Career Conversation with Jaclyn Rice Nelson, Co-Founder and CEO of Tribe AI

TLC Alumnae Career Conversation – Jaclyn (Jackie) Rice Nelson

BACKGROUND

Where did you grow up and where do you currently live?

I grew up on the Upper West Side. After living in California for 10 years, I recently moved back to the Upper West Side with my husband and two kids, Jake (6) and Lily (4) to be closer to our family.?

Where did you go to college??

I went to the University of Michigan.

Were there any courses you took in college that you found to be particularly helpful in your current role or leading you to your current role?

I chose to pursue a Liberal Arts education because I loved the humanities and was interested in many different subjects.? I majored in political science, and concentrated in art history and creative writing. My curiosity and love of learning, more than specific courses, translates to my career.?

CURRENT JOB

You were an analyst at Citi before moving to Google and joining the tech world.? Can you tell us about that pivot, and the subsequent roles you had that lead you to become more entrenched in the world of artificial intelligence (AI) and machine learning (ML)??

My main driver coming out of college was to be financially independent. My mom, who is amazing, financially supported my brother and me on her own and made sure we could go to private school and camp, but it was definitely a struggle.? I sought out jobs in banking because I knew they paid well and offered strong training programs. Since I was a liberal arts major and banks largely recruited from the business school, I had to work even harder to secure those interviews.?

Shortly after I joined Citi out of college, the financial crisis hit. Lehman fell while I was still in training and the group that I had painstakingly chosen to join (over other banks and groups for which I interviewed) was dissolved.? I ended up working a completely different job than the one I had planned. I realized quickly that banking wasn’t the right fit for me, but stuck it out through the recession.

I had been working at Citi for about two and a half years when my boyfriend at the time (now husband) was accepted to business school in California.? I began to look for my next job and opened my job search to the Bay Area. I knew that both Google and Facebook were based there and had a bunch of open positions. I saw on LinkedIn that a Tripp Laker, Joanna Zimelis Goldblatt, worked at Google and I sent her a message on the platform. She offered to chat and both submitted my application and helped coach me through the interview process. Between Joanna’s guidance and endless studying of YouTube tutorials, I passed the interviews and ultimately landed a job at Google, despite having no experience in tech or online advertising.?

I had an amazing experience at Google.? Compared to a bank, I found the environment energizing and looked up to many of the senior women. Having just left the banking world, I knew I could out-work anyone and continued to work banking hours while at Google.? It paid off and I began to secure more and more interesting opportunities and responsibility.? I had the chance to help launch a startup under the Google umbrella. While we ultimately had to shut down this startup, it was one of my favorite jobs I’ve ever had and enabled me to land a position on the investing side at CapitalG, Alphabet’s late-stage investment fund.?

I remained in this role, advising late-stage companies like Airbnb and Stripe, for three years. I learned what it took to scale these companies but I wanted to understand what it took to successfully build a company to the point that you needed to scale. I decided to leave Google and build my career around early-stage companies. I started an AI company called Tribe AI and also started an early-stage venture fund with three other women founders.

Many people can see a need or gap in an industry, but far fewer then take the entrepreneurial leap to start their own business as a means of filling it, especially in an emerging industry.? Please take us through this journey that ultimately brought you to co-found Tribe AI.??

When I had been at CapitalG, all of the companies we were investing in were looking for help with data science and machine learning. At the same time, I saw how much Google was investing into these technologies. It became clear to me that this was where the market was going, but it was way too hard for any company outside of Google or Facebook to leverage this technology.?

So I set out to build a solution that solved that problem, and did it the way I knew how, which was talent first. At Google, I'd been part of building an expert network that helped advise the companies in which we were investing. Through that work I got to know the best engineers in the company and saw what good looked like. I used this knowledge to help build a network of top AI and ML engineers who had worked at some of the best Tech companies, but had since left to explore other interests. I created Tribe AI to give them a platform to consult and do the technical work they were best at and help businesses deliver real outcomes with AI by working with the best talent in the industry.?

