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Serena Williams (yes, THAT<\/a> Serena Williams) has joined the board of consumer survey startup SurveyMonkey, along with Intuit CEO Brad Smith.<\/p>\n This is the tennis superstar\u2019s first venture into Silicon Valley and, according to a SurveyMonkey spokesperson, came about at the suggestion of fellow board member and Facebook\u2019s chief operating officer Sheryl Sandberg.<\/p>\n Sandberg joined the board last summer after suffering the loss of her husband Dave Goldberg, who had been the company\u2019s CEO before he unexpectedly passed away.<\/p>\n It\u2019s easy to make the connection to the Valley through William\u2019s fianc\u00e9 and Reddit co-founder Alexis Ohanian. However, Sandberg and her husband had been longtime friends of Williams and SurveyMonkey was\u00a0looking to change things up on the\u00a0board.<\/p>\n Williams\u2019 \u201cvoice on the board sends a strong message to our company, investors, and the industry,\u201d said SurveyMonkey\u2019s\u00a0current CEO Zander Lurie. \u201cWe want change agents at our table.\u201d<\/p>\n According to Fortune<\/a>, Lurie and Williams started talking about the possibility of working together after meeting up at a dinner party at Sandberg\u2019s house last fall.\u00a0\u201cEverything just came together easily,\u201d Williams\u00a0told the magazine.<\/p>\n Aside from being one of the top tennis players in the world and the highest paid female athlete, banking $77.6 million in her career from prize money so far,\u00a0Williams has also launched several businesses\u00a0around her extraordinary tennis achievements. She once had a special line with Puma and inked endorsement deals with Nike and J.P. Morgan Chase. She also has her own apparel line called Aneres (her name spelled backwards) and launched her own collection of handbags and jewelry on the Home Shopping Network (HSN).<\/p>\n Williams sees an opportunity to put those achievements to good use in the tech world, as well.\u00a0\u201cAs a business professional, I\u2019m constantly asking questions. I want to hear the positive and the negative to figure out where I can improve,\u201d she told TechCrunch in a statement. \u201cLike SurveyMonkey, I\u2019m driven to ask what\u2019s happening, and why. We also share a fierce commitment to letting all voices be heard.\u201d<\/p>\n SurveyMonkey, which competes with online survey startup Qualtrics, gathers customer feedback from online surveys and, according to Fortune, the majority\u00a0of Fortune 500 companies use the service to gain insights. But survey data depends on the types of questions asked and knowing what to ask. That unique insight can be hard to get in a room full of the same types of people.<\/p>\n Note also, Silicon Valley doesn\u2019t have a great track record with women or\u00a0diversity so far. Williams is a great get for the company\u2019s board as she is able to add that fresh (and needed) voice, along with her outstanding career track record to help shape SurveyMonkey\u2019s future.<\/p>\n Additional reporting by Ingrid Lunden.<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"![\"\"](\"https:\/\/tctechcrunch2011.files.wordpress.com\/2017\/05\/gettyimages-633139716.jpg?w=680\")
Serena Williams (yes, THAT Serena Williams) has joined the board of consumer survey startup SurveyMonkey, along with Intuit CEO Brad Smith. This is the tennis superstar’s first venture into Silicon Valley and, according to a SurveyMonkey spokesperson, came about at the suggestion of fellow board member and Facebook’s chief operating officer Sheryl Sandberg. Read More<\/a><\/p>\n\n<\/img><\/a>
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