Joanne Wilson
Joanne Wilson (born 1961) is an American businesswoman and angel investor. She is best known for backing female-founded companies.
Joanne Wilson | |
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Wilson in 2016 | |
Born | 1961 (age 58–59) |
Nationality | American |
Alma mater | Simmons College |
Occupation | businesswoman, angel investor |
Years active | 1994–present |
Spouse(s) | Fred Wilson |
Website | gothamgal |
Biography
Early life and education
Joanne Wilson was born in 1961 in Los Angeles, California.[1] Her mother was a teacher and her father was an underwater nuclear warfare engineer.[1] Both parents were entrepreneurs and had their own businesses. They divorced when Wilson was 16.[1]
Wilson majored in Finance and Retail Management at Simmons College in Boston, which she graduated in 1983.[2][1] She met her future husband Fred Wilson while at college and they moved to New York City.[3]
Career
Wilson began her career at Macy’s, working there for 4 years in retail apparel department.[4] Her first job at Macy’s was overseeing a cosmetics department.[5][6] After Macy’s she oversaw a company in the garment center, then worked at sales for the startup magazine and events company called Silicon Alley Reporter.[4][7] She also chaired the nonprofit MOUSE (Making Opportunities in Upgrading Schools in Education), the organization focused on technology in inner-city schools.[8][9][10]
Wilson has been blogging since 1994 under the name Gotham Gal.[11] Later, she named her investment fund Gotham Gal Ventures.[12][13]
She turned to investing in 2007.[14][6]
In 2010, together with Nancy Hechinger from the New York University she co-founded and co-chaired an annual Women Entrepreneurs Festival.[15][16][17]
From 2010 to 2015, she chaired the board of Hot Bread Kitchen, a nonprofit that promotes and trains female and minority bakers.[13][18][19] 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.[20]
Since 2009, Wilson is involved in real estate development in the New York City.[21][22]
Investments
In 2007, Wilson made her first investment into Lockhart Steele’s startup Curbed.[23][14][6] Some of her early investments included Food52, Rick's Picks, DailyWorth, Hot Bread Kitchen and Scoot.[24][25][26] In 2014, she invested in Blue Bottle Coffee, a coffee roaster and retailer, and in Spoon University, a food media company, in 2015.[27][28] Later in 2015, she invested in Nestio, the NY-based leasing and marketing platform for residential landlords.[29]
Wilson became known for investing in women-led startups.[30][31][32] In 2012, 13 of her 17 investments were in tech and out of those 13, 10 were women-founded companies.[6] As of 2016, around 70 percent of her investments were in companies led by women.[14] 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.[33][34][35]
In 2017, Wilson made two angel investments in the cannabis industry: Octavia Wellness and Beboe.[36][37][38]
In August 2018, Forbes ranked her 25th in the list of “50 Angel Investors Based On Investment Volume And Successful Exits” with 63 investments.[39]
Personal life
Wilson is married to venture capitalist Fred Wilson, a cofounder of Union Square Ventures.[40] The couple live in New York City. They have three children, two daughters and a son.[41][42][43] In 2016, Crain's New York Business included Fred and Joanne Wilson into its “Power Couples” list.[44]
Recognition
Year | Recognition | Recognition type | Awarding body |
---|---|---|---|
2012 | THE ANGEL 100: New York's Top Early Stage Investors[45] | Feature | Business Insider |
2012 | THE SILICON ALLEY 100: The Coolest People In New York Tech This Year[46] | Rating | Business Insider |
2012 | League of Extraordinary Women 2012[47] | Rating | Fast Company |
2013 | The 15 Hottest Women In Tech Who Were Not Hot Enough For Complex's '40 Hottest Women in Tech' List[48] | Feature | Forbes |
2013 | 40 Women To Watch Over 40[49] | Feature | Forbes |
2016 | Women of Influence[50] | Award | New York Business Journal |
2017 | 10 Investors Who Are Authentically Committed To Funding Female Founders[51] | Feature | Forbes |
2018 | 50 Angel Investors Based On Investment Volume And Successful Exits[39] | Rating | Forbes |
2018 | 30 women in venture capital to watch in 2018[52] | Feature | Business Insider |
2019 | Notable Women in Tech[20] | Feature | Crain’s New York Business |
Bibliography
- Saujani, Reshma (2013). Women Who Don't Wait in Line. Houghton Mifflin Harcourt. ISBN 978-0-544-02778-7 – via Google Books.
- Feld, Brad; Batchelo, Amy (2013). Startup Life: Surviving and Thriving in a Relationship with an Entrepreneur. John Wiley & Sons. ISBN 978-1-118-49386-1 – via Google Books.
- Krotz, Joanna (2015). Being Equal Doesn't Mean Being The Same. Motivational Press. ISBN 978-1628652505.
