Vanessa Pestritto is the program director at New York Angels, a firm that matches investors with startups who are looking for funding. Day to day, she nurtures the experience between investors and startups, ensuring they have a mutually beneficial relationship.
But her road to this role hasn’t been a conventional one. Vanessa started her professional experience at art galleries. She worked across several departments on sales, marketing, and operations and moved up from an intern role to a director position.
Today, in addition to overseeing deals and membership at New York Angels, she writes a blog, IamVP.com. Because of her true entrepreneurial spirit, we asked Vanessa for some tips and advice she’s learned along the way:
There is always room for improvement. Around 1997, I knew I wanted to carve a different path for myself. I was drawn to improving processes and eliminating inefficiencies, then I mastered the craft of building, growing, and changing my businesses over the years.
Be a creator. A creator is someone who pushes outside his or her safety zone in life, business, or art. Sometimes, in order to grow and become the best you can be, you need to test your own limits.
Always know your audience. I tell startups to be clear and direct about the value they are creating. Understand why people should care and why they should be willing to pay for that value.
Inspire yourself to write. Writing is a great exercise for the brain, and it can help all other aspects of your life run more effectively. I write because I have to, but posting for a blog is different. It is demanding, especially with a full-time job. When I create a post, it must be of value and contain relevant content such as trends or frequently asked questions.
Lessons from working with funders and business creators: I’ve learned to take risks. Remember that you do not know everything. It’s always important to ask questions because you are always learning, and there is always an opportunity to grow.
