Heidi Zak
Co-Founder/CEO, ThirdLove
Heidi Zak is the Co-Founder and CEO of ThirdLove, the 3rd largest online bra and underwear company in America. She is on a mission to get every single woman in a great-fitting, beautiful and comfortable bra that makes her feel confident. She believes inclusivity should be the norm, not the exception, and has led the charge, inventing half-cups and offering women more than 80 sizes.
Heidi Zak is the Co-Founder and CEO of ThirdLove, the 3rd largest online bra and underwear company in America. She is on a mission to get every single woman in a great-fitting, beautiful and comfortable bra that makes her feel confident. She believes inclusivity should be the norm, not the exception, and has led the charge, inventing half-cups and offering women more than 80 sizes. Zak left her job at Google with the dream of offering women a better option and marketing to them in a way that didn’t insult their intelligence or push impossible beauty standards. Seven years later, more than 17 million women of all shapes and sizes have used ThirdLove’s innovative Fit Finder™ to find a bra that truly fits her body. ThirdLove is proud to have donated over $30 million worth of bras to women in need.
Zak has been recognized as Fortune's 40 Under 40, EY Entrepreneur of the Year, National Retail Federation's Disruptors, Fast Company’s Most Creative People and Goldman Sachs' 100 Most Intriguing Entrepreneurs. In addition to contributing a weekly column to Inc.com, Zak is committed to promoting and advancing more women in tech. She is an active angel investor in early-stage female-founded companies. She graduated from Duke University and holds an MBA from MIT Sloan. Prior to launching ThirdLove, Zak was at Google, Aeropostale, McKinsey and Bank of America. In her spare time, you can find her chasing her kids, Sloane and Zak, and scouring farmer’s markets for new ingredients to cook impromptu dinners for friends and family.
Venktesh Shukla
General Partner, Monta Vista Capital
Currently a General Partner in a micro VC fund, Shukla has been involved with numerous start ups as an executive, investor, board member, or adviser. As President of TiE Silicon Valley and Chair of TiE Global, he has had transformational impact on the organization in Silicon Valley as well as at TiE Global.
Shukla is the founder and General Partner of Monta Vista Capital that invests in pre seed and seed stage companies in Silicon Valley. Shukla has been involved with numerous startups as an executive, investor, board member, or adviser. In his corporate career, he had a successful track record of leading companies through rapid growth. As President of TiE Silicon Valley and Chair of TiE Global, he has had a transformational impact on the organization in Silicon Valley as well as at TiE Global. As the founding President of Foundation for Excellence for the first 17 years of its 26 years existence, set the stage for its current success in providing scholarships to thousands of talented but poor students pursuing engineering and medical education in India.