Serena Williams To Mentor Early-Stage VC Founders In New ‘Entrepreneur-In-Residence’ Role

Serena Williams is deepening her commitment to empowering the next generation of business leaders.

When Serena Williams launched Serena Ventures over a decade ago, she didn’t have a mentor—an experience that inspired her to now serve as one for early-stage VC founders.

The tennis legend recently joined Reckitt Catalyst as an “entrepreneur-in-residence,” mentoring U.S.-based founders through the British hygiene company’s social impact investment program. Her guidance supports Reckitt’s mission to provide health and hygiene solutions to 5 million people worldwide by 2030, aligning with her passion for helping early-stage VC founders receive the guidance she wishes she had starting out as an investor.

“In hindsight, I feel like I should have had more mentors,” Williams told Business Insider.

While she values the lessons she learned along the way, she often asks, “Why learn them when you can learn them from someone else?”

Since retiring from a stellar sports career, Williams has fully embraced the world of venture capital. As part of her new role at Reckitt, the tennis champion and mother of two continues to challenge herself, learning and growing as both an entrepreneur and investor.

“I feel like you learn something new every single day,” Williams said of joining the initiative. “I loved school, and I feel like I’m in school all day.”

With a $111 million VC fund that has backed 16 unicorns, Williams understands what it takes to attract the right investors: addressing a real need and showing genuine passion for the product.

“The founder can be amazing and smart and super likable, but if it’s not needed in the market, then it doesn’t fit,” she said.

“If they have a true connection to it, the businesses tend to do better,” Williams added, “as opposed to ‘Oh, there’s a white space, so we’re going to do it.'”

Connection is crucial for attracting investors and mentors in a startup. Williams advises founders to focus on building meaningful relationships with potential investors, rather than relying solely on the strength of their idea.

“When I think about what mentorship means and what I’ve learned, it’s really just about connections and unlocking how to get people to know about your product,” she said.