Kimmy Scotti
General Partner at eight Partners and Founder of the women’s health and wellness company Monthly Gift.
Discussion
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Kimmy Scotti
@kimmyscotti · Partner, eight
Hi all, Kimmy here. I'm a General Partner at eight Partners and Founder of the women’s health and wellness company Monthly Gift. Prior to eight Partners, I served as the Executive Director of Business Development & Operations at Loeb Enterprises where I co-founded Script Relief, a direct-to-consumer healthcare company that has helped over 10 million Americans afford their prescription medications. I also serve as the Executive Chairman of The RunThrough, the international, digital showroom connecting established and emerging designers to the fashion press.
Prior to graduating from The Fashion Institute of Technology, I created Mimz New York, a fashion jewelry line that was sold at Bloomingdales and featured on the hit show, “Project Runway”. I'm also a member of New York Angels, an advisor to the CFDA Incubator, and an advisor to Cornell Tech. Happy to be here today! Ask away.
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Andrew Brandeis, ND
@mhealthdr · CEO, SharePractice
@kimmyscotti Long time listener, first time caller. Question: how did you become so fabulous?
Jonathan Shriftman
@shriftman · BD, Snaps / Founder, Humin (acq Tinder)
Hey Kimmy, thanks for being here today! Can you share some more how you evaluate potential companies? What criteria do you look for?
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Kimmy Scotti
@kimmyscotti · Partner, eight
@shriftman So I answered this a bit below in detail as well, but really it boils down to do we believe the founder is a winner, can they take the idea the distance, does the idea map to reality, does it solve a BIG problem, do they take guidance well are they good collaborators, are they a flexible thinker, do they have a strong engineering culture, etc!
Ryan Matzner
@rdm · Director, Fueled
@kimmyscotti You're all over the place. From fashion to health care. And you do a lot at once. How do you stay focused and organized?
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Kimmy Scotti
@kimmyscotti · Partner, eight
@rdm I have serious ADD and way too many interests...clearly. I have this best friend, Nicole Williams, who is a bestselling author and career expert (can't hurt to have one of these in your corner, right!?) who told me like 9 years ao that "balance is bullsh*t and focus is all you can really do." and so when I am working on something, I try to just give that 100% of my attention and not think about everything else at that moment. So I'm actually only masquerading as an organized person. I also have this really amazing TEAM (hi guys!) and PARTNERS (yay!) who help support all of my craziness and enable me to scale my time.
Kate
@katesegrin · Community @ Product Hunt
Who are some of the people that have made the greatest impact on your life? (Stories, please!)
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Kimmy Scotti
@kimmyscotti · Partner, eight
@katesegrin Hi Kate! I have been incredibly lucky to great people around me and they have made huge impact on my life. So Ill start early. My parents are absolute hustlers, they worked so hard to give me an education and taught me the importance of hard work and also of family, I have two brothers and a sister who are my best friends and always in my corner. When I wanted to start my first company at 15 years old...a jewelry line...they didn't say, "you are insane"...my Dad drove me to the county clerks office and staples to get a little book to write receipts and turned over their dining room as my office. Michael Loeb, who I went to work with at Loeb Enterprises after college, taught me about abundance...he showed me that the sky is the limit and that I wasn't just "back", that I could also think my way through problem solving. Joe Lonsdale, one of my partners at eight Partners is the first person to tell me that I needed to solve BIGGER problems. I'll come back to more of these people!
Kate
@katesegrin · Community @ Product Hunt
Who are some of the most kickass women in tech (besides yourself 😉) that we may not have heard of?
