Shripriya Mahesh's path to venture investing wasn't typical—she spent years at eBay, then left tech to earn an MFA in filmmaking at NYU Tisch, where she directed James Franco and Jessica Chastain in a film, before returning to tech and eventually investing. That same creative and operating background carries into her work today: she sits on Sundance's Board of Trustees, chairs eBay's Technology Committee, and writes a blog called Adventuring where she describes herself as both an investor and a filmmaker.