Are You Dreaming Big Enough? with Meenie Ingersoll, Co-Founder of Shift

Minnie Ingersoll is an investor, co-founder, and former COO of
Shift, an online marketplace for used cars. After 12 years at
Google, working as a product manager and later principal with
Google.org, she co-founded Shift in 2013 while she was on
maternity leave. Minnie shares that she never thought she’d be a
founder and in the used car industry, but the opportunity to
build a business from scratch was exciting to her. 


Minnie took Shift from an idea to over $100 million dollars in
revenue and has seen continued success with the company going
public last year. After 5 years at Shift, Minnie decided to
change her career once again and empower entrepreneurs as an
early-stage investor at TenOneTen Ventures. 


We’ll chat with Minnie about how she built her emotional
resilience in tough times, why communication & people are
your biggest assets at work, and what truly makes a good founder
when it comes to starting your own company. 


In this episode, we’ll talk to Minnie about: 


* What it was like growing up in an academic family & why she
was always considered the black sheep [2:30]


* Why Minnie decided to drop out of college after her first
semester [4:59]


* What drove Minnie to go to business school after the dot.com
burst & what helped her gain confidence [8:02]


* Minnie discusses her experience as an early Google employee
& key learnings [11:16]


* What prompted Minnie to leave her stable job during maternity
leave & become a cofounder at Shift [13:58]


* What motivated Minnie to start a used car business despite not
being particularly interested in the industry [16:56]


* Minnie talks about the early days of raising money and the
initial steps the business took to prove their concept [20:46]


* Why business needs to be more friendly & inclusive and how
the Zoom culture we’re right now can benefit us [26:03]


* Advice when it comes to interviewing based on Minnie’s
experience taking Shift from 0 to 200 employees in only two years
[28:15]


* How to deal with difficult and uncomfortable conversations in
business [34:02]


* Minnie shares why burn out happens when you’re not fulfilled in
your job [39:15]


* The advice Minnie would give to her younger self: just chill
out [41:12]


* Why Minnie decided to leave Shift, move to LA, and change her
career once again [43:01] 


* As a partner at the venture capital firm, TenOneTen, Minnie
shares her advice on what makes a good founder & how to think
through your pitch to investors [48:15]


Follow Minnie:


* Shift Instagram:
https://www.instagram.com/driveshiftcars/ 


* TenOneTen Ventures:
https://www.instagram.com/ten.one.ten/ 


* Shift Website: https://shift.com/ 


* TenOneTen Ventures: https://www.tenoneten.net/ 


Follow Yasmin:


* Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/yasminknouri/


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