75. Deena Shakir (Partner, Lux Capital) is finally out of Stevia stealth mode

Hello, hello, and welcome to Non-Technical, where I, your host Alexis Gay, interview influential folks from tech, media, business, and beyond about everything except their resumes. Today on the pod, I'm so excited to say we have Deena Shakir, partner at Lux Capital, though she's done a lot of other super impressive, really interesting things prior to that, which admittedly I'm not going to ask her that much about. Deena, thank you so much for being here.

I'm so excited to be here. Thanks for having me, Alexis.

It is truly my My pleasure. Are you ready to dive in?

Let's do it.

Hell yeah, let's do it. This episode of Non-Technical is brought to you by Bets Recruiting. Hell yeah, you heard that right. It's a summer Bets blockbuster, baby. The return of Bets Recruiting. Two Bets, two Furious. Tagline: This time all bets are on. I'm so happy to have Bets Recruiting back as a sponsor of Non-Technical. Not only is Bets Recruiting the only recruiting firm by recruiters for recruiters, but they've been trusted for more than a decade to build out sales, marketing, customer success teams. More than a decade. Name one company that's been around for more than a decade. That's right. It's Betts Recruiting. In that time, Betts has partnered with thousands of tech companies, helped build 30+ unicorns, and supported tens of thousands of people along their career trajectory. If you're hiring go-to-market talent or you are go-to-market talent, check out BettsRecruiting.com/non-technical. I bet You won't be disappointed. Bets you can have that catchphrase if you want. That one's on the house. Deena Shakir is a partner at Lux Capital, a multi-stage venture capital firm with $4 billion under management, where she invests in transformative technologies improving lives and livelihoods. She's particularly interested in intersectional and underdog entrepreneurs building breakthrough companies to accelerate advances and equity in human and population health. Deena has led a number of investments across stages and sectors, including in women's health, Maven Clinic, A-Life, Aidan, digital health infrastructure, SteadyMD, H1, health equity, Waymark, food tech, Shiro, and fintech, Moss and Ramp. Prior to joining Lux, she was a partner at GV, formerly Google Ventures, previously led product partnerships at Google for early-stage products in healthcare, AI/ML, and search at Google, and directed social impact investments at google.org. Before tech and venture, Deena had diverse partnership-centric experiences. She was a Presidential Management Fellow in the Obama administration, where she worked in Secretary Clinton's office and helped launch President Obama's first global Global Entrepreneurship Summit in 2010. The first-generation daughter of Iraqi immigrants, Deena self-funded her way through college at Harvard, where she delivered the commencement address, and Georgetown School of Foreign Service. A passionate advocate for diversity, inclusion, and equity, Deena is also on the boards of several nonprofits, including Tarjimly, Techwadi, and the National Venture Capital Association, as well as Ahmedist. She is a Forbes contributor and a member of Fortune's Most Powerful Women, Kauffman Fellows, Aspen Finance Fellows, and Aspen Global Leadership Network, the Council on Foreign Relations, and AllRaise. Deena was also named a top 30 under 40 in healthcare by Business Insider, top 9 women to watch in venture capital by the Wall Street Journal, and top 50 in digital health by Rock Health. She's currently a lecturer in management at the Stanford Graduate School of Business. Deena Shakir, welcome to Non-Technical.

Thank you so much, Alexis. And I should really shorten that bio. That was a mouthful.

No, it was great. It was exactly as long as it needs to be to cover your illustrious career, because we are not going to talk about it anymore.

There you go. Perfect.

People need to know. People need to know. Deena, I'm thrilled to have you on the podcast. We were just talking about how we have a number of mutual friends, but you and I have never met.

It's crazy. And I feel like I know you because I've been listening to you for so long. What a delight to finally be a part of the conversation.

Oh my gosh, the pleasure is all mine. I'm so happy to have you here. Ashley Meyer is a mutual friend. I think we have some others too.

I think we have a lot. And yes, Ashley is the best. Love her. Any friend of Ashley's is automatically a good friend of mine.

I know. So we're friends now.

There we go. Couple gals grabbing coffee. Coffee, catching up.

Exactly, exactly. Okay, Deena, I want to start here. Tell me about this. How did you spend your last day off?

Oh, this is an easy one, uh, because it was this weekend and I went to my favorite place, the happiest place on earth, Disneyland, with my family. And we had the best time. My husband actually cracked me up this weekend. He was telling me that he was trying to explain to a mutual friend of ours, like, why it is that I love Disneyland so much. And the way he explained it was, it's like her Vegas. Said that I worked so hard that I like need to like go play hard and just like get out of my head. And that's what I do at Disneyland. I have to go once a quarter.

Quarterly?

Yes.

I love it, the quarterly check-in. Okay, so I actually saw this tweet on Twitter where you quoted your husband as saying that it was like your Vegas, and I want to understand, where did that start? Where did it come from? When was your first trip to Disneyland?

Oh, my first trip was Actually, I must have been a toddler with my parents.

Oh my gosh.

Yes, I grew up in the Bay Area. And, you know, my parents are originally from Baghdad. A lot of my childhood had that juxtaposition of knowing I was from, you know, this, this country that had been going through so much. And yet here I was in the paradise of the Bay Area. But my parents took us regularly to Disneyland. And I feel like as a parent now, so much of what I do is reliving those happy childhood moments and some nostalgia from the, from the '90s.

So what's your go-to Disneyland activity? Also, I feel embarrassed to admit this, but I don't think I've been to Disneyland since I was 5.

Oh my gosh, I know. You need to go back. So much joy.

