Forty Over 40

Forty Women to Watch Over 40

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Forty Over 40 Asks: 10Qs for Beezer Clarkson

Welcome to the Forty Over 40 blog. Every week we spotlight one of our honorees and their thoughts on reinvention, mentorship and momentum…plus a peek into what makes them tick.

This week’s Q & A is with Beezer Clarkson, Managing Director at Sapphire Ventures, a venture capital firm that specializes in helping innovative technology companies become global category-defining leaders.

1. What was a pivotal momentum of reinvention for you?

I have always wanted to help change the world for the better. I have reinvented my career multiple times from investment banking to management consulting to working in Silicon Valley at a global technology firm to venture capital exploring different aspects of how to help create positive change.  Along the way I have also welcomed the unconventional in my career, which reflected my desire to take on new challenges, explore alternative answers to existing problems and work at the intersection of different, discrete disciplines.

2. Who has been a valuable mentor or sponsor?

My husband

3. What is your biggest goal right now?

Building my firm, SAP Ventures, so that we can invest in and support entrepreneurs globally.

4. How did you get your first job? How did you jump to your second job?

My first job was a financial analyst at Morgan Stanley in New York City. I got it by applying through the career center at my university, Wesleyan University along with great coaching from folks there and my fantastic, older sister. I knew after that I wanted to move out to San Francisco and be a strategy consultant so applied to a few select firms and moved west.

5. How did you feel on your 30th birthday? What were you doing at that time? 

Very very lucky. I was living in my favorite city, San Francisco, with my then boyfriend, now husband, surrounded by friends and working at a job with a great mentor.

6. How do you unplug? How often do you unplug?

One of my favorite ways to unplug is to be silly with my son, who is 6, and husband. Another favorite way is to go scuba diving. My son’s favorite time to be silly is just before bedtime naturally. Finding time to go scuba diving is far more challenging.

7. What’s the best networking contact you’ve made? How did you make it?

In 1999 I had the great fortune of being an intern for Ellen Levy who ran corporate development at a startup that made a handheld reader, a precursor of sorts to the iPad or Kindle before going on to become an advisor and executive at LinkedIn. Knowing Ellen changed the course of my career and arguably my life. She gave me a shot – giving me my first technology job in Silicon Valley when I didn’t know a microchip from a paperclip. She has had my back for the last 15 years introducing me to amazing people who have helped me, advanced my career and have become great friends.

8. What was the last business book you read? 

The Hard Thing About Hard Things by Ben Horowitz

9. What is your “keep me going” quote?

“What would you do if you knew you couldn’t fail?”

10. What is your secret indulgence? 

Finding cool eyeglasses

Check out Beezer Clarkson’s full 40 Over 40 profile here!

Whitney Johnson

Whitney Johnson

Whitney is the author of the acclaimed Dare, Dream, Do: Remarkable Things Happen When You Dare to Dream. She has been named on numerous Smart Thinkers and People to Follow lists by major media such as Inc. Magazine, Business Insider and Huffington Post and is quoted in Wall Street Journal, CNN, Fast Company, Forbes and more.
Whitney Johnson