Executing as a Best-In-Class Firm: Operational Excellence From The Inside of Over 50 VC Firms with Kristen Ostro of Strut Consulting

Hey, everybody. This is Ben Kesnoka, cofounder and partner at Village Global, a network driven venture firm. And this is our podcast where we go deep on all things business and technology with world leading experts. Welcome to VC Mastermind. Today, we have an incredible interviewee. Kristen Austro is the founder and CEO of Strut Consulting. We'll let her explain a lot of that because she has the depths of experience in the back offices and operation centers of Silicon Valley. I've had the opportunity of knowing Kristen, gosh, I think for maybe a decade and a half or so. We worked together out of the Homebrew office. And so it's just been amazing to be able to, know you for this long and and get to see how you've been helping dozens venture capital firms across Silicon Valley. So thank you for being here. It's my pleasure, and it's so fun to be able to do this with you all this time later as well. Totally. Amazing. Well, again, I I kept my interview or my, introduction of you short because I would love for you to kinda tell your story and how you got to be working with so many VC firms because I think it's really special. So Yeah. Do you mind sharing? Sure. Of course. I landed into venture by accident as so many people do, I feel. I applied to a job on Craigslist, LOL, glad to date myself, and, ended up on Sandhill at NEA, New Enterprise Associates for those who are maybe not Afriem friendly. And I joke, I earned my Sand Hill Road stripe. I was there doing a combination of administrative work and and ops and then marketing and events. Mhmm. So probably would have been a lifer, had I not gotten in so young. And when the emerging manager, Y Wheel, started to really pick up, or initially pick up in 20, thirteen, twelve range, I was very fortunate to get an in with the guys at Homebrew. It's all about, you know, who you know and who you have access to here. So, got the opportunity to join them right as they were getting Fund One off the ground and be in an office with you and and them and a handful of other really fun, companies and, friends of the firm and help them build their their massive machine now. It's just the two of them, but it is like a powerhouse little machine, I guess. And, yeah. From there, I, worked with a variety of other emerging funds. My NEA ties brought me back to helping spin up a firm that they had seeded with Polaris and Excel on the emerging side. And any of all those experiences led to sort of a critical moment in mid twenty sixteen where I wanted to continue working with managers, but was interested in doing it in a more dynamic way. And, that's when I started Strut. And my goal …