Jessie Juan is the co-founder of Quantium, a SaaS platform for fund and portfolio management. Before Quantium, she was Vice President at Partners Group.

👋🏼 How would you explain your job to someone outside tech?

Let's imagine you're a newly minted VC with 1-2 funds. You're able to get by with a combination of Excel, Airtable and possibly a VDR to manage your portfolio and report to your investors.

But what happens when you scale up? Tracking all your data on Google Sheets and OneDrive isn't going to prepare you for institutional investor fundraising.

The right investment management tools are essential for VCs – they not only streamline the portfolio KPI collection process, help turn overwhelming amounts of raw data into actionable insights, and ultimately enhance LP relations through presenting data in investor-friendly formats.

That's where we come in! Quantium is a next-generation SaaS platform that streamlines fund and portfolio management as well as investor servicing on one integrated platform. Our system levels up investment operations, helping GPs scale more effectively.

🧐 What's something about you or your job that would surprise us?

It's not by design — but it just so happens that more than half of our senior management team are female professionals/technologists who are truly passionate about making an impact in the alternative industry.

🏆 What has been the biggest highlight of your career so far?

Aside from founding Quantium, definitely my time at Partners Group. It gave me a bird's eye view of how the industry works; market trends, GPs' operational challenges and industry best practices.

This was particularly valuable when it came to starting up Quantium — I had years of hands-on experience to draw upon while designing our software. Working with some of the world's best fund managers was a privilege, and it gave me valuable global exposure and experience that I wouldn't trade for anything!

🔍 What's a startup trend or space you're watching this year?‍

We're seeing more and more innovations in fund structure (e.g. evergreen) beyond the traditional close-ended terms, to give managers time to compound as well as allow new investors to participate in different cycles.

💼 What advice would you give someone starting out in your industry?

When designing a product or service, innovators can't just look at today's problems – you should envision potential pain points three, five, ten years from now.

As a founder, it's also important to stay true to your values, build a meaningful product and stay aligned with your clients. There are no shortcuts — taking the easy route may skyrocket your income in the initial years of business, but it won't set you up for long-term, sustainable growth.

🗣 What's one thing you can keep talking about for hours?

The best way to design waterfall and NAV calculations!

🎥 What's your favorite movie/TV show?

Lost in Translation

🍨 What's your go-to ice cream flavor?‍

Pistachio