There is SO much more to VC than writing checks❗
In episode 013 of “New to Venture”, I sat down with Katie Mulligan, the Director of Platform at Pillar VC, to go behind-the-scenes of one of the top early stage firms! Platform is the backbone of most VC firms, so I’m excited to give you all an inside look. In this episode, we also share fun stories like my experience interviewing for an internship with Pillar VC and Katie’s time as a TV show host. If you don’t want to be an investor, but still want to work in VC, give this episode a listen!
Here are some key takeaways from our conversation:
- Platform is a job that requires you to be the ultimate swiss army knife. You need a strong understanding of venture capital, marketing, operations, event planning and general business strategy.
- To be successful in a platform role, learn to comfortably jump from one project to another without losing much speed.
- Brand and reputation is all about how people experience working with your company and your team. Building brand is about taking care of the founders you work with, not shouting your company values from the rooftops!
Timestamps:
(00:00) - Introductions!
(01:45) - Katie’s time as a kids TV show personality
(07:47) - Katie’s career path to venture
(13:30) - Evaluating companies in the early stage vs. late stage
(19:56) - What is platform?
(23:33) - How the job changes over time
(25:55) - Good practices for building platform
(31:18) - The most fulfilling parts and the hardest parts of Katie’s job
(37:46) - Katie’s favorite Pillar event
(41:37) - Building reputation and brand
(46:17) - Ceremonial Final Qs
