Serena Williams is finding new mentors in the VC chapter of her career—and is learning how to be one herself

Serena Williams speaks on stage during the keynote conversation at Invest Fest 2026 at Georgia World Congress Center on August 09, 2026 in Atlanta, Georgia. (Credit: Paras Griffin / Contributor)

• In today’s CEO Daily: Serena Williams on showing her daughters the value of hard work.
• The big leadership story: OpenAI finds ChatGPT usage doesn’t guarantee higher revenues.
• The markets: Mixed as investors dial back expectations for a Fed rate hike.
• Plus: All the news and watercooler chat from Fortune .

Good morning. How do the leadership skills that are needed to thrive at the highest level of sports translate to business? One person who’s thought about that a lot is Serena Williams. She launched her VC firm more than a decade ago, recently changing the name from Serena Ventures to Starfire Ventures, and has launched other businesses. She’s experienced success as an early investor in companies like Coinbase, MasterClass, and Impossible Foods. And she’s also dealt with the failure of her Wyn Beauty and S by Serena fashion labels that are no longer in operation. I recently spoke with the tennis star while she was mentoring young founders in the Reckitt Catalyst program as the first entrepreneur-in-residence for the British multinational.