A VC's Formula For Picking Winners Like Birchbox, Warby Parker, And Other Brands You Love

With Forerunner Ventures, her all-women VC firm, Kirsten Green has helped build stellar consumer brands in a digital world.

Five years ago, Kirsten Green had a feeling that change was afoot in the world of digital commerce. At the time, the Internet was rapidly transforming shopping: Amazon and eBay made millions of products available at rock-bottom prices, while beloved brick and mortar stores like Gap and Pottery Barn were swiftly creating an online presence. Yet, Green felt that brands still hadn't figured out how to surprise and delight customers in the crowded, noisy online marketplace. And she was fixated with trying to find a solution to this problem.

Even before the dotcom boom, Green—who spent the early part of her career analyzing retail stocks at Montgomery Securities, an investment bank in San Francisco, eventually working her way up to vice president—had closely observed the way that brands manufactured magical experiences for consumers, wooing them with a charming ambience, atmospheric music, and products that seemed tailor-made for them. One advantage of being a woman in that male-dominated field, she says, was her insight as a female consumer herself. Women drive the vast majority of household purchasing decisions in the U.S., controlling two-thirds of consumer wealth, yet men tend to make the big investment decisions about consumer brands. "Thriving in this industry has to do with appreciating what you bring to the table," Green tells Fast Company.

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