Power Women of DC Tech: Finale!
The bad news is we lost count of how many power women of DC tech we’ve profiled the last few weeks. The good news is we lost count because the region is home to a growing community of women tech entrepreneurs—more than we could cover in a few weeks. We’ll celebrate all of them at our Oct. 15 event in Crystal City. Join us.
Alexis Juneja
Vice President, Vox Media
Co-Founder, Curbed LLC (sold to Vox)
Company: Digital media company with several brands, including Vox (general news), Eater (restaurants), Racked (shopping), Curbed (real estate/shelter), Polygon (video gaming), The Verge (tech culture), and SB Nation (sports).
Job: Oversee finance, corporate development, HR, corporate IT, and office operations.
Customers: Educated, high-earning influencers and national brands.
Company’s latest news: Eater, our restaurant and nightlife site, was relaunched Monday on Vox’s proprietary platform, Chorus. Site is gorgeous and more functional to our community and editors.
Inspiration to launch Curbed: Co-founded the company that published Curbed, Eater, and Racked with Lockhart Steele in 2004. Lock had an idea, I found it engaging, and I have tremendous respect for Lock—we’ve been friends since age 15. In 2004, there was less societal energy about “doing a startup,” and Curbed was an aggressive hobby alongside our day jobs.
Biggest challenge: Recognizing you’re the adult in the room, and managing teams through the chaos of growth.
Career milestones: Being promoted to post-MBA position at Goldman Sachs before going to business school; co-founding Curbed; and selling Curbed to Vox Media in 2013.
Hometown: Southborough, Mass.
Current home: Chevy Chase.
Why DC: Husband received offer to join Opower four years ago—moved from NY.
Schools: Wesleyan University and Harvard Business School.
First job: Investment Associate at Cambridge Associates.
Greatest fear: Losing loved ones.
Daily habit: When I’m home, spend the early mornings reading to and playing with my daughter.
Favorite vacation: Honeymoon to South Africa.
Favorite restaurant: Bread Furst (Van Ness).
Family: Married to Rick Juneja; daughter; baby on the way; and one lovable, demanding Vizsla.
Free time: Spent with family, reading, and pre-natal yoga.
Advice to 18-year-old self: Play more ice hockey.
Song Pak
General counsel, Revolution LLC and Revolution Growth
Firm: DC-based investment firm started by Steve Case in 2005. Invests in companies from the $450M Revolution Growth Fund and the $200M Revolution Ventures fund.
Portfolio includes: Sweetgreen, HelloWallet, AddThis, LivingSocial, newBrandAnalytics, Optoro, and CustomInk.
Job: General counsel for both funds and handle legal and operations for the Case family.
History with Revolution: Joined Revolution Health Group in July 2006 and then served as GC for Extend Health, a Revolution portfolio company. Moved to investment company in 2011.
Revolution’s latest news: Started bus tours of smaller cities to discover startups and entrepreneurship in lesser-known business hubs. I visited Nashville on the recent tour, and I may get to Kansas City on the next tour in October. A pitch contest is held in each city and the winners get an investment from Steve. I handle the legal aspects for him.
Why a legal career: While practicing law in the late '90s in Texas, I got to work on some transactions that involved startup companies. I caught the bug and started working with smaller companies. It’s a great opportunity to work hands-on as an advisor.
Biggest challenge: Making sure things are done right while always advancing the ball.
Career milestones: Completing hundreds of deals in equity financing, debt, M&As, IPOs; leaving professional services as outside counsel to work inside a company; and working in an investment company and being responsible for everything related to our funds and being a hands-on business advisor.
Hometown: Born in Seoul, Korea, moved here at age 4, and grew up in Dallas.
Current home: Chevy Chase (on the Maryland side).
Why DC: Was working in Texas but wanted to get more involved with startups. Considered Silicon Valley but then friend lured me to the DC region, which already had a growing tech presence with companies like UUNet, MCI Worldcom, AOL, and Verisign. I took an offer with DLA Piper.
Schools: Southern Methodist University and University of Texas-Austin.
First job: McDonald’s through high school. Ended up becoming a manager.
Daily habit: Connect everyday with a colleague to talk about one serious thing that we’re grateful for and one silly thing.
Greatest fear: Letting a day slip by without appreciating it.
Favorite vacation: Costa Rica.
Favorite restaurant: Estadio (Logan Circle).
Bucket list: Go camping.
Family facts: Married 13 years; two daughters (10 and 12); and two cats.
Free time: Cooking and nutrition.
Advice to 18-year-old self: Always look ahead and don’t dwell on what’s already happened.
Big thanks to our great partners in this initiative: Deloitte, TriNet, Cabot Consultants, Vornado the Crystal Tech Fund, Wingate Hughes, and Kilpatrick Townsend.
