Helen

Dr. Helen H. Liang, PhD is truly a wonder. After earning her PhD in Materials Science at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, she started a career in the tech industry as an R&D engineer and then a product manager, working with labs in top-tier research universities taking breakthrough technologies from lab to market.

She left the high-tech industry at the end of 2012 and founded a smart wearable startup in 2013. After an exit in 2015, she decided to team up with her good friend, Dr. Tom Kosnik, a Marketing PhD and adjunct professor at Stanford, teaching Technology Ventures. They established FoundersX venture firm in early 2016 with young talents from Stanford, focusing on backing early-stage tech startups at seed and A rounds in enterprise AI and deep tech.

I was fortunate enough to meet Helen through mutual engagement with 1910 Genetics, and from the moment we met, we hit it off. After several in person conversations and engagements with Helen, I met the entire FoundersX team, including Tom, who shared two beautiful stone hearts with me to remind myself (and someone I love and give one to) that I am never alone. A compassionate and so truly unexpected gesture from the co-Founder of an incredibly successful venture group.

I joined FoundersX (https://lnkd.in/gd5K5-5b) this past year as a Venture Partner based on the incredibly positive relationships I have formed with Helen and the rest of the team. We recently had our Annual General Meeting at Filoli Gardens, and when I say that the event was inspiring, that is truly the understatement of the year. Interactive entertainment platforms, intergalactic drones, human immunological mapping, AI drug discovery and so much more. The FoundersX team has truly spent the time and diligence to truly understand the Power Law, and it is hard to imagine this group being anything but hugely successful.

And I could not be more excited to watch it all unfold around me.

The next piece in my ongoing series of inspirational women who have graced my life is named for one of my favorite new mentors, colleagues and friends, “Helen.” This stained glass mixed media portrait is based on a photo from our recent AGM at Filoli and captures her signature style, including her amazing bob haircut. Her pink jacket has a beautiful fabric floral lapel and gorgeous pink glass with a black turtleneck shirt made from black glass. The words, “You can do it” and “You can change the world” are also layered into the lapel, to represent her constant positivity and encouragement with all of her Founders. Her face has pink glitter and little hearts, pink pressed flowers, a lucky 4-leaf clover and the Ernest Hemingway quote, “Live the full life of the mind, exhilarated by new ideas, intoxicated by the romance of the unusual.” I can think of no better description for the way she lives her life.

Thank you for the inspiration Helen ❤️…looking forward to many years of friendship!