From law to venture capital: How one attorney is changing the startup game

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By Emily Kelchen | for Raise the Bar

If you think all venture capitalists are tech bros in half-zip fleece, think again. Attorney Richelle Martin, founder of the Winnow Fund, is breaking stereotypes and busting down barriers to entry as she invests in pre-seed (pre-revenue or early revenue) stage companies.

What inspired you to go into this line of work? 
A couple of years post-law school, I was leading an office that negotiated research contracts with industry partners on behalf of the University of Wisconsin. It was clear to me that funding was the biggest hurdle campus entrepreneurs faced when making the leap from development to commercialization, but that wasn’t in my job description. Then a chance meeting with a venture capitalist at a nonprofit event made me realize it could be. I founded the Winnow Fund to fill that gap. 

It’s kind of wild that a chance meeting put you on this path!
Yes, someone completely outside my network. It’s one of the reasons I’m very intentional about changing the constraints networks create in startup ecosystems. A company’s fundraising success often correlates to how well networked that company’s founders, executives, board members, investors and advisors are. This is why the demographics of successful founders closely mirror the demographics of the majority of decision-makers in investment firms. It puts a lot of promising companies and founders at a disadvantage. I collaborate on a program with a non-profit called Doyenne that is trying to change this by diversifying the pool of angel investors. 

Broadening the investment pool and the portfolio of companies you are investing in has to come with some risk. Aren’t attorneys supposed to be risk-averse?
The pre-seed phase of investing is actually considered one of the riskiest! At this stage, elements important to predicting success, like product-market fit—for example, will people buy what you’re selling for the price you’re selling it?—are yet to be tested. So one of the things we look at is whether the company has solid legal foundations, like appropriate articles of incorporation and bylaws, and agreements in place to address potential management problems. As an attorney, I know those documents are easier to negotiate when everyone is on good terms.

Yes! I think we all remember those horror stories from Biz Ass. class. You’ve got to get those foundational documents drafted ASAP, and you better have an exit strategy. 
That is actually where there is some tension between investors and companies. Sometimes company counsel may feel that they need to protect the founders, especially less experienced founders, from investors. But at the end of the day, we are all taking risks, and we all want the company to succeed. 

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Raise the Bar is curated and written by Emily Kelchen and edited by Bianca Prieto.