Photo by jet.com
Photo by Forerunner Ventures

Kirsten Green

Founding Partner & Investor

Forerunner Ventures

POSITION

Founding Partner & Investor

COMPANY

Forerunner Ventures

COUNTRY

USA

Website

Forerunner Ventures

SCENE

Business

SOCIAL

LinkedIn

Twitter

What makes Kirsten Green a Global Shaker?

Kirsten Green is the founding partner of Forerunner Ventures, an early-stage venture capital firm and one of the most successful female-founded funds.

In 2017, Forerunner Ventures invested into two billion-dollar companies, Dollar Shave Club and Jet.com; these investments propelled Kirsten into the VC spotlight to become Silicon Valley’s most acclaimed retail venture capitalist that year. Birchbox, Bonobos, Glossier, Hotel Tonight, Warby Parker and Zola are also part of the firm’s portfolio.

Despite her abundant success as a venture capitalist, she’d never worked at a VC firm before starting her own.

“At a former job, I was playing by the rules and getting the right promotions,” she told Fast Company. “Suddenly, after a merger, I was out of the job. In that moment I realized I could take other people’s lead, or set my own agenda.”

She’s on the board of directors for several companies and is a founding member of All Raise, an diversity and inclusion organization that aims to boost the success of women in VC.

“Silicon Valley needs more venture capitalists like Kirsten, who not only hires women, but also seeks out women-led businesses to invest in, from Reese Witherspoon’s Draper James to Tyler Haney’s Outdoor Voices,” said Emily Weiss, founder and CEO of Glossier, in an interview with TIME magazine. “It’s not about parity for parity’s sake. It’s about well-rounded decision ­making leading to better outcomes.”

In 2017, Kirsten was listed in TIME magazine 100 Most Influential People and named VC of the Year at TechCrunch’s Crunchies awards. She was listed on Forbes’ Midas List in 2017, 2018, and 2019, as well as their 100 Most Powerful Women list. She was also listed as a Top 20 VC by the New York Times in 2017 and 2018.

Before founding Forerunner Ventures, she was an equity research analyst with Bank of America and an angel investor.
Tags: Diversity and Inclusion, Investment and Funding, VC, Women in Tech, Women in VC

Last updated: May 22, 2019