Skip to content
The Twenty Minute VCThe Twenty Minute VC

Kirsten Green: The Biggest Challenges Scaling Both Teams and AUM | 20VC #912

Kirsten Green is the Founder and Managing Partner @ Forerunner Ventures, one of the leading firms of the last decade investing at the intersection of innovation and culture. As a founder, Kirsten has led efforts to raise over $2B+ from leading institutional investors and invest in more than 100 companies. She currently serves as a board member at Glossier, Ritual, Faire, Hims & Hers, and Curated, to name a few. She has also invested in other smash hits including Chime, Jet, Warby Parker, Hotel Tonight and many more. Due to her immense success, Kirsten has been honored in Time’s 100 Most Influential People and named a Top 20 Venture Capitalists by The New York Times in 2018 & 2017. Prior to Forerunner, Kirsten was an equity research analyst and investor at Bank of America Securities. ------------------------------------------------------ Timestamps: 0:00 Kirsten's background 2:37 How does creativity give you an edge in investing? 4:19 What parts of your history are you rebelling from? 7:49 How do you try to make the most of every moment? 10:05 Why do you have a chip on your shoulder? 13:49 What do you tell yourself when you're questioning yourself? 16:36 What is "high performance" to you? 18:30 How to retain quality while scaling AUM? 21:08 Why did you decide start investing in enterprise businesses? 27:15 When scaling, what gets easier and what gets harder? 29:16 How would you describe your leadership style? 31:28 How to give negative feedback 32:48 Do you ever lose your temper? 34:06 Do relationships detract from ability to work hard? 38:00 How did becoming a parent change how you think about investing? 40:49 Kirsten's biggest strength/weakness 42:00 Most painful lesson Kirsten learned (but doesn't regret) 43:37 So you're stranded on a desert island.. 44:27 What three traits would you most like your children to adopt? 44:42 What do you know that you wish you'd known when you started Forerunner? 45:37 What would a man in VC take for granted that you've had to adapt to in starting Forerunner? 47:10 Where will you be in five years? ------------------------------------------------------ In Today’s Episode with Kirsten Green We Discuss: 1.) Entry in Venture at 40 and Founding Forerunner: How did Kirsten make her way into VC at 40 with the founding of Forerunner having never had a role in VC before? What did everyone tell Kirsten when she was looking to break into venture? What did she tell herself when she heard this? What does Kirsten believe she is running from? What does she believe she is running toward? 2.) Fund Management and Leadership: How does Kirsten define high-performance today? What are the nuances of high performance in fund management? How would Kirsten describe her leadership style today? How has it changed over time? What have been some of Kirsten’s biggest lessons in terms of what it takes to retain quality with scaling AUM and teams? What have been Kirsten’s biggest lessons when it comes to giving hard feedback with kindness? 3.) The Venture Landscape Today and Forerunner’s Position: Why does Kirsten believe the venture landscape is more dynamic today than ever? Does Kirsten agree with the statement that venture is less collaborative than ever? Why did Kirsten and Forerunner seem to amend strategy and move into B2B? Why does Kirsten disagree with the delineation between B2C and B2B? 4.) Parenting, Relationships and Life: What have been Kirsten’s biggest lessons since becoming a parent? How has it impacted her mindset? Does Kirsten agree that relationships attract from sheer input on work? How does Kirsten separate relationships into two kinds of relationships? What does success in marriage mean for Kirsten? How has she seen that in her own marriage? ------------------------------------------------------ #KirstenGreen #ForerunnerVentures #20VC #harrystebbings #venturecapital #business #parenting #leadership #founders #venturecapitalist

Harry StebbingshostKirsten Greenguest
Jul 31, 202248mWatch on YouTube ↗

At a glance

WHAT IT’S REALLY ABOUT

Kirsten Green on scaling Forerunner, staying authentic, and beating doubt

  1. Kirsten Green, founder of Forerunner, discusses her journey into venture capital, driven by a desire for independence, curiosity, and a near-death experience that sharpened her urgency to live fully.
  2. She explains how Forerunner evolved from a perceived “consumer-only” firm into a broader, consumer‑anchored investor backing both B2C and B2B, and the challenges of scaling team, culture, and AUM while preserving quality.
  3. Green shares her views on high performance, leadership, feedback, and competition, emphasizing authenticity, deep preparation, and team empowerment over status signaling or pedigree.
  4. She also reflects on parenting, relationships, and regret, arguing that healthy relationships can be powerful enablers of ambitious careers and that being present and deliberate with time is key.

IDEAS WORTH REMEMBERING

5 ideas

Use curiosity and creativity as structured investing tools, not just personality traits.

Green ties her creativity to deep curiosity, which she channels into asking better questions, probing founder motivations, and continuously learning rather than defaulting to static ‘answers’ or frameworks.

Authenticity is a competitive advantage in high-performance environments.

She notes that whenever she tries to act like ‘the person who gets respect in the room,’ she performs worse; her best work comes from being honest about what she knows, what she doesn’t, and leaning into her natural style.

Quality and results must be defined contextually and revisited as you scale.

For Green, high performance means critical, thorough thinking and clear outcomes—but the metrics change by domain (e.g., fund performance vs. boardroom effectiveness), so leaders must constantly clarify what ‘excellent’ looks like in each arena.

Scaling a firm requires obsessing over org design and culture, not just deal flow.

As Forerunner’s team grew, the hardest part became creating room for ambitious individuals to shine while preserving a collaborative culture—demanding deliberate hiring, role design, and process, essentially a “second job” alongside investing.

A “consumer North Star” can power both consumer and enterprise investing.

Forerunner starts from shifts in consumer behavior and then maps where value will accrue—sometimes in brands, sometimes in enabling B2B tools—showing that a tightly held lens can still support a broad mandate.

WORDS WORTH SAVING

5 quotes

My strength comes from my authenticity, even if it exposes that I don’t have the answer.

— Kirsten Green

This business is as much about people and relationships as anything, and I find that to be something worth spending time on.

— Kirsten Green

We think about what’s going on with people, how their lives are changing, and then ask: how is that evolution likely to impact business?

— Kirsten Green

In so many ways Forerunner is my own entrepreneurial journey.

— Kirsten Green

There are positive, constructive relationships that not only add, but enable or even make possible things that you want to do.

— Kirsten Green

Kirsten Green’s unconventional path into venture and founding ForerunnerCuriosity, creativity, and authenticity as core investing advantagesChip on the shoulder, insecurity, and competing with grace in VCDefining and maintaining high performance and quality while scaling a firmEvolving Forerunner’s strategy: consumer as North Star across B2C and B2BLeadership style, team building, and giving hard feedback effectivelyParenting, relationships, regret, and how personal life shapes professional choices

High quality AI-generated summary created from speaker-labeled transcript.

Get more out of YouTube videos.

High quality summaries for YouTube videos. Accurate transcripts to search & find moments. Powered by ChatGPT & Claude AI.

Add to Chrome