One of my favorite questions to ask VCs and founders is: "What do your kids think you actually do for a living?"
Usually, I work my way up to that. But talking to Lux Capital general partner Deena Shakir, I asked her almost immediately because it was (for the first time) undeniably relevant: Shakir’s children's book about startups, Leena Mo, CEO, was just published by Simon & Schuster.
Explaining venture capital to, say, a small child isn’t as clear-cut as “I’m a doctor” or “I’m a firefighter.” Shakir has found her ways to do it with her own kids. For one preschool career day, she brought a chia pet that, when water was added, became a unicorn. But the book represented a turning point.
“My older kids now understand that I help people who are starting businesses, and the book really helped explain it to them,” said Shakir. “Before that it depended. They’d see me on Bloomberg, and thought I was a TV personality. They know I taught a class at Stanford, and they used to think I was a teacher.”
Shakir—who’s invested in unicorn fintech Ramp and women’s and family health startup Maven—had a rather founder-like experience in writing Leena Mo, CEO. It was a process that began back in 2020 and, much like a startup, the likelihood of failure was high.
"This book almost didn't exist so many times,” she said. “It was against every force of nature that this is coming out—so many rejections, such a slow process. I could have given up a million times. I can’t believe it’s actually going to be out there in the world.”
And, as of last week, Leena Mo, CEO is on bookshelves. Complete with Nez Riaz’s textured, vibrant art that’s all whimsical lines and cartoon charm, the story follows Leena—she has green overalls and spunk, but doesn’t like shoveling snow. So, she builds a robot named Helmy, which in Arabic translates to “my dream.” Helmy is wide-eyed, blue-green, and has a snow-guzzling nose, catching the attention of Miss Irma, Leena’s neighbor. Miss Irma invests, so Leena can make more Helmies.
“I think Helmy can be something big,” Miss Irma says. “I think the world needs to know about your robot!”
It’s the origin story of a founder, and VC Miss Irma helps grow Leena’s robot startup. The book avoids industry jargon like ARR, multiples, or valuations. Leena Mo, CEO also doesn’t directly mention venture capital once. Stripping away jargon and telling a story to kids can remind us of what something is in its purest form. It’s helpful for them (as Shakir points out: “You can’t be it if you can’t see it”) and it’s helpful for us, the adults.
It reminds us of what we do in the first place, and why we do it. And how someone explains their profession to kids also reveals how they feel about what they do. Do they see themselves as an advocate, a believer, an explorer? For Shakir, it’s clear that VC is about backing creativity, making something for yourself—and for the world.
Elsewhere...Yesterday, California Gov. Gavin Newsom vetoed controversial AI bill SB 1047. Read more here.
See you tomorrow,
Allie Garfinkle
Twitter: @agarfinks
Email: alexandra.garfinkle@fortune.com
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