周二上午在《Vogue》雜志上發(fā)表的一篇文章中,網(wǎng)壇名將、23次大滿貫冠軍塞雷娜·威廉姆斯宣布即將退役,將專注于家庭和她的風(fēng)投基金Serena Ventures。
她在文章中寫道:“我將從網(wǎng)球領(lǐng)域發(fā)展到對我重要的其他領(lǐng)域?!彼硎?,撫養(yǎng)女兒奧林匹亞并不像網(wǎng)球一樣,她從未感覺這是一種犧牲?!艾F(xiàn)在,如果讓我在發(fā)展網(wǎng)球事業(yè)和經(jīng)營家庭之間做出選擇,我選擇后者?!?/p>
小威將在下個月滿41歲。她從5歲開始打網(wǎng)球,她的職業(yè)生涯長達(dá)數(shù)十年,并取得了無可匹敵的戰(zhàn)績。1999年,小威在17歲時贏得首個大滿貫單打冠軍,并與姐姐大威共同獲得14次大滿貫女雙冠軍。2012年奧運會,小威奪得網(wǎng)球單打金牌;她和姐姐共取得了三枚奧運會雙打金牌。在國際女子網(wǎng)球協(xié)會(Women’s Tennis Association)的世界女子單打球員排名中,小威排在第一位。
2017年,小威在《福布斯》全球收入最高的100位運動員中排在第51位,是唯一一位上榜的女性。她在去年的榜單中排在第28位。小威的資產(chǎn)凈值為2.6億美元,比賽獎金超過9,450萬美元,是史上收入最高的女性運動員。
從賽場到高管辦公室
雖然小威并沒有說明結(jié)束網(wǎng)球職業(yè)生涯的具體日期,但她在Instagram上發(fā)文稱,下個月晚些時候?qū)⒃诩~約皇后區(qū)開賽的美國公開賽,可能是她最后的比賽。她寫道:“比賽已經(jīng)進(jìn)入倒計時。我會盡情享受未來幾周?!?/p>
她一直在逐漸將重心轉(zhuǎn)移到Serena Ventures。她在《Vogue》的文章中寫道:“我每天早上都非常興奮地走到樓下的辦公室,打開Zoom,開始審查我們考慮投資的公司?!?/p>
小威表示,她在近十年前進(jìn)行了第一筆投資,從那之后就喜歡上了早期種子輪之前和種子輪融資。她是在線教育訂閱平臺MasterClass的早期投資者。這是她的基金投資的16家獨角獸公司之一,除此之外還包括Impossible Foods、Tonal和法國NFT公司Sorare。
小威在1月接受《財富》雜志采訪時表示:“我將Sorare視為[女性運動員]新的收入來源。它可能對女子體育運動產(chǎn)生重要影響;收藏、交易或支持球隊和自己最喜歡的球員,真得能夠帶來許多好處。作為顧問,我見證了許多公司的崛起……這令人非常興奮,且其將會產(chǎn)生巨大的影響?!?/p>
小威投資的公司基本都與她即將告別的事業(yè)有關(guān),包括醫(yī)療、健康和體育運動等領(lǐng)域。2022年到目前為止,Serena Ventures的六人團(tuán)隊已經(jīng)從外部募資1.11億美元。該公司到目前為止已經(jīng)進(jìn)行了55筆投資。近80%的投資對象都是女性和少數(shù)族裔創(chuàng)立的公司,“因為我也是其中的一份子,”她寫道。
她提到了多位令她鼓舞的女性,包括比莉·珍·金、前Meta首席運營官雪莉·桑德伯格、Clear Secure CEO卡琳·塞德曼-貝克爾等。小威稱,她正是從貝克爾那里得知女性只能獲得2%的風(fēng)險投資。
小威寫道:“我在那一刻開始意識到,需要有像我這樣的人為女性提供投資。有時候物以類聚,人以群分。男性傾向于為同性創(chuàng)業(yè)者提供投資,為了改變這種狀況,需要有更多像我一樣的人,為女性提供投資。”(財富中文網(wǎng))
譯者:劉進(jìn)龍
審校:汪皓
周二上午在《Vogue》雜志上發(fā)表的一篇文章中,網(wǎng)壇名將、23次大滿貫冠軍塞雷娜·威廉姆斯宣布即將退役,將專注于家庭和她的風(fēng)投基金Serena Ventures。
她在文章中寫道:“我將從網(wǎng)球領(lǐng)域發(fā)展到對我重要的其他領(lǐng)域。”她表示,撫養(yǎng)女兒奧林匹亞并不像網(wǎng)球一樣,她從未感覺這是一種犧牲。“現(xiàn)在,如果讓我在發(fā)展網(wǎng)球事業(yè)和經(jīng)營家庭之間做出選擇,我選擇后者?!?/p>
小威將在下個月滿41歲。她從5歲開始打網(wǎng)球,她的職業(yè)生涯長達(dá)數(shù)十年,并取得了無可匹敵的戰(zhàn)績。1999年,小威在17歲時贏得首個大滿貫單打冠軍,并與姐姐大威共同獲得14次大滿貫女雙冠軍。2012年奧運會,小威奪得網(wǎng)球單打金牌;她和姐姐共取得了三枚奧運會雙打金牌。在國際女子網(wǎng)球協(xié)會(Women’s Tennis Association)的世界女子單打球員排名中,小威排在第一位。
2017年,小威在《福布斯》全球收入最高的100位運動員中排在第51位,是唯一一位上榜的女性。她在去年的榜單中排在第28位。小威的資產(chǎn)凈值為2.6億美元,比賽獎金超過9,450萬美元,是史上收入最高的女性運動員。
從賽場到高管辦公室
雖然小威并沒有說明結(jié)束網(wǎng)球職業(yè)生涯的具體日期,但她在Instagram上發(fā)文稱,下個月晚些時候?qū)⒃诩~約皇后區(qū)開賽的美國公開賽,可能是她最后的比賽。她寫道:“比賽已經(jīng)進(jìn)入倒計時。我會盡情享受未來幾周?!?/p>
她一直在逐漸將重心轉(zhuǎn)移到Serena Ventures。她在《Vogue》的文章中寫道:“我每天早上都非常興奮地走到樓下的辦公室,打開Zoom,開始審查我們考慮投資的公司?!?/p>
小威表示,她在近十年前進(jìn)行了第一筆投資,從那之后就喜歡上了早期種子輪之前和種子輪融資。她是在線教育訂閱平臺MasterClass的早期投資者。這是她的基金投資的16家獨角獸公司之一,除此之外還包括Impossible Foods、Tonal和法國NFT公司Sorare。
小威在1月接受《財富》雜志采訪時表示:“我將Sorare視為[女性運動員]新的收入來源。它可能對女子體育運動產(chǎn)生重要影響;收藏、交易或支持球隊和自己最喜歡的球員,真得能夠帶來許多好處。作為顧問,我見證了許多公司的崛起……這令人非常興奮,且其將會產(chǎn)生巨大的影響。”
小威投資的公司基本都與她即將告別的事業(yè)有關(guān),包括醫(yī)療、健康和體育運動等領(lǐng)域。2022年到目前為止,Serena Ventures的六人團(tuán)隊已經(jīng)從外部募資1.11億美元。該公司到目前為止已經(jīng)進(jìn)行了55筆投資。近80%的投資對象都是女性和少數(shù)族裔創(chuàng)立的公司,“因為我也是其中的一份子,”她寫道。
她提到了多位令她鼓舞的女性,包括比莉·珍·金、前Meta首席運營官雪莉·桑德伯格、Clear Secure CEO卡琳·塞德曼-貝克爾等。小威稱,她正是從貝克爾那里得知女性只能獲得2%的風(fēng)險投資。
小威寫道:“我在那一刻開始意識到,需要有像我這樣的人為女性提供投資。有時候物以類聚,人以群分。男性傾向于為同性創(chuàng)業(yè)者提供投資,為了改變這種狀況,需要有更多像我一樣的人,為女性提供投資?!保ㄘ敻恢形木W(wǎng))
譯者:劉進(jìn)龍
審校:汪皓
In a Vogue?feature published Tuesday morning, tennis icon and 23-time Grand Slam winner Serena Williams announced that she would be retiring from the sport to focus on family—and her venture capital firm, Serena Ventures.
