Josephine Chen

I was born in Massachusetts but spent most of my childhood in Taiwan before moving to the Bay Area at age ten. By the time I started college, I had somehow survived the role of being the new kid at seven different schools. For most founders, startup journeys are a story of resilience and adaptability. I want to be there to challenge them in the good times and be a shock absorber in the rough patches.

I strongly believe in immigrant founders: I saw firsthand the sheer tenacity of my parents who built a business while raising two daughters in a country where everything was foreign to them. I viscerally appreciate the challenges and the hopes of those chasing the American Dream—for many immigrants, there is more at stake than just their company.

I nearly drowned as a child. I sobbed all day, and the day after that, I asked to enroll in swimming lessons. There are moments where every founder feels like they’re drowning—I want to be their first call when that happens.

I started doing research in immunology when I was in middle school. I did translational oncology at Genentech, and then studied a new protein target to slow Alzheimer’s in college. At Stanford, I was able to marry my interests in biology with statistics and computer science, and I am excited to meet entrepreneurs innovating at that intersection.