Lightspeed Scout Spotlight: Wifredo Fernández
I caught up with Lightspeed Scout Wifredo “Wifi” Fernández about his journey to VC and advice for aspiring investors. This is a continuation of Lightspeed’s “Scout Spotlight” series showcasing our amazing Scouts, what they care about, and some lessons learned along the path to venture.
Me: Let’s start with who you are! What’s your story?
Wifi: My name is Wifredo Fernández, though most folks call me “Wifi” for short, a nickname that was bestowed upon me by a soccer coach when I was 10 years old. I’m currently a member of the U.S. Public Policy team at Twitter where we serve as ambassadors to governments, policymakers, regulators and civil society groups. I work on a mix of federal, state, and local policy on issues like content moderation, child safety, privacy, crypto, copyright and the Open Internet.
I was born and bred in Miami and am the son of Cuban exiles. My father was a social worker for the county for over 30 years and my mother continues to run a community public radio station dedicated to jazz, WDNA 88.9 FM. She taught me how to use the MSDOS command line and by age 11 I taught myself HTML and soon had my first website hosted on Angelfire, Wilo’s Casa, where you could download Winamp and Sonique skins, progz and punters, and MIDIs. I spent a lot of time on AIM in the subsequent years.
After the wizarding school of Ransom Everglades, I went away to the University of Pennsylvania, where I studied Political Science, did research for Wharton professors, played Football and Club Soccer, and was on the way to being a commodities trader until the ’08 crisis hit and a chance meeting with a Teach For America (TFA) recruiter put me on a different path.
I went on to teach Spanish, Math, and Social Studies across 5 different grade levels in Washington, D.C. while earning a Master’s in Teaching at American University and geeking out on edtech, starting with the #edchat community on Twitter. A TFA social innovation pilot program helped me see myself as an entrepreneur, and taught me about lean startup and human-centered design at the Stanford d.School. In 2011, I was offered a Fulbright Scholarship to teach in South Korea, but declined to move back to Miami to help make it a startup city.
Together with two former classmates Danny Lafuente and Elisa Rodriguez-Vila, we launched The LAB Miami, transforming a 10,000 square foot warehouse in the Wynwood Arts District into an open-innovation campus. From there, so many companies and initiatives launched, from Florida’s first coding school to the Miami Maker Faire. After a few years of impact and hard founder lessons, I took a board seat and went on to help start The Idea Center at Miami Dade College (where I had been teaching Student Life Skills) and later StartUP FIU (where I taught a course called Skunkworks), two landmark hubs that opened up access, support, and resources for aspiring founders of color and small businesses.
In 2016, I was a National Finalist for the White House Fellowship, which was an amazing experience and process, and though I wasn’t selected, it reconfirmed my purpose and passion for policy. I took the LSAT a month later.
In 2017, I was fortunate to be granted a full public-interest scholarship to the University of Miami School of Law, which gave me the opportunity to delve deeper into the complexity of legal systems here and around the world. Along the way, I got to represent foster youth, work on fair housing impact litigation, intern for a federal judge, help startups with corporate documents, and contribute to the Cyber Civil Rights Initiative to combat non-consensual pornography.
In my second year, after applying when I saw an ad on my timeline, I landed a dream fellowship with the Public Policy team at Twitter, and joined the team full-time a year ago. I received the offers for Twitter and Lightspeed in the same week!
Me: What led you to become a Lightspeed Scout?
Wifi: Synchronicity and Twitter. I graduated (virtually) from law school in May of 2020 and was focused on interviewing for tech policy positions throughout the summer. I saw a tweet from @LolitaTaub (thanks Lolita!) on the call for applications and was fascinated by the opportunity so I applied right away. It was such an honor to be selected. I have worked with startups for nearly a decade now, have helped organize angel investors, managed accelerator programs, and always on the side of founders helping them raise, and until now didn’t have the personal financial resources to back great underestimated entrepreneurs solving complex problems. These are my first checks and that brings a great sense of responsibility and duty of care.
I am so grateful for the educational program that Lightspeed provides to train scouts on VC operations and best practices, and the mentorship that all the partners provide. Lastly, and just as important, is the community that has been formed amongst the scouts. I am learning so much from brilliant peers — a mix of founders, operators, and emerging fund managers.
Me: What’s your investment focus? Any companies / new investments you want to highlight for readers?
Wifi: It is such a special time to be investing as so many industries and verticals are transforming. I think and care a lot about how we develop cities, stabilize the climate, move around, decentralize the web, and support underestimated founders.
On the Web3 front, I am so excited about OnChain Studios, which is developing Cryptoys, an NFT gaming and entertainment platform, and QuickNode (YC W’21), which makes it easier to develop decentralized apps through scalable APIs for a growing list of protocols.
On the future of cities and climate, honored to support the development of new three-wheeled EVs like Nimbus, carbon-sequestering robot-makers Climate Robotics, land use intelligence tools like Deepblocks, off-grid abodes Jupe (YC S’21), disaster finance solutions like Dorothy, and inter-city bus networks like Kolors.
Me: What advice do you have for other aspiring VCs out there?
Wifi: There are so many emerging programs, resources, and communities today. I would start with Twitter! Jokes about #VCTwitter aside, it’s a great place to observe, listen, and engage directly with seasoned investors, emerging fund managers, and diverse founders. Twitter’s Topics function is an easy way to discover new VC content and accounts to follow. For diverse aspiring VCs, check out all the programs coming out of @BLCKVC, @HBCUvc, and @VCFamilia, which has been instrumental in helping me find a safe space to learn from peers. Finally, spend as much time as possible with founders to build empathy for the challenges they are facing day-to-day.
Me: What advice do you have for founders out there looking to raise?
Wifi: Clear focus, relentlessness, and a sense of purpose will take you quite far. Building a great team along with it will take you even further. Diligence your investors as much as they diligence you. Beyond your time, your equity is precious and can prove to be quite challenging to get back, so you want to make sure your hard work and dedication is in partnership with good folks.
Me: Lastly, where can others connect with you?
Wifi: Twitter! @therealwifi :)
