Tiffany is currently a Principal at NEA and invests in life sciences, with a focus on medtech, healthtech, and innovations that sit at the intersection of technology and medicine. She currently serves as a Board Director for Allay Therapeutics, Amber Therapeutics, FIRE1, Magenta Medical, Revelle Aesthetics, and the ExploraMed incubator, and also works with Moximed, Setpoint Medical, and Willow. She previously served on the Board of Relievant. Tiffany has had a decade-long career in healthcare investments and consulting, with prior roles at Kaiser Permanente Ventures and L.E.K. Consulting. She received a BA in Business Economic Theory from UCLA and an MBA from Harvard Business School.
How is NEA different from other venture firms?
As investors, it’s easy to criticize: Why did you miss a plan? Why is the product not working? Why have you had difficulty retaining talent? But instead of piling onto the pressure, we believe it’s more effective to dig in and help problem-solve. Whether it’s helping companies rightsize the economics, figuring out where the production gaps are, or even filling critical roles when needed – our support is active.
In your perspective, what are some traits you’ve seen in successful founders/CEOs?
Having the confidence and humility to surround themselves with people who are smarter than they are (this quality applies to investors too!).
How does curiosity play a part in your role?
Life sciences is fundamentally driven by curiosity—a curious observation that leads to testing and experimentation and pushes the bounds of what we believe to be true. There will always be more questions to answer, and those answers may lead to innovations that can dramatically impact people’s lives. There is no end to the whys in science, and thus no end to my curiosity.
Why is having conviction important when investing?
The strongest venture outcomes often come from investments that were not obvious early on; it takes conviction to believe when others do not. For example, we had a portfolio company that achieved some early compelling clinical data, but the technology was novel and the commercial path extremely risky. The company wasn’t able to secure external investment and were close to a shutdown, but NEA had belief in the underlying mechanism, team, and opportunity, so we led a significant financing and restructuring effort and spent the next year working with a lean team to run the trial. That clinical trial ended up producing stellar results, and the company now has the potential to disrupt a $10B+ industry.
Where do you get your motivation from?
After moving to America from Vietnam, my parents juggled multiple jobs to make ends meet while attending community college in the evenings to learn English and obtain US degrees. How they also found the time and energy to drive me to school every morning, make my meals, pick me up every day, and attend every possible event and extracurricular activity, I’ll never know. I still remember countless late nights where they stayed up past 2 a.m., helping to put the finishing touches on my school projects with me, only to wake up at 6 a.m. to start the grind all over. Where do I get my motivation from? That answer has never wavered.
What’s something that you geek out about?
The beacons are lit! Gondor calls for aid...
What is a quote that resonates with you?
“We see the world not as it is, but as we are.”
