Women's Sports Investing: Where the Smart Money Is Moving Before It's Too Late | Lorine Pendleton

May 5

43 mins

Episode Description

Women's sports investing is one of the biggest opportunities in the market right now, and Lorine Pendleton has been calling it for years.

Host Syama Bunten sits down with Lorine Pendleton, founder of 125 Ventures, a venture capital fund at the intersection of sports, media, entertainment, and technology. She grew up in Harlem, earned her degree at Brown, went to law school at night while working in entertainment, and eventually negotiated the very first hip hop arena tour at a time when promoters refused to book rap artists in large venues.

Building wealth as a woman, she learned early, starts with the basics. Her father came from nothing, bought six multifamily homes, and talked about money openly at the dinner table. That foundation shaped everything that followed. Save consistently. Live below your means. Understand equity.

Her entry into angel investing for women came through a CNN segment that stopped her cold. She learned that less than 1% of venture funding reached Black founders and less than 2% reached women. She found Pipeline Angels, wrote her first check, and never looked back. The Rising America funds she co-raised went on to become some of Portfolia's best performers, with investments like Canela Media returning 50x.

What sets Lorine apart is her view of women's sports growth as a structural opportunity, not a social cause. The attendance numbers, media rights deals, and a 400% WNBA salary increase backed by a Nobel Prize-winning economist make the case plainly. Startup equity explained through her lens means understanding where value lives before everyone else catches on.

If this conversation has you thinking bigger about where to put your money and your attention, join us at the Wealth Catalyst Summit in New York on May 14. Lorine will be on stage, and this is exactly the kind of conversation that will continue there.

Episode Breakdown:

00:00 Introduction to Lorine Pendleton and 125 Ventures

03:03 Growing Up in Harlem: Early Money Lessons and Financial Foundations

11:30 Choosing Passion Over Pay: Breaking Into Entertainment Law

13:00 Negotiating the First Hip Hop Arena Tour

20:13 Understanding Startup Equity and Early Tech Exits

25:54 The CNN Moment That Sparked Her Angel Investing Journey

32:00 Why Women's Sports Is the Biggest Investment Opportunity Right Now

34:58 The Technology Infrastructure Behind Women's Sports Growth

39:03 WNBA Salaries, Valuations, and the Data That Proves the Opportunity

41:39 How to Connect with Lorine Pendleton and 125 Ventures

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