One of the founding architects of the North Texas entrepreneurial ecosystem, Boudreaux has worn many hats: CPA, CEO, entrepreneur, and investor. She co-founded a pharma manufacturing startup following a successful career as a CPA—later growing a nonprofit MedTech incubator. She’s served as executive director of TechFW and is the founder of—and now investor in—the Cowtown Angels, one of the most active angel networks in the state.
Boudreaux was recently featured in Dallas Innovates magazine along with 11 other women shaking up the future of startup investment funding in Dallas-Fort Worth. Here are her thoughts on becoming an investor—and being the only woman in the room for most of her career.
BOUDREAUX ON COMING TO TEXAS
December marked my 26-year anniversary of moving to North Texas as a female founder. There have been lots of changes since then. For one thing, there are more women than just me now.
ON BECOMING AN INVESTOR
I started Cowtown Angels in 2012. Now I’m an investor in the network. I find it’s completely different being on the other side of the table.
ON REPRESENTATION
I’m proud of what the Cowtown Angels have achieved. Of its current 30 member companies, 14 are led by women and 33 percent are by minorities. That’s a big difference from when we began. Some of that reflects my various roles in leadership. Women feel more comfortable being there when others are too. But it takes these successful female entrepreneurs staying involved in the angel network scene because it then attracts more women. Representation matters. The real key is getting more of those women who have been successful entrepreneurs to get involved in the angel network scene.
ON BEING “THE ONLY ONE”
It can be hard for women to walk into a room where they’re the only one. I’m used to it. For the majority of my career, I was the only one. It still takes all of us women jumping back in, after what we’ve achieved and accomplished, harvesting the results of all of our efforts. And now we have money to invest. But for some of us, it’s not completely natural to just jump in there and do it. We didn’t have any role models on how to do this. Female founders didn’t have female investors back then. They didn’t have those role models as to who to become later.
Interviews, as told to Jasmin Brand, are edited for brevity and clarity. A version was originally published in Dallas Innovates 2021: The Resilience Issue.
Read it online
The 12 female funders were featured in our fourth annual magazine, Dallas Innovates 2021: The Resilience Issue, highlights Dallas-Fort Worth as a hub for innovation.
Get on the list.
Dallas Innovates, every day.
Sign up to keep your eye on what’s new and next in Dallas-Fort Worth, every day.
R E A D N E X T
-
The hybrid event in August will take place in person at SMU and virtually. The seventh annual Dallas Startup Week powered by Capital One is Dallas-Fort Worth's largest event focused on driving entrepreneurial success, economic impact, and innovation in the region.
-
North Texas has plenty to see, hear, and watch. Here are our editors' picks. Plus, you'll find more selections to "save the date."
-
CreateHers. BuildHers. DisruptHers. Risk-TakHers. InventHers. InvestHers. Texas women trailblazing new paths are the subject of a new podcast that features innovators disrupting their industries, building movements, and creating positive social change.
-
The medical device startup developed the Sparrow Therapy System, a wearable neurostimulation device that provides drug-free opioid withdrawal relief. What's next? Spark also has another device in clinical trials to help the youngest victims of addiction—babies. Meet CEO Daniel Powell in our Q+A.