“I’m evolving away from tennis, toward other things that are important to me,” she wrote for Vogue. She says raising her daughter, Olympia, has never felt like a sacrifice the way tennis has. “These days, if I have to choose between building my tennis résumé and building my family, I choose the latter.”
Across a decades-long career that began when she was 5 years old, Williams, who turns 41 next month, has amassed an unrivaled track record. She won her first Grand Slam singles event at age 17 in 1999, and, with her sister Venus, has won 14 Grand Slam women’s doubles events. In the 2012 Olympics, Williams nabbed the singles tennis gold medal; she and Venus have three Olympic gold medals for doubles. The Women’s Tennis Association currently ranks her the No. 1 singles player in the world.
In 2017, Williams was the only woman to make Forbes’s list of the world’s 100 highest-paid athletes, coming in at No. 51. On last year’s list, she jumped to 28th place. With a $260 million net worth, and over $94.5 million awarded in prize money, she is the highest-earning female athlete of all time.
From the court to the corner office
While Williams didn’t specify a hard end date for her tennis career, she suggested in an Instagram post that the U.S. Open, which kicks off in Queens, N.Y., later this month, could be her last tournament. “The countdown has begun,” she wrote. “I’m gonna relish these next few weeks.”
She’s been slowly shifting her balance toward Serena Ventures, she wrote in her Vogue article: “Every morning, I’m so excited to walk downstairs to my office and jump onto Zooms and start reviewing decks of companies we’re considering investing in.”
Williams says she’s fallen in love with early stage pre-seed and seed funding since making her first investments nearly a decade ago. She was among the first investors in online education subscription platform MasterClass—one of the 16 unicorns her firm has funded, alongside Impossible Foods, Tonal, and French NFT company Sorare.
“Think of Sorare as a new revenue stream [for female athletes],” Williams told?Fortune?in a January interview. “It can have a major impact on women’s sports; collecting, trading, or supporting the teams and the favorite players really brings so much more than ever. Being an adviser, I get to see lots of companies coming up…it’s exciting, and it’s going to be so impactful.”
Largely, the companies Williams has supported share hallmarks with the career she’s leaving behind: health, wellness, and athletics. The six-person team at Serena Ventures has raised $111 million of outside financing in 2022 so far. The company has made 55 investments to date. Nearly 80% of its portfolio is female- and minority-founded companies, “because that’s who we are,” she wrote.
She name-checked a handful of female inspirations, including Billie Jean King, former Meta COO Sheryl Sandberg, and Clear Secure CEO Caryn Seidman-Becker, whom Williams credits with informing her that women receive only 2% of venture capital money.
“I kind of understood then and there that someone who looks like me needs to start writing the big checks. Sometimes like attracts like,” Williams wrote. “Men are writing those big checks to one another, and in order for us to change that, more people who look like me need to be in that position, giving money back to themselves.”