In a detailed episode of "20 minutes VC," host Harry Stebbings interviews Cara Nortman, a partner at UP Ventures and a key figure in the LA venture community. Cara shares her journey from a varied academic background to a distinguished career in venture capital and operations. She reflects on her early work experience at Morgan Stanley and Battery Ventures, her influential role in corporate M&A at IAC, and her operational insights from managing companies like Urban Spoon and CitySearch. Cara also discusses the importance of board chemistry, the value of resilience and a growth mindset in founders, and the significance of diversity in venture capital. Additionally, she touches upon her latest investment in STEM, a company simplifying content revenue distribution, and offers perspectives on the evolving landscape for female VCs and entrepreneurs.
"Welcome back to the 20 minutes VC with your host Harry Stebings, and you can add me on Snapchat at htebbings, or you can hear more from me in long form on the fantastically named Mojitovc.com, where you can read all about my decision to join Atomico and the thought process and reasoning behind that move."
This quote is Harry Stebings' introduction, promoting his social media and website while setting the stage for the episode.
"Now Cara is a partner at UP Ventures, one of LA's leading venture funds, and Kara is also a co-founder of Seedling, where she currently serves as chairman."
The quote introduces Cara Nortman's current roles, establishing her as a prominent figure in the venture capital industry.
"Xero is beautiful, easy to use online accounting software for small businesses. With Xero, you can easily manage your accounting anytime, anywhere from your computer or mobile device."
This quote explains the benefits of Xero, emphasizing its convenience and user-friendly nature for small business accounting.
"Pearl Rear Vision is the only wireless backup camera and alert system that installs in minutes and updates throughout its lifetime."
This quote highlights the unique selling points of Pearl Rear Vision, focusing on its ease of installation and ongoing updates.
"Yeah, you know, I think when you look at my path, it seems a bit linear, but a lot of it was accidental while I was going through it."
Cara's quote captures the serendipitous nature of her career path, which only seemed planned when looking back.
"It gave me a really strong kind of sense of the underpinnings of business."
The quote reflects on Cara's early career experiences and how they provided her with a solid understanding of business fundamentals.
"I was just given the opportunity to do a lot of things that I probably had no business doing."
Cara's quote reveals how the challenging times post-bubble burst led to accelerated learning and responsibilities in her career.
"So I worked at IAC for seven years in corporate and then went into an operating role there."
This quote summarizes Cara's tenure at IAC and her transition from corporate roles to more hands-on operating positions.
"I went in and recruited Sean Radd into IAC and gave him his first business plan, which turned into something completely different. It wasn't Tinder. He took it and very much made it his own, but was something I got involved with the day to day of in the first year and then left to start my own company, which is called Seedling, makes experiential kids products upfront, funded that company, and eventually I moved into the chairman role and joined upfront as one of the gps here."
Cara's quote explains her initial involvement in Sean Radd's business venture and her progression from an active role in the company to founding her own business and eventually becoming a chairman and GP at Upfront.
"I think there are a lot of different profiles of great board members, and a whole lot of it depends on the chemistry that you have as a board member with the founder."
Cara emphasizes the importance of chemistry between board members and founders for a successful partnership.
"The first thing is really getting to know someone before you put them on your board. And sometimes you do have to do that in an uncomfortably quick time frame."
Cara's quote highlights the necessity of building personal relationships with potential board members to ensure a good fit.
"I think you have to make sure if you are taking on the responsibility of becoming a board member to a company, that you're always putting the business first."
Cara stresses the importance of prioritizing the company's interests over personal relationships when serving as a board member.
"I spend the most time with the companies where I feel like I can make the most impact, and then I certainly have a psychological connection to all of my companies."
Cara's quote conveys her approach to time management with her portfolio companies, focusing on impact and supporting companies through their challenges.
"ow just because we'd only invest in about two companies a year, so we don't have that many. And a lot of thought goes into kind of how many we take on in ownership because of that. But I definitely spend a lot of time with the ones that are in a state that may work out and it may not, because I do think there are little things vcs can do to be helpful, though, just not to the point at which you're getting in the weeds and actually operating. It's still very much a sort of like coach and mentor level."
The quote emphasizes the selective investment approach of VCs and their intention to provide support without becoming too involved in the day-to-day operations of their portfolio companies.
"I really like to understand that person's story. What's led them to this point? Why are they doing this? What drives them, what motivates them?"
This quote highlights the importance of a founder's background and intrinsic motivations as factors in VC investment decisions.
"I think it's a wonderful opportunity to become a female vc as a founder, to take a female vc on your board, to take any type of diversity on your board and in your company."
The quote discusses the advantages of having diversity, including female VCs, on a company's board, and the positive impact this can have on business decisions.
"Well, look, I think there's a bunch of things that are being done, and there's more that can be done. I think one thing that can be done is for all of us just to continue to allow more people to try to do good and make changes and allow them to fail and make mistakes."
The quote suggests that to further gender equality in VC, there should be an environment that allows for trial, error, and learning, particularly when it comes to increasing diversity in leadership roles.
"build kind of broad based diversity and help the people who are sitting around the table feel like they have other people they can connect with." "we should try to get more and more women on private boards." "taking a risk, bringing in female gps, giving them real authority to write checks, to make mistakes, to be supported, to have mentors who teach them the industry."
These quotes highlight the necessity of fostering diversity within the venture capital ecosystem, including the boardroom and investment decision-making roles. Cara stresses the benefits of mentorship and authority for female professionals within the industry.
"right now I'm reading Grit and I've kind of gotten back into reading Carol Dweck and mindset a bit." "Really because mindset, not for all the obvious reasons that people may mention, mindset, growth mindset, blah, blah, blah mindset."
Cara values the concepts of perseverance and the belief in personal development, which are central themes in the books she mentions. These principles are influential in her approach to life and business.
"An entrepreneur, somebody who's talking about exit in the first meeting, and not exit in terms of... More like they're talking about financial returns and outcomes in a way where it's clear that's their main motivator."
The quote indicates Cara's preference for entrepreneurs who are driven by more than just financial outcomes, suggesting that a deeper passion and vision for their business is essential.
"The biggest mentor to me was Victor Kaufman." "He took a risk on hiring me... He gave me the room to succeed. He gave me the room to fail."
Cara attributes her career progression to the mentorship and opportunities provided by Victor Kaufman, illustrating the impact a mentor can have on one's professional growth.
"I'm deeply into medium now and just reading a bunch of different folks on medium." "I read the Atlantic Daily summary every day... I jump around a lot into medium and I'm really into my feed and reading a lot of sort of behavior, professional development type things."
These quotes reflect Cara's diverse reading interests and her commitment to continuous learning, particularly in areas that contribute to her professional and personal development.
"My most recent investment is a company called STEM." "They're sort of trying to become the stripe of the content industry... has built the execution behind it to hopefully be able to go out and fundamentally disrupt an industry that's in a very dynamic state."
This quote shows Cara's investment strategy, which includes looking for companies with a clear vision, technical prowess, and the ability to make a significant impact on their industry.
"And I'd like to say a huge thank you to Mark Zeusta and Greg Betanelli at Upfront Ventures for the intro to car stay, without which the show would not have been possible."
The quote shows the importance of networking and connections in the venture capital industry, as it facilitates opportunities for dialogue and collaboration.