Jesse’s Girls

This cool, charismatic, and free-spirited Nickelodeon actress-turned-fourth generation venture capitalist and former host of the Emmy-nominated tech talk show “The Valley Girl Show” is one of the most influential movers and shakers in the industry and is giving her male entrepreneurs and investors a run for their money.

Earlier this past spring, GoGirl founder Jennifer Murphy hosted an exclusive sit-down at GoGirl Worldwide Studios in beautiful Newport Beach, California for an hourlong, illuminating conversation with earlystage venture capitalist extraordinaire and co-founder of Los Angeles-based venture capitalist fund Halogen Ventures, Jesse Draper. The 36-year-old mother of three, wife, and daughter of legendary Silicon Valley venture capitalist, Tim Draper, unknowingly acquired the investment gene. Long before founding Halogen Ventures and funding famous, female-led businesses, like luxury activewear and lifestyle brand Carbon38, eco-conscious tea brand Tea Drops, and Sugarfina, the emissary of lavish confections and the “Tiffany of Candy in full-Technicolor,” Draper played a quirky, cool character alongside her reallife cousins in Nickelodeon’s “The Naked Brothers Band” prior to launching her own web-based tech talk show “The Valley Girl Show.” After two years of interviewing and picking the brains of some of the most successful, Silicon-based entrepreneurial men from her parents’ basement in Northern California on a fittingly pink and purple-hued television set, the proverbial light bulb flickered, leaving Draper wondering, “Where are all the women?” Before International Women’s Day was an annual global commemoration and the more-women-inwork became a national movement, there was Jesse Draper. Draper was investing in women’s start-ups and advocating for more female-funded ventures long-before her most arduous, femaleforward successors. This led to Draper interviewing more and more female founders on her top-rated talk show, eventually landing a distribution deal with Cox Media Group, which led her to begin investing in the one thing that guaranteed a solid return – women.

And, Halogen Ventures was born.

Female-led businesses represent a massive opportunity. With women making 80% of household purchasing decisions, we are betting on early-stage female-founded companies with a ” billion-dollar potential. – Jesse Draper

Halogen, derived from the meaning of “salt producing,” is an LA-based, early-stage venture capital investing fund focused on female-founded/led companies, startups, e-commerce, and technologies. The powerhouse investment firm has recently launched an initiative to fund companies dedicated to solving the current childcare crisis in America. When Draper first began investing in the women-led companies that she featured on her show, she quickly realized she had inadvertently began building a sizeable investment portfolio. She also noticed these same smart, bold businesswomen seemed reluctant to invest in potentially lucrative, for-profit companies and were more inclined to cut checks for charity and non-profit organizations, believing these “investments” were safe and risk-proof. Her attention-grabbing piece, “Investing in Women Isn’t a Fucking Charity” for Medium in September 2020, set off a firestorm of media headlines that sounded a deafening alarm throughout the industry. In order to break barriers and make financial gains comparable to men, women needed to invest more – much more. And, why weren’t they doing it?

Typically, Halogen Ventures invests from $250K to $1 million as an initial investment to qualified applicants, as well as offering customized mentorship and networking packages. Each applicant is evaluated on a case-by-case basis. Draper and her illustrious team of seasoned investors, sales experts, and chief advisors, which include her father Tim and fashion designer icon Rebecca Minkoff, seek budding brands that offer something unique, disruptive, and categorically “special.” And, it doesn’t hurt to have a great team and $1 million in revenue for traction, though Halogen has been known to take chances on investing in companies with a product still in the development phase. Draper’s takeaway is would-be investors need to start somewhere. Draper iterates even the most ambitious entrepreneurs don’t always need to have all the answers. It’s okay not to have all your ducks in a row. She advises entrepreneurs to instead surround themselves with a reliable support system and a tirelessly talented team to help guide them to where they need to go.

Halogen’s impressive portfolio of notable start-ups that have achieved financial success and star-status include:

Third Love (thirdlove.com) — This re-imagined bra brand also features sleepwear, loungewear, and activewear that will take you from the desk to the dancefloor without missing a beat.

HEIDI ZAK

Founder

MONICA ROYER

Founder

Monica + Andy

(monicaandandy.com) — An original, baby lifestyle brand featuring organic, eco-friendly, and sustainable essentials for both baby and mama.

Senreve (senreve.com) — Luxury-level, vegan, handcrafted handbags that are seriously sustainable and fashionably functional.