Would you be willing to help me do that though? Like, would you give me tips on what to do? Because I don't want to just fly blind into Disneyland.

I have a doc, Alexis. I share it with— oh my gosh, I will give you my, my tips, my hacks, the best route. The new Disneyland app is amazing.

Yes. Okay.

And you should just go with me because I'm on a mission in Disneyland. Like, there's no messing around.

That's extremely how I would want to do Disneyland.

Yes, 100%. Luckily, my kids and my husband are into it. It'd be a problem if they weren't.

Did you have to train them to fall in line at Disneyland, or were they ready to go right there, nipping at your heels? Let's hit the next ride.

We did start early. Not too early, because it's pretty painful if you have a little baby. I don't know how people do it. There were a lot of tiny little babies there at Disney, so I'm not that hardcore. I think my daughter was the first time we went, but my son, when— okay, was one. You know, I carried him in little Ergo, so they're, they're definitely trained and they ask for it every now and then. It is, it is becoming their happiest place on earth too. So I'm really happy about that.

That's so cute. And is it Disneyland over Disney World because of proximity? Because it's closer to the Bay?

It is. And I've only been to Disney World once actually, when I was like 7 or 8. I know it's crazy. It's crazy. I definitely need to go back. Um, but Disneyland is so close. We have an annual pass. It's not close enough, honestly. If I lived closer, I would be there like multiple times a week.

So maybe it is just close enough.

It's just close enough. Exactly.

I went to Disney World for the first time, I think in first grade or maybe second grade. It was a reward for getting, I think, now that I started this sentence, I'm like, why am I talking about this? I think I got like a perfect report card in first or second grade. I love that. And my parents took me to Disney World.

See, your parents get it. So we were celebrating my son graduating preschool. It's like me and cake. Any excuse to have a cake. Oh, it's your, you know, 3/4 birthday. We're definitely having cake. You graduated from your last clay class of the, of the spring quarter. Let's go to Disneyland.

Oh my God, I love it. Okay, great. So like episode 80 of Non-Technical, let's go to Disneyland.

Exactly. Totally.

I love that. Celebrating the little things.

Yes.

Perfect.

I have negotiated term sheets. Literally while I was in line for Rise of the Resistance. So there have been many a deal done at Disney.

That's incredible. Do you disclose that that's where you are?

To that particular founder, I did, because I am quite close to her. And yeah, I'm, you know, I think you can tell from my Twitter feed I'm pretty nonapologetic about, you know, the blending of my worlds.

Oh, good.

Yeah.

I mean, life would be so boring otherwise, right? Yes. You talked about cake and not really needing a big reason or excuse for cake. Do you make these cakes?

Oh no, sadly I do not.

Wait, that's not sad. That's very relatable. I don't remember the last time I made a cake.

I do make Funfetti like mixes sometimes, but I, you know, I can't say that I'm a baking aficionado. I do have a brother who is an incredible baker. In fact, I have shared some of his incredible treats on Twitter, which resulted in his first paid customer just a couple of weeks ago, actually. Oh my gosh.

He's a lawyer.

He works for the Warriors. I know, and he's so good. I just like simple desserts, you know, I'm truly like a Funfetti cake kind of girl. But for him, he needs to make these like complex macaroons with like lavender and Earl Grey and like, you know, crème brûlée, and it has to be a challenge. So my simple taste is, is too basic for him.

I understand. But basic can also be very good.

I love basic, in my opinion. Yeah, I mean, I like fine things. There are certain things that I like, you know, fancy and all that, but when it comes to food, I eat like a 5-year-old.

Love that. To thine own self be true, as the saying goes.

Totally.

Okay, so tell me this. Is there a song that whenever you hear it just immediately takes you back in time?

Yes. I feel like songs have this incredible power to do that. When I hear Secret Meeting by The National, it takes me back to college and my very, like, you know, emo phase and the many concerts. I love National, one of my favorite bands of all time. When I hear— when I hear Gangsta's Paradise, I go back to being in elementary school and thinking I was so cool. I still know every word. I will not rap it right now, but I could if you really want. Okay.

But good to know it's in the back pocket because someday that might come in handy.

Totally. It has before. Story for another time.

Story for when we're waiting in line at Disneyland.

Absolutely.

Deena Shakir, The National has a song that makes me weep. It's called I Need My Girl. You know that song?

Of course I know that song. It makes me weep too. Oh my gosh.

I can't listen to that song in the wrong headspace or I will cry.

I know, me too. And it still does, even though I've heard it so many times.

Yeah, I know.

I've heard it a thousand times. Yeah. And Florence and the Machine, three of my favorite artists to see live. Incredible.

Totally. I haven't seen any of them live, but I bet they're great.

So good. I mean, I like— let's be real, I haven't been to a concert in God knows how long, but the last time I went, it was pretty awesome. And I used to be a lot cooler. That does sound epic.

No, that sounds amazing.

I think I did go. We were watching Disney characters perform live at Disneyland last weekend. Gone to PAW Patrol Live. Does that count?

PAW Patrol Live? Yeah, I heard that they really rock.

Oh yeah, we were getting down. Actually, The Lion King show at Disneyland was, was legit good this weekend. Really?

That does sound nice. Yeah, that sounds amazing.

It was really good.

Okay, so what is something that you're really good at that it would surprise most people to learn about you?

I mentioned my rap skills already. Yes, seriously, I'm kind of good. And it's not just the actual rapping. So I can rhyme on the fly and like, well, I'm going to do slam poetry. And I, a few months ago, was at one of my seminars for Aspen, and we had this activity where we all had to kind of go into small groups and come up with some creative thing. And people did like skits and all of that. And I was like, give me a— yes, I got you. And I wrote basically a kind of poem slash, you know, rap sheet, and we killed it. We totally won that activity.

