Episode Summary

Monique Woodard is the Founder and Solo GP of Cake Ventures, a venture fund focused on the enormous opportunities created by demographic shifts such as aging populations, rising female spending power, and America's transition to a majority-minority population. She explains how these macro-level changes expand markets across digital health, fintech, consumer brands, and AI-enabled solutions. Monique also candidly shares her experiences as a solo GP—covering the realities of fundraising, building a unique investment thesis, navigating partnership dynamics, and scaling from Fund I ($17M) to Fund II. Her insights offer a clear blueprint for investors, operators, and founders eager to capitalise on overlooked, high-growth opportunities driven by demographic change.

Time Stamps

03:07 – Monique’s first investment: picking stocks at age 20

06:12 – Her journey from rural entrepreneurship to 500 Startups and VC

12:43 – The "Three Layers of Cake": investing in demographic shifts (aging, female economy, new majority)

22:56 – Why geographic focus matters (and why Cake invests only in North America

24:32 – Real talk on Solo GP life: choosing partners, hiring venture partners, and building a legacy firm

30:07 – Raising Fund II: bigger checks, deeper domain expertise, and firm evolution

39:12 – How founders should position their companies in the AI hype cycle

45:24 – Advice for operators: Understanding the difference between investing and running a venture firm

Resources

🍰 Cake Ventures – Monique’s demographic‑change VC firm. https://cake.vc🙋‍♀️Monique Woodard on LinkedIn – Follow her insights on venture & demographics. https://www.linkedin.com/in/moniquewoodard

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