In this episode of Career Conversations with Chris, we step into the high-velocity world of venture capital and leadership with Sue Heilbronner, co-founder of the renowned accelerator MergeLane.

Key themes in this high-energy conversation include:

• Prosecutor to Pitch Coach: How the skills Sue honed as a federal prosecutor, specifically, pattern recognition and relentless preparation, translate directly into being a top-tier startup advisor.
• The Power of Narrative: Why a founder's ability to clearly tell their story is the most critical factor for securing investment, more important than any deck or spreadsheet.
• The Art of the Ask: The fundamental difference between the fear-based ask and the confident, trust-based ask in fundraising, and how founders can master the latter.
• Integrity as a Non-Negotiable: Why a founder's personal and emotional integrity is the absolute non-negotiable trait she looks for before ever writing a check.
• Scaling Influence: Sue’s pivot from running MergeLane to her new focus on writing and advisory work, and what it means to transition from scaling companies to scaling influence.

Join Chris as he chats with Sue Heilbronner about leveraging your authentic self, adapting to high-stakes environments, and what it really takes to fund, found, lead and scale with integrity.