Jess Walker

Deep empathy for the founder journey is critical in the VC space. I founded my own startup in 2016 and was thrilled to exit a few years later. But this was by no means smooth sailing and the highs and lows on the rollercoaster of the founder journey were some of the most intense and often isolating experiences of my life. I bring these memories and empathy when interacting with any founder.

I live by Eleanor Roosevelt's quote, "Do one thing every day that scares you". Based on this, I recently decided to do a 2-month stand up comedy course. Terrifying but deeply rewarding, making everything else seem a little less scary. I'm not sure I have a strong career in stand up though... ‍

‍The ANZ Startup Ecosystem grows when we back each other. I strongly believe in the power of giving back in whatever capacity you can. I try to do this as much as possible through volunteering on startup boards to mentoring new founders in the early stage of their business. ‍

Variety and constant exposure to new ideas inspire me. When I'm not working or plotting e-com side hustles, I'll be hiking (highly recommend taking a month off and hiking the Camino de Santiago) or camping in my rooftop tent. If you ever want to catch up and we can do it by the beach, in nature or just a walking coffee meeting, even better.