I’m excited to share that I’ve joined Canaan to focus on early stage consumer investing. I will be based out of the firm’s growing New York City office with a wide investment lens across stage (Seed to Series B) and geography (North America and Europe).
Canaan has a long history of investing in category defining consumer companies, ranging from Match.com and eBates to more recently, Instacart, TheRealReal and Turo. And while the firm’s 30+ year track record speaks for itself, it was truly about the people and culture that made Canaan a unique fit for me. Through our shared investment in Ollie, I was fortunate enough to work with Dan Ciporin and to see firsthand how driven and committed Canaan is as a team in supporting founders for the long run. Perhaps most compelling for me was the internal fabric at Canaan - a culture of open mindedness, appreciation for both debate and respect, and a highly diverse team that represents the best of risk taking where every investor today is a check writer.
As an early employee at Gilt, I’ve seen the early, magical interplay between a talented team and shifts in technology that allow for immensely powerful customer growth and adoption. I’ve also lived the challenges of scaling a business to over $750M in run rate in just a few years and the immense pressure that founders face in keeping up with consumers who truly are, “divinely discontent”. Operating through the ups and downs of a high growth company has enabled me to better support and partner with entrepreneurs through their journey.
There is an exciting new wave of consumer discovery and commerce models on the rise, which I believe will continue to reshape how we shop, learn, entertain and care for ourselves. In particular many high consideration products and services are being reinvented by technology to improve our lives and lower costs. These markets include child care, healthcare services, purpose-built products for baby boomers and new models in education and learning. The next generation of brands being created today are uniquely leveraging the connective tissue of social media but are marrying that digital relationship with a seamless offline experience.
I’m looking forward to partnering closely with founders to build those new products and services and positively impact life for consumers across the demographic spectrum. More to come soon!