Wendy Tsu - Branch Care and Alley Corp
Lessons learned from watching one of the best founders in New York
I’m really excited to share this next interview with Wendy Tsu, the founder and CEO of Branch Care. Branch is a brand new company with a vision to provide access to “equitable, high-outcome fertility care in every zip code.”
Several things really struck me from this episode.
First, we spent a good bit of time discussing Wendy’s role at AlleyCorp. For those who don’t know, AlleyCorp is the investing and incubation vehicle of Kevin Ryan. Kevin is arguably the best entrepreneur in the New York ecosystem, having founded or incubated DoubleClick, MongoDB, Alley Insider, Gilt Groupe, Zola, and many others. Wendy reflects on some of the lessons she learned watching one of the greats up close. Two things stood out in particular.
When searching for ideas, focus on trends that will persist for 10-20 years or more. These are trends that drive a meaningful shift in how people spend their time or money. Often, the needs you are targeting won’t be new but will be redirected in a new way due to emerging technology or market forces. As Wendy put it, start companies that take advantage of trends “that you would bet your entire 401k on.”
A lot of Kevin’s approach is shaped by having been a “wartime” CEO who had to build companies through (or in the midst of) major market corrections. It’s in these situations that having a very strong company culture, founded on a deep commitment to vision and mission, is critical. This was counterintuitive to me because I always thought of these “soft” ideas as nice-to-haves that you think about when times are good. But the learning was that these are the things that bind a team together in the toughest of times and keep companies hyper-focused and steady when times are tough.
The second thing that struck me was that Wendy’s founding story for Branch was somewhat inverted from the typical story I hear. Usually, folks think about what kinds of companies they are equipped to start, with their role as a founder/CEO being a fixed constraint. But given Wendy’s role, she had the freedom to think first about what company needed to exist and then consider who the best person might be to build that company. She concluded that she was the right person to take the lead with this business after the concept was formed, not before.
The third thing that struck me was that Wendy has very clearly articulated personal mantras that guide her life and work. These are things that she recites to herself every day, and they are great nuggets of advice for everyone. I’ll post them below, but listen to the entire episode to hear more about where these came from and exactly what they mean to her:
Inner perceptions shape your outer reality.
Good is the enemy of great.
Hard choices, easy life. Easy choices, hard life.
Comparison is the thief of joy.
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