VC Corner Q&A: Katie Palencsar of Anthemis

Katie Palencsar is an investor at Anthemis, a fintech-focused venture capital firm. Based in New York, she leads the Female Innovators Lab in partnership with Barclays and develop new, digital-era concepts and ventures with a focus on women entrepreneurs.

Previously, Kate served as an advisor and interim executive for an early stage sports marketing & technology company, where she supported retired professional athletes on their investment opportunities, new business build-outs, and corporate brand partnerships. She was also the founder and CEO of Unbound Concepts, a tech company focused on metadata, search and sell-thru for publishers in the school and library market. Unbound Concepts was then acquired by Certica Solutions.

Her passion lies in bringing new businesses and products to market, as well as increasing access to capital and support for female founders; recently, she advised on state legislation for investment in female and minority-owned businesses that was successfully passed in 2019.

— What is Anthemis’ mission?

I oversee the Female Innovators Lab, a New York City-based venture studio dedicated to cultivating entrepreneurial talent in women from all sides of the financial services ecosystem. The Lab’s mission is to identify female founders at the idea stage of their journey and match them with the resources and mentorship required to develop a company and bring it to its first round of fundraising. The combination of Anthemis’ track record as early stage fintech investors and venture builders, coupled with the power and global footprint of Barclays, makes this an exceptional opportunity for prospective founders to progress their business ideas.

— What’s one thing you’re excited about right now?

The opportunity for typically underrepresented founders. With investors traveling less and Zooming into meetings with founders, it will become less and less important for startups to be physically located in Silicon Valley. This could potentially open up the tight knit ecosystem of Silicon Valley enough to see more capital going to more diverse founders. Anthemis has always been a Valley outsider and a distributed team since our founding — this is reflected in our portfolio, with 19% of the companies having female founders — but for many VCs this mindset shift will be an adjustment.

— Who is one founder we should watch?

A couple of notable founders for me are Eli Polanco, Rhian Horgan and Jess Gartner. These women married gaps in the marketplace with very personal stories connected to why they’re building their businesses and using that as a guide for their entrepreneurial journey. If we’ve learned anything from this year, one thing is certain, truly resilient and nimble businesses are born out of necessity and as entrepreneurs I have followed these women’s journeys and continue to be impressed by how they navigate the tech and investment landscape.

— What are the 3 top qualities of every great leader?

• The ability to listen.
• The ability to to motivate & inspire.
• The bravery and commitment to push the boundaries and not accept the status quo.

— What’s one question you ask yourself before investing in a company?

I am often focused on the who, what, where and how of the customer. We also often ask founders about their diversity plans and have passed on investing in companies if they don’t have an adequate answer. Building a diverse organization must be a priority from day one, founders cannot “tackle diversity” later.

— What’s one thing every founder should ask themselves before walking into a meeting with a potential investor?

“Why do I want to raise venture capital?” There are amazing businesses that are not venture backed where founders have made larger returns on smaller exit sizes — even compared to investment backed founders with larger exit sizes. The media often glamorizes venture capital and all that goes along with it, as the only way to build a business.

If your business is in fact a massive market size and requires capital to scale and fast, then the second and related question is — “if I had all the money in the world, would I still be relentless in solving this problem in the industry?”

— What do you think should be in a CEO’s top 3 company priorities?

(1) Company culture which leads to (2) employee motivation which leads to (3) capturing committed customers.

If the majority of your employees are not happy, I can guarantee you that the majority of your customers are not happy.

If you have motivated employees you will build kick ass products that drive kick ass sales and that will drive kick ass opportunities for your employees personally and professionally, and the cycle repeats itself.

— What’s your favorite thing to do when you’re not working?

I actually like to read books that aren’t actual “business books” with learnings you wouldn’t expect that can be applied to business.

Bird by Bird: Some Instructions on Writing and Life by Anne Lammott, has guided so much of my thinking and work. This passage has been my mental mantra through all types of challenges, big and small:

“Thirty years ago my older brother, who was ten years old at the time, was trying to get a report on birds written that he’d had three months to write. It was due the next day. We were out at our family cabin in Bolinas, and he was at the kitchen table close to tears, surrounded by binder paper and pencils and unopened books on birds, immobilized by the hugeness of the task ahead. Then my father sat down beside him, put his arm around my brother’s shoulder, and said, ‘Bird by bird, buddy. Just take it bird by bird.’”

— Who is one leader you admire?

It’s a popular one but I would say Barack Obama. His rise to the presidency from humble beginnings was the first time in my life that truly made me feel that there were opportunities despite where you came from, that our contributions to society matter and these contributions make up a collective. And that’s how real change happens.

I’m also fascinated by Gary V, I love his in your face business real talk, but I am also simultaneously fascinated by how a female would be perceived if she was delivering the same message.

— What’s one interesting thing most people won’t know about you?

My guilty pleasures include investigative journalism, an icy Mexican Coca-Cola and anything by Madonna.

— What’s one piece of advice you’d give every founder?

You will definitely, definitely, definitely go through tough times in the business — look no further than the current landscape we are in due to COVID. Make sure you’re 100% committed to solving the problem your company is tackling and surround yourself with people that you genuinely want to be around day in and day out; this commitment and community will get you through the dark days.

— Anything else you’d like to tell us?

The COVID crisis has put a spotlight on industries where women are at the forefront — Healthcare (where 80 percent of health professionals in the US are women) Education — areas like online and distance learning, etc.

At Anthemis, we see financial services as embedded, augmented and ubiquitous. Rather than finance being discrete, we believe it is becoming an intimate part of the products and services that drive our economies. This means the type of founder we are looking for can come from these adjacent areas like education, healthcare, mobility and others. I am hopeful we will see an uptick in investment/innovation in women-lead companies in those industries as well as others.

Ready to make a pitch? Startups looking for an opportunity to pitch Anthemis can apply here!