Jewel Burks Solomon brings a rare founder-to-VC perspective after building and selling PartPic, a computer-vision company for industrial parts, to Amazon, then moving into investing specifically to improve the fundraising experience she found difficult as an entrepreneur. At Collab Capital, she helped design an alternative capital structure that allows Black founders to retain meaningful ownership and pass companies down within families, while also running programs at Google for Startups that connect under-resourced founders to both corporate resources and mission-aligned capital.

• Championing Black innovation and equity within the tech ecosystem. She frequently highlights initiatives like the Google for Startups Black Founders Fund and celebrates the achievements of Black entrepreneurs, such as her excitement when seeing fellow Howard University alumni pitching their company on Shark Tank.
• A strong preference for startups that combine profitability with high social impact. She actively advocates for portfolio companies like Goodr that solve systemic issues such as food waste and hunger, urging corporate decision-makers to sign up because doing good is beneficial for business.
• Emphasis on practical diligence for non-technical founders. She shared a specific story applauding advice given to a founder to monitor their developer's GitHub activity, highlighting how vital it is for founders without coding skills to secure technical advisors early to ensure product progress is real.
• Deep engagement with the Atlanta technology scene and community building. She consistently posts about local gatherings like RenderATL and facilitates connections between regions, such as hosting mixers to bring the Atlanta and Austin startup ecosystems together.
• Openness regarding the challenges of balancing leadership with parenthood. She relates to other professionals by sharing the reality of how exhausting it can be to operate as a working mother, while simultaneously expressing gratitude for her career and her son.
• A focus on intellectual curiosity and forward-thinking technologies. She views her role as an investor as a continuous learning opportunity, valuing interactions with founders who are thinking several steps ahead of the current market and who serve as experts in their respective fields.