Tesla founder Elon Musk says it's impossible to raise money for a new car company in the U.S. "If we truly believe in something, which we did with Tesla, I mean, I just thought this is going to be the greatest product of all time," he said. But if you're doing something radical and new, everybody's going to tell you it's crazy,. However, if you run out of money, you don't get to see that come to fruition.
Molly is joined by Laurie Yoler as they dive into her early experiences in VC before discussing how she became the first investor in Tesla (1:45). Next, Laurie talks about her time at Qualcomm and Playground then they wrap with a discussion about AI and how Laurie’s investments were impacted by the pandemic (30:31).
(0:00) Jason kicks off the show
(1:45) Arriving in Venture
(7:36) Laurie’s first investments
(13:39) LinkedIn Jobs - Go to https://linkedIn.com/angel and post your first job for free.
(14:49) Investing in Tesla
(21:21) Prenuvo - Get $300 off at http://prenuvo.com/twist
(22:51) Raising money for a car company
(26:22) Finding strategic partners
(30:31) Laurie’s time at Qualcomm and autonomous vehicles
(37:11) Microsoft for Startups Founders Hub - Apply in 5 minutes for six figures in discounts at http://aka.ms/thisweekinstartups
(38:42) Joining Playground
(41:29) Leaf Logistics
(45:44) Benefitting from the pandemic
(48:54) Investing in AI
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