Background

Kirsten Green was born and raised outside of San Francisco, California, on 1971 or in 1972.

Education

Kirsten attended the University of California Los Angeles. Kirsten graduated from UCLA with a B.A. in Business Economics, and has earned a CPA license and a CFA certification.

Career

Kirsten was an equity research analyst and investor at Banc of America Securities, formerly Montgomery Securities, covering publicly-traded retail and consumer stocks.

Combining a unique and unconventional blend of professional history and acquired investment experience, Kirsten launched San Francisco-based Forerunner Ventures in 2010, where she serves as Founder and Managing Director. Noticing that emerging purchasing processes were linear and ripe for improvement, Kirsten developed a pacesetter mentality and analytical eye to remain ahead of experience-driven retail trends and identify compelling brand platforms and visionary entrepreneurs.

Kirsten currently serves as a member of the Board of Directors at Glossier, Outdoor Voices, Ritual, Inturn, and Indigo Fair, among other Forerunner portfolio companies. She also served on the board of Dollar Shave Club and Bonobos, two Forerunner portfolio companies with notable sale transactions.

Achievements

• 

  Kirsten Green went down in history as the founder of San Francisco-based VC firm Forerunner Ventures. In an unpredictable consumer landscape, Kirsten’s 20+ years of evaluation and investment success stems from a combination of product savvy, retail acumen and a thesis-driven approach that has been the basis of all her investments — from pre-revenue startups to multi-billion-dollar enterprises- to date. As a founder, Kirsten has lead efforts to raise over $300M from leading investors and has invested in more than 50 companies.
  
  Kirsten has been honored in Time’s 100 Most Influential People, named a Top 20 Venture Capitalists by The New York Times in 2018 & 2017, is part of Forbes 2018 & 2017 Midas List, in addition to being named in the magazine’s World’s 100 Most Powerful Women. She has been named VC of the Year at TechCrunch’s 2017 Crunchies Awards and listed on Vanity Fair’s New Establishment list.
  
  

Views

Kirsten is a founding member of the female mentorship collective, All Raise, and champions women in the tech industry, recently giving a SXSW Keynote speech on diversity in a male-dominated industry.

Quotations: "I optimize for brands and people I enjoy spending time with - we've invested in Warby Parker, Glossier, Outdoor Voices, Bonobos - because if you're having a good time, you're inherently going to be better at what you're doing. Even the bad times are tolerable when you're working alongside people you respect and like."

"Retail is undergoing a massive change, and there is a chance for new leaders to emerge and older brands to reinvent themselves."

"People need role models, and they need to feel that there's this opportunity to learn. They need to have people that will stick up for them. I want to be a part of that."

"We never invest in a male; we never invest in a female. We just invest in the right entrepreneur."

"To be a good investor, you have to think differently from others."

"We need to have more women founders stepping up to kind of own their own story and ask for what they want and tell success stories and start really building confidence that these stories are out there."

"Last-mile efficiencies is a big trend. It's something that consumers have demonstrated that they want and existing businesses are trying to figure out and new businesses are rising up to.

Personality

Physical Characteristics: She has a beautiful smile.

Connections

Kirsten is married, with two children, and lives in San Francisco.

Spouse:

Michael Green

He is a Virtú Investments co-founder.

Son:

Rhys

Daughter:

Eva

References

• Forerunner: The Second Venture