Cyan Banister

And at the time I had a pretty strict rule about only investing kind of in my backyard because every time I tried to invest outside of my ecosystem, I got hosed. I didn't know the players in New York or the players in Austin or Europe. And I couldn't get follow-on financing for the companies. That's all changed, especially since the pandemic and people have become remote.

And at the time I had a pretty strict rule about only investing kind of in my backyard because every time I tried to invest outside of my ecosystem, I got hosed. I didn't know the players in New York or the players in Austin or Europe. And I couldn't get follow-on financing for the companies. That's all changed, especially since the pandemic and people have become remote.

But then I was just like, ah, so I put Ryan Graves' card away. Fast forward, David Hornick has this amazing event called The Lobby. I went to it. And basically, The Lobby is based around the fact that most amazing conversations happen in the lobby of the hotel. It's not the content. It's not any of it other than that. And it's absolutely true.

But then I was just like, ah, so I put Ryan Graves' card away. Fast forward, David Hornick has this amazing event called The Lobby. I went to it. And basically, The Lobby is based around the fact that most amazing conversations happen in the lobby of the hotel. It's not the content. It's not any of it other than that. And it's absolutely true.

And it also happened in the swimming pool and the hot tub and the various things when you're offsite at a resort that happen. Like you go snorkeling together, you go swimming together. So a huge group of us were in a hot tub and there's this guy, Travis Kalanick in the hot tub.

And it also happened in the swimming pool and the hot tub and the various things when you're offsite at a resort that happen. Like you go snorkeling together, you go swimming together. So a huge group of us were in a hot tub and there's this guy, Travis Kalanick in the hot tub.

And he had just exited from Red Swoosh and he basically announced to everybody he was on the bench looking for his next thing. As an investor, you always pay attention when somebody says something like that. We trade on secrets. So I took stock of his personality and his personality was very alpha. It was very aggressive. You could tell that everybody sort of quieted down when he spoke.

And he had just exited from Red Swoosh and he basically announced to everybody he was on the bench looking for his next thing. As an investor, you always pay attention when somebody says something like that. We trade on secrets. So I took stock of his personality and his personality was very alpha. It was very aggressive. You could tell that everybody sort of quieted down when he spoke.

There's a lot of things you look for in a leader. And I noticed that. And so I thought, well, I'm just going to watch this guy and see what happens. So a few months later, I got invited to Open Angel Forum, which is a thing that Jason Kalkanis did for a while. And I'm sitting there and like the second presentation that comes up is Travis Kalanick presenting UberCab.

There's a lot of things you look for in a leader. And I noticed that. And so I thought, well, I'm just going to watch this guy and see what happens. So a few months later, I got invited to Open Angel Forum, which is a thing that Jason Kalkanis did for a while. And I'm sitting there and like the second presentation that comes up is Travis Kalanick presenting UberCab.

And I wrote to my husband and I said, we need to invest in UberCab like today, right now. I don't understand what's going on with Ryan Graves, but it's kind of irrelevant. And we did meet Ryan Graves and we loved him, but we knew, or at least I knew that Ryan Graves would step aside with a person like that.

And I wrote to my husband and I said, we need to invest in UberCab like today, right now. I don't understand what's going on with Ryan Graves, but it's kind of irrelevant. And we did meet Ryan Graves and we loved him, but we knew, or at least I knew that Ryan Graves would step aside with a person like that.

He's going to want to be the CEO or Ryan would even recognize he was the natural fit for it. I'm not sure what happened on the back end, but Ryan did step aside. He became the COO and the rest is history. And so there's an example of just being really curious and following the white rabbit, so to speak, down the rabbit hole. You take that curiosity and you see where it goes.

He's going to want to be the CEO or Ryan would even recognize he was the natural fit for it. I'm not sure what happened on the back end, but Ryan did step aside. He became the COO and the rest is history. And so there's an example of just being really curious and following the white rabbit, so to speak, down the rabbit hole. You take that curiosity and you see where it goes.

And then you strike the moment you have that lightning bolt. The lightning bolt hit me when Travis got up.

And then you strike the moment you have that lightning bolt. The lightning bolt hit me when Travis got up.

I believe that one was $8 million.

I believe that one was $8 million.

That's the first round.

That's the first round.