erica wenger🏕️
@erica_wenger
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entrepreneur & investor | gp @parkrangerscap 🏕️ | nyc ambassador @brexhq | host @ dear twentysomething pod | speaker @tedx
New York, NY
Joined January 2009
📣 Excited to share a foundational essay I've been crafting that dives into the types of companies we back at @parkrangerscap!. The next gen of great tech co's won’t look like the last. We’re on the hunt for elephants🐘, not unicorns🦄. Read more below!.
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A once-in-a-lifetime experience happened to my twin sister today & I thought you all may find it pretty breathtaking & beautiful too! 🫶.
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What are the odds that they met? Know my dad is looking down today & smiling big time. Such a beautiful moment that shows just how small the world is & how precious life truly is 🤍.
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For those of you who don’t know, my dad passed away right before we were born & this attending never knew my dad had children. Let alone had a child that was in med school standing right in front of him in the operating room.
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The attending also told my sister one of the main reasons he went into the specialty of gyn onc was because of my dad’s rare cancer (my dad was a biological man but his cancer had a strange feminine origin). The attending devoted his life/career to helping people just like my dad.
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Both the attending & my sister cried and exchanged stories about my dad. Apparently, this attending & my dad studied together for every test (of course now that we knew his first name, it rang a bell as my mom had mentioned him!).
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The attending then said “I may know him! What is his name?” and she said “Michael Wenger”. The attending dropped his instruments & immediately froze. My sister said it looked like he had just seen a ghost. The attending then said quietly “I was his best friend”.
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Towards the end of the surgery, they start making small talk & then the topic of med school comes up. My sister asked the attending where he went to med school & he said Univ of Arizona in class of ‘88. My sister said “No way! I think that’s the year my dad graduated med school”.
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My twin sister is in medical school right now & today was her first day doing gyn onc (reproductive cancers) at a new hospital. She was in the operating room this AM assisting an attending & resident on a surgery. Normal day, didn’t think much of it!.
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@Chantal1010 She’s a superwoman! Strongest person I know. She’s also a surgeon and saves lives every day. I’m very blessed.
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@AvivaKlompas This broke me last night. To wish for death above torture is something no parent should have to experience.
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@NFTgoldilocks Many people don’t know how creative they are because they don’t let themselves sit around and do nothing ***.
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Interesting to see which VCs & founders have unfollowed me in the past 36 hrs due to my support of 🇮🇱. To each their own, that’s the beauty of free will! But I won’t forget.
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This just happened to my twin!!!!. @edsheeran doing a surprise stop at @TheWienerCircle in Chicago to hand out hot dogs before his show tonight! INSANE 🌭🥲
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Last decade: technical founders have the edge. Next decade: storytelling founders have the edge.
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@offbeatorbit Feel free to DM me anytime - it’s a unique experience that so few understand. You’re a superwoman! You got this! 🎗️🫶.
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🚨Founders— I want to put small checks into 3 more startups by the end of the year!. If you’re building at the intersection of technology & impact, shoot me a DM!📩.
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The new Netflix show Live to Lead is INCREDIBLE (produced by Meghan & Harry)! 🤩. It’s 7 documentary-style episodes featuring 7 incredible activists. Couldn’t recommend it more!.
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@SignificantOttr @Chantal1010 Mom and dad were both chief residents 🤣 it’s veryyyy Grey’s Anatomy.
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I’ve been getting some photo requests of the fam so just sharing these 2!. Mom, twin, & me in first pic 👩👧👧❤️. Mom & dad in second pic 🕊️🤍
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I have strong desires weekly to create an all-female next generation version of the Paypal Mafia.
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@cory @kevinhartz I’m happy to recommend some amazing female founders & Black founders for your next cohort!!.
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What’s the one-liner you repeat to yourself when you need motivation/need to convince yourself you can do anything you set your mind to?.
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For the record I used to NEVER tell people about my dad passing b/c I didn’t want pity, I didn’t want to explain what happened, etc. But as I’ve gotten older I’ve realized life is about sharing stories & having the courage to be vulnerable… that’s what connects us all 🫶.
