Forbes feature
Abby Spencer Hu isn’t the stereotypical fleece-vested venture capitalist. Slight and stylish with a sizable instagram following she could easily be mistaken for another well-heeled fashion influencer. Her CV and portfolio reveal a young woman with diverse interests, a formidable work ethic, and an intuitive sense of markets and investment opportunities.
Raised in China, Hu’s family was successful in business and instilled a intense drive for success and accomplishment. A free spirit, Hu balanced her parents high expectations with her own creative pursuits, extensive travel and attending university overseas. She developed and designed a fashion line, invested in real estate, practiced interior design, and as a painter is represented by Vienna’s Gallery Steiner.
All of these various projects inform her perspective and vision as a venture capitalist. In 2012 Hu founded Cardinal Capital Ventures with headquarters in Hong Kong and a global portfolio. Cardinal Capital is an HTC Portfolio Company which incubates and invests in disruptive opportunities across diverse sectors such as art & Fashion, residential, commercial, and hotel real estate and development, music and entertainment and automobile retail sales.
As CEO of CCV Hu offers fresh and forward-thinking vision and innovative direction. As a young woman a world that is often seen as a boys’ club she is open to possibilities others may not see as the opportunities they are. She acknowledges that her diverse life experiences and personal passions have helped her take risks that have generated significant profits.
Asked for advice, Hu offers this, “I try to travel and experience as much as possible. New music, new restaurants, art, fashion— all of it keeps me poised to pay attention to the changing trends that signify the direction of markets and new openings for investments. I’m a voracious reader and don’t limit myself to any one genre- from technical financial strategy to sociology for insights into human behavior I’m always looking for new angles and understanding. I see my work as a VC as a way to help support creative innovation and to use my different perspective to shape the world- I think with more diverse investors with new ideas we create the possibilities for both more innovation and more wealth creation.”