Women. Make. Money. That’s the simple truth Anu Duggal (she / her) is proving as a founding partner of the Female Founders Fund. Her venture capital firm has backed brands like Eloquii, Ceremonia, and even Co-Star. (Although, we don’t need an astrological chart to predict that her latest $57 million (!) funding round is going to make a lot of women very happy and very wealthy.)

We called the serial entrepreneur to ask how she went from lemonade stands to million-dollar plans, what she looks for in a pitch, and how sometimes “no” really means “not right now.”

So, what do you do?
I am the founding partner of the Female Founders Fund. Prior to starting the fund, I was actually a founder myself! I co-founded an e-commerce company in India—think of it as Gilt for Indian products—and went through the fundraising journey. That really opened my eyes to the fact that almost all the investors we spoke to were male, and the fact that at a macro level, less than 3% of venture capital went towards women.

Did you always want to be an entrepreneur?
Yes, absolutely! I could definitely say it started with the lemonade stand. [Laughing.]  I was out there every summer—started with lemonade, made cookies. I just love selling, and I loved being able to start something and provide value for customers. Pretty soon after I graduated college, I went to India to open a wine bar. I was working in the food world at that point and saw an opportunity there. So [being an entrepreneur] was definitely in my DNA very early on.

What made you go from the business side to the investing side?
I don’t think about it as going to the “other side.” To me, being an entrepreneur is identifying an opportunity that’s overlooked, where you feel like you have the vision or the ability to do things in a way that hasn’t been done before. There was a big opportunity to capitalize on the fact that we had more and more women starting really interesting companies, and for me, there was the opportunity to prove that you could generate top-tier returns by investing in women.

What are common myths about investing in women that you’ve found to be false?
Ultimately, this whole game is about returns, right? That’s all that really matters from an investor standpoint. Seeing some of the early wins in our portfolio—and more importantly, in the broader ecosystem of public offerings like Bumble, 23andMe, Figs—these are all great proof points of the fact that there’s real ROI that is not being captured. I hope it makes male investors take a harder look and recognize there is money being left on the table if you are underestimating some of these founders.

What makes a funding pitch successful?
We’re often investing in just the founder or the founding team, so really understanding what’s driving you to start this, and what it is that makes you uniquely positioned to be successful. Then know the market opportunity. How large is it? Has there been disruption? Why is your particular idea going to work? Then for consumer businesses, we look at proof points [and] early traction. We look at your social, your engagement, and we would probably talk to some of your followers to understand what it is that they love about what you are building.

Help! I want to start a business, but I’m scared / nervous / freaking out.
There’s never a good time, so take the leap. Anything you’re going to start, if you’re looking for a venture [capital] relationship, that’s a minimum 10-year commitment, so it should be something you’re very excited about. Also, there are a lot of expectations when you think about taking venture capital, so make sure you are aligned in terms of wanting to get to that $100 million revenue number in a 5-year period. Those are some things to think about before you start.

What’s your best advice for women who want to become entrepreneurs?
We have a motto at Female Founders Fund. It’s what I call “gentle persistence.” For years we talked about, “Oh, we would love to have someone like [Diane von Furstenberg] or Marissa Mayer or Serena Williams speak at one of our events.” It has literally been years of follow-up and gentle persistence that has let us work with some of these people and have them invest alongside us… You know, [our] first fund took 700 meetings and 2 years to raise. Make sure you realize that a first “no” doesn’t have to be the last “no.”