Taking the Leap: From CPO to Venture Capital at FirstMark
I am thrilled to share that I am joining FirstMark as a Managing Director. This is a significant change, an exciting leap — a move from being an operator of teams to an investor. When I tell people about my new role, the first question I get is “why VC, you love Product?”.
Throughout my life, I have always been inspired by how I can have a positive impact on people’s lives; how I can build things that solve meaningful problems. The heart of product is knowing your consumer and solving for the problems in their lives. Some problems are obvious (“I must lose weight”), others are subtle (“I didn’t know my workflow wasted 20% of my time”) and others are rooted in your psychology (“I want to connect with others”). All of these represent opportunities for new products — a chance to experience the world in an improved way. This is also the foundation of venture. Predicting and observing consumer, business, and technology trends and identifying products that will solve meaningful problems in new ways.
I found the perfect home in FirstMark, a firm that stands out from the crowd on a number of levels:
- Entrepreneur Obsessed: In the product world, above all else, I believe in being ‘customer obsessed’ (one of Amazon’s core values) and FirstMark is uniquely ‘entrepreneur obsessed’. They think about every detail of the entrepreneur experience and the result is a firm that has built incredible loyalty and success amongst its entrepreneurs. They have created raving fans amongst the entrepreneurs who count them as a partner; 100% of their founders come back to them.
- Track record of success: FirstMark was one of the earliest venture firms based in NYC, and is now the largest early stage firm in a city with $1.5Bn AUM. They invested in unbelievable companies such as Pinterest, RiotGames, Shopify, and InVision. Not only that, but they invested early — at a point when the opportunity was not obvious and as a result of this foresight, their first fund is one of the top in the last two decades.
- Unique: In a world awash with capital, FirstMark is one of the few firms that have focused on an infrastructure to truly differentiate. From running some of the largest external communities in the country around Big Data, Design, among others, to actually building and leveraging software to drive customers and talent to their companies, FirstMark has built a unique offering that is difficult to replicate.
- Room to grow: Both East Coast VC and FirstMark have tremendous upside. According to CB Insights, NYC VC investments have grown 11x since FirstMark started in 2008 and I believe the surrounding East Coast markets are primed for even greater acceleration. FirstMark is in the perfect position to take advantage of this next wave of hyper growth.
- People, People, People: Above all else, I found a team who debunks the stigmas that surround venture capital. A team that plays like a team — trusts one another, pushes one another, and embraces radical candor. Amish, Rick, and Matt are brilliant but humble, hard working but fun. And though they have achieved much already, they are hungry for continuing to grow and improve. I believe that a great team is the most critical indicator of future success. You will hit road bumps (or even massive sinkholes), but the team who trusts one another, embraces conflict, aligns and commits together, and focuses on the right goals as a group will win. This is true for our portfolio companies and for us.
- Right Place, Right Time: I think we are entering one of the most exciting decades for technology. While we have seen dramatic transformations over the last ten years, I believe the best is yet to come (more on this in a future post).
Tying this all together, I am partnering with entrepreneurs to build game-changing businesses and helping to build an innovative VC firm at the heart of the NYC ecosystem. What could be better?!
Most of all, I want to thank the FirstMark team for putting their trust in me. As a CPO, I was constantly making investments — investments for where the resources, capital and focus of our company would be spent — but there is a lot to learn in the world of VC and I am excited to jump in!
Initially, my focus will be on areas that I have a deep passion for and expertise in: consumer AI, health and wellness, and behavior change. I’ll be sharing my experiences as a product person turned VC, so tune in and we’ll go on this journey together.
To be continued…
Catherine
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Connect with me on Twitter @kit_ulrich & if in NYC, come to our next DesignDriven event