I am so impressed. Have you ever done slam poetry, like gone to a poetry club?

And I have, but my big thing, and this is actually something all of us Shakir siblings did growing up, was speech and debate. So I'm a total speech and debate nerd. That was my sport. Like, those were the tournaments I would go to. So yeah, I did a lot of that, like impromptu speeches on the fly. My event was original oratory. I used to, you know, get myself pumped up before a tournament by watching my favorite public speaker, who by the way now is a famous actor and the voice of Olaf, Josh Gad. Josh—

oh, Josh Gad is fantastic.

So Josh knows this because he was actually my speech and debate coach at summer camp.

Oh my gosh.

Maybe freshman and sophomore year. And he used to come and coach my team. He stayed in our house once. Like, we're— so I like to tell my daughter I'm friends with Olaf. I really am.

Oh my God, how many mom cool points do you score by being friends with Olaf?

He tells all of her friends, Josh, I still love you.

Oh my gosh.

I used to sit down with a VHS tape, that's how old I am, rewind the beginning of his speech when he, you know, won I think nationals and sit there and watch it and that would get me all pumped up and riled to go give my speech. I just wanted to be like that.

That's incredible. Well, I'm sure now he probably watches speeches of yours in order to get psyched up for his acting stuff. I'm assuming— we can only assume, we can neither confirm nor deny.

But little does he know how often we still listen to his voice in our household.

Oh, that's really sweet. Well, what do you listen to now to get pumped up for something? Do you have a pump-up song?

It's mostly podcasts that pump me up for things now. Is that weird?

For real? No, that's not weird at all. But I'm fascinated.

I definitely like music still. It doesn't serve the same purpose as it did earlier in my life. Now there's just so much content I want to listen to and absorb. I love audiobooks. That's the only way I really can properly read. You too? More than, more than an actual physical book?

Also, they hold different places in my life. The activities feel different to me, but I, like you, feel that there's just so much out there that I want to learn and hear and experience that an audiobook is a great way for me to do that while also doing the dishes, for example.

That's exactly it. Yeah, or brushing teeth or whatever, you know. And actually, I think enables me to concentrate more for some reason, whereas Even when I'm reading a book, like my thoughts will drift and, you know, other things. But if I'm able to do something really tactile while listening— oh yeah, that's better. I think for nonfiction, I think fiction, which I haven't had time to read in a long time, but the last time I did, it's more of a physical book experience. I have a harder time with fiction for audiobooks.

I agree 100% with that. And then I'll also say that something I do when I'm on the phone to stay focused on the phone is I walk around and clean my apartment.

Oh yeah, that's—

and I organize stuff.

Walking in general. I mean, over the course of the pandemic, I think a lot of us learned this and there were even some, you know, companies that emerged to enable walking meetings, but I found that I would really connect more with, you know, with people and with entrepreneurs and so on when I was doing a walking call versus sitting totally on Zoom. Yeah, and I love that, and I'm getting a lot of steps in. Although now I'm sort of back in the, in the sitting mode. I need to get back into walking. I do have a treadmill, like one of those, you know, treadmill pads in my office, and I think I've maybe used it once in 2 years.

Oh yeah, it always sounds like a great idea, like the treadmill desk concept is good in theory, and then in practice I can't see myself using it.

Right. Because it's like weird if you're on a Zoom and, you know, moving at the same time. I see you do it once or twice.

Yes.

But it's like, doesn't really work. No.

I mean, I'm on right now, I'm sitting on a wobbly stool. Do you know what I'm talking about?

Yeah, totally.

It's like balanced because I'm balancing it.

Yeah. But not, not the big ball.

No, no, no.

Does that help?

Oh yeah. Because then I can like move around, but it's more subtle. And so it doesn't disrupt anything, but it's like, it also like just forces you to kind of stay more engaged.

I should totally get one of those. Yeah, you should.

I'll send it to you for hours.

And my back, I was like, God, I'm getting old.

No, this is the best. Yeah, for that kind of stuff, this is really good. Yeah, in case there was any doubt that I'm exactly who I say I am, I'm sitting on a wobbly stool right now. Okay, Deena, what is the tiniest hill that you're willing to die on? So something really inconsequential that you definitely go to bat for?

Gosh, I have so many of those.

Oh, I'm excited.

I don't like espresso at all. Okay. And that's okay. If you're in Europe, it's really hard to find drip coffee. What's the deal with that? In London, I had to go to like 6 coffee shops. I can't drink espresso. I want like a delicious drip coffee. Here it is. I'm a big Cometeer fan. Espresso? No, it's not the same. An Americano is not coffee. In Europe, if you want a drip coffee, like, oh, we'll just, we'll just give you an Americano. No, no, no, no, that's espresso.

Okay, so talk to me about this. You do like coffee. You said you drink— you're drinking drip coffee. How do you take it?

Oh, this is going to be embarrassing because I do really like coffee, but I also like my coffee really sweet and creamy. And I get—

I support you. This is a judgment-free zone, Deena. I support you 100% however you take your coffee.

Thank you. So I take it really creamy and I've upgraded over the years. It used to be whole milk, then, yeah, oh, half and half. It's like even richer whole milk.

And yeah, way better.

Heavy whipping cream.

Heavy cream. I knew it.

