THE GIRL WITH THE BLACK LEATHER PANTS

by John Jonelis

This is a winner. You wanna wow the judges? Win the crowd? Get your game face on, kiddo! Hit ’em with real passion, overflowing personality and a canon shot of enthusiasm. State what you want to do with bravado. With humor. With intelligence. With dazzle and power. While you’re at it, throw in a pair of fitted black leather pants so they’ll sit up and bark. It never hurts to be feminine and smart. By the way, she’s an award-winning mathematician from MIT. Really!

This is Joy Tang and she’s pitching InstanTag – The Social Fashion Network at the Funding Feeding Frenzy in Chicago—a private equity arena with no speed limit in an industry dominated by sweaty men. Men pack the judging panel. Men pack the audience. That doesn’t stop her.

At FFF

Tang moves forward with authority, hitting every detail and point required of a superb private equity pitch. She plucks an orchestra of human emotions and plays each to her favor. Curiosity, Compassion. Avarice. Anxiety. Hope—lots of Hope..

She isn’t tall, isn’t boardroom, and speaks in somewhat broken English. You think that slows her down? Guess again buddy! Tang is stunning, smart, and rivets your attention. We know nothing about her but make no mistake—she steals the show. Everyone falls in love with her sizzling energy and she backs it up with a complete business story for as nice a package as I’ve seen in a long while. She’s not asking for your money, Mr. Investor. No—she’s demonstrating an opportunity, and she’s ready to sail.

So I’m thinking, Another social media play? But this is different—it’s all about fashion—and she’s holding the judges between two dainty fingers. You think, just maybe she might pull this off? Yup. I’m betting Tang will turn a successful business no matter how many times she pivots in this or that ballroom.

Between pitches, the leadership of three angel groups ask me what companies I like. I like Nano Gas Technologies. I like Team Interval. I like Geek Bar. But most of all, I like InstanTag’s Joy Tang. Turns out, she’s already at the top of those three lists.

At BNC

Two weeks later at Business Network Chicago, it’s a reunion of FFF speakers. And in a roomful of sweaty men, there’s Tang in her black leather pants, asking the tough business questions—pinning down the speaker and making him squirm—but with such consideration and aplomb! As the lyrics to the song go, “Don’t change baby, please don’t change.”

And Mr. Investor—catch this boat before it sails. This is the time to bet on the captain, not the ship.

Contact

InstanTag – The Social Fashion Network

Joy Tang, CEO & Co-Founder jtang@instantag.com

Nano Gas Technologies

Team Interval

Geek Bar

Funding Feeding Frenzy

Business Network Chicago

Lyrics from the song Bella Donna as performed by Grace Slick

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