Quotes from Christine Tsai

You don't need to visit a prison to know that racial inequality exists. There's enough talk about it, especially in Silicon Valley, to know that there's a diversity problem.

It was my first time in prison. I was there to volunteer with Defy Ventures, along with 500 teammates Tara Graham, Brian Wang, and Aerin Lim. While I didn't feel particularly scared about going to prison, I had no idea what to expect.

Be the person you want others to perceive you as. So if you want others to see you as a leader, then act like one. Don't expect things to be handed to you. You have to work for it.

Offering unequal leaves just reinforces the longstanding notion that parenting responsibilities aren't equal, and that doesn't help anyone.

Entrepreneurs don't have a regular 9-5 work day. They don't take vacations. They live and breathe their business 24/7 and wear many different hats.

When it comes to creativity and to leadership, we need introverts doing what they do best.

There are huge pain points experienced by parents. It's hard to find good child care options in one place. It's hard figure out things to do with your kids on the weekends or after school. It's hard to find iPad apps for your kids that you are confident are helping them learn vs. just being entertained.

The change I want to see is a start-up environment where everyone, regardless of gender and background, feels welcome and safe; where sexual harassment or discrimination will not impede great talent from producing great impact.

The best thing women in tech can do is to invest in other women.

What many single male 23-year-old entrepreneurs don't realize is that family tech is a 'big freaking business'. As in, trillions of dollars.

Breaking down barriers is tough. Many companies make the mistake of dismissing diversity early on, only to realize later how foundational it is to their success or failure.

Once your company grows past a certain point, upholding values becomes more and more difficult. This is where companies get into trouble. Thus, it's absolutely critical to take your company values seriously and practice it every day.

Your role as a founder changes dramatically once your team hits 10, 20, 50, 100, and so on. Sometimes you forget how big you've grown and continue to act as if you're still 10 people.

In life, you don't get what you deserve. You get what you negotiate. So don't be afraid to ask - the worst you can hear is 'no.'

If you invest the time earlier to create structure and process around communication, planning, and goal-setting, you can prevent missteps before they occur.

In order to have a meaningful impact, companies should value diversity and inclusion from Day One.

There's a good amount of research out there that shows generous parental leave policies have a significant positive impact on employee retention and morale.

While your intentions may be good, this is something every expectant working mom fears - being phased out. I'll put myself out there and admit this has been/is a fear of mine. Let her be the one to decide whether something's too much for her to handle or not.

Be transparent about why the termination is happening. If you did things right, it shouldn't be a surprise to the person.

As a society, we're failing. In so many ways. Such high incarceration rates of underrepresented minorities ultimately means we're missing out on great potential from black and Latino communities. Yes, there's immense talent brewing even within the most impoverished neighborhoods. Talent is universal, but opportunity is not.

I mostly read online - tech/VC blogs. I also enjoy the 'NY Times', 'Atlantic', 'New Yorker'.

Many people are allergic to process and structure because it causes traumatic flashbacks of working at BigCo and suffering through bureaucracy for bureaucracy's sake.

Many of the problems that families face can be solved with great technology, design, and distribution.

I can say without a doubt that being a mom is the ultimate test of my multi-tasking skills. I spend my day meeting startup after startup, helping our portfolio companies, bringing in speakers, and soon gearing up for Demo Day for our accelerator program.