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20,000 Startups, One Nervous System: Angela on Trauma, Guilt & Getting Real About Success
Manage episode 488364914 series 3464065
Angela reveals the surprising personal identity behind her professional achievements as an academic, entrepreneur, and investor who has evaluated over 20,000 startups throughout her career. She shares intimate insights about battling imposter syndrome, healing from childhood trauma, and finding balance while building businesses.
• Cooking represents both learning and nurturing for Angela, who almost chose culinary school over business school
• Early experiences with imposter syndrome taught her to lean into discomfort as a sign of growth
• Growing up with trauma led to compartmentalization skills that initially helped but required therapy to overcome
• The biggest myth in entrepreneurship is that success is about the idea rather than years of consistent execution
• Founders should protect non-negotiable personal time while acknowledging that venture-backed businesses require 60-80 hour weeks
• Experiencing failure firsthand as both a founder and manager created deeper empathy for the entrepreneurs she now evaluates
• Learning to let go of guilt and unrealistic planning helped her find more authentic leadership
• Early-career advice: ask for more help without fear of appearing uninformed
• Making protected time for deep work yields the highest ROI for investors and entrepreneurs
Follow Angela's investing insights at 37angels.com
More about Angela:
Angela Lee is an award-winning professor and former Chief Innovation Officer at Columbia Business School where she teaches venture capital and leadership courses. Angela started her career in product management and then moved to consulting at McKinsey. She has started 4 startups and is also the founder of 37 Angels, an investing network that has evaluated over 20000 startups, invested in 100, and activates new investors through a startup investment bootcamp. She also serves as a venture partner at Fresco Capital, an early-stage venture fund that focuses on the future of work, digital health, and sustainability.
Angela has spoken at the White House and NASA and is an expert in teaching online and making learning scalable. She is a sought-after expert on CNBC, Bloomberg TV, MSNBC and Fox Business. She was recognized by Crain’s as a Notable Women in Tech, by Inc. as one of 17 Inspiring Women to Watch, and by Entrepreneur Magazine as one of 6 Innovative Women to Watch. In 2020 and 2025, she was awarded the Dean's Award for Teaching Excellence at Columbia Business School and she was awarded the Singhvi Prize for Scholarship by the class of 2022.
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Special thank you to Ava Hoffman for editing this episode of the podcast
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**This information is not to be misconstrued as medical or psychological advice. Please contact your medical team if you have questions or concerns pertaining to your medical or psychological well-being. All of the linked products are independently selected, and curated by the fab Fortify team. If you love and buy something we link to, we may earn a commission.**
Chapters
1. Welcome to Fortify Wellness Podcast (00:00:00)
2. Angela Beyond Work: The Cook Within (00:01:46)
3. Battling Imposter Syndrome in Academia (00:03:36)
4. Healing Through Trauma and Compartmentalization (00:06:13)
5. The Myth of Entrepreneurial Ideas (00:09:04)
6. Building Trust in a Data-Driven World (00:11:10)
7. Work-Life Balance for Founders (00:13:29)
8. Letting Go of Guilt and Setting Boundaries (00:16:33)
9. Learning from Failure in Startups (00:19:33)
10. Advice to Her Younger Self (00:26:41)
11. Final Thoughts and Legacy (00:29:41)
72 episodes
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