So before it was like a thing, I was that person who would walk around with packets of stevia because like Splenda's not really— Yes. I don't know if you remember in Breaking Bad, there was that woman who walked around with her stevia pack. Oh, yes. Remember? I felt so seen because that was me for like the last decade. Now you can find stevia in every Starbucks.

Much more common.

Yeah, but nobody knew what I was talking about. And now I have my own like chocolate stevia, like liquid thing that I walk around and put in. I get judged. But I remember when I worked for Google back in the day and I would go visit the New York office, they had these really like, you know, coffee snobs from Brooklyn who were working and they don't even like have any kind of sweetener or cream. Like, God forbid you don't drink your coffee black because that is offensive. Yes, I do. Yes, coffee. I like it sweet.

I support you 100%, even as a black coffee drinker myself.

Thank you. Thank you.

But I think that you should be able to enjoy it however you want it.

I have a lot of respect for black coffee drinkers. My husband drinks it black. Yeah, I did that once for a few weeks when I tried to go down that path, and then I realized life's too short. I like it sweet.

Right now I feel cooler now that I drink black coffee. Like, there was a shift, right? And I'm like, wow, I am basically like the lead guitarist of a metal band levels of hard. You're so cool.

Meanwhile, when I'm putting all these packets in, like, I feel like I have to like do it in stealth mode, quiet, in secret. And then I have all these packets to throw away. What do I do with them?

Yes.

Embarrassing.

I know, I know. And the stevia is getting— I know everywhere. I get it. But the thing is, like, at my core, I am not cool. I simply drink black coffee. I still pour my coffee into the cup one drop at a time. Deena, you know, what can I say? I don't know.

I am, but coffee speaks for itself. I think you're pretty cool.

So I love that you use heavy cream and sweetener because these things are meant to be enjoyed. My mom, by the way, also was a big stevia packet slepper. And now it is—

my mom and I would get along. Yeah. I don't know if you saw this tweet way back a few weeks ago, but my daughter and son were, you know, chatting it up in the morning, and it was like a Saturday morning, and I was so tired. And like, I don't know what they were talking about, but I was like, you know, stop fighting, I can't talk yet.

Yes.

And the older one said to the younger one, it's okay, maybe she'll be nicer after she has her coffee.

Oh my God.

It was so true.

That's so funny. Were you floored?

I was dying. I mean, I was still waking up, so I was like, oh, that's really—

Yeah, that's amazing. That's so funny. Are your kids funny? Do you laugh a lot with them?

They're hilarious. I mean, I think all kids are funny. They just have, you know, no filter up to a certain age and they just say it like it is. And they have such wisdom in how they look at the world and how they do it. And it's like such a gift to be able to experience life through their eyes. I love it.

That sounds lovely. Aside from Maslow's hierarchy of needs, So all the basics. What is something that you couldn't go a day without?

Does coffee count?

Yeah, totally.

Yeah. There you go.

Every day.

Oh, of course. Are you kidding?

Oh my God.

Wow. Definitely.

Me too. Obviously.

Yeah. I mean, also a shower.

I sometimes don't shower every single day though.

No, I have to. Like now it's like, and sometimes it's twice, but I'm sorry, I know we're approaching a drought in California, but I do like that. I mean, I've done periods of time without that. Like I would, I did a backpacking summer. Through villages in Palestine, and I, you know, I packed all these like makeup thingies and makeup wipes, and I ended up using the makeup wipes to bathe myself because I was, you know— yeah, totally had no running water. But I think most people who know me now would find that very surprising.

That's funny. Yeah, I just don't wash my hair every day because it— I can't.

Oh, I don't.

It dries out.

No way. I don't even wash my hair, honestly. Yeah, right?

Like, who needs it?

It's not good to wash your hair every day.

I do every once in a while. Love saying that to— it's usually to a man who has considered the possibility of not washing their hair in the shower and they're like, what, every 4 days? I'm like, yeah.

Oh, I used to be able to go 2 weeks, literally.

Oh, that's incredible. Oh my God, I bet it was so shiny and nice.

Yeah, there's an art to keeping it looking good and sometimes it still looks good, it just starts to smell. So that's when I need to—

yeah, you need a little dry shampoo. I've said it before, I'll say it again, I believe that I built a career on dry shampoo and Undo Send.

Oh yes. I remember you saying that, and I totally relate to that. 100%.

Okay, Deena, what is your most irrational fear?

Birds. Birds? Yeah, birds.

Tell me more. All birds?

Not all birds. The little teeny tiny ones are okay, but pigeons scare the shit out of me. I am really afraid of pigeons. Yes, very. Like, it's a crippling fear. Like, if there's a pigeon on the sidewalk in front of me— oh no, I can't Walk. I need it to go away. It's bad.

Now, did you have an interaction with a pigeon that led you to this fear?

I had two. Oh no. College. One of them was in the summer in Paris. And I don't know if you recall, if you've, you know, spent time with European pigeons, but they are very aggressive. They rule. Pigeons rule, not the people there. And so there was like a flock of pigeons on the Champs-Élysées. It was this very French moment that literally flew into my face. Into my face.

Okay, pigeon to face contact.

Oh, I heard the flapping sound.

Oh my God, that's terrible.

And then not even like a month later when I was back at school, somehow in my dorm room, in the chimney chute, which was closed off— you're not supposed to use those fireplace— a bird flew into it.

What?

I opened my door and there was pigeon going nuts, bouncing off the walls. There was pigeon poop all over my bed.

Oh my God, terrifying. I totally get why you're afraid of pigeons.

Yes, but it's tough. I really like need someone to clear the pigeons from the street when I'm walking.

