Episode E104 - Anne Gherini - SIERRA Ventures

Female VC Lab Episode 104

Author

Barbara Bickham
September 20, 2024

Hi Impactful listener!

In this episode of Female VC Lab, host Barbara Bickham sits down with Anne Gherini, the Chief Marketing Officer at Sierra Ventures. They talk about Anne's transition from being an operator to a venture capitalist, the thrilling dynamics of early-stage investments, and the ever-changing venture capital landscape influenced by technological advancements such as AI.

Key Points Discussed

  • Anne’s journey from an operator to an early-stage venture capitalist

  • The role of a CMO in a venture firm and the concept of leading a platform

  • Sierra Ventures’ investment thesis focused primarily on early-stage, B2B SaaS companies

  • The challenges and opportunities in today's rapidly evolving tech landscape, particularly with AI

  • The importance of optimizing health and longevity for professional efficiency

🎧 Watch the Episode

Chapters

  • [00:00:00] Introduction and guest's one-liner summary

  • [00:00:26] Anne’s inspiration for becoming a venture capitalist

  • [00:01:39] The diverse roles Anne plays at Sierra Ventures

  • [00:02:34] Sierra Ventures’ investment thesis

  • [00:03:55] Current readings and self-improvement

  • [00:05:23] How the VC landscape may evolve in the next two years

  • [00:08:37] How to contact Anne Gherini and learn more about Sierra Ventures

Full Topic Guide

Exploring the Dynamic World of Venture Capital with Anne Gherini

Introduction

In this episode of Female VC Lab, Barbara Bickham sits down with Anne Gherini, the Chief Marketing Officer at Sierra Ventures. They delve into Anne's multifaceted role at Sierra Ventures, her attraction to early-stage investments, and how she navigates the rapidly evolving venture capital landscape.

Anne Gherini's Journey to Becoming a Venture Capitalist

Anne Gherini started her career as an operator. Her experience in the enterprise and early-stage startups ignited a passion that made her "addicted" to the early-stage world. Her transition to Sierra Ventures came from a desire to help multiple companies simultaneously while bringing her operational expertise to the forefront. At Sierra Ventures, Anne wears many hats due to the small size of the team, allowing her to engage in various critical functions from marketing to recruitment.

The Role of a CMO in a Venture Firm

One of the more intriguing aspects of Anne’s role is her responsibility in leading the platform at Sierra Ventures. Unlike traditional CMOs, her role encompasses aiding portfolio companies with go-to-market strategies, launching ad campaigns, hiring sales leaders, and more. Anne finds the constant context switching both challenging and exhilarating, as it allows her to work on diverse projects ranging from climate tech to ed tech, keeping every day unique.

Sierra Ventures' Investment Thesis

Sierra Ventures focuses primarily on early-stage B2B SaaS companies. However, they do make exceptions for intriguing deep tech opportunities. The firm looks for exceptional founders with disruptive ideas. Anne's expertise in B2B SaaS aligns perfectly with her vetting process and understanding of the market dynamics, ensuring they fund only the most promising ventures.

Navigating the Evolving Venture Landscape

Anne joined Sierra Ventures in 2021, a time when valuations were skyrocketing, especially for AI companies. The ability to build companies more quickly than ever is both thrilling and daunting. Investors now face the challenge of ensuring their portfolio companies establish a strong technical moat and effective go-to-market strategies to maintain a competitive edge. Anne highlights the increasing importance of messaging, positioning, and early traction in today’s fast-paced market.

Optimizing for Longevity

Outside her professional realm, Anne is deeply invested in optimizing her health and longevity. She recently finished reading Peter Attia's "Outlive" and listens to his podcast regularly. Anne believes in applying the principles of optimization not just to business strategies but also to personal health, advocating for a balanced approach to life and work.

Notable Quotes from the Guest

  1. "The ability to build these products is going to be easier than ever because of the tools and capabilities and data and technology that we have at our fingertips."

  2. "How you actually message, position your product, how you get it out there, how you build that early traction is going to be more important than ever."

Fun Facts or Interesting Tidbits

  • Anne’s role as CMO at Sierra Ventures includes wearing many hats due to the firm's small size.

  • Sierra Ventures invests in diverse sectors such as climate tech, dev ops, and deep tech, despite its primary focus on B2B SaaS.

  • Anne is an advocate for optimizing health and longevity, inspired by the work of Peter Attia.

Connect with Anne Gherini on LinkedIn and Twitter (X) to follow her insights on venture capital and marketing. Explore Sierra Ventures through their website to learn more about their portfolio and the resources they offer to founders. For more engaging conversations with female leaders in venture capital, subscribe to Female VC Lab today.

Episode Resource: Learning, Reading, and Listening

Below is a list of resources that were mentioned in Episode E104 of Female VC Lab, where we discussed what Anne Gherini is currently learning, reading, or listening to:

Books:

Podcasts:

These resources give insights into various aspects of finance, investments, and notable financial events, which can be highly beneficial for anyone interested in the field of venture capital or financial services.

Anne Gherini is the Chief Marketing Officer and an Investor at early-stage venture capital firm SIERRA Ventures. She runs SIERRA's platform, supporting its early-stage founders, and focuses on building new avenues of deal flow for the firm. Before SIERRA, Anne was the CMO of Shasta Ventures. Prior to her career in venture capital, Anne led marketing and partnerships for several high-growth startups for over a decade. Anne has contributed to Inc. Magazine for the past seven years. She graduated from the University of California, San Diego.

Fund Information

SIERRA Ventures is an early-stage venture firm focused on the future of Enterprise and Next-Gen Technologies. With four decades of experience and over $2 billion of assets under management, SIERRA has created a vast network of successful entrepreneurs, Global 1000 CXOs, operational executives, and deep domain experts, providing a platform for entrepreneurs around the world.

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Best,
Barbara

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