- Pimsleur, Julia (2015). Million Dollar Women: The Essential Guide for Female Entrepreneurs Who Want to Go Big. Simon & Schuster. ISBN 978-1-4767-9029-9 – via Google Books.
- Waldman Rodriguez, Jessamyn; Turshen, Julia (2015). The Hot Bread Kitchen Cookbook: Artisanal Baking from Around the World. Clarkson Potter/Publishers. ISBN 978-0-8041-8618-6 – via Google Books.
- Maher, Josh (2016). Startup Wealth: How The Best Angel Investors Make Money In Startups. CreateSpace. ISBN 978-1533606013.
- Anid, Nada; Cantileno, Laurie; Morrow, Monique J.; Zafar, Rahilla (2016). The Internet of Women: Accelerating Culture Change. River Publishers. ISBN 978-87-93379-68-8 – via Google Books.
- Cabot, Heather; Walravens, Samantha (2017). Geek Girl Rising: Inside the Sisterhood Shaking Up Tech. St. Martin's Publishing Group. ISBN 978-1-250-11226-2 – via Google Books.
References
- Griffit, Donna (2017-02-10). ""It's Not All About The Concept"". Medium. Archived from the original on 2019-11-10. Retrieved 2019-11-10.
- "Alumnae/i achievements". Simmons. Simmons University (Fall 2012): 14. 2012. Retrieved 2019-11-10 – via yumpu.com.
- Shontell, Alyson (2014-04-13). "FRED WILSON Q&A: The Legendary Investor Talks Retirement, Tumblr's Exit, And Getting Over A Tough Year". Business Insider. Archived from the original on 2018-11-24. Retrieved 2019-11-10.
- Suster, Mark (2011-04-19). "8 Startup Lessons You Could Learn From Gotham Gal". Fast Company. Archived from the original on 2013-11-10. Retrieved 2019-11-10.
- Cabot, Walravens, 2017, p. 71
- Shontell, Alyson (2012-02-29). "Meet Joanne Wilson, an investor in 17 startups who's part of a tech power couple". Business Insider. Archived from the original on 2013-03-27. Retrieved 2019-11-10.
- Rewick, Jennifer L. (2000-02-29). "Silicon Alley Reporter Seeks Some Silicon Alley Investors". The Wall Street Journal. Retrieved 2019-11-10.(subscription required)
- "Joanne Wilson: The Woman Empowering Angel Investor". Columbia University. 2016. Archived from the original on 2016-06-20. Retrieved 2019-11-10.
- "Activate New York 2013: Judging panel". The Guardian. 2013-09-18. Archived from the original on 2014-09-05. Retrieved 2019-11-10.
- Allbritton, Chris (2000-04-23). "A MOUSE THAT ROARED The crusade to get city students online". New York Daily News. Archived from the original on 2019-11-10. Retrieved 2019-11-10.
- Maher, 2016, p. 43
- Chernova, Yuliya (2014-02-28). "Sweeten.com Tries to Make Home Renovation Process Less Bitter". The Wall Street Journal. Archived from the original on 2019-11-12. Retrieved 2019-11-17.
- Kowitt, Beth (2014-09-03). "The Most Innovative Women in Food and Drink". Fortune. Archived from the original on 2019-08-25. Retrieved 2019-11-17.
- Johnson, Mary (2016-02-18). "Gotham Gal Joanne Wilson is an angel investor — and 'chick magnet'". Albany Business Review. Archived from the original on 2017-03-02. Retrieved 2019-11-10.
- Allison, Keith (2014-04-11). "Looking Forward at the Women Entrepreneurs Festival". New York University. Archived from the original on 2019-04-23. Retrieved 2019-11-17.
- Krotz, 2015, p. 53
- Marinova, Polina (2016-01-28). "What Women Want". Fortune. Archived from the original on 2019-09-01. Retrieved 2019-11-17.
- Waldman, Turshen, 2015, p. 293
- Waldman Rodriguez, Jessamyn (2015-12-07). "Farewell to Outgoing Board Chair Joanne Wilson". hotbreadkitchen.org (Press release). Archived from the original on 2019-11-17. Retrieved 2019-11-17.
- "Notable Women in Tech". Crain’s New York Business. 2019-04-08. Archived from the original on 2019-05-08. Retrieved 2019-11-25.
- Hughes, C.J. (2012-09-21). "On the Waterfront, Minus the Stevedores". The New York Times. Archived from the original on 2015-04-01. Retrieved 2019-11-17.
- Hughes, C.J. (2020-01-17). "Five Stories Tall and Made of Wood". The New York Times. Archived from the original on 2020-01-22. Retrieved 2020-04-30.
