The importance of being earnest

"YOU must be earnest," quips the young venture capitalist (VC) at Alsop Louie Partners in Silicon Valley, in response to the question, what makes her tick. "My name is Ernestine," she adds after a brief pause.

When Ernestine Fu joined the San Francisco-based VC firm in March 2011, she was only 20 years old, making her the youngest VC in Silicon Valley. Within two months, she was leading her first investment, and in August of that year, the then Stanford undergraduate made it to the cover of Forbes magazine.

Those are some admirable strides considering that when Ms Fu first joined Alsop Louie, she marched into its weekly meeting …