Featured Investor | September 2024 - Elisa La Cava of Trilogy Equity Partners

Elisa La Cava is a Principal at Trilogy Equity Partners, an early-stage venture capital firm investing in Pacific Northwest startups focused on cloud infrastructure, AI-powered B2B software, and consumer applications. With prior experience at Madrona Venture Group, Deloitte Consulting, and early-stage startups, Elisa brings a wealth of knowledge and passion to her investments. She holds a BA from Claremont McKenna College where she majored in Environment-Economics-Politics and Spanish and an MBA from Northwestern's Kellogg School of Management.

When not working, Elisa enjoys exploring the Pacific Northwest's natural beauty with her young family, including hiking, biking, and kayaking around Seattle, as well as playing tennis whenever possible.

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EVCA: Describe a defining moment in your career and how it shaped where you are today.

Elisa: A pivotal moment in my career happened during business school at a Shark Tank-style event. I was just starting to explore venture capital, and one of the judges* was an investor at a firm I admired but hadn't been able to successfully connect with. It was the night before midterms, and I nearly stayed home to use the extra couple hours of time to study, but I decided to attend, hoping for a chance encounter. 

Mustering my courage, I approached her at the event. Our conversation sparked an unexpected opportunity: an internship at her firm. This experience taught me the power of stepping outside my comfort zone and building relationships – a lesson that has been invaluable throughout my venture capital journey to date.

*Special thanks to Samara Mejia Hernandez (currently, founding partner of Chingona Ventures) and the MATH Venture Partners team for taking a bet on me after that night; working with you inspired me to pursue the path I am on now, and for that I will be forever grateful.

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EVCA: What is an emerging technology trend that will have a significant impact on the world in the next decade?

Elisa: It's hard not to say AI here! AI is already reshaping how we work and live. For example, AI-powered language models are now able to generate creative content, translate languages, and even write code, augmenting human capabilities and streamlining workflows. Beyond this, AI's ability to instantly access the world's knowledge and provide context-specific information, presented in plain text and in real-time, is revolutionizing productivity and decision-making. This human+AI collaboration, along with the rise of fully autonomous AI systems capable of ideation, analysis, and execution, will continue to revolutionize both our personal and professional worlds and lead us into a new era of enhanced productivity and accelerated innovation. While the potential is immense and inspiring, we must also prioritize responsible development and implement ethical safeguards to ensure that AI benefits all of society.