Katie Hughes

I view venture investing through the lens of the people who make the innovation happen. My first job in Silicon Valley was recruiting for start-ups and I’ve seen it play out time and time again: More than having the best technology or the most robust financial resources, it’s the people who give companies the potential to change the world.

How and when to make the right hires are two of the top concerns for the founders and CEOs I’ve worked with. Throughout my career, I have leveraged both my experience and intuition to help those leaders navigate those concerns and ultimately build and retain successful and diverse teams. It’s creative problem-solving that’s never felt like work.

Prior to going venture-side, I helped to launch an SF-based boutique search firm with a focus on building early-stage companies’ go-to-market teams and strategies. I then joined DFJ where I was able to advance the idea of human capital as a core competency within venture. I found that I could have great impact advising young, rapidly growing companies on hiring the right talent, next-generation planning, and installing key fail-safes to help guide their culture through growth. I joined General Catalyst for the opportunity to apply all that I’ve learned to the firm’s broad and growing portfolio.

My love for building teams and networks can be traced back to studying journalism while in at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill and the work I did just after graduating supporting the successful gubernatorial campaign of North Carolina’s first-ever female governor. Away from the office, I get outdoors as often as I can — running, cycling and skiing are big passions. And just as important to me is a giving circle that my close friends and I have created to explore and donate to causes that can have a direct and positive impact on our community.