Risk, Confidence, and Seriousness: Katherine Boyle’s Advice For Founders

Katherine Boyle (@KTmBoyle), partner at General Catalyst, joins Erik on this episode recorded as part of an event for Villagers. Due to technical difficulties, Mustafa Khan, part of the team at Village Global, conducted the first part of the interview. They discuss: - Katherine’s focus on narrative when evaluating founders: “who’s the protagonist and what are they solving?” - The fact that Katherine doesn’t have strong frameworks for investing — for her it’s about how the story makes her feel. - How she spots extraordinary founders by looking for people who “don’t have a talk track.” These founders think about everything from first principles. - Katherine’s idea that: “The most extraordinary founders are also historians. They get information obsessively because they are so paranoid they might be missing something." - Why founders shouldn’t be afraid to be serious. "You know you're being serious when people are laughing at you." - Why founders should always be transparent about the state of the business. “Authentically owning what is weak but having a plan for making it not weak is something I don't see enough in founders,” Katherine says. Thanks for listening — if you like what you hear, please review us on your favorite podcast platform.  Check us out on the web at www.villageglobal.vc or get in touch with us on Twitter @villageglobal. Want to get updates from us? Subscribe to get a peek inside the Village. We’ll send you reading recommendations, exclusive event invites, and commentary on the latest happenings in Silicon Valley. www.villageglobal.vc/signup