Editor's note: Sergio Monsalve, founding partner at Roble Ventures, is one of the Silicon Valley Business Journal's Latinx Leadership Award honorees for 2022. Click here to register for our Latinx Leadership event.
Moving to the U.S. from Mexico at the age of 13 taught Sergio Monsalve an important lesson in tenacity.
Day after day, the future founder of Roble Ventures had to rise at four or five in the morning and head to the American immigration office. Day after day, the young man and his family were rejected due to the overwhelming number of people attempting to enter the United States. And after they were finally permitted to enter, Monsalve still had to ensure he always possessed the right visa or green card.
"I went there so many times, standing in line, getting shut off right as I was getting into the door ... I had to just fight and find a way to get from visa to visa to visa," Monsalve said. "All that just requires so much tenacity, so much ability, so much patience."
That tenacity has served him well in his education and career in venture capital. Monsalve earned his bachelor's degree in industrial engineering and engineering management from Stanford University. During his first year on campus, he stayed at Roble Hall. The oldest and largest first-year dormitory on campus, Roble Hall was also a university leader in progressive values. The dorm was the first to admit women, and also included living spaces for minority groups, including Latinos, who wanted to live together.
Monsalve named his venture firm after his dorm, but also after the Spanish translation of "roble," which means oak.
"Something that resembles growth and something very strong, which is the way I think about my companies," Monsalve said.
The venture capitalist credits his mother and father, Olga and Sergio Monsalve, for his success. Monsalve's mother taught him the value of education, while his father taught him the value of taking risks. Monsalve also credits his wife, who he said taught him the value of emotional intelligence.
"My wife has taught me empathy, has taught me to think about the humanist side of Silicon Valley and technology," he said about Kim Monsalve.
It was Monsalve's human side that first warmed him to Frank Carbajal, founder and president of Es Tiempo LLC and author of Latinx Business Success. When Carbajal first met with Monsalve about seven years ago, they didn't initially talk about venture capital, entrepreneurship or technology. They talked about fútbol.
Monsalve's receptiveness and authenticity make him a great leader, Carbajal said.
"When I look at leadership, I look at people that are receptive, responsive, and don't want you to kiss their butt," Carbajal said. "There's no hidden agenda. It's really about transparency, it's really about humility, and it's really about understanding that servant leadership. ... And that's how Sergio is."
Sergio Monsalve
Founding partner
Roble Ventures
Education: Bachelor's of science, industrial engineering and engineering management, Stanford University; MBA, Harvard Business School
Best advice received: Believe in yourself
First paying job: Swept floors in a factory in my native México
What was your hardest lesson learned, professionally or personally, and what did you learn from it? Racial biases and prejudices have poisoned venture capital and entrepreneurship in Silicon Valley
To what do you attribute your success? Hard work, risk-taking, and a lot of luck
