Born in North Carolina and raised in California, Mercedes' parents introduced her to web development at a young age and dinner table conversations were centered around the next invention by the family. So it's no surprise that Mercedes found herself working at startups in her early career as a Product Manager and later as a General Manager. A few years ago, Mercedes bootstrapped a consulting VR business. By experiencing first-hand how much work goes into launching a business, she gained even more respect for founders. A member of Lightspeed's consumer investing team, Mercedes is primarily focused on investing in edtech/future of work, mobility/cartech, and consumer products. She has a MBA and Masters in Education from Stanford University and an AB from Harvard University.