A former Khosla Ventures investor and operator at Lululemon and Juicero, Simmons overcame a scary health diagnosis and tightening venture climate to have a baby and launch her new VC firm, Overwater Ventures, all at once.
. “What I learned was that if you don’t take risks, you don’t see rewards. It was an amazing experience,” Simmons said. “And now I have the credibility to tell my entrepreneurs not to raise $100 million pre-revenue. I recommend you don’t do that,” she quipped.
By 2021, Simmons believed she saw an opportunity in the VC market for a boutique investor with consumer expertise to help highly technical founders get their brands products to a wider market. Industry peers, too, were encouraging her to use that know-how to launch her own brand. Having seen other new funds struggle to find perfect partner fits, she decided to raise a solo general partner fund.
Unsure of her diagnosis and pregnant, Simmons had to reflect on continuing with Overwater. Within a month, her prognosis looked more promising; working with multiple companies looking to have an impact in health, meanwhile, felt like a good way to make a difference with whatever time she had left. So Simmons kept fundraising. After almost a year, her army of doctors determined the brain abnormality to be benign.
At startup Zero Acre Farms, which produces a cultured, non-vegetable cooking oil that it claims is healthier and better for the environment, CEO Jeff Nobbs said Simmons has become his go-to investor for help on marketing questions. He’s turned to her for everything from high-level strategy to evaluating resumes.
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