Erika Bricky, Principal at The Council Fund, is a rising star in the venture capital world. Her unconventional path took her from a major tech company to an early-stage healthcare startup and eventually to Chief of Staff at an emerging VC fund, where she discovered her passion for investing, sealing her first deal within six months.
Her early-stage VC fund sits at the heart of Erika’s life mission. Her team’s network of operators is robust, granting them unique access to talented individuals leaving their companies to become startup founders—precisely the kind of entrepreneurs they seek to support. This collaborative approach, bolstered by an angel community, has been essential to The Council Fund’s growth and success, strengthening their ability to close deals, provide expertise, and nurture their portfolio companies.
We asked Erika about her journey to becoming an investor, how she develops conviction in new investments, and the advice she would give to a company interested in pitching to her.
Q: Tell us about your career journey. At what point in your career did you decide to work as an investor and why?
A: I often tell people that I “face-planted” into venture capital—I was not expecting or planning to be an investor so early in my career. I went from a big tech company, Palo Alto Networks, to helping lead a sales organization at a very early-stage healthcare startup. I then ended up as Chief of Staff at an emerging venture capital fund. My job as Chief of Staff was more all encompassing than any of us had imagined, and I was able to lead my first investment deal in just under six months. I saw quickly that making the investments was the most exciting part of working at a fund, and I wanted to get in on the action. Meeting founders daily who dedicate their lives to their craft is incredibly inspiring. I wanted to make sure I could do that for the rest of my career.
Q: How did you network, find communities, and make the connections you needed to get started as an investor?
A: When I first started as an investor, I really struggled with impostor syndrome. I didn’t feel qualified to talk about things I actually knew a lot about. It was when I started sharing my journey as an early-career investor on Twitter and LinkedIn that my personal brand and network started taking off. Putting yourself out there can transform your career. I wish every day I had started sooner. I sent countless cold direct messages and emails asking people I looked up to to spare 30 minutes of their time to talk with me. I grew my following to almost 10,000 in one year and am excited to continue building a community of investors and founders to help shape the industry alongside me.
Q: Tell us a bit about your fund. What is The Council Fund’s core theses,what types of companies do you invest in, and at what stage?
A: The Council Fund is an early-stage venture capital fund investing in software built for industries like supply chain, manufacturing, healthcare, logistics, construction, transportation, and agriculture. These industries make up about 50 percent of the U.S. gross domestic product and are absolutely critical for our existence. We like to invest in proven operators who have had a hand in building and growing companies before starting their own. The combination of industries in need of innovation and founders with deep domain expertise creates outsized performance, with many portfolio companies growing at rapid paces.
Q: In what ways does The Council Fund do things differently than other VC funds?
A: Before, The Council Fund was The Council Angels. For five years, The Council Angels has been an active, all-women, all-operator angel investor community investing in technology companies in collaboration with one another. The Council Angels are excellent partners for The Council Fund, as they provide both support and exclusive deal flow. We get first notice when talented folks are leaving their companies to become startup founders, which is exactly who we look for. Having an angel community attached to our fund creates strength in numbers and has been imperative to the success and growth of The Council Fund. Our angel members are quick to volunteer their time to help us close deals, share their expertise, and support our portfolio companies.
Q: What made you join The Council Fund?
A: I knew for my next role I wanted to work with someone who was committed to building a long-lasting firm. In my search for a new investor position, I was disheartened to find that junior VC roles were few and far between due to the economic downturn. When the General Partner of The Council Fund, Amber Illig, called me to offer me a position, I jumped at the opportunity to work with her. Amber has been an inspiration and mentor to me since I began my career as an investor, and I knew she would be the best thought partner to build a venture firm that is contemporary and resilient. I know Amber sees me as her colleague and an equal, which is going to strengthen us as a team as we set forth to raise subsequent funds for The Council.
Q: What does the team structure of The Council Fund look like? Specifically, what’s the representation of female investors?
A: The team at The Council Fund is small and mighty, consisting of our General Partner Amber Illig, myself as Principal, and Shriya Navatia as our Community Lead. Our team is distinctly all-female, which I see as a result of the community we have built with The Council Angels. As The Council Fund grows, our team will grow too. But for now, our nimble team of “Jill-of-all-trades” is perfect for us. We believe that the best way to get more diverse founders funded is to start from the top and have more diverse investors deploying capital.
Q: How do you develop conviction in new investments? Has this evolved over time?
A: Something I have focused on more and more is the idea of “founder-market-fit.” I ask myself these three questions: Is this founder uniquely qualified to solve this problem/serve this customer? Will this founder commit to building a lasting company and will not quit when things get hard? Does this founder want to build a legacy with this company or are they hoping for a quick way out? I want to know that this founder is committed to creating a long-lasting, resilient business, and that they are obsessed with the problem they are working to solve. If all of these questions produce positive answers, I start to develop more conviction that they could be a good candidate for investment!
Q: How much time and energy do you devote to supporting portfolio companies once you’ve invested?
A: Without entrepreneurs, there would be no venture capital. I am attuned to the fact that the founder experience is just as important as investment quality. The success of our portfolio companies is extremely important, and we will often drop everything to service any request they come to us with. I try to spend significant time with portfolio companies when helping them close their first enterprise customers and preparing for their next fundraise. I aspire to be the investor on a cap table who a founder knows they can come to with anything, and that starts with building a solid relationship from the very first call.
Q: How important do you view personal branding as an investor? What have you seen work particularly well in that regard?
A: I was reluctant at first to build my personal brand when I started investing. I didn’t believe in the power of personal branding. I was so wrong. For early career and underrepresented VCs, building a personal brand can be the force multiplier in transforming your career and your access to deals and Limited Partners. For me, being honest online has worked best. Many VCs and investors post about advice and tips—that type of content didn’t feel authentic to me. I started sharing my thoughts on market conditions, aspects of startup pitches, the struggles of being a young woman investor, and small details about my life. People now trust my expertise because I have been honest about learning.
Q: What can be done to allocate more funding to female founders and to increase the number of female investors?
A: I fully believe that in order to get more female founders funded, we need more female allocators funded. Everyone comes with inherent biases, especially biases toward female entrepreneurs. This process has to start from the top down, which is why I am so excited to be a part of The Council Fund and The Council Angels. We are a team of women with a focus to invest in a diverse set of experienced founders. This year our General Partner, Amber Illig, was selected as a member of the Recast Capital Accelerate program, which is an initiative to help more women and non-binary emerging managers get the funding they deserve from LPs.
Q: What advice would you give to a company or founder wanting to pitch you?
A: I always suggest that founders should lead with their story—we want to know your why. What led you to starting this company and why do you believe you are the person for the job? The Council Fund backs experienced operators for a reason. I am always searching for ways to qualify a founder based on the things they have seen, built, and achieved.
Erika is a member of Dreamers & Doers, an award-winning community that amplifies extraordinary women entrepreneurs, investors, and leaders by securing PR, forging authentic connections, and curating high-impact resources. Learn more about Dreamers & Doers and get involved here.
The views and opinions expressed herein are the views and opinions of the author and do not necessarily reflect those of Nasdaq, Inc.
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Gesche Haas is the Founder/CEO of Dreamers & Doers, a private collective that amplifies the entrepreneurial pursuits of extraordinary women through visibility opportunities, resource exchange, and collective support.
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