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Kimmy Scotti
@kimmyscotti · Partner, eight
@katesegrin Kate! There are so. many. kickass. women. in. tech. I. love. Okay...the one I probably love most...is Meredith Finkelstein, co-founder of Print All Over Me. PAOM is a platform for creating customized clothing - Meredith is like superwoman...wife, mother, sister (her brother, Jesse, is her co-founder!), rocket scientist, engineer. She literally does it all and inspires me every time I see her. Sterling Witzke @ Winklevoss has a great eye for identifying incredible early stage founders...and this girl's nail game is seriously on point. Morgan Beller @ Andreessen...understands the need to build a community and makes it her mission, literally couldn't adore a human more. Daniel Goldstein @ Innovation Endeavors in Tel Aviv, few people bring more heart to their day to day than this girl. Heather Marie @ Shoppable...crushing the universal shopping cart game...and with such poise. Erin Yogasundran, founder of ShopJeen...this girl truly understands the importance in of-the-moment-trends in e-com. Vanessa Pestritto @ New York Angels showed me the ropes of the NY angel scene early on. I try to keep all the smart girls together!
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Kimmy Scotti
@kimmyscotti · Partner, eight
@kimmyscotti @katesegrin OMG I missed some...Alexandra & Katherine Keating...sister geniuses...AK founded @dwnldmedia and KK founded, One on One series - the coolest mobile first interview platform where she talks to all of these great leaders about something that is important to them that we might not know about. Obsessed with these two and crazy about their content. OH and Maddy Maxey @thecrated, lets please make LED clothing all day, seriously.
Ryan Hoover
@rrhoover · Founder, Product Hunt
Hi, Kimmy! You've done a lot of different things. Why did you choose to become a VC?
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Kimmy Scotti
@kimmyscotti · Partner, eight
@rrhoover This is a question people ask me a lot - its so fun building companies, so why move to investing in companies...I fell in love with investing because it's really the only place that you can sit in between the two things I value most highly in the world - People and Ideas. As an investor, the most creative people in the world come and see you and tell about something they hope to create, and they are asking for YOUR help to bring it to fruition, I loved that process as an angel and decided to go industrial strength!
Alex Carter
@alexcartaz · Operations @ 60dB. Ex-PH Podcasts 😻
What markets or type of ideas are you most excited to invest in and why? What do you look for in founders you angel invest in?
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Kimmy Scotti
@kimmyscotti · Partner, eight
@alexcartaz Alex! This changes for me all the time...Im really excited about just-in-time-produced everything and mass customization. I think it means less waste in general, more investment in the things we buy because they are truly for you (and maybe by you - like in the case of Print All Over Me) and a lot if taking middle-men out of transactions.
Alex Carter
@alexcartaz · Operations @ 60dB. Ex-PH Podcasts 😻
What is the most insightful thing you've learned from being a founder? From being an investor? And from being a creative?
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Kimmy Scotti
@kimmyscotti · Partner, eight
@alexcartaz This is such a great question! So from being a founder, I think one of the most important things I have learned is that your plan is like a good roadmap, but it can't be set in stone. We pivoted to building ScriptRelief from a digital magazine company...super random. You have to be flexible and listen not just to the information that comes in loud and clear, but look in the data for the ground swell...little whispers...to tell you where you should be going next. As an investor, I think the most important thing I'm learning is to truly partner with your companies and be there during the tough times...I always want to be the first phone call when something is going wrong, not the kind of investor you hide from when you have bad news. I want to roll up my sleeves and get in the trenches with my founders and their teams. As a creative...the most insightful thing I have learned is to just CREATE...don't over think it. People often plan and plan and plan...planning is the enemy of the creative. Just create and then iterate. Also I think in all of these roles I take on, I apply my creative self. I always just define myself as a "Maker." Sometimes I make companies, sometimes I make investments, sometimes...I make meatballs.
Alex Carter
@alexcartaz · Operations @ 60dB. Ex-PH Podcasts 😻
What advice would you give your 20 year old self?
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Kimmy Scotti
@kimmyscotti · Partner, eight
@alexcartaz So this year I turned 30...(WTF. THIRTY!?) and I think I would have told myself 10 years ago to just worry less...I would tell myself what I tell my founders now..."You won the 'brain lottery', you make things with your mind, it's rare, enjoy it." I was so focused on my work/company/etc..that I didn't stop a ton to look around and realize how fun it all was in the process. Now I am more present...at the end of a busy day, even when it's a really really hard one, I'm super grateful for the work I get to do and I realize it.