Meet Samantha Simmons and Greg Gottesman, Co-Chairs of our Selection Advisory Committee
In our first-ever, six-week application period, we are thrilled that 900+ founders applied for the Visible Hands Fellowship. This is incredibly exciting but also intimidating as we hope to ensure a selection process that is equitable, thoughtful, and enables us to best support ~30 overlooked founders.
Keeping in mind that this program and venture model is different from typical accelerator models, we assembled several advisory committees with industry experts and entrepreneurs to provide strategic guidance and advice throughout the process.
Visible Hands’ Selection Advisory Committee (SAC) is a crucial part of our organization. It focuses on the overall strategy of the recruiting and selection processes of Visible Hands and guides the selection process (e.g., interviews, peer workshops, cohort selection, etc.).
This interview has been edited and condensed.
Tell us a little bit about yourself.
Sam S.: I’m Sam Simmons, Co-Chair of the Selection Advisory Committee at Visible Hands. I’ve worked in the People and Talent spaces (recruiting, HR, organizational development) for many years. My day job is Director of Strategic Projects at HubSpot , a global CRM company , where I run cross-functional initiatives focusing on people, culture, operationalizing our move to a hybrid work model, country expansion and enablement, and more. Prior to that, I was at Wayfair.
Greg G.: I’m Greg Gottesman. I’ve been a venture capitalist, entrepreneur, and professor for the last 25 years. But, most importantly, I’m a dad and almost an empty nester. I’ve got two kids in college and one finishing up high school.
I am a Managing Director of Pioneer Square Labs (PSL) — a startup studio that creates companies from scratch and a venture capital fund that invests in both PSL and non-PSL companies. Before that, I was a Founding Managing Director of a firm called Madrona, the largest venture capital fund in the Pacific Northwest. I also founded and was the initial CEO of Rover.com, and I have also started numerous other companies. As a professor, I have been teaching entrepreneurship for the last 20 years at the University of Washington in the Computer Science and Business departments.
How did you get involved with Visible Hands?
Sam S.: I’ve known Justin Kang (GP) and Mike Omenazu (VP) for a few years now. I was a huge proponent of the VH mission from the beginning and given some of the experience I’ve had in recruiting, this felt like a nice overlap. So between my connection with Justin and Mike, as well as watching the early stages and being very passionate about the mission itself, I was naturally drawn to the Selection Advisory Committee.
Greg G.: I was introduced to Daniel Acheampong (GP) through a close friend named Brad Singer, who knew him from Posse, another extraordinary organization. I remember being so impressed with Daniel during our half-hour call. He then introduced me to Yasmin Ferrine (GP) and Justin Kang (GP), and I was blown away by the passion, progress, mission, and who they were as individuals. When I make investments, the most important thing is always the team, and this just felt like an incredible group of individuals that I would be fortunate to tackle a really critical space with.
What excites you the most about Visible Hands?
Greg G.: I’m excited to start working with some of these founders. Early-stage operations are the most fun and exciting part of business; coming up with an idea, trying to figure out a hiring or go-to-market strategy, determining whether this idea has legs, and where every decision you make is monumental. I look forward to meeting this incredible group of founders and matching them with another incredible group of founders to create some exciting opportunities.
Sam S.: I identify with a lot of what Greg said. I think it’s fascinating to be at the beginning of something and witness competent individuals shape their business, which is truly personal. I’m excited to see Visible Hands come to life through this inaugural cohort and to see the talent in action. I’m also looking forward to the Finalist Workshop, where I’ll gain a more intimate insight into the application process and follow their journey while observing and evaluating them.
What is something you have learned throughout this process of being a SAC Co-Chair?
Sam S.: I’m used to looking at candidates as a part of talent searches at all levels. In order to get to that final cohort, we’re really talking about evaluating the entrepreneurs themselves versus fully-formed businesses. While that’s not necessarily surprising, I’ve been noodling on it and ultimately figuring out who is going to be selected, which is one thing I’ve had to learn throughout the process.
Greg G.: The hunger for being an entrepreneur and starting your own business is much more universal than people think. Visible Hands has gone out to see if we could get potential entrepreneurs interested in this new approach of starting companies, and the response has been overwhelmingly positive.
There is a massive need and desire for starting companies. It is not limited to Silicon Valley or a certain kind of person from a certain kind of background; it is much broader than that. Visible Hands is welcoming folks that have been overlooked or underrepresented and giving them the program, tools, and services to turn ideas into real, meaningful companies. And we’re way earlier than pre-seed. This is where you need to play if you want to make a real difference, and that, to me, is just super exciting.
Is there anything that has surprised you thus far?
Greg G.: I’ve been surprised at the response to Daniel, Yasmin, and Justin from the community to help fund Visible Hands. It’s incredible to see not only the amount of support from the Boston community but, more broadly, the support from other venture capitalists and all these individuals in our Selection Advisory Committee. So it just feels like we have a product-market fit in that way. And the fact that the General Partners were able to raise this amount of capital so quickly and to go after something important has been a wonderful surprise.
Sam S.: When Justin first told me about Visible Hands, I thought to myself, “Isn’t there an organization that does this?” When I used to do executive search, I worked with a few nonprofits with affiliated venture capital funds focused on increasing more diversity in the pipeline, especially around entrepreneurs. But as Justin kept describing it to me, I realized that VH focuses so early in the funnel. It speaks to an important niche and a blind spot that we’ve had. It also speaks to the privilege that we probably take for granted with what it takes to even get to a pre-seed stage. So I think it’s awesome, and as Greg mentioned, the community of people from different companies and backgrounds coming together is truly exciting to see. I’m excited to see how this grows and evolves.
What are your hopes for Visible Hands’ future?
Greg G.: As I think out 5 –10 years, I hope that Visible Hands creates meaningful opportunities for some incredible founders to start some incredible companies. I hope that, as we look back 10 years from now, over 100 founders and companies that we have helped will be generating over 1,000 jobs for people and will contribute positive things to the world. That is very achievable with the founders that we have, even as we see this first cohort develop, which is my hope.
Sam S.: My hope for the future of Visible Hands is that it’s less of a niche movement. I was reading an article where a tech company founder stated that diversity can sometimes be a distraction and can lead to compromise. While many people do not believe that you can accomplish two things at once — being an inclusive organization and being good at business — it is still a pervasive belief. Visible Hands has an opportunity to provide a counterpoint even earlier in the pipeline to restate to entrepreneurs that it is not a distraction or a compromise; it is actually good business, so they get into your systems and your ways of working versus seeing it as a thing you do on the side. I wonder, how do we make this the norm over time? That is my hope.
Thank you, Sam and Greg, for sharing your insights!