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Best preseed VC firms you know? Tag them below!!👇. Lots of folks say preseed on website but they tend to want much more traction/just really do seed. (have a friend raising & want to narrow down list for her).
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For almost 70% of people, their manager has more impact on their mental health than their therapist or their doctor and it’s equal to the impact of their partner 🤯🤯🤯 . (from a recent @Forbes article).
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@NoxTana Exactly! Breathtaking to think about the ripple effects of his decision to go into oncology.
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Haven’t stopped thinking about this #Barbie monologue since I saw it several days ago. Even if you haven’t seen the movie, please take 2 min to watch this!. It’s powerful for all genders to listen to this & better understand what it means to be a woman
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Won’t forget that @generalcatalyst was the 1st fund to quickly denounce what was happening in 🇮🇱. Whereas everyone else spent time crafting perfect statements & waiting several days. Will remember GC & go above and beyond to support them in future.
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@gauravsabnis C+ middle school PE! I wanted to just walk & talk with my friends vs run around the park on the Wednesday Mile days.
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Taken back by the love/reach on yesterday’s post. B/c of the post, a stranger DM’ed me & shared his story. He just had a newborn & a bad cancer diagnosis all at once. Similar to my dad. Lots of fear. I’m now able to give advice & reassure him his kid will be ok no matter what.
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Of the 50 most influential investors, 14 are women🙌. 11 @loriberenberg.12 @serenawilliams.13 @sonofalli.19 @xtinacomputes.25 @venturetwins.28 @steviemctweets.29 @arlanwashere.31 @nwischoff.37 @heyalexfriedman.39 me.41 @lolitataub.44 @ashleymayer.45 @jessthevc.47 @dunkhippo33.
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Pic this morning of Israelis from all over the world flying back home to protect their people. The bravery of going towards war is something I simply cannot comprehend, I can only salute. 🫡🇮🇱🙏
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Honored to be on this “Tech Investors to Boycott” list 📝 (. I know many of these folks personally (esp gotten to know them in the past few weeks) & the irony is they AREN’T anti-Palestine. They’re just anti-terrorism & are standing on the right side of.
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Many of you may or may not know that for several yrs I had a boss who had previously been a Navy SEAL for 10 yrs. He said all these one-liners & stories that have stuck w/ me! One that keeps coming up recently that may be helpful to some of you…. “Slow is smooth, smooth is fast”.
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Best nonfiction book you’ve ever read? 📚. Ideally it taught you something meaningful that you still think about often!. (I tend to just stick to autobiographies, psych/human performance books, & romance novels but looking to diversify).
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Who are the best women in VC (GPs, platform people, chief of staffs, investors, etc) that live in LA, SF, or NYC (or would come out for an event in one of those cities)?. Planning some very fun events over the next 1-2 months & want to invite folks just outside my network too!🤩.
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FYI early stage founders— at least 5 of the early stage emerging VC funds I spoke w/ last week said they’re actively looking for great founders & ready to deploy $. Mtgs are happening & deals are getting done!.
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What’re the most WOW pitch deck designs you’ve ever seen? Need some inspo tonight! 💥.
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Anyone else have desires monthly to purchase a huge plot of land, get several of those Home Depot pre-built houses for $15k, & go live out in the middle of nowhere on that land in those houses w/ a bunch of friends?.
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You know what I think about sometimes?. How Siri (@Apple), Alexa (@amazon), Erica (@BankofAmerica) & most voice assistants are female names/voices🤦♀️🔊. Telling women what to do… “turn on music”, “answer my question”, etc must have subconscious effects on gender stereotypes.
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If you’re Jewish & a VC plz DM me. Working on something!.
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Am I the only one who never sets an OOO message on my email? I’ll reply when I reply.
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An undergrad who runs a VC club at a top university DM’ed me asking for advice for undergrads that hope to be VCs. I said I would go build something or join a very early startup to learn how business works!. What advice would you give them? 🤔 (I’m sending her this thread!).
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A thoughtful cold email will get you farther than you could ever imagine.
