Ann Crady Weiss

Ann Crady Weiss (née Crady) is an American entrepreneur, venture capitalist and advocate for workplace diversity and paid family leave.[1][2] Weiss is the mother of three children and on her second start-up, HatchBaby, with her co-founder and husband, Dave Weiss.[3][4] She is a former Yahoo! executive who began her career as a corporate attorney for Wilson Sonsini Goodrich & Rosati.[5]

Early life

Weiss was born and raised in Palo Alto, California and attended Gunn High School. She received a B.A. in Psychology from University of California, San Diego and a J.D. from Georgetown University graduating cum laude.[6] As a child, Weiss possessed an "entrepreneurial spirit" selling stationary from door-to-door to setting up lemonade stands.[7]

Career

However, Weiss began her career as a corporate securities attorney with Wilson Sonsini Goodrich & Rosati from 1997 to 1999. In 2001, she went to work for Yahoo! as Director of New Initiatives, Yahoo! Autos. After leaving Yahoo! as a business development director in 2005, Weiss founder her parenting start-up Maya's Mom.[8][9] Named after Weiss' eldest child, Maya, the Palo Alto-based start-up was described by Weiss as "Yahoo Answers meets Facebook."[10][11][12]

BabyCenter, a Johnson & Johnson Company, acquired Maya's Mom in 2007 under the leadership of Tina Sharkey, BabyCenter's Chairman and Global President from 2007 to 2012.[13][14][15][16][17] Weiss stayed on at the San Francisco-based BabyCenter as their Senior Vice President of Consumer Experience departing in 2010, according to her LinkedIn profile.

Weiss and her husband, Dave Weiss, co-founded Hatch Baby, a technology driven start-up that developed the Smart Changing Pad.[18][19][20] Weiss and her husband gained additional funding when they appeared on Season 7, Episode 14 of Shark Tank pitching Hatch Baby in front of Guest Shark, Chris Sacca, who is an investor in Twitter and Uber.[21][22][23] While Weiss pitched an initial ask of funding for $250,000 at 2.5% equity, it was turned down by the Shark Tank panel.[24] However, Weiss was able to convince Sacca to invest in their company by proposing an alternative investment strategy.[25]

References

  1. "Hatch Baby CEO Ann Crady Weiss created a gadget for babies that can give parents peace of mind - Silicon Valley Business Journal". Silicon Valley Business Journal. Retrieved 2016-11-29.
  2. Green, Adrienne. "What It's Like to Be a Woman in Venture Capital". The Atlantic. Retrieved 2016-11-29.
  3. "Hatch Baby | crunchbase". www.crunchbase.com. Retrieved 2016-11-19.
  4. Balakrishnan, Anita (2015-10-19). "Smart changing table: A Fitbit for babies?". CNBC. Retrieved 2016-11-29.
  5. Arrington, Michael. "Maya's Mom – For Parents". TechCrunch. Retrieved 2016-11-19.
  6. "Ann Crady Weiss: Executive Profile & Biography - Bloomberg". www.bloomberg.com. Retrieved 2016-11-19.
  7. "Business of babies gets the tech treatment with Hatch Baby". article.wn.com. Retrieved 2016-11-19.
  8. "Silicon Valley's Yahoo diaspora mourns company's decline". Reuters. 2016-07-21. Retrieved 2016-11-29.
  9. "The Motherhood Movement / Can a group like MomsRising finally foment policy change in America by harnessing a citizen army of mothers?". SFGate. Retrieved 2016-11-29.
  10. Arrington, Michael. "Maya's Mom – For Parents". TechCrunch. Retrieved 2016-11-19.
  11. Cashmore, Pete. "Maya's Mom Launches Mommy-Based Social Network". Mashable. Retrieved 2016-11-19.
  12. "The Motherhood Movement / Can a group like MomsRising finally foment policy change in America by harnessing a citizen army of mothers?". SFGate. Retrieved 2016-11-19.
  13. Malik, Om (2007-08-28). "Maya's Mom Goes To BabyCenter". gigaom.com. Retrieved 2016-11-19.
  14. "J&J swallows mother social networking site, Maya's Mom". VentureBeat. Retrieved 2016-11-19.
  15. "Baby Center Buys Maya's Mom For Its Social Skills; Affiliate Network Next". www.mediapost.com. Retrieved 2016-11-19.
  16. Staff, Edit (2007-01-17). "Industry Moves: Tina Sharkey Leaves AOL; Joins BabyCenter As Chairman". gigaom.com. Retrieved 2016-11-19.
  17. Vell, Dora. "Vell Executive Search - Women Appointed to Tech Boards 11/26 to 12/26 2012". Retrieved 2016-11-19.
  18. Shu, Catherine. "Hatch Baby, Maker Of Smart Products For New Parents, Raises $7M Series A From True Ventures". TechCrunch. Retrieved 2016-11-20.
  19. Huet, Ellen. "On Fundraising As A Female Entrepreneur: 'You Have To Ask'". Forbes. Retrieved 2016-11-29.
  20. "'Fitbits' for Newborns. Really.". KQED Future of You. Retrieved 2016-11-29.
  21. "How this CEO secured a $250,000 'Shark Tank' deal with Chris Sacca after all 5 investors had already turned her down". Business Insider. Retrieved 2016-11-20.
  22. "Sacca, tech start-up Hatch Baby go behind the scenes of Shark Tank". USA TODAY. Retrieved 2016-11-20.
  23. "Shark Tank: Episode 14 - Watch Season 7 Episode 14". ABC. Retrieved 2016-11-20.
  24. O'Connor, Brian (2016-01-19). "Is the Video Profile 'Shark Tank's' Kiss of Death?". Entrepreneur. Retrieved 2016-11-20.
  25. "Bay Area Firm's Smart Diaper-Changing Pad Tracks Babies' Development". Retrieved 2016-11-20.
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