Laurie Yoler

Business adviser, Business leader, Business mentor, Change Agent, Connector, Engineer, Entrepreneur, Foodie, Idea generator, Investor, Marketer, Parent, Technologist

Laurie has served on the boards of many public, private and non-profit organizations. Most notably, she served as a Founding Board Member of Tesla, serving on the board of directors from the earliest days and then on the advisory board through taking the company public. She also served on the board of Interactive Investor International in London, through taking the company public, and until its acquisition by AMP Bank. She currently serves on the board of directors of Bose, Church & Dwight, Leaf Logistics, Saltbox, Lacuna, and the Computer History Museum, and on the advisory boards of Accenture, Platform Science, TTI/Vanguard, and AI4All. She is also a General Partner at deep-tech venture firm Playground Global and an active angel investor with Broadway Angels and HealthTech Capital. Laurie started her career building AI systems using Lisp, and has since been an integral part of the development and launch of many new innovations and products, both from within large companies like Visa, Sun Microsystems, Qualcomm and Accenture, and as one of a small group of founders/investors of a new entrepreneurial venture with a radical idea like Tesla Motors, Zoox, DNA Direct, and Packet Design. Previously, Laurie was President of Qualcomm Labs and SVP of Business Development for Qualcomm, driving new internal innovation, and exploring and closing new strategic partnerships and joint ventures. She was also a founding managing director at GrowthPoint Technology Partners, an investment bank completing M&A transactions and raising capital for technology entrepreneurs. Laurie guest lectures on a variety of topics at the Business, Law, and Engineering schools at Stanford University.

Helping entrepreneurs, engineers and scientists to make a difference in the world. Creating and supporting more diverse boardrooms, investors and founders.

There has never been a better time for organizations to make a compelling impact by bringing diverse minds into the boardroom.

Board Governance for public and private companies and venture capital firms, Building new technology companies, Global business development, sales and marketing leadership, Intellectual Property Strategy, M&A, New Market and Product Development, Scaling disruptive technologies, Venture Capital investing and fundraising

TED is where I found my tribe. I am a lifelong learner, and love diving into the scientific advances and opportunities in many new disciplines. I am thankful to David Hornik for insisting that I give TED a try in 2004.

blowing glass bowls