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The most beautiful NYC community gathering & fundraiser tonight for 🇮🇱 organized by @shaig. We sang Hatikvah all together, which is Israel’s national anthem & is a song about hope… was emotional to say the least 🙏
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Announcing my next work gig… venture capital! 🥳. A few months ago, I joined @briannekimmel at @WorklifeVC as Head of Platform! (more in 🧵).
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Someone “guessed” my Calendly link and booked time on my calendar? Huh?. Guaranteed way to get blocked! FYI this isn’t what I mean when I say reach out cold🤦♀️.
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Past 24 hours have been a healthy reminder that distribution > product.
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Got a few more unfollows from VCs at top funds 👀. I truly don’t mind (I have plenty of followers), but I REALLY hope the top partners there are doing the work internally to identify teammates who don’t see this week’s events as terrorism.
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You know how when you meet a new group for the first time and someone says “let’s go around and say your name, what you do, & a fun fact”?. What’s the go-to fun fact you give every time? 🥲.
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The incoming first year residency class for @Stanford general surgery has 12 women & 1 man!. Let’s go ladies! We love to see it!!! 👏👏
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In the past few days 11M+ people on Twitter heard about the crazy encounter my twin had. We’ve had a few friends of my mom & dad from residency comment/find us, previous teachers commented, @Upworthy reposted, major news outlets pinged us, etc. Overwhelming but ty for the love🫶.
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Exciting to see @KimKardashian launch a PE fund✨. The power of celebrities investing & making it mainstream cannot be overstated!. Lots of texts from friends asking what is PE & how is it different from VC? Put together some slides on IG & sharing here too. Lmk what you think!🙌
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For anyone who needs to hear it. I broke into venture capital by cold emailing VCs I wanted to work for. I sold my second company by cold emailing CEOs of my competitors. Thoughtful cold outreach is the way to having the professional life you want.
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The best night hosting some of my rockstar VC girlfriends! Soul filling! 💃🏻🫶
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🚨Founders— I’m seeing lots of VCs are back in town today post-LDW…. & are ready to hit the ground running with deploying capital. Time to fill out pitch forms & send emails!. If you’re a VC looking to deploy, share here the stage/sector/where to submit (pitch form or email)!📩.
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Think about it… a VC whose sole value prop is paying for the founding team’s ongoing therapy & exec coaching. Would prob get outlier returns too… esp as co-founder conflict, economic downturns, imposter syndrome at scale, etc arise.
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Vow to take that big bet on yourself in 2023 🙏. (I definitely am!!!!).
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Who are the investors (analysts, associates, principals, etc) at VC funds that you’re most excited about?. ⭐️Bonus points if they’re NOT a partner and instead a more junior member of the investment team.
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If you’re an emerging fund manager that’s starting to raise or continuing to raise your fund in Q1 2023, comment below or DM me!. I want to help you get more LP intros & am building a community of people who want to help you too! 🙏.
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The next gen of great VCs will build a cultlike community around their firm.
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I’ve spent the past few weeks speaking w/ 20+ VC-backed founders about their health & 2 major takeaways so far…. - almost all have severe anxiety.- almost all are obsessive about their sleep (either they get great sleep or get terrible sleep & obsess over how to fix it).
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Ok just kidding! Couldn’t wait 10 yrs. Building it now💭🚀✨.
Journaled today about what I want to build one day (in the next 10 yrs)…. I put all ideas in journal, even the org structure/naming. I’ll look back on this day/tweet yrs from now once it comes true!. I’ve got big dreams, but working on patience… it’ll happen eventually🙏💭.
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Had a smaller VC DM me back saying they had no interest in hopping on a call w/ me b/c of my views on 🇮🇱 (its v rare but it happens). Standing for what's right doesn't mean everyone will like you! Have to be ok with that. Isn't that the VC game at its core though? Being unafraid.
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It’s just about finding the believers not convincing the non-believers!.
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I’m loving NYC so far!!!!!. The energy is unreal. If you don’t live here, come join us!.
