Allison Rappaport graduated from the University of Pennsylvania in 2011 with a degree in economics and spent five years in the asset management department of J.P. Morgan before attending Harvard Business School. A football fan, she interned one summer at Wasserman, a talent agency that represented athletes. She was then recruited by Stuart Goldfarb, a business partner at Carmelo Anthony. He then introduced her to Chris Lyons of Andreesen Horowitz, a top-tier Silicon Valley venture capitalist. Lyons gave her resume to angel investor Serena Williams, who in turn offered her a job at her venture capital firm, Serena Ventures (opens in new tab).

Two weeks later, Rapaport received a request for a next-day phone meeting with Williams. 'She was super stealthy about her investments. My research turned up almost nothing," she says. 'I prepared by staying up all night watching the HBO documentary series Being Serena. After an introductory conversation, she learned about Williams' goals. She said, "I use my platform not just to make money, but to make a difference.

Rapaport had already marveled at Williams' "amazing public persona," but after the call, her desire to work with her deepened. Male-dominated. I became attracted to her mission of building a venture platform as a tool to address the larger issue of equal opportunity," says Rappaport. Williams wanted to evaluate every opportunity and at the same time consciously bias toward women and people of color in her portfolio. So Rapaport's elevator pitch focused on evaluating talent in an inclusive manner. It is not an open mind that anyone can be successful, be it age, race, or gender," said Rapaport. Rapaport added, "When you are interviewing, make sure you are interviewing (the interviewee) as well. What does success look like to you? You want to make sure you fit into that vision."

Williams asked Rappaport to visit his Bay Area home one Sunday in the fall of 2018 and bring him three ideas." I was going crazy. I prepared four opportunities, plus about 50 more as appendices," she says. After seeing on Instagram that Williams liked "Taco Sunday," Rapaport brought snacks from a taco bar in San Francisco, and the two ended up devouring the entire appendix. Rapaport says of the taco move, "I think that personal touch, coupled with out-of-the-box thinking and attention to detail, really helped me get the job done."

Many of Williams' existing investments were really attractive companies in their early stages. Rapaport wanted a more balanced fund with a long-term vision. I had a strong portfolio management background," she says, "but I wanted the opportunity to be more creative. 'Celina's strength is finding the right founders and believing in their product.' Rapaport says it's been a great partnership so far. Growth is a goal, but so is "bringing more of our portfolio companies together and getting them to work together, whether it's co-marketing or using each other's technology," she says. [This article appears in the Summer 2020 issue of Marie Claire.

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