What’s Next
At Vitalize, we believe that hard work, accountability, and continual improvement lead to high caliber output. We believe this to be true not only for our portfolio company founders but also for ourselves.
Four years ago when I made a career transition from corporate finance into venture capital, it was a distant dream of mine to one day become a Partner at a VC fund. After some time and a lot of hard work, I’m excited to announce my recent promotion to Partner at Vitalize Venture Capital.
As I reflect on the last few years, I want to share a few learnings —
How I Got Here
I attribute my career to this point to a combination of luck and hard work. I’m lucky because I stumbled upon incredible mentors, and those are hard to find. When I started my career at GE, I had the great fortune of meeting several mentors who played a major role in the early part of my career and are still a part of my life today.
Three years ago, after leaving GE Ventures, I moved from San Francisco to Chicago to join Vitalize under Vitalize Founder & Managing Director Gale Wilkinson. From the start, I admired her knowledge, strength, and leadership. After founding a number of startups while getting her MBA, she then founded one of the top angel groups in the country and she also raised a venture fund; all of this she did solo. Gale taught me everything I know about venture capital. A year later, she trusted me to move back to San Francisco to build out the firm’s Bay Area presence. She has always seen me for the value that I’m able to add but also for what I have yet to learn. She’s a true mentor.
The other piece of the equation is hard work. It’s taken a lot of grit and hustle to get to this point, and it’s going to take even more to get to the next. I encourage anyone who is trying to “make it” in their career to keep your head down, trust your gut, and put in the work. Hard work will be rewarded and the right opportunities will present themselves as a result of the hard work.
What I’m Excited About
At Vitalize, we invest in seed-stage companies in future of work and future of learning. My background and experience are in these spaces, and I’m excited to back the best founders with huge visions for what these will become 10+ years from now.
My current thoughts —
When it comes to future of work, the COVID-19 pandemic has accelerated the digital workplace and I believe that going forward, the workplace will function as a hybrid of in-person and remote work. As a result, digital onboarding and training tools will become increasingly important as will data on employee performance.
Similarly, in future of learning, the pandemic led to the emergence of hybrid learning models and it accelerated the deployment of technology in classrooms. As a result, strong digital infrastructure and strong security will be required to protect the online learning ecosystem. I anticipate seeing a number of cybersecurity startups emerge specific to this space.
There is nothing more rewarding than watching these visions come to life and helping entrepreneurs solve massive problems. I’m incredibly grateful for the opportunities that have brought me here, and I look forward to the next phase of my career at Vitalize!
