capital along with mentorship, sales and strategy advice for the start-up.