Speaker Bio
I am an entrepreneur, failed angel investor and limited partner.
Years ago, I started Ballou, a European communications and strategy agency that works with high-growth technology and technology-enabled companies, as well as investors. Along with my colleagues, I forecast trends, understand and examine human behaviour, and use these insights to position businesses for high growth. My primary client-facing role at Ballou is advising and mentoring GPs and CEOs, and I often speak at events about topics I care very much about: the strategic versus tactical use of communications, the importance of reputation and the complexities of being a limited partner.
Companies I’ve worked with include 83 North, Accel Partners, Box, Criteo, Eventbrite, Facebook, GoEuro, (now Omio), Lakestar, Pinterest, Stack Overflow, Stripe, TransferWise (now Wise), Twilio, Waze, WhatsApp and Zendesk.
I am an investor in VC and PE funds including Cavalry Ventures, Connect Ventures and Asia Partners.
Over 20 years ago I took a huge risk: I sold just about everything I own, moved to Paris and started Ballou, a communications advisory that works with B2B and B2C companies as well as VCs. I watched my bank account plunge to almost nothing (a terrible feeling that I think several other Tigers have experience) and was facing having to return to the US to live in my father’s cellar, but then it slowly took off. Then we won Facebook, WhatsApp, Pinterest, Box, ServiceNow, Shopify, and Deel … it has been an amazing ride and it’s not over yet.
We work with European and American clients mostly remotely and from our offices in Paris, London, Berlin and Barcelona. I’m still very active in Ballou, serving as Chairwoman and Ballou’s success has allowed me to invest in venture capital firms as an LP – my side hustle, as it were. You can find me in my small one-bedroom cottage in Snowdonia National Park in north Wales or my home in Provence (so glorious, you should all come visit!) or in the center of France near Limoges, cursing myself for buying a chateau-ish fixer-upper.