Sapna
Shah

To develop true expertise in any field, you have to put in the time. With 26 years of experience in the retail and consumer spaces, Sapna has done all the work necessary to be considered a master of her craft. After graduating from the University of Pennsylvania, she got her feet wet in investment banking with Punk, Ziegel & Knoell and in credit at Morgan Stanley. After receiving her MBA from Columbia Business School, she transitioned her career to retail. Sapna worked at Gap, Inc. before moving on to executive roles at Linens ‘n Things and Ann Taylor. Following her entrepreneurial instincts, she co-founded independent equity research firm Retail Eye Partners and menswear e-commerce startup Mind the Chap.  

Now Sapna is an active angel investor, working through Red Giraffe Advisors to make pre-seed investments in retail tech, e-commerce, marketplace, and consumer startups. She is also the founder of Retail X Series, a resource ecosystem for early-stage founders featuring webinars, events, a podcast, and a Slack community. Furthering her commitment to lending a hand to the next generation of entrepreneurs, Sapna mentors and judges startup competitions at the Wharton School, NYU Stern, and Columbia Business School, as well as serving on the Board of Directors of the NY Tech Alliance.