Lauren Kolodny Named to Forbes Midas List in Back to Back Years
My co-founding partner at Acrew Capital, Lauren Kolodny, premiered on the Midas List last year as number 100. This year, she found herself at number 68. We don’t put great stock in these types of accolades — but I’d be remiss if I didn’t take a moment to say a few things.
When I first appeared on the Midas List, I was one of two women. This year has the most female representation in the history of the list. Out of 100 investors, 13 are women. Appearing on The Midas List is a good feeling. Having your once-mentee turned partner appear on The Midas List might be a better feeling.
I founded Acrew with Lauren for a lot of reasons. I’d seen her in action and I admired her guts. Even as an early career investor, Lauren stood up for companies that she believed in. We led a Series A in Chime because of her thesis work and her conviction — even when most others turned it down. That experience and others like it cemented for me the importance of generational diversity — Lauren, a millennial, grew up in a different world than I did and she could spot things that I might have missed. Our fund now boasts gen x-ers, millennials and zoomers — and we’re better for it.
We practice VC as a team sport and Lauren’s achievement reflects not just her success but the tenacious, innovative and decisive nature of our entire crew.
On average, the venture firms represented on the Midas List this year were founded 33 years ago. Only 10% were founded in the last decade. I think it’s safe to say that our five-year-old fund is far out-punching its weight.
Congratulations, Lauren. There are big things in our rear view mirror but even bigger things ahead.