CORAL CHUNG

Founder

MARINA CURRY

Founder BeautyCon (Beautycon.com) — Annual tradeshow summit featuring legendary as well as burgeoning brands in cosmetics, skincare, haircare, aesthetics, and more. Conferences are slated to start up again in summer 2022.

Ellevest (ellevest.com) — With the mission to “get more money in the hands of women,” Ellevest is the premier financial platform for investing, budgeting, planning, retirement, wealth management, business-building, banking, insurance, and more. A one-stop-shop for all-things-finances for GoGirls – and girls on-the-go – Ellevest also includes professional coaching on when to save and when to splurge.

SALLIE KRAWCHECK

Founder

Sugarfina (sugarfina.com) — Treat yourself to the “Tiffany of candy” with the brand’s iconic, bestselling champagne-infused, gummy Champagne Bears®, including a mouthwatering, colorful ROSIE O'NEILL Founder collection of cocktail candies, gourmet chocolates, tangy sours, scrumptious cookies, and so much more. We don’t know what’s better? The equally delicious décor or the sweet stuff itself!

The Skimm (theskimm.com) — A mission-driven, media mecca for millennial women spotlighting the latest in news, politics, culture, career, finance, and wellness, the Skimm continually seeks to innovate and find ways to positively impact the busy lives of women every day.

CARLY ZAKIN & DANIELLE WEISBERG

Founders

Eloquii (eloquii.com) — Cute, curvy, and inclusive, Eloquii is a fashion brand bringing the best in trendsetting styles to the full-figured female. Sometimes, size doesn’t matter.

Flex Company (flexfits.com) — Flex it, fold it, fit it, and forget it! Foldable, flexible, reusable, and reliable period products that make menstruation manageable.

Carbon38 (carbon38.com) — “Luxury that moves you” is the motto to this upscale athleisure wear brand that takes your look from work to workout seamlessly.

MARIAH CHASE

CEO

LAUREN WANG

Founder-CEO

KATIE WARNER JOHNSON AND CAROLINE GOGOLAK

Co-Founders

DEEPICA MUTYALA

Founder Live Tinted (livetinted.com) — Innovative, routine-simplifying, complexion-correcting cosmetics meet beauty positivity all wrapped up in one pretty package. Live Tinted is a thoughtful beauty brand backed by inclusive values and positive vibes.

Preemadonna (preemadonna.com) — Maker of the first-ever, at-home smart mani system that prints over Bluetooth technology, NailbotTM is sure to nail the interactive beauty movement.

PREE WALIA

Founder

Weelicious (weelicious.com) — A former “frustrated mother’s” solution to feeding her family delicious – and nutritious meals, Weelicious takes the guesswork at creating delectable dishes by providing easy recipes, meal plans, cooking videos, and indispensable information CATHERINE MCCORD centered around food and family.

Founder

Weecare (weecare.com) — An interactive platform that unites childcare providers, babysitters, nannies, caregivers, families, and employers, making quality, reliable childcare accessible and JESSICA CHANG Co-Founder/CEO affordable.

Brella (hellobrella.com) — On-demand, custom-created childcare and education that fits your ever-changing schedule.

MELANIE WOLFF & DARIEN WILLIAMS

Co-Founders

Tea Drops (teadrops.com) — From latte kits to sampler packages to subscription boxes, this re-imagined tea brand is steeped in sustainability, eco-conscious sourcing, and celebrity customer satisfaction. Their bagless, organic, whole-leaf tea options shed 15% less waste than traditional bagged tea. Now, SASHEE CHANDRAN that’s something to sip to!

Founder/CEO

Stylerow (stylerow.com) — A fashion designer’s dream-come-true, this one-stop-shop platform connects designers to brands, showrooms, and other pertinent vendors. An ingenious project management software program made simple, ERINN VALENCICH Founder/CEO Stylerow is a must for any-level, independent designers.

Sarah Flint (sarahflint.com) — Shoe lovers rejoice! From stilettos to sandals to scarves, this luxury-level footwear and accessory collection is a step in the right direction. All products are artisan crafted, expert manufactured, and 100% certified Italian-made alongside legendary, leading names in fashion. Shoe gurus can enjoy directSARAH FLINT Founder/CEO to-consumer pricing and original, enduring styles.