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Which 3 are you prioritizing right now? & which do you want to work on for 2023? I’m a sucker for a great framework 🤩. I’m prioritizing… work, family, sleep.I’m working on… eating healthy & exercise
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📣 I’m joining @brexhq as their newest Ambassador, will be based in NYC and focusing on working closely with startup founders & VCs. Couldn’t imagine a better platform to align with & super grateful to them for seeing the value in the community I’ve been building online & with.
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Not enough people have a 10 year vision for what they’re building.
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A dilemma w/ being young in startups/VC…🤔. Unless you have a side hustle or move up the corp ladder FAST, it’s hard to be an accredited investor (make $200k+/yr). & therefore hard to angel invest.& therefore hard to build a track record.& therefore hard to raise your own fund.
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Who are the emerging fund managers you’re most excited about?.
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Made an IG story b/c I got some q’s from non-VC friends about my “0 women in @figma deal” IG story. I put stats together about what it’s like to be a woman in tech. We aren’t setting ourselves up to build the best future possible w/ stats like these. 3%, 2%, 0%… come on
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Sometimes I think about the fact that I helped someone get their dream job in VC & they never said thank you.
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Please consider donating to the @FIDF! . That’s my cousin Alexa on the FIDF’s home page… she’s my age, born & raised in LA, & then one day packed up her things & moved to Israel to serve in the IDF. She’s braver than I’ll ever be.
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For emerging fund managers & smaller VCs— would it be helpful if I did a “Platform 101” series & published resources as I build them?. So many small VC firms w/ teams of <5 & I imagine we’re all building the same things in silos (portals, trackers, resources, etc)!. #VCinPublic.
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Cold email works 🙏 Emailed a very well-known/well-respected person at this cadence:. Nov 18.Nov 29.Jan 18.April 4. Then this person replied to me yesterday & we have a call scheduled in a few weeks! We’ve got one life… go for it!!!.
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Tonight is for sending shameless follow-up emails! 🥲. Almost every big opportunity in my life has come after a 3rd follow up email.
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Planning a big NYC Hanukkah Party for my tech friends (sponsored generously by @brexHQ ofc)!. Instead of doing a classic holiday party, we’re going to double down on Jewish vibes! Invites will be going out to wonderful Jews AND non-Jews. Can’t wait to share our culture! 🕎🙏✡️.
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🚨Founders— Saw this in a deck today & love it (so copy it!). Slide titled “Why companies haven’t chosen to work with us yet” with 3 most common reasons they hear no. Love seeing reasons for pushback - shows they’ve done extensive user research & gives investors nuanced context🙌.
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We need more capital going to *underrepresented* founders & emerging GPs who want to build their dream BUT are often the least likely to come from wealth. Very few people can take ~2 yrs w/ no salary. If you want to create a more diverse ecosystem, fund that group early & often!.
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I wish more people were comfortable saying they were still forming their opinion on something vs. always needing to have an answer.
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I keep thinking about how 18 yr olds in the US illegally occupy buildings & protest about a war they often don’t know much about. vs 18 yr olds in Israel are all enlisting in the military, serving their country, & putting their life on the line. The juxtaposition is astounding.
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If you’re a founder (ideally VC-backed or have plans to be), I want to chat with you about the relationship you have w/ your health (mind & body). Doing some user research, so if that’s you plz shoot me a DM. Ty! 📩.
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Am Yisrael Chai 🇮🇱. Tough day. Please pray for our friends overseas.
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I love hearing about huge startups that were formed outside the major cities. What’re the best examples of this? 🌆. Ex. @zapier started in Columbia, Missouri!.
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Food from last night’s beautiful shabbat & fundraiser!. 200 young NYC Jews & Jewish allies all together 🙏
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📣HUGE FUND NEWS!. Honored to be selected to join the 1st inaugural @RecastCapital Accelerate program committed to supporting female & diverse fund managers. Each of the VC funds selected received a no-strings-attached $100k paid for by @melindagates @pivotalventures. 🐘🏕️💪.
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Finalized the deck for the thing I’m building as of 1 minute ago!!!! Very grateful to those who helped (you know who you are). Let’s do this thing! 🚀.
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