039 Dr. Kay Olmstead — Impact Investing

A conversation with Dr. Kay Olmstead of Nano PharmaSolutions

Welcome to She Invests, where you’ll hear from existing female angel investors, venture capitalists and fund managers on their investment thesis. From deal flow to exits, they will share the best practices that contribute to their success.

In this episode, Dr. Silvia Mah welcomes to the podcast entrepreneur, founder and fellow angel investor, Dr. Kay Olmstead. Dr. Kay is an angel investor who has a particular interest in investing in technology-based companies in biotech and clean tech. She looks for investment opportunities in socially responsible companies with technologies to make our world better by creating products to tackle tough problems. Dr. Kay is also an accomplished entrepreneur and is a co-founder and CEO of Nano PharmaSolutions. Throughout her thirty-two year career in the pharmaceutical industry she led the development efforts of five FDA-approved drugs and holds nineteen issued patents to date.

Today, Dr. Silvia speaks to Dr. Kay about her investment thesis, one that is rooted in impact investing and legacy building through philanthropic investment vehicles, such as Donor Advised Funds, or DAFs. Dr. Kay continues by discussing the importance of commercialization and provides general advice to aspiring entrepreneurs.

Episode Sponsor:

Domaine Santé

Key Takeaways

• 04:40 — Dr. Silvia Mah introduces today’s guest, Dr. Kay Olmstead who speaks to her investment thesis and the decision to pursue impact investing
• 16:44 — Dr. Kay talks about how her approach to investing has been influenced by her background as both an intrapreneur and entrepreneur
• 20:53 — Dr. Kay provides some poignant investment questions that are important to ask
• 24:03 — Dr. Kay comments on the importance of commercialization
• 29:33 — Dr. Kay speaks to the value of relationship building in investing
• 34:35 — Dr. Kay talks about her experience with San Diego Angel Conference
• 38:47 — Dr. Silvia recaps her interview with Dr. Kay

Tweetables

(Through impact investing) you can teach your kids and you can make an impact in our society and you can help your local economy and grow your charity fund.

I also learned what’s important for a company to be solid and investment worthy. Not every good idea is investment worthy and not every company is well-run and managed.

There are many different avenues to commercialize it. You can go all the way and then IPO and be bought by somebody. Or you can sell out that asset after proof of concept was successful or you can actually get partners in and carry on the work with the…

If you have something to share, share. And as an entrepreneur myself, I can receive good ideas and good advice too. It’s not just a one-way street. I don’t know it all. I’m not strong in every area. But we’re all strong in something and if we…

Links Mentioned

Dr. Silvia Mah’s LinkedIn
Dr. Silvia Mah’s Website
Dr. Silvia’s Twitter — @silviamah
Domaine Santé Website
San Diego Angel Conference
Dr. Kay’s LinkedIn
Intercept Pharma
Salix
Nano PharmaSolutions

Domaine Santé

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