"It did take me 17 years to win my first Grand Slam, so I'm good at waiting" - Williams draws similarities between tennis career and investing

Sunday, 23 October 2022 at 05:30

Updated at Friday, 06 December 2024 at 03:03

byJordan Reynolds

Since retiring from professional tennis, Serena Williams has continued her investing career. She was one of the speakers this week at the TechCrunch Disrupt Conference.

Millions of tennis fans were devastated when Williams bid farewell to the sport at the US Open. In her final match, she lost in the third round to Ajla Tomljanovic, who managed to hold her nerve in front of a raucous crowd.

Serena also played doubles one more time with fellow tennis legend Venus Williams in New York. They lost in the opening round, but that does not diminish their achievement of winning 14 Grand Slams and three gold medals as a pair.

The 23-time Grand Slam champion mentioned two areas she would like to focus on more when announcing her retirement in August. Williams wants to grow her family and have at least one more child

Serena has also become more active as an investor. The former world No. 1 wants to be as successful in that area as possible, and retiring from professional tennis gives her a better opportunity to do that.

The 41-year-old's seriousness about committing to the area was demonstrated when she spoke at the TechCrunch Disrupt Conference. Williams mentioned how her tennis career helps with the patience required as an investor.

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"Usually when you're investing as early stage as we are, seed and pre-seed, you don't get 100% winners. Sometimes winning isn't about having a unicorn or a $500 million company. Sometimes winning looks different, but you know how winning looks for me— so I'm still working on understanding that balance, that you can't pick 100% winners."

"It did take me 17 years to win my first Grand Slam, so I can wait, I'm good at waiting," said Williams. "I'm patient. We can't have a VC company and not have a foot in Web3 at all, because it is the future but we also want to make sure we're thoughtful about the process."