Ep 10 – Laura Chau, General Partner, Canaan

Dec 20, 2022

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ANECDOTE

Refugee Upbringing Shaped Caution

Laura Chau grew up as the daughter of Vietnamese refugees in a predominantly white town and was raised to avoid attention for safety and stability.
That upbringing taught meritocracy and caution, which later constrained her willingness to assert herself in meetings.

ANECDOTE

Strong Work, Weak Presence

After college Laura joined consulting and excelled at deliverables but rarely inserted her voice in meetings due to deference to authority.
Her competence was visible but lacked differentiation because she didn't make her presence known.

INSIGHT

Work Within Systems To Create Change

Laura realized the world isn't purely meritocratic and adjusted her approach to work within existing social constructs.
She reframed brand and voice as tools to achieve impact rather than vanity.

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Learn more about Jeffrey Pfeffer and where you can buy or listen to his books:
https://JeffreyPfeffer.com/

SHOW NOTES:

Laura Chau shares how her story of origin, along with some of the 7 Rules of Power, like getting out of her own way and building a powerful brand, enable her to lean into the power she has cultivated in her career as a General Partner at Canaan.

In this episode, we discuss the following:

The role conscious brand building plays in achieving and maintaining power
How to best work within current constructs of the world to create effective change
The importance of a defined brand and voice as tools to achieve goals
Why ambition as a personality dimension predicts success
How culture and upbringing can contain scripts that are not useful
The avenues she used to build power: a podcast, panel events, conferences, a Clubhouse show, Substack, Medium
Getting maximum mileage out of everything she does because time is limited
The value in making sure people remember you
Why your personal style is a reflection of more than fashion
Staying top-of-mind to ensure you don’t miss opportunities
How Laura gains new clients

GUEST BIO w/ social links:

Laura Chau is a General Partner at Canaan, an early-stage venture capital firm, where she leads the consumer technology investment practice and serves on numerous boards.

Laura was one of the first employees at Kabam, one of Canaan’s portfolio companies that was acquired by Netmarble in 2017. She has also worked at Branch Metrics and Greenhouse in sales and marketing functions, in addition to working closely with Marie Kondo, Netflix star and author ofThe Life-Changing Magic of Tidying Up, to help launch her venture-backed e-commerce business.

Laura holds a B.S. in Management Science and Engineering from Stanford University, an MBA from Stanford Graduate School of Business, and is a Forbes 30 Under 30 alum.

Laura's LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/laura-chau/
Laura's Substack: https://laurachau.substack.com/
Laura's Twitter: https://twitter.com/laurachau

Produced by The MunnAvenuePress.com