Rachel ten Brink is one of roughly 90 Latinas to have ever raised over $1M in VC funding herself, and she now uses that lived experience as a core part of her identity as an investor at Red Bike Capital, especially around being a visible example for the next generation of Latinas in tech and venture. She explicitly frames herself as a startup founder and global brand operator who became a VC after spending ~15 years building billion-dollar brands at L'Oréal, Estée Lauder, and Elizabeth Arden, then co-founding Y Combinator-backed Scentbird, rather than positioning herself as a career financier who dabbled in startups.

• A strong conviction that artificial intelligence is rapidly transforming the retail and commerce sectors. She frequently discusses the shift from AI simply saving costs to actively generating revenue through automated purchasing agents. For instance, she pointed out how generative search tools are already driving a significant portion of referral traffic to major retailers like Walmart, signaling a change in how consumers discover products.
• Advise for founders to capitalize on new marketing platforms and features immediately. She stresses that when social platforms release new tools, startups should be the first to test them to gain an advantage over slower, large brands. She highlights this as a crucial opportunity for smaller companies to get underpriced attention before the market corrects itself.
• Skepticism regarding vague tech valuations and a focus on proven business models. She notes that despite the hype around new technology, advertising remains the primary economic driver for the largest tech platforms. To illustrate this, she broke down revenue stats for major tech giants to show that ad dollars still fuel the industry, suggesting AI monetization will likely follow a similar path.
• Emphasis on practical pitch strategies and understanding startup hubs. She draws a distinction between building infrastructure in San Francisco versus applying that technology to real industries in New York. Additionally, she offers tactical advice for pitch decks, suggesting that the competition slide should define the framework of how a startup wins rather than just listing out rival companies.
• Interest in products that demonstrate clear financial returns for customers. She prefers tools that generate income over those that merely reduce expenses. She specifically noted that as the market evolves, the most successful startups will be those that can prove they actively make money for their users rather than just acting as a utility.