How a tech exec turned investor found purpose and impact backing women-led startups

Shelly Kapoor Collins is a partner at Sway Ventures. Prior to Sway, she founded the Shatter Fund, which invested in companies led by female entrepreneurs. She was appointed to the National Women’s Business Council (NWBC) in the second Obama Administration and served as vice chair of the Women in Public Service Project started by former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton. 

Carta sat down with Shelly to talk about her path to venture, politics and investing for impact, and the importance of taking risks. 

CARTA: You spent your early career at Oracle. What first inspired your interest in technology?

SHELLY KAPOOR COLLINS: I didn’t set out knowing I would end up in venture. I grew up in Maryland and went to the University of Maryland College Park, where I got my undergraduate degree in information systems in the Smith School of Business. Then in 1998, I was recruited by Oracle for a job in Redwood Shores, California. Before that, I’d never been to California. But I was asked to go to California for one project, and that turned into 22 years in the Bay Area. 

I was at Oracle for 10 years. I started off in programming, then consulting in the government, education, and healthcare verticals. That was the bulk of my early career, but at some point I wanted more, and that's when I made the transition to entrepreneurship.

What went into the decision to take that leap into entrepreneurship?

It was a combination of things, including that our daughter was born in 2007. So in 2008, I was thinking about leaving Oracle. I wanted flexibility and to be able to be home with my child, but at the same time I was not ready to stop working. 

It’s funny because I thought that when my baby was born I would be a stay-at-home mom. But after three months of maternity leave, I realized that I'm probably not cut out to be a stay-at-home mom. At the same time, my family is in business, and I love entrepreneurship. And so that's when I decided the best way for me to get the flexibility I needed and follow my passion for entrepreneurship was to start my own thing.

I started Enscient Solutions, my first consulting firm that provided Oracle services. I started that first company and then a few years later, I took a sidestep into politics and I became a volunteer for then (San Francisco) DA Kamala Harris. I volunteered for her attorney general campaign and I was with her a long time, and still am with her always. And then from there I went from consulting to politics, to then eventually starting Shatter. 

What inspired you to start Shatter? 

Interestingly, it came out of my experience in politics, but driven by my technology background. I'll never forget, I visited LeyVa Middle School in San Jose in 2012 and I spoke to the young girls there. The school was in an underprivileged community and most of them would be the first in their families to graduate from high school. I told them about my life and career, and showed them a picture of me and President Obama, to show them what was possible. They were so excited. They had no idea what entrepreneurship was, but they were starting to learn. They knew what an iPhone was, but they didn't know who Steve Jobs was. 

That was my first tiptoe into talking to girls from that kind of a community. I realized there's a lot of work to be done there. And from there I started to mentor girls and women on entrepreneurship, financial freedom, and having access to capital to start businesses. 

When President Obama won his reelection, I was a technology co-chair on his reelection campaign. When I was asked where I wanted to go in the second Obama administration, I didn't want a title, I wanted to do the work. Dig in. 

So I joined the Small Business Administration on the President's Council for Women in Business. My council and I just dug into the most prohibitive factors for women to start businesses. And even though we're over 50% of the population, why are we not 100% participants in the innovation economy?

It turned out that the factors were lack of access to capital, lack of access to networks and markets. So after I left the SBA, in 2016, I launched Shatter to bring equity and access to capital for female entrepreneurs. 

I came to Sway in 2021. We had deployed our first fund at Shatter, investing in a number of amazing female entrepreneurs. And I was preparing to fundraise for Shatter Fund II.  

Then, my friend and mentor Greg White, who's the COO of Sway, reached out to me. They were standing up a new fund and he thought I was perfect for it, and I raised my hand. I loved the idea of having a great team to work with.  Greg is great; he’s definitely a male ally to women in tech and VC. 

Sway is an amazing bunch of partners, and they had invested tens of millions of dollars into female entrepreneurs, without even realizing they'd done it. I was honored to join them and help them refine that thesis, and help raise our flagship Fund III. 

Day to day, I’m focused on new investments at Sway as well as fundraising - always raising. At Shatter we have our fund deployed, so we’re in harvest mode. Like everyone in venture, we saw the losses early, but we have a number of companies that we’re seeing to fruition, and hopefully an exit. Day to day at Shatter we're working with our audit team, we're working with our CFO and with Carta. Carta has been instrumental in our growth with those companies. 

Are there lessons you learned early in your career that helped get you where you are today?

Starting with the move from the East Coast to the West Coast, each of the moves I've made in my career were risks. They were unknowns.

But I knew I’d never forgive myself if I didn’t take the risks. So I’d say to people starting their career now, if there’s an opportunity that’s new to you, and even if it's a little bit outside your comfort zone, if you can do it, do it. 

I've never regretted a risk I've taken. Even if I haven't known where it's going, it's always led me somewhere better than what I could have thought. 

My path to venture capital was certainly not linear. I ended up here, I would say, by accident, but in the best way possible. 

Were there mentors who shaped the way you approached your career? 

Yes, definitely. Along the way I've learned from men and women who have taught me the right thing to do. And then there have been people who have taught me how not to be. Those are just as important. 

There was a male boss I had early in my tech career who would give all the programming opportunities to the two men on the team, never to me. I was told to bring the beer. Or I was told that I “looked sexy in my glasses” because I looked “like a librarian.” I had a master's in Information Systems from Maryland. So that was my first taste of, wow, there is a gender imbalance here in tech. 

Then along the way, I met a woman who taught me how not to treat other women. Women should be door openers, not gatekeepers, for other women. There's more than enough room for all of us. That’s something that’s foundational for how I think about Shatter and my work at Sway. 

Are there portfolio companies you’re especially proud of? 

There are a number in the portfolio right now that I’m very proud of. One is Hello Alice. They're an AI platform for female entrepreneurs with small or medium-sized businesses. And essentially they connect women entrepreneurs with access to capital and the tools they need to start their businesses. It was started by Elizabeth Gore and Carolyn Rods. We were one of the earliest investors in 2016 and we’re proud to see all they’ve done. 

Another one I love to talk about is Materna Medical, a medical device company focused on women’s pelvic health, led by the phenomenal and fabulous CEO Tracy McNeil. Shatter invested super early on, pre-FDA approval for their first product, and we’ve been proud to see them launch their first product and work on their second FDA approval now. 

A third company I am incredibly proud of is The Muse, a future-of-work, HR-tech company at the intersection of AI and community. Through its acquisition of Fairygodboss, The Muse is the number one online community for professional working women. Since the attack on DEI has unfolded in recent months, The Muse has seen unprecedented monthly growth of new users, mainly professional women, looking for a safe place to talk to each other, share advice, and obtain guidance from each other. At Sway we are leading their next round of funding. It’s a perfect example of bringing my work from Shatter and Sway together.

 Before we wrap up, is there anything else you’d like to share? 

I would say for my fellow female colleagues who are moms: We always carry this badge of guilt. We're always guilty for not spending enough time with our kids and too much on work, or vice versa. We're always trying to balance things. 

I finally found a way to balance my work and family life when I realized that I can have it all, just not at once. I can prioritize multiple tasks in a day and it all balances out between work and kids.

If I can help alleviate someone's moment of guilt or stress I would love to do that. And I'm always here. If I can help, I would love to. So please reach out.