Nancy: You've been in corporate law for your entire career. What made you interested in startup life?

Kathi: I've known you and witnessed your startup career my whole life and my brother's side hustle startup has almost overtaken his day job. Additionally, in my nearly three decades as a lawyer, I have been legal counsel to companies at all stages, from startups to multinational conglomerates. So, I feel like I've been startup adjacent for a long time. I don't see this as a big pivot. I bring to startups the same legal mind and the same degree of detailed scrutiny that I bring to my legal clients.

Nancy: Yes! I love seeing your mind at work. Your detail-oriented read of things is wonderful. I'm so grateful for your perspective because I tend to think more big picture, market trends & opportunities, etc. We make such a good team in this Ying yang way.

Kathi: I think people often believe lawyers focus on word choices and contracts--which is partially true, but a robot can do that. Good lawyers think about the execution of ideas and arrangements, imagining what could go wrong AND what could go very right, to make sure the entire scope of possibility is covered. Good lawyers need imagination. I think I'm a bit of a dreamer too, just in a different way from you.

Nancy: Such good balance. And so much fun. Dreaming together with my cousin who is also one of my best friends? Amazing. I used to think working with friends or family was a bad idea--but now I think it is a winning strategy. There is already such a strong baseline of trust, familiarity, history. I just wished you lived a couple blocks away or at least in New York City.

Kathi: Me too but I think having one of us in a different market is an advantage. Being in Virginia means I see a very different side of America from you. Especially when we look at consumer packaged goods or other consumer facing apps and other things that should reach "middle" America, it’s good to have one of us NOT living in the city that never sleeps...or drives, or goes to Costco, or rakes leaves, or trick or treats.

Nancy: Ok. Now I'm jealous. And yeah. I agree that the balanced perspectives are super helpful. One thing we agree on completely? We want to genuinely like our founders. Not just the company idea or market space but the person or team at the helm. We're fiercely loyal to those people, helping them push through hard moments, raise funds from our network, etc. So, we look for good people, not just good businesspeople.

Kathi: Some of the things can be easily defined--we like seed stage companies; we like consumer facing things. The founder characteristics we seek are harder to clarify. But we've identified three core indicators: attitude, capabilities, and skills.

Nancy: I think those things matter most to us because of what we commit to bring to the mix. We're not the investors who squeeze founders, we're huggers. We want to laugh and cry, and problem solve and edit together. We're a bit more sneakers and a walk than pumps and a coffee.

Kathi: I love coffee. But I can't remember the last time I wore pumps.

Nancy: Yeah. I'm not a coffee drinker...unless it comes out of the freezer in a pint and requires a spoon.