A member of multiple boards of the companies Halogen has invested in, Draper continues to attend events and conferences as a keynote speaker and is a regular contributor for Forbes and Marie Claire. Like a true GoGirl, Draper claims her inspiration for helping women realize their financial

dreams and business-building goals comes from seeing other women strive to attain their achievements and looks forward to the day the maleto-female investor dynamics finally shift.

A devoted wife and doting mother to three energetic, young boys, Jesse is a founding partner of Halogen Ventures, fourth generation venture capitalist, and former host of Emmy-nominated tech talk show, “The Valley Girl Show.” A staunch proponent for investing in women and leveraging technology and innovation to help solve some of the most challenging issues affecting women and families today, including childcare, Halogen’s prominent portfolio of over 70 companies continues to grow. Draper has been selected as one of the top ten early-stage female investors by Business Insider and was listed as one of the “50 Most Connected Women in America” by Marie Claire. She is frequently featured as the premier tech personality and investing guru on Cheddar, CNBC, and CNN and currently serves on the Board of Directors for Flex, My Style Row, Trust & Will, Carbon38, and Preemadonna, including non-profits

Bizworld and Project Glimmer. Draper is an on-going supporter of the Parkinson’s Institute and UCLA’s prestigious female entrepreneurial community and has cocreated the “Halogen Fellowship in Venture Capital” in an effort to boost diversity and inclusion in the world of business and venture capital investing.

Got a great business idea or looking for start-up capital to help turn your passion into a paycheck? Visit halogenvc.com. To learn more about Jesse and to peek into the private life of a creative career capitalist, business-builder, and gender equality advocate and crusader, be sure to follow her on the ‘Gram @jessedraper and @halogenvc.

Jennifer Murphy “GoGirl” thoroughly enjoyed getting to know Jesse Draper, founder of Halogen Ventures during their one-on-one interview at GoGirl Worldwide Studio Headquarters.

Both women have backgrounds in entertainment and business, and Jesse felt reminiscent of her former pink infused studio while she sat in Jen’s studio’s that also had pops of pink in every nook and cranny. The audience, full of female founders and CEO’s, witnessed how much in common the two entrepreneurs had, and saw a bond that formed during the live interview right in for of their eyes. Jen asked Jesse everything from how she balances it all as a mother, wife, and entrepreneur, to what it was like to interview geniuses like Elon Musk on her “Valley Girl” show several years prior. Jesse’s fun personality, deep commitment to helping women, and passion for helping affordable childcare solutions were just a few of the highlights the audience took away.

Jesse took questions from multiple female CEO's from the audience and shared wonderful answers, insights and suggestions, Jen couldn’t resist showing the audience clips from Jesse’s wedding to Brian McInnes where she and her entire bridal party put on a surprise “Flash Mob” to “Call Me Maybe”.

It was apparent that both Jesse and Jen share a love for making others laugh and smile, and a shared love for empowering female entrepreneurs.

Jen had a few surprises up her sleeve for Jesse including a tiny pink unicorn, martinis sponsored by Spa Girl Cocktails and a beautiful corset and feather purse sponsored by Fee Frey.

Thank you Spa Girl Cocktails for sponsoring this episode!

Watch Jen interview Jesse Draper LIVE at GoGirl Studios!

Jesse gives shout-outs to female entrepreneurs in the audience. Jesse and Jen connect in a meaningful way during the interview.

Former CEO of Spa Girl Cocktails surprises Jesse with a cocktail. Jesse enjoys hearing about the female found and led cocktail brand.

Founder of Fee Frey surprises Jesse with a Corset from her brand. Jesse is also surprised with a Fee Frey purse made with beautiful feathers.

Jesse poses with Jen (GoGirl), Valeria and Lana of Fee Frey. (We think she loves her new purse!)

Special guests in the audience include Maribel Zuniga (GoGirl Latina) and Coleen McNutt, Founder of Lightning Fit

Jesse and Jen take pink carpet pics after the show with many female entrepreneurs and CEOs from the audience.

Jesse and Jen take pink carpet pics with Annette (owner of RegenOc) and Gigi (Actress, former Olympic swimmer and Athlete).

Jen poses with her Spa Girl Swag Bag after the filming of the Jesse Draper GoGirl Interview on the Jennifer Murphy

GoGirl Show.

Our GoGirl DJ’s name is EVOL, which is LOVE spelled backwards. Very fitting that Jesse Draper wore a jacket with “LOVE” on the back!