Welcoming Elana Lian to Team DTC

Today, we’re welcoming Elana Lian to our team. With firsthand experience in entrepreneurship, operations, and investing, Elana is a triple threat in early-stage enterprise venture. We’re excited to have her on board as DTC’s newest investing partner and sat down for a quick interview about her motivations and interests in venture.

Why venture capital?

Getting into venture capital was somewhat accidental for me. I am a geek at heart, and after high school, I studied electrical engineering, eventually earning a master’s. I then spent several years working in engineering, product management, and product design. I had a realization then that I didn’t want to pursue a PhD and I wasn’t that interested in management. What was interesting to me was the intersection of people, technologies, and business. So, I went to Northwestern’s Kellogg School of Management for an MBA. As a part of that program, I landed an internship with Motorola Ventures. That was my “a-ha!” moment with venture.

In retrospect, it shouldn’t have been that surprising. My mother immigrated from China to Canada at the age of 50 with $50 in her pocket. She immediately started a business. In between earning degrees and working in industry, I’ve started two companies myself – an early e-commerce startup and an infrastructure database company. When I say accidental, I mean inevitable.

Awesome. So now that you are where you were always meant to be, what investment areas are you focused on?

The enterprise tech layer that can generate real impact on the top and bottom lines for companies. Infrastructure, tooling, data, automation, and including areas like compute and power. I am also looking at how AI will impact every layer of the full stack. Not just Generative AI but AI, ML, and business intelligence. That’s my major. My minor would be in frontier tech, including robotics. GenAI has made the whole robotics space even more interesting. The compute and data are there. The cost of training will come down, and we’ll see some interesting advancements.

Speaking of which, are we in an AI bubble?

Yeah, in the short term, we are in a GenAI bubble. There’s a layer of super-hot deals. But there’s also real tech being built a few layers down. Teams that are building the tools and infra necessary for GenAI to advance industries. Then, the teams apply AI/ML vertically to solve current, real-world problems with small language models. They aren’t in the headlines, but they’re building real tech. And because of recent market experience, they’re building in capital-efficient ways.

In the long term, we’re not going to see this time as a bubble. The technologies being created today will be ubiquitous for the next generation. I think progression is positive and will raise our collective IQ.

That’s a very optimistic take.

I am optimistic about innovation and entrepreneurs. The tenacity and persistency of founders are the biggest draw to early-stage investing for me. That someone is willing to spend a decade or more to see a vision through to maybe even creating entire new categories of technology or business is inspiring.

For me to invest, I have to see original thinking and vision balanced with pragmatism on the business side. I am going to come to that relationship from a position of curiosity. I ask questions – not shy about getting into the weeds on the tech from quantum and AI to space and robotics or on the business side from product design to revenue models. I am optimistic, but I am not a cheerleader, which is an important distinction. Founders looking for deep relationships with investors that they can rely on through the good and the challenges are my target audience.

To wrap up, how do you stay busy outside of investing?

I like to stay active outdoors. Land and sea. I’m an PADI Advanced-certified diver and just earned PSIA L1 ski instructor certification this past winter.

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