Wow, who does that for you typically?

Whoever I'm with, or if I'm by myself, I'll just cross the other way and nobody will know for the better. But yeah, yeah, I mean, I've gone on hikes before, like with— at the time I was with a friend of mine, we both had our babies, and I was like, I, I can't move forward, I can't, we've got to clear these pigeons. She and her— she had a toddler run and clear the way for me.

I was just gonna say that it seems like that's something that kids would be very useful for. Just go ahead, run, run, run, run.

Scares me for them. I'm scared for them.

No, I think they're gonna be okay. If anything, this will ensure that they're not afraid of the pigeons.

That's true. Yes. I don't want them to live with this crippling fear.

I have a story that is similar to that, that I'll just briefly share.

Yeah.

To let you know that I really feel you, which is that one summer when I was working in the NYU admissions office as a tour guide, that was a big part of how I spent my time in college. Mm-hmm. I was wearing open-toed sandals. And I was walking to work in the summer. It was like a beautiful hot, I think a July morning, and I step forward and I feel something warm hit my foot, and I look down to see a rat catching air because I have kicked it into the sky. And I see it plop down in front of me and scurry off, and I just started freaking out. I swear to you, I still remember how warm that rat felt on my foot.

That is terrifying. Absolutely harrowing. Also, I bet you were the best tour guide and hilarious.

Thank you.

You would probably be really good on the Jungle Cruise as a guide.

Oh, is that a Disneyland ride?

Yes, and they're always like— okay, I'm cracking up at the jokes all the time. I feel like you'd be so good at it. Consider it.

That's amazing. Okay, good. It's good to have multiple career paths.

Totally.

You never know. Hard pivot. Hard pivot to Disneyland.

Love it.

What personality trait has gotten you into the most trouble?

It's also the one that I think has contributed to, you know, more successes. But that's my, like, love it. Yeah, tenacity, persistence.

Towering strengths, towering weaknesses. I worked for someone that used to say those are often the same thing.

It's very accurate. Yeah.

Yes, I feel you on that one. What 3 words would your closest friends or family use to describe you?

Intense. Intense is one that I think I get a lot.

Yes.

Persistent, which I already mentioned.

Yeah.

But you can replace that with tenacious and fierce.

Ooh, wow. Those are great words. Okay. When someone refers to you as intense, how do you view that?

That has definitely changed over the years because I think I probably would have been slightly offended at first, but I'm at the stage in my life where I know who I am and I also know what I value and I love intense people. Yeah, people that I like have chemistry with, they got it. They don't have to be intense, but they got to be able to take the heat and go along for the ride. That's just who I am.

I feel like I'm still evolving in my journey towards owning it. Yeah, because somebody told me I was intense recently, and I'm like, I know they're right, and I love intense people, but still, the way the word hits me, I was just like, damn, like, I'm still holding on to that dream of being like, ooh, it's gendered.

I feel like it's a very gendered word, and then it really hits differently when just describing a woman. And I think that's something that I've like come to recognize in the same way that like, you know, a woman negotiating in a career setting can be called aggressive, but that same characteristic can be— that is valued and admired in men.

Totally. You're proud to be intense. I'm proud to be intense because I think you seem pretty amazing. So I would be proud to share that adjective with you.

Thank you. Own it, love it, hang out with other intense people. I mean, it's great. Being intense, perfect. Not a bad thing.

That's the plan. Okay, good. See, this is why I brought you on, to help me feel better about my life.

It's working for me too. Thank you.

Yes, it's a self-help podcast now, but we're helping me. Okay, Deena, tell me this: what chapter of your life would make for the best movie plot?

Maybe the current one. There are a lot of things going on all the time, and it's like, it's fun. It would be a very all over the place movie plot, but I think it would be entertaining.

What sort of genre do you think it would be?

Sometimes slapstick comedy, sometimes drama. Sometimes, you know, there's like mystery and like investigative, like an investigative documentary. Yeah.

Wait, that's so exciting.

Yeah, it's fun. There's fun stuff going on all the time. I love it.

Wow. Okay, that's amazing. So how about this? What would the movie version of your current life look like right now if it was a Disney animated movie? Oh my gosh. You're a big Disneyland fan.

Choose one or like blend some characters together.

How could we structure it? If like you were the main character in this Disney animation film and we're telling the story of your life, like maybe is there a particular villain that would stick out to you? Do you know where it would take place or like what your character would want to be achieving? But like the Disney-fied version.

Well, it would take place in a very different different version of, I think, what most Disney movies have, you know, traditionally portrayed, which is usually a caricatured version of, you know, uh, of a place. The new Disney movies are incredible. Like, I loved Encanto. So good. Please tell me you've seen it.

I actually— it's on my list. I, I definitely— I, I haven't seen it.

We can't talk about Bruno.

Where have you been? Under a rock.

It is amazing.

I feel like it's harder for me to keep up on all the incredible Disney Pixar movies because I don't have kids.

Yes, but Encanto is one of those that like, I mean, it's Lin-Manuel Miranda.

I know, I love it. I need more friends with younger kids who will invite me over to watch these movies with them.

You should watch it for yourself and you're gonna get obsessed with the soundtrack. And okay, for me it was surface pressure, that song. When I— and I didn't expect any of this, I thought I was just taking my kids to a Disney movie, but the first time I— yeah, yeah, I was bawling. I was like, really? Oh my God, yes! Oh my God, you tell me what your favorite song was after you see it. Okay, I will, I definitely will.

Is it the kind of soundtrack I'm going to want to listen to again and again constantly. Okay, I need one of those.

