December 2020 - Sydney Paige Thomas

I had found that the art of simplicity
Simply means making peace of your complexity
India Arie, Wings of Forgiveness

As I write this:

The US has elected it’s first Black + Asian VPOTUS & 17 states have filed court cases to overturn the election
The stock market continues it’s bull run with multibillion dollar tech IPO after multibillion dollar tech IPO & the global pandemic has forced millions of Americans into unemployment
Black founders are reaching historic levels of venture financing & White female founders report feeling an unprecedented level of scrutiny

If this year has taught us anything, it is our lives are inextricably intertwined. We are called to take actions to protect one other at a level I’ve never personally experienced. What a lesson to learn.

My hope is that this lesson has taught us that intersectionality is not only important when talking about how different women have different levels of access, privilege, etc, but that intersectionality applies to all things.

Real change happens at the intersection. How do we continue to build bridges so that we are walking towards that intersection instead of away from it?

Nothing without intention
Do nothing without intention
Solange, Do Nothing Without Intention

About Me

Investor & Builder

Sydney is the Founder and General Partner of Symphonic Capital – a venture capital firm that invests in companies closing access gaps around health and wealth for overlooked communities. The launch of her fund was recently covered by TechCrunch. Within it’s first year of launch, the firm has already been recognized for it’s work. Symphonic Capital is a proud member of the inaugural Diversity, Equity and Inclusive Capitalism Power100 List (the “DEIC Power100”).

Symphonic Capital’s investment thesis follows Sydney’s expertise. She has built expertise in this thesis through her investing and policy work over the past two decades. Her investing strategy has yielded companies valued at $100M+.

Sydney is a proven fund builder and investor. Prior to launching Symphonic, she joined one of Silicon Valley’s first Pre-Seed funds and scaled it from a Solo Operating GP with 10 investments to a 3-person team with 400+ investments and $200M+ in AUM.

Prior to her work in tech, she served in the Bloomberg Administration in NYC. Over the course of her tenure, she drafted federal legislation, negotiated a multi-million dollar contract, and received a full-ride scholarship to her business school of choice.

She serves on the Board of Trustees Oakland Museum of California – and art museum dedicated to justice and beauty in the heart of Oakland, a graduate of the prestigious Kauffman Fellows Program and a Venture Partner at The House Fund – a $100M+ Fund created to invest in UC Berkeley backed startups. She is also the founder of the Black Women in VC List – a list she started that sparked change in the Venture Capital ecosystem when she realized she was often the only Black woman in these spaces.

Sydney graduated from University of California Berkeley with her MBA and Duke University with her BA.

Month: December 2020

Intersectionality in 2020