Hustle Fund co-Founder Elizabeth Yin on premature births, postpartum depression, and raising independent kids

Elizabeth Yin is the co-founder and General Partner of Hustle Fund, a $46.5m fund for ridiculously early-stage startups. She was also a partner at 500 Startups from 2014-2017, and in 2014, she sold her startup, Launchbit, an adtech platform.

You mentioned that you gave birth prematurely and had a baby in the NICU - twice. What is your birth story?

EY: So actually, both kids delivered early by a month. And in fact, it was in the same sort of way. I didn’t really have time to create a birth plan. I didn’t take a tour of the hospital. I didn’t get to do the birthing classes.

At maybe 4 in the morning, I felt maybe my water broke a little bit. So, I’m googling this: how to know if your water broke. And of course, it’s not helpful because you can’t figure that out from Google. I wasn’t really sure, but this seemed slightly different. So we decided to pack up just in case and go into the hospital to see if anyone had thoughts on this. And while we were going to the hospital, my water fully broke in the car. When we got to the hospital, they said, “Now that your water has broken, you have to go through with delivery.” So, that’s how I ended up delivering. The second time, I knew exactly what was happening because it was an exact repeat of the first time.

I did have an epidural. They didn’t induce me. Nurses told me that second children tend to deliver faster, so the second time was much faster. About half the time. The first time we went in early in the morning and didn’t give birth until 4 pm, and the second time I gave birth around noon.

I think there’s only so much reassuring you can do when your kid in the NICU especially with a first born. They’re so frail - they’re on these machines that beep every 2 seconds. You’re just not sure whether your kid is going to make it. The NICU nurses do amazing work.

How did you stay calm during labor?

EY: If I had to pick out a weird skill, I’m actually pretty good at Bejeweled if I say so myself. It’s not a monetize-able skill, unfortunately. But that’s what I played in the few hours before birth.

Did you ever consider cord blood banking as part of your birth plan?

EY: I had gotten some materials on it. And I thought about it briefly. But, it was one of those things where I had zero time to think about it, and then it’s too late. I feel like that’s something more people should know about way before birth.

💡 Cord blood banking is cryo-preserving stem cells from your umbilical cord and placenta in the hours after birth. Parents can get a cord blood banking kit with Anja Health, bring it with them to birth, have their provider use the kits’ tools to collect the umbilical cord and placenta within minutes, and then call for pickup from wherever they are in the US. Stem cells are then transported to a lab, where they can later be retrieved in the case that family members need a stem cell treatment. Cord blood and placenta stem cells can be used to treat a variety of conditions, including cerebral palsy, cancers, multiple sclerosis, type 1 diabetes, HIV, and more.

Did you experience postpartum depression? If so, how did you cope with it?

EY: We were really not sleeping much after birth. Preemies wake up more than a larger baby - they need to feed more because they have smaller stomachs. My kids would wake up every 2 hours instead of 3.

I honestly felt pretty depressed. I didn’t feel like I had any outlets. Fortunately, it wasn’t so bad where you know anything drastic happened, but it was honestly very tough.

With my older one, I breastfed for 4 months and my younger one - three months - so a pretty short period of time compared to other women. I think the hormones of pumping and breastfeeding contributed to my postpartum depression. Sleep deprivation from pumping and breastfeeding was what made it really hard. I was not feeling great, so I stopped.

I was disappointed I couldn’t keep this part up longer. I think part of it is societal pressure. Part of it is breast milk is good for the baby. And the last part of it is gosh I’m not strong enough to do this for that long. Just a weird self-pressure. But, in the end, mental health is so important.

How did you tag-team the postpartum period with your husband?

EY: My husband would go to bed super early like maybe 5 or 6 pm and then wake up at 2 am. I would go to bed pretty late and then wake up later, and my parents would come in the morning. But with that help, that schedule wears on you.

You mentioned that parenting is about doing things that scale and delegating. How did you tangibly apply this?

EY: Pretty much the same advice you’d give any founder - everything from pumping, dishes, cooking - anybody can order food, so you don’t need to be a hero on everything. It’s important to let go of these things because you can drive yourself crazy just trying to live your life.

I recently spoke with an expecting founder who felt cautious disclosing to potential investors that she was pregnant. Have you ever experienced this yourself?

EY: My older one was born as I was running my ad startup, and my younger one was born just a few weeks before we started Hustle Fund. So, in both cases, I didn’t really get much of a maternity leave. One investor asked me, “How do you plan on balancing having a child and your startup?”

I think on one hand, when I heard that question, I felt like it was fair, but on the other hand, I felt like he would never ask a dad that question, so there is a double standard.

At the time, there were a couple blog posts from male investors openly saying that they didn’t want to be investing in female founders who were pregnant because they felt like it’s a disadvantage.

Do you think that being a parent does conflict with running a startup or fund?

EY: I think about HustleFund as a 30- or 40-year journey. The timespan of six months when it’s really hard - 4-6 months or so - it’s nothing. The timespan of startups is 5-10 years, so half a year is not a big deal. I think investors are a little short-sighted about this.

What would you say to parent founders who feel cautious disclosing their family to investors?

EY: I would encourage video conference meetings if you’re worried, but I think the other thing is the world has changed. More investors understand being a parent and that is why there should be more investors, so that way people have choice. For us at Hustle Fund, we’ve backed so many parents or people who became parents. Our founders should have joy in their life. If they want to have children, they should.

You mentioned your kids have been doing their laundry since they were three years old. How and why?

EY: I have a busy day job, so my kids are pretty self-sufficient.

Now, my son is six, but he does do his own laundry and has been doing his own laundry since three. I felt like a three-year-old should be able to do their own laundry.

I start my calls at 7 in the morning everyday, which means that they need to come down to eat breakfast - they get their own breakfast, they pack all the stuff they need for school, and they can even cook.

One time, I got a call from my son’s school, and they said, “hey, it seems like he doesn’t have a whole lot of lunch. Why doesn’t he have a whole lot of lunch?” And I said, “Well he didn’t really pack a lot of lunch.” I mean this may sound awful, but they said they gave him snacks, and you know, he really did learn his lesson that he needed to pack for lunch.

I see so many kids who are coddled, and there are so many kids who go off to college who are not prepared to do anything themselves.

My job as a parent is to be a little bit like a coach - similar to my professional life. Your job is to get them prepared for when they turn 18, and they need to do everything themselves.

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Anja Health - a Hustle Fund portfolio company - helps pregnant parents freeze stem cells from their umbilical cords and placenta for future disease treatment purposes. If you’re currently pregnant, get a kit for your birth.

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