- Maher, 2016, p. 43
- Boyd Myers, Courtney (2011-12-11). "Breakfast of Champions: Joanne Wilson on writing, investing and mentoring". The Next Web. Archived from the original on 2016-10-08. Retrieved 2019-12-01.
- Primack, Dan (2012-01-06). "Venture capital deals". Fortune. Archived from the original on 2019-12-01. Retrieved 2019-12-01.
- Perez, Sarah (2012-09-12). "Scoot, The "Zipcar For Scooters," Grabs $550K In Seed Funding". TechCrunch. Archived from the original on 2012-10-08. Retrieved 2019-12-01.
- Tsotsis, Alexia (2014-01-30). "Tech Investors Buy Themselves Some Blue Bottle Coffee". TechCrunch. Archived from the original on 2014-08-24. Retrieved 2019-12-01.
- Shieber, Jonathan (2015-07-14). "Spoon University Raises $2M To Serve A Food Network To Millennials". TechCrunch. Archived from the original on 2015-07-15. Retrieved 2019-12-01.
- Tepper, Fitz (2015-12-01). "Residential Real Estate Platform Nestio Lands An $8M Series A Round". TechCrunch. Archived from the original on 2016-01-01. Retrieved 2019-12-01.
- Saujani, 2013, p. 121
- Anid et al., 2016, p. 109
- O'Brien, Sara Ashley (2015-05-05). "How this investor is bridging the 'bravado gap'". CNN Business. Archived from the original on 2015-04-10. Retrieved 2019-12-01.
- Cabot, Walravens, 2017, p. 70
- Kunst, Sarah (2016-02-22). "Just 4% of Female-led Startups Are Run by Black Women—I'm One of Them". Fortune. Archived from the original on 2017-03-05. Retrieved 2019-12-01.
- O’Connor, Clare (2017-02-27). "Inside one woman investor's plan to get black female founders funding". Bloomberg L.P. Retrieved 2019-12-01.
- Williams, Alex (2017-03-17). "The Hermès of Marijuana". The New York Times. Archived from the original on 2019-11-10. Retrieved 2019-11-10.
- Berke, Jeremy; Robinson, Melia (2018-05-17). "The rising stars of marijuana's investment scene that everyone from Wall Street to Silicon Valley should know". Business Insider. Archived from the original on 2019-08-31. Retrieved 2019-11-10.
- Cabot, Heather (2018-01-04). "Women In Weed Clap Back At Federal Government's Threat To Legal Pot". Forbes. Archived from the original on 2019-11-10. Retrieved 2019-11-10.
- Cremades, Alejandro (2018-08-05). "50 Angel Investors Based On Investment Volume And Successful Exits". Forbes. Retrieved 2019-11-10.
- Pimsleur 2015, p. 135
- Cabot, Walravens, 2017, p. 71
- Feld, Batchelo, 2013, p. 61
- "Meet 'Gotham Gal' Joanne Wilson, an outspoken angel investor and a Woman of Influence". New York Business Journal. 2016-01-04. Archived from the original on 2017-01-06. Retrieved 2020-04-30.
- "Fred Wilson & Joanne Wilson". Crain's New York Business. 2016. Archived from the original on 2019-11-10. Retrieved 2019-11-10.
- Shontell, Alyson (2012-06-21). "THE ANGEL 100: New York's Top Early Stage Investors". Business Insider. Archived from the original on 2019-07-26. Retrieved 2019-11-25.
- Shontell, Alyson (2012-10-25). "THE SILICON ALLEY 100: The Coolest People In New York Tech This Year". Business Insider. Archived from the original on 2018-11-26. Retrieved 2019-11-25.
- Rhodes, Margaret (2012-06-05). "Joanne Wilson". Fast Company. Archived from the original on 2019-11-09. Retrieved 2019-11-10.
- Hill, Kashmir (2013-03-26). "The 15 Hottest Women In Tech Who Were Not Hot Enough For Complex's '40 Hottest Women in Tech' List". Forbes. Archived from the original on 2016-12-16. Retrieved 2019-11-25.
- Dill, Kathryn (2013-06-25). "'40 Women To Watch Over 40' List Rewards Innovation And Disruption". Forbes. Archived from the original on 2013-06-28. Retrieved 2019-11-25.
- Moss, Jennings (2015-11-23). "These 79 extraordinary business people are our Women of Influence for 2016". New York Business Journal. Archived from the original on 2019-10-18. Retrieved 2019-11-25.
- Wang, Lisa (2017-10-31). "10 Investors Who Are Authentically Committed To Funding Female Founders, Part 1". Forbes. Archived from the original on 2017-11-02. Retrieved 2019-12-01.
- Bernard, Zoë (2018-02-14). "30 women in venture capital to watch in 2018". Business Insider. Archived from the original on 2018-02-14. Retrieved 2019-11-25.