by Jeroslyn JoVonn
October 1, 2025
Serena Williams is deepening her dedication to empowering the subsequent era of enterprise leaders.
When Serena Williams launched Serena Ventures over a decade in the past, she didn’t have a mentor—an expertise that impressed her to now function one for early-stage VC founders.
The tennis legend just lately joined Reckitt Catalyst as an “entrepreneur-in-residence,” mentoring U.S.-based founders by the British hygiene firm’s social affect funding program. Her steering helps Reckitt’s mission to offer well being and hygiene options to five million folks worldwide by 2030, aligning along with her ardour for serving to early-stage VC founders obtain the steering she needs she had beginning out as an investor.
“In hindsight, I really feel like I ought to have had extra mentors,” Williams informed Enterprise Insider.
Whereas she values the teachings she discovered alongside the best way, she usually asks, “Why be taught them when you possibly can be taught them from another person?”
Since retiring from a stellar sports activities profession, Williams has totally embraced the world of enterprise capital. As a part of her new function at Reckitt, the tennis champion and mom of two continues to problem herself, studying and rising as each an entrepreneur and investor.
“I really feel such as you be taught one thing new each single day,” Williams stated of becoming a member of the initiative. “I beloved faculty, and I really feel like I’m in class all day.”
With a $111 million VC fund that has backed 16 unicorns, Williams understands what it takes to draw the precise buyers: addressing an actual want and exhibiting real ardour for the product.
“The founder may be wonderful and good and tremendous likable, but when it’s not wanted available in the market, then it doesn’t match,” she stated.
“If they’ve a real connection to it, the companies are likely to do higher,” Williams added, “versus ‘Oh, there’s a white house, so we’re going to do it.’”
Connection is essential for attracting buyers and mentors in a startup. Williams advises founders to concentrate on constructing significant relationships with potential buyers, slightly than relying solely on the energy of their thought.
“After I take into consideration what mentorship means and what I’ve discovered, it’s actually nearly connections and unlocking the way to get folks to learn about your product,” she stated.
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