And you'll dance to it. I mean, there's many a TikTok about like the experience and the evolution of the Encanto soundtrack experience.

Oh really?

Okay, maybe they just pop up on my feed because it's the mom TikTok, because they know.

Yes, it's so good. Does TikTok know that you're into Disneyland?

Yes, especially Disneyland's food.

Do they give you like Disneyland content, like guides and tips and stuff?

As does Instagram. Yeah.

Wow, man, they know.

Yeah.

Okay, so maybe this could even be a musical movie, question mark, or would we want to make it more serious?

Oh, definitely musical. I think— okay, I think everything should be musical. Yes, it would be probably not my actual voice singing, but lots of breaking up.

But maybe rapping.

Rapping.

Yes. I think we could get someone else to do vocals if you're not comfortable doing vocals, and then you could pop in and like lay down a verse on a track every once in a while.

I would love that. That would be so good.

Okay.

Yeah.

So far this movie slaps. Okay. Also, I'm thinking you mentioned it's usually sort of a Disney-fied version of a place. What if we did the Disney-fied version of the Bay Area? Everything was just a little shinier, a little glossier, you know, like played up some of the beautiful nature.

Hollywood does seem to be very obsessed with Silicon Valley with, you know, some of the more recent shows. Um, that hasn't translated quite yet into cartoon world, but it would be interesting if it did. It would. Maybe not interesting enough.

I think it would be so interesting. I like this idea a ton. Okay, okay, very good.

Let's work on it. Side hustle.

Let's do it. We both, I'm sure, have copious amounts of free time to write a Disney animated film.

I don't know if you know this, but I did write a children's book, so maybe, maybe the movie will—

what?

Yes.

Yeah, I didn't know that.

Not out yet, but it will be, and it's It's about a young girl who starts a company. She builds a robot and—

Deena, I love that.

Yeah, I wrote it literally out of necessity and desperation a few years ago when I tried to explain to my daughter's preschool class what exactly I do for a living. They had a career week and people were coming in with their cool— like there was a hairdresser who came in and cut hair and then there was a fireman who came in and did that. And then I was like, how on earth am I going to explain what I do. Yeah. Well, let me turn to books, because that's usually what I do when I have any complications. Oh, sure. Nothing. Yeah, there was nothing. Not only on venture capital, which, like, okay, like, let's be real, hard enough to explain to adults, right? But even on this entrepreneurship, you know, I think we've made so much progress and awesome, you know, children's books on STEM with, you know, girls and, and people of color as main characters, but nothing there. And so I ended up kind of coming up with a story and then decided it was like my pandemic project to turn into a book.

Oh, that's so cool.

The first version did rhyme, but now it doesn't anymore.

That's amazing that the first version did.

Yes, I still love that version. One day I'll put it out there for the world.

That's great. The director's cut.

Exactly. Exactly. Yeah. Writing a book for a little girl.

Wow, that's really cool. No, I can't even imagine. I'm so excited for that. I already know the little girl in my life that needs a copy, though I'm sure it'll be good for kids of all genders. But there's in particular, I always like to give my best friend's baby, um, books where I'm like, her name is Amelia and she's almost 2 and she's basically my niece. And I'm always like, you're very smart. You're very creative and you're very pretty, but it's like in that order, you know what I mean?

You know, I was totally like that with my daughter and, you know, yeah, gender-neutral colors in her room. And like, if somebody gave her a doll, I would just donate it and all of that. Somehow she turned into the frilliest, sparkliest unicorn princess girl ever. So I'm still working on that, but it's kind of crazy how these things happen. I just hope my kids are not geriatric by the time the book comes out because Yes, it's like a very long time apparently. So maybe my grandchildren will enjoy it one day.

Maybe the great— exactly. We'll give a copy to Mike.

There you go.

What's your most used emoji, do you think?

Probably the crying laughing one.

Okay, a crying laughing, like full two tears crying laughing?

The stream of tears.

Stream of—

yeah, stream of tears. Stream of tears. I realize if I did the like full-on crying one, that would totally be me, right? Because I know Gen Z is not into that anymore.

Right.

I went through this whole thing of like, notice my middle part, no longer side.

Great middle part. Yeah.

And got rid of my skinny jeans.

Okay.

The emoji one was a hard habit to break though. I got—

that's tough.

Even though my hair still wants to, like, still wants to go to the side, but I like my middle part.

Yeah. I'm never letting go of my skinny jeans. You can pry them from my cold, dead millennial hands.

Oh my God. I had this incredible graduate intern who's now a very close friend, and she was like my Gen Z whisperer, right? And so I, you know, I wanted to be cool and young. She's the one who told me get rid of the jeans. And then I see her showing up the next day wearing skinny jeans. She tells me they're ironic.

Oh my God, Deena, I cannot. I absolutely cannot.

No, I know. I just can't. I mean, the other day a friend of mine was wearing a dress, this like gorgeous designer dress, and she said it was vintage Gucci. And then she said, what year it was? And it was 2007. I was like, oh no, that's vintage.

Oh my God, I'm old, I'm old. That's really tragic. Wow.

I know, I know. Yeah, so geez, gotta keep it real. I've got 3 brothers and the youngest one is 10 years younger, and so, you know, he keeps, he keeps it real with what's going on. He's actually doing his PhD at NYU.

Oh, congrats to him! Love that. My alma mater. We love to see a fighting Violet. What is the most surprised you've ever been?

Probably when my husband proposed. And it's not because I was surprised that he was proposing, but it was what he pulled out of his pocket when he was proposing.

