Investing in Impact: Wes Selke

Wes Selke, Managing Director and Founder of Better Ventures, shares the story of a kid with a fondness for math and languages who goes on to blend a deep financial acumen with a strong sense of purpose to help pioneer and advance the category of social venture capital. Wes shares powerful, relatable anecdotes including his “need” to learn Spanish, his experiences on church-based volunteer trips, and his soul-searching late nights in Chicago that would later prove to be defining steps in determining his career path.

Wes talks about the conflict between a sense of fulfilment from his mission trips and his early career success in finance. He shares how he thought through, and searched for, a more meaningful application of his finance skills, how he found opportunities through friends and through graduate school, and how he got started in social venture capital. Wes concludes by discussing what he’s learned as an investor in social ventures, an advisor to purpose-led business builders, and a social entrepreneur based in the San Francisco Bay Area.

How do you connect technical skills into a sense of purpose? How can you make a career that is both profitable and impactful? How do you find opportunities for your unique set of skills? What is the best way to position yourself to build something meaningful?

Guest Bio:
Wes has 20 years of venture capital and investment experience with Better Ventures, Good Capital, William Blair, and Ernst & Young's Mergers & Acquisitions group. He earned an MBA from the Haas School of Business at UC Berkeley and a BBA from the University of Michigan. Wes has volunteered with organizations around the globe, which has fueled his passion for applying his business skills to build a better world.

Wes enjoys rolling up his sleeves to help mission-driven entrepreneurs realize their vision for building high-growth world-changing companies. He lives in Oakland, CA with his wife and three young kids and enjoys road cycling in the East Bay hills and Sunday trips to the farmers market.
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Building Blocks:
Write down one thing about your hopes, goals or dreams, that if people knew it, they could help you become a better builder. Maybe like Wes, there's a career pivot you want to make, or maybe you're in search of the perfect business partner or co-founder or colleague. Maybe there's a learning journey around that people around you could help out with. Undoubtedly, there's a ton of people in your network who could help. Wes talked about how doors will open if you follow your passions, but sometimes those doors have to be opened for you. And the more people who know about who you are and what you believe and what you want to do, the more doors will open.

Helpful Links:
Better Ventures
Paulo Coelho’s book, The Alchemist
Presentation on Dietrich Bonhoeffer’s theological views on vocation
Kevin Jones, “Two Pocket Thinking”
Nobel Laureate Muhammad Yunus’s book, Banker to the Poor: Micro-Lending and the Battle Against World Poverty