Halle Tecco
Angel investor and adjunct professor at Columbia business school
Discussion
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Halle Tecco
@halletecco · Human
Halle Tecco here! I'm currently an Adjunct Professor at Columbia Business School, and an angel investor. With my husband (Jeff Hammerbacher, the other half of @Techammer), we've made 58 angel investments in the last 8 years. I love early stage companies looking to make a difference in the lives of everyday Americans. Let's chat!
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COSTAS ANDRIOPOULOS
@candriopoulos · https://medium.com/strictly-curious
Hello Halle, thanks for taking our questions. Where do you look for emerging trends (e.g. sources, events, websites, etc.) and how do you pick ventures in nascent industries? How much do you typically invest?
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Halle Tecco
@halletecco · Human
@candriopoulos we (@techammer) typically incest $25K, but have gone up to $50K or $100K when it makes sense. I look for opportunities from my own experiences -- lately I've been learning as much as possible about real estate tech and fertility. These are just two areas where the existing industry is just ripe for disruption.
COSTAS ANDRIOPOULOS
@candriopoulos · https://medium.com/strictly-curious
@halletecco Great! Thank you for your invaluable answer.
Daniel Lee
@dleesta · Product Manager
How do you think universities should decrease the cost of college as well as increase the value they are providing? Clearly the cost to value ratio is off.
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Halle Tecco
@halletecco · Human
@dleesta perhaps they should listen more to the ideas and feedback of students and recent grads! I agree -- the cost to value ratio is off and not sustainable. I have to quote Darwin here: "It is not the strongest or the most intelligent who will survive but those who can best manage change"
Thomas Stöcklein
@tomstocklein · FoundersFundersFuture.com
How can business schools complement their existing core curriculum (finance, marketing, operations, etc.) to keep up with technological innovation?
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Halle Tecco
@halletecco · Human
@tomstocklein in my class, we have founders pitch and the students act as VCs. They are in groups of "VC firms", they ask the founder questions, and then write-up investment memos on each deal. I think experiential learning is a great way to complement existing core curriculum. The students hone real skills and get relevant, timely case studies.
Cobby Amoah
@cobbyamoah · CEO, Obaa
There are a lot of startups offering doctor home visits. Do you think this is sustainable considering the doctor-to-patient ratio and will it ever be available to the masses?
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Halle Tecco
@halletecco · Human
@cobbyamoah this is a great question. The cost of a home-visit is just as high as an office-visit (or higher), so it seems like a luxury to me. We're starting to see some of the home-visit companies (like Pager) pivot to a model where home-visits are not the core business. If we really want to increase access to care, we need to (1) invest in keeping people healthy to begin with and (2) increase our use of telemedicine. For the large fraction of doctor visits that do not require an in-person physical exam, telemedicine offer lower costs, access, and often a better patient experience.
Emily Hodgins
@ems_hodge · Community and Marketing, Product Hunt
You've achieved so much already in your career and have tons to be proud of. Is there anything you regret? Or might have changed with retrospect?
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Halle Tecco
@halletecco · Human
@ems_hodge I regret not having more balance in my life for the first five years of Rock Health. I was working tirelessly to improve healthcare, but was neglecting my own mental and physical health. I wasn't spending enough time with friends and family, or just time for myself. I thought about work every waking moment, and dreamt about it nearly every night. When my dad had a heart attack, I had a bunch of meetings in SF so I didn't go home to Ohio to see him. That was when I woke up and realized that I wasn't being the person I wanted to be. I moved to the east coast to be with my husband and started really working on work-life balance. So far I feel a lot better about things!
Ben Tossell
@bentossell · Community Lead, Product Hunt
If you had to swap lives with a tech CEO/founder for a week, who would it be and why?
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Halle Tecco
@halletecco · Human
@bentossell SUCH A GOOD QUESTION. Maybe I'd switch with a CEO of a company like Pepsi that has to balance the ethical consequences of people consuming their products. I'd love to see how these companies make big decisions!
Ben Tossell
@bentossell · Community Lead, Product Hunt
What are your favourite questions to ask founders?
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Halle Tecco
@halletecco · Human
@bentossell I always love to dig in about the grander vision for the company, and if the founder wants to be rich or king (something I spent a lot of time learning about at HBS: https://hbr.org/2008/02/the-foun...)
V.S.VIVEK
@vsvivek93 · Unoccupied
What is your personal filter of things for investing in startups? I mean what are the criteria you look other than entrepreneur ?
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Halle Tecco
@halletecco · Human
@vsvivek93 I ask this question: will this product improve the lives of every day Americans?
Guled Ahmed
@_guled_ · Innovator, Aspiring Entrepreneur
Hello Helle.
What does it mean for a startup to do their "homework" before making a deal with an investor in order to gain funds for their startup? What does that word exactly entail? I see that word come up when investors mention qualities of a would-be candidate. I'm coming from a standpoint of hypothetical situation where someone is just starting their business.