Oh, what did he pull out of his pocket?

It wasn't a ring. So he is my childhood sweetheart. He's literally the first person I said I love you to. Oh my God. I was in 7th grade. He was in 9th grade. And we used to talk on AIM because he's actually from Boston and I'm from here. And so we met one summer when my brother and I were visiting my aunt who had moved to Boston. And so she had us hang out with some of her friends' kids. So totally like fell for him that summer. We played mini golf and Monopoly and like we went to the movies and once held hands and, you know, and it was like a like long distance AIM relationship for like a year and a half. And I used to send him care packages. And apparently in one of those care packages I had sent him a keychain. It was a Stanford basketball keychain because I grew up next to Stanford and he liked basketball and I thought, you know, I thought I was being cool. But I told him that it was the key to my heart. Oh, so he kept it all those years. Mind you, like, we weren't together that whole time. Yeah, high school happened and college happened and then we started, you know, talking again as I was wrapping up grad school. So many years later What? Yeah, and he kept it that whole time. When he proposed to me, that's what he pulled out.

I have actual chills, right?

He's a cutie.

That's wild.

Yeah.

Did you know he still had it?

No, I didn't even remember it. I have a pretty good memory, but like, when he pulled it out, I was so confused because I was expecting a ring, and I was like, yes! What? I had no idea. He didn't mention it. He's also like, loses his sunglasses like every other week. I don't know how he kept it all those years.

That is such an incredible story. Wait, Deena, I think that needs to be the Disney movie. No?

Oh yeah, definitely. He is my— he is my prince. Actually, a friend of mine from middle school who's still a dear close friend, when we got married, she was giving a speech at like one of our dinners, and she said that I used to tell people that he was my prince, but like he was an actual prince when I was in middle school.

Oh my God, that's hilarious. Friends just keeping it real. They're like, I have the receipt. Receipts.

Exactly. You know what, I really— speaking of receipts, I would die to find those old AIM conversations.

Oh my God, can you even imagine? I wish I could see some of my old Away messages, right? And like my bio, like what the— like the song lyrics I would put in my bio. I would pay real money to see what song lyrics I had in my bio.

What was your screen name?

It was AMG8YO, which came from my mom making my first email address and it stood for Alexis Mackenzie Gay, 8 years old. Oh my God, because that is when she made my email address. Wow. And that was my email for a long time, honestly, till college. Wow, wow, wow. Yes, that's good, that's good. Deena, we're gonna take a quick break and then we'll be right back. This episode of Non-Technical is still brought to you by Betts Recruiting. Grab your popcorn and put your phones on silent because we're just getting started with our summer Bets blockbuster. The return of Bets Recruiting. 2 Bets, 2 Furious. Tagline: This time, all bets are on. If your professional life right now was a movie, what kind of character arc would we be working with? Are you struggling to find the one? And by that, I mean the perfect go-to-market hire. Do you need to take off your glasses and let your hair down in order for the world to see what your resume really has to offer? Or are you simply in search of adventure, curious about the career path less traveled? Whatever your movie arc, Betts Recruiting is ready to be your best supporting actor, or should I say your Betts supporting actor? I shouldn't, but I did. If you're hiring go-to-market talent or you are go-to-market talent, check out BettsRecruiting.com/non-technical. And we're back with Deena Shakir, partner at Lux Capital. Deena Shakir, we have arrived at a very exciting moment in this episode of Non-Technical. Are you ready?

I'm so ready.

You're so ready. We've arrived at the lightning round. Woo-hoo!

Oh gosh, I'm nervous. These lightning rounds on panels always make me so anxious. Like, oh my God, what is the best book? What is it? But you're gonna ask me about the book?

What kind of book?

I don't remember. I forgot that I've read any books in my whole life.

I don't know. I do have one question about a book, but if you would like to pass, you are more than welcome to pass.

Tell me.

Okay, so usually I ask coffee or tea, but I think I know the answer.

100% coffee. 100%.

Fabulous.

Yeah.

iOS or Android?

iOS. So yes, there was a year when I was at Google, a full year, where before, you know, it was more okay to have an iPhone, like you kind of had to have an Android there. And I did. And I skinned it to look like an iPhone. And I just— oh my God, I can't get over the green bubbles. And at the time, it's so many—

I know—

members that were doing, and friends doing, uh, group messages. I just couldn't do it anymore. I had to, I had to switch.

So totally.

Yeah.

I love that you skinned it. I have a theory that Google employees owning Pixel phones is keeping Pixel alive. Like, that's honest to God my theory, because every friend of mine who has a Pixel, I'm like, oh, why do you have a Pixel? And they're like, oh, well, I used to work at Google.

And I'm like, it's so true. Either they used to go straight to the top, right?

Or yes, somebody worked at Google. Somebody always works at Google.

That camera was so good. So at the time, Pixel wasn't even a thing.

It is honestly very good.

But their camera is really good. I do enjoy pictures taken from my friends' Pixel phones. Phones, but I do not enjoy getting the green bubbles. I keep in touch with those friends less unless they're, you know, on WhatsApp. But if you have Android and you're not on WhatsApp, do you just not want to be reached?

No, that's like the equivalent to living in a cabin in the woods at this point. That's like you don't want to be reached.

You don't want to be reached. Yeah, maybe it's a strategy.

It's a testament to my friendship with one of my best friends, Mara, which is that she is on Android because why? She used to work at Google. and I still keep in extremely close touch with her. But that is our burden, and I, I carry— I shoulder that burden. Or what do you do?

Do you actually SMS?

