Built & Backed, Episode 3: Kendall Crocker

Kendall Crocker is a fractional COO and strategic advisor with a 15-year track record across venture capital, startups, and strategy consulting. She works with early-stage founders at Seed to Series B to help them scale faster and punch above their weight in fundraising and execution. Most recently, Kendall was a Partner at a global early-stage VC fund, leading deal execution across six countries, with board roles in three. Before that, she was the first VP of Operations at a Series B startup, where she helped scale the company to a $50M Series C. She launched her career in strategy consulting with Monitor Deloitte, leading large-scale transformation and customer experience work for clients from Exxon Mobil to Tiffany & Co. Kendall brings a combination of operator intuition and analytical rigor to the organizations she supports. Outside of work, you can find her cycling, meditating (certified mindfulness instructor), traveling (40 countries), or up early with her toddler.

During this episode, we discuss:

How Kendall started in a corporate environment doing strategy consulting, working with Fortune 50 clients, before leaving to launch an innovation function for Fortune 100
Why she decided to go into startups in her early 30s and how she jumped in with both feet
Getting her first startup job by meeting a founder for coffee, staying for three hours, and immediately getting an offer letter
Why she transitioned into a career as a VC
Advice for if you’re getting into VC “later” in your career
The importance of building a community
Why you need to prioritize leveraging your personal brand
How she switched gears to becoming a fractional COO, now known as the “Fundraising Sherpa”
Her advice for any founder who realizes they waited until it’s too late to get help with operations and fundraising
The importance of paying attention to founder mental health
Why you should take more risks in your career
Her shoutouts to Unlock VC by Sophie Winwood, The Helm, Dream Ventures, and Golden Hour Ventures

And more. Tune into this episode as we dive into taking leaps in your career and trying something new!