Jeni Chang

With experience across eight industries and four continents, Jeni Chang describes herself as a geneticist gone rogue. “I'm a geneticist by education, with behavioral psych in tow,” she says. “I've been helping people, solving problems and creating solutions for as long as I can remember.” Jeni is Managing Director at Founder Institute, the world’s largest pre-seed startup accelerator, where she helps founders build viable businesses quickly and efficiently. You could also describe her as the Founder Whisperer.

“Founders feel that information is not relatable enough to synthesize or too specific to apply,” Jeni says. “Filling these knowledge gaps with both information and implementables is crucial for leveling playing fields — and why I love what I do.”

Jeni reviews hundreds of startups in any given month, and it’s the 92 percent failure rate that gets the Hall of Femme honoree out of bed in the morning. “I'm surrounded by so many amazing people and bear witness to the passion, time and effort they pour into their companies — the highs are bar none but the lows can be equally as soul-crushing,” she says. “Broken systems create a lot of preventable waste; 92 percent is not acceptable, and rebelliously helping founders beat those odds is what keeps me going.”

Find Jeni on Instagram.