I go SMS, old school, old school baby throwback. Yeah, that's how amazing my friend Mara is.

Actually go through? Did they see it?

Yes, I constantly am like, well, just throw this out into the ether, we'll see if it makes it. Totally. It's literally like sending a letter. Like, you know how when you send a letter, at least when I do, I'm always like, well, we'll see. Like, I have no idea if it'll actually read. No tracking available. So Oh my gosh, she's so special. She's the best. Okay, this is my question about a book, but you can skip it. Have you ever read a book twice? Yes. Oh, what book?

Oh my gosh, Jane Eyre. When I was a kid, I was obsessed. I probably read that book a dozen times. Pride and Prejudice.

Oh, cool.

The Unbearable Lightness of Being. I love to reread books.

Have you reread any of those books that you read as a kid as an adult?

A few of them, yes. But I want to do more of that. I also want to like rewatch— I have done this a few times, but I want to rewatch shows that I used to enjoy as a kid. So I did that with Gilmore Girls. Okay, that was great. I'm also obsessed, like very obsessed, with I Love Lucy. Okay, I kid you not, when I was growing up, I was a card-carrying member of the I Love Lucy fan club.

No. Yeah, no.

Oh my God, my room was like wallpapered with I Love Lucy like images. I still have my I Love Lucy clock. Like, seriously? Yes, obsessed. Okay, I'm not that old, in case you're wondering, but I don't know, watch Nick at Night.

Nick at Oh, is that where the love was born?

People would be into like, you know, whatever shows were like Dawson's Creek or The O.C., but for me it was like I Love Lucy and Bewitched and like The Mary Tyler Moore Show, but mostly I Love Lucy. And I've gotten my kids into it, Alexis, and they're 6 and 4. That's like how you know you have a comedic genius because yes, it is so anachronistic. It's black and white and it's not a show that was designed for children. And my kids like, no, don't even like old movies because they don't have the same kind of cadence isn't it? Yeah. But I Love Lucy, they ask for it. They crack up laughing. It's so cute.

That's so— oh my God, that is adorable.

Even though there's some things in there that I—

some things in there where you're like, hold on, we're just gonna fast forward. Yeah. Did you watch the— was it a limited series or a movie that Nicole Kidman did?

I did. I did see that. Yeah, it was— I think it was a movie. I did see that. Yeah. I mean, I'm like a total, a total stan. I've also like read all the books about her and— wow— watched other things that she's in And that, yeah, that's— she's amazing. I was so obsessed. In fact, I bought my first computer myself. I've always kind of like had these like side hustles, but I bought it by selling on eBay when like it first came out some I Love Lucy paraphernalia.

No. Oh my God, that's epic.

Yeah.

Wow. Also, I feel like that would be such a funny way for the character of Lucy to get into some hijinks. Thinks, like, she wants to buy a computer, so she has to sell some paraphernalia on this new thing called eBay, you know.

Oh, true. Oh my God, Lucy, Larry David, like, you know, evolution of comedy. I love it.

That's amazing. Okay, well, Deena, sadly, this is my last question for you, which makes me very sad, except that I know we're going to be hanging out and spending lots of time at Disneyland together.

100%.

What would you title your memoir?

I would probably title it what the title was of my graduation speech from Harvard in 2008, which was From Baghdad to Boston: Dropping the Global H-Bomb. I'd skip the H-bomb part now because it's been a long time since I was there, but maybe From Baghdad to Boston to the Bay.

Oh my God, that would fly off the shelves. I would read that in a heartbeat.

I like alliteration. What can I say?

As you should. And you're writing a book and it's nice to have a nice literary device in the title. I think that specifically with memoirs or autobiographies, I feel like wordplay, puns, alliteration, it's all fair game. It's all on the table.

True. Although I'd love to find just one word. I love those one-word ones, you know. I don't know what that word would be, but like a big word on a book. What would yours be? I don't know. See, these questions are really hard.

I know, they're so hard.

If that's already been done before, maybe pivot. Oh yeah, I don't know. Let's think about it. It has to be a short word. Let's definitely think about it. Anthropology or something. It has to be like one, one, like maybe two-syllable word. Even better. Oh God. Wow.

We should think about it. Yeah, I legitimately don't have an answer to this question, which is probably not great. I have considered before, Who's to Say? Oh, that's something I say a lot and something I feel.

Yeah, you should go out there and, you know, trademark that before someone—

write that book. Yeah. And it would rhyme, I guess. Who's to Say by Alexis Kay.

And it makes so much sense because, you know, what you do is talk to people and hear what they have to say. I like that. That's brilliant. Okay, can you come up with it? Thank you.

I will. I liked yours. I definitely will put some thought into this. I have to think about it. But Deena, this has been such an unbelievable treat. Thank you so much for coming on Non-Technical.

Thank you for having me, and I look forward to lots more hangouts. Disneyland, New York, come visit.

Hell yeah.

Yeah.

Where can people find more about you online?

I am on Twitter and my DMs are open. I'm @DeenaShakir, and you know, there's some other stuff out there on the internet too, but mostly Twitter. Twitter.

Incredible. And is that also where people can go to find more info about your book coming out later?

Yes, when it finally does come out. But yeah, definitely put it on Twitter when it's out there.

Good. Okay, I can't wait.

Yay!

Yes. Okay, amazing. And you can find me at @YayAlexisGay on Twitter and Instagram, or @NonTechnicalPod on Twitter. One more time, Deena, this has just been so very nice. I'm very excited for us to chat again, and I hope you have a wonderful, wonderful day.

Thank you, Alexis. This was so much fun.