What about your current role invigorates you the most?

I love building and solving problems, and being a founder requires both. It also requires a team of even more talented people than yourself. Working with people I respect to build something that wouldn’t exist without our efforts is one of the great joys of building a company.?

Are there any expectations you had about this industry that you found differed from your expectation, in either a good or bad way??

I was very lucky to have the all-girls environment at Tripp Lake, an incredible group of friends at Trinity, and other amazing communities of powerful women in my life. Growing up I had believed that I could do anything.? It’s very much a testament to the supportive environments like TLC and beyond, that the biggest surprise to me in entering the workforce was that these environments aren’t mirrored in the working world, especially in finance and tech.? For me the key to success in these environments is to keep going, refuse to give up, and to find ways to support other women along the way.

MORE GENERAL CAREER QUESTIONS

Who inspires you in terms of your career?

My mom is at the top of my list – she transitioned from a career as a teacher to business and is my model for taking on new challenges and being successful in areas you previously knew nothing about.? Another powerful example for me was her best friend, Caroline Vanderlip, who also went to Tripp Lake (her name was Caroline Bernstein). Caroline had a successful corporate career and then shifted later in life to startups. In high school I began interning at a company where she was the CEO, which was my first exposure to the startup world.? Seeing her leadership style and having her guidance in my career has been pivotal for me.

What was the first job you ever held?

My first real job was working for Caroline at her startup that created photo book software.? I also ran an Upper West Side babysitting empire through high school.?

What are your hobbies, and do they relate to your career?

I have two young children and two jobs, so I’m mainly focused on anything family related; weekends are primarily spent surrounded by family, friends, and doing things that entertain the kids.

Did you have a career setback you faced that you later realized was an advantage?

I think my big takeaway is that everyone has career setbacks; it is impossible to ever follow a straight line.? But it's one of those things that people don’t talk about. Every time I faced a setback, it felt so intense for me. If I could go back in time, I would want to tell myself that this happens to everyone and all that matters is what you do from there. It very much holds true when starting and running a company; I now expect that issues will arise so it’s less daunting when they actually do.

Are there any books, blogs, etc., that you recommend to someone who is interested in becoming more familiar with AI/ML?

You can follow AI influencers who have good content like Ben’s Bites and AI with Allie.? And you can follow me on LinkedIn.??

What have you found to be the characteristics that makes someone successful in working in the AI/ML arena?

Drafting off my own experience, I am most successful in areas in which I am really interested, and/or understand well.? I’m not a technologist by training, but I understood the problem and the value, and had a connection to what I was doing.

What it means to be in AI can mean a hundred different things, and your role and the things that motivate you to that role could be really different. For me, it's much more about finding opportunities that augment and celebrate your strengths.

Do you have advice for how best to find a mentor?

Anytime I've had an important person in my career, I have worked with or for them in some capacity. So that meant that sometimes I was finding additional work opportunities outside of my core job so I could work to build a more substantial relationship with senior leaders.? People are busy, so trying to build a mentorship relationship off conversations in the hallway or over coffee is a lot harder.??

For me, what’s been even more fundamental than a mentor is a sponsor—someone who has seen your work and can advocate for you in the rooms you’re not yet in.??

TLC HISTORY / QUESTIONS

What years did you go to TLC??

I started as a Junior 2, and stayed until 1AB in 2002, when I was a Giant Manager.

How has your camp experience impacted your career??

Throughout my career I have focused on building teams.? So much of being part of a community is being ‘all in’ with people, and that team orientation started at camp. That, together with a dose of healthy competition, are aspects that I very much have optimized for throughout my career.??

What was your:?

Favorite activity: Swim and waterski.

Favorite selection at Candy Canteen:? Sour Patch Watermelons—and I’d team up with someone who got something chocolate so we could split.??

Favorite memory: Being in the lake.

Georgia Sussman

Tripp Lake Camp

Head of Alumnae Relations