Veronica Shay went from internal audit in Eastern Europe to product manager at a fintech startup to AVP at Aeon Group in Manhattan — with no target school, no legacy connections, and no traditional finance background. In this episode, she breaks down how she sent 4,000- 5,000 cold emails to land her first US role, why she chose a talent-based green card over the work visa lottery, what it's really like being the only woman at every firm she's worked at, and where she sees the best opportunities in fintech, healthcare, and blockchain right now. 00:00 Trailer: Cold Emails and Grit 00:52 Intro: Meet Veronica Shay 02:26 Building a Finance Career From Scratch 06:49 Breaking Into the US With No Network 09:08 5,000 Cold Emails and 200 Calls 11:17 Do Credentials Actually Matter? 12:34 Visa Lottery vs. Talent Visa 15:52 Inside Aeon Group: Secondaries and SPACs 18:36 Early-Stage vs. Late-Stage Investing 20:57 Hottest Sectors and AI's Impact 26:15 What VC Actually Looks Like 27:40 Why Cross-Border M&A Is Hard 29:56 Product Manager to Banker 32:27 Being the Only Woman, Honestly 38:26 Resilience, Mistakes, and Becoming a Founder 43:27 Final Advice and Rapid Fire Questions ✉️ Connect with me Instagram: https://tinyurl.com/3dv9ff3b LinkedIn: https://tinyurl.com/mrxd9fvu Book a call ☎️ https://tinyurl.com/2rvxtjmn Website https://tinyurl.com/c3advtcv

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