Sima Sistani, CEO and Co-Founder of Houseparty

For our latest episode, Sima Sistani joins us for a conversation that brings to light the personal side and vulnerable truths of trying to run a company, be a present parent, and deal with life changes and societal expectations of how to do it all. We share different perspectives on how to try and raise kids with a strong internal sense of self and how we’re each still discovering this for ourselves. During Covid in 2020, Sima put these life lessons of empathy and grace into action in how she led the team at Houseparty. We dig into her career trajectory, from international equities trading at Goldman Sachs to working in Hollywood and into co-founding a tech startup, and advice she got along the way. To wrap up, Chloe, April and Sima all discuss the choice to found companies in their 40s, the narrow stereotype that you have to be young to make that leap, and searching for the tingly feeling of when you know you’ve seen a glimpse of the future and when to chase it. Each week, we wrap up with a Shoutout to people who’ve inspired and helped us along the way. This episode, Sima highlights Martha Lane Fox, an internet entrepreneur and Board Director at Twitter, and Jess shines on Molly Graham, COO at Lambda School. Chloe gives a special shoutout to everyone serving on local school boards! The #ANGELS Pod brings you conversations about the latest tech trends with the people inventing and shaping them in Silicon Valley and beyond. Hosted by the co-founders of #ANGELS, an investment collective: Jessica Verrilli, April Underwood, Jana Messerschmidt, Chloe Sladden, Katie Stanton, and Vijaya Gadde. We cover personal stories about breaking into tech and scaling up, and inside looks at the most interesting startups, from the people building them. This podcast is just getting started and we’d love your feedback. You can reach us on Twitter @HashtagAngels and thanks in advance for listening! The #ANGELS Podcast is a production of Haitch Industries. Our theme music is by Tobey Forsman of Whipsong Music. The episode was produced and edited by Matt Herrero.