776 Founding Partner Katelin Holloway talks about the firm’s investment strategy and what’s to come.

Opening Bell

How 776 Is Reshaping Venture Capital

Last week, we shared some of my conversation with investor and founding partner at Alexis Ohanian venture capital firm. 776, I will former executive at Reddit as well. Caitlin Holloway, she gave us her perspective on red its a you here on the floor of the Stock exchange. And we continue that conversation with Caitlin breaking down the early stages of investing in tech companies, take a look. Well, you know, we are early stage investors um and we are very young. So the firm is really just only, we aren't even four years old yet. And so being early stage investors, uh we don't, we haven't had that opportunity to see any of our companies get to that maturity point uh just yet, but we, we have big hopes for, for those that are in our portfolio. And what are some trends uh that you are seeing shape that early stage investing landscape? Yeah, I mean, there is so much cooking out there um in the broader world of early stage and I feel like there are things that are certainly trending. Um and you know, with the venture hype cycle, things come in and trend in and out of trend all the time. But what I'm really excited about and what I'm seeing uh really come to the top of the market here for or things like climate tech uh that I am personally deeply passionate about and something that we're deeply invested in here at the firm. Um You're seeing biotech and health tech uh cybersecurity is on the rise hardware, space tech. You know, we just announced last week uh our investment in a space tech company called Inter Loanne which is Mining Resources from the moon. Um And of course, you know, I would be remiss if I didn't, of course, say IA I um I think anything related to artificial intelligence and machine learning has the attention of check writers for sure. Uh But to me, this really isn't a sector per se. It's something that we need to be very keyed into for um all of our companies in our portfolio currently and every company we're considering investing in. You know, I think A I is gonna have a massive impact on the obvious things that we talk about like health care, finance autonomous vehicles, you name it. But I think the real potential for A I and ML to drive efficiencies and new capabilities continues to not only excite investors, but I think if done correctly can really help drive those outsized returns if you apply the technology to your existing portfolio. So there is a lot of cooking out there and it's a really exciting time to be in the space. Uh, Kaitlyn, we had heard from the fed earlier this week, keeping its forecast expecting three rate cuts this year. We've seen rates rise to their highest level in several decades and certainly had an impact on the stock market. How is it impacted venture capital and with three rate cuts expected this year, does that change? 776 is own investment? The, you know, great question. Um We definitely have a keen eye on what's, what's happening there in the broader, broader macro economy. I think that there is a lot that folks are anxious about and looking forward to, you know, it's a big election year. Um There are geopolitical considerations but I think by and large as it relates to 776, you know, we are generalists, we are completely sector and thesis agnostic. Um And I think that that has served us well. Um you know, Alexis, my, my partner here at the firm, uh the founder of Reddit and 776. he was very, very wise to, to learn how to see beyond corners that, that people didn't even know existed. And I think that the key for us in being generalists is that um you know, we fancy ourselves being very good at finding the very best founders out there. And if we were to limit our ability to make an investment based on a, a strict or narrow thesis, we would very likely be missing out on some pretty incredible opportunities. Um You know, Alexis, for example, was the first check in at companies like Coinbase and Cruise Automation. And you can't be the first check in to a crypto company when there isn't a crypto yet. Likewise, you can't be the first check in to an A I company before there's an A I thesis. So being generous for us, you know, is, is really important. Um And it's not for everyone, but I do think that how that's going to impact um how we approach investing is not going to change anything. Uh But we are most certainly keeping a very, very keen eye on what's what's occurring globally um in the economy um to make sure that we are landing not only the best founders, but the best founders building the best products at the right time. Are there certain unique trends that you're looking for in founders right now in this environment? Oh, so here's an interesting fun fact about our firm, uh about 75% of our partnership actually has a background in people, meaning, you know, we've had over a decade of experience as hr executives um or backgrounds in behavioral science and coaching, which is very, very unique for venture capital. Um I think that really sets us apart and it impacts how we actually choose the company and the founders that we ultimately invest in. And so you know between the technology that we have built. Um Alexi Alexis created a software operating system for us called Cerebro. Um that really allows us to scale our work in a very different way. And something that we have been focused on from day zero of building the firm here is really using technology to enable us to do the best work we can do. And we view that as the CRE of strategic and human work. Um and so, using that technology to do that work, we are able to then better identify and define and engage with ultimately um our founder set. And so there are so many things that we look for um and what we deem to be uh you know, great qualities or characteristics of strong founders. Um One of them is um your ability to be agile, flexible. And I think that that's really important, especially when you look at the, the market and where we potentially may be going over the next few years in that critical 0 to 1 build phase. And so, you know, how coachable are you, are you able to take and incorporate feedback? Do you have high conviction in what you're building? Do you know how to build a team? Um There are many, many things that kind of go into what makes that great founder archetype. Uh Those are just a few examples