Julie Sandler doesn’t wait for opportunities to fall into her lap. She got her first break in the Seattle tech world after cold-calling Greg Gottesman, who was then a managing director at local venture capital heavyweight Madrona Venture Group, while she was finishing school. Sandler says she left a four-minute voicemail that she describes as “rambling.”
“For some reason he called back, which was incredible, and he met me for coffee,” Sandler said.
Fast-forward two years, Gottesman told Sandler about an associate role at Madrona, where she spent six years working her way up to partner. She joined the Seattle-based startup studio Pioneer Square Labs (PSL) in 2017 as a managing director, where she works today, with Gottesman as her fellow managing director.
The Business Journal sat down with Sandler at her firm’s offices in Pioneer Square to discuss everything from her career choices to her love of theater.
About Julie
- Age: 39
- Hometown: Seattle
- Residence: Mercer Island
- Education: Stanford for her bachelor’s and her master’s degrees in psychology; Harvard Business School for her MBA
- Interest outside of work: “I’m obsessed with my husband and my kids. Theater, teaching, travel, running and creative writing.”
- What do you like to write? I write some creative fiction.
A Day in the Life
We asked Julie to break down her typical workday:
- 6:45 a.m. Wake up, get ready, check email
- 8 a.m. My husband and I get kids up and ready
- 9 a.m. Arrive in the office, catch up with colleagues
- 11 a.m. Zoom board meeting for portfolio company
- 2 p.m. Strategy call with portfolio CEO
- 5 p.m. Bolt from Pioneer Square to pick up kids
- 6 p.m. Get dinner on table for family dinner, clean up and playtime
- 8:30 p.m. Back online
- 10 p.m. Catch up on the day with my husband
- 11:30 p.m. Final email check, read a little, and lights out
You oversee PSL’s venture arm, a way for the firm itself to boost new companies. Did that idea come to you before or after you joined? We knew it was something that I was going to explore. At the time, the question was should we do that and, if so, what should it look like. Fortunately, at the time, we had not only some great anchors (limited partners) who were very thoughtful with us in what it would mean to create a separate venture fund under the PSL umbrella, but also some great studio investors and also entrepreneurs.
What was it like leaving the cocoon of a large firm like Madrona for PSL, which was essentially a startup at the time? It was a really difficult decision to leave. I had just made partner and had a number of portfolio companies that I loved working with. But what was exciting for me at the time was it was kind of a lot of personal change. I had just gotten married. I was pregnant. We had just moved. Greg Gottesman said, “Look, we’re thinking about exploring this concept of starting a new venture fund, and it would be a chance to build something totally from scratch.” At that moment in time, that combination of things felt really appealing.
You didn’t want a more secure position with all that personal change? It felt right. When so much in your life is changing and shifting, to do something a little bit risky, a little bit more creative, definitely scratched the itch for me.
How has the venture capital landscape changed since you started? Leslie Feinzaig, who runs Graham & Walker, did a bit of research, and said there are now a dozen women (general partners), actual check-writing decision-makers, in the venture ecosystem. When I started there was one or two. I remember my first day of work I called Michelle Goldberg at Ignition and was like, “Do I wear a flannel? Is that OK?” I didn’t know what the uniform was because there was no obvious person to call.
How do you balance your work and teaching classes at UW’s business school? Getting comfortable with the idea that you’re not always going to be the A student is important. There are days when I’m a total A+ investor and maybe a C- parent or wife, and I have days when it’s the (inverse) image of that. I think so few of us are taught that is OK. So few of us are taught to embrace that and accept that.
What is one thing your employees don’t know about you? I have a lifelong love of theater for a very unique reason. I have, and have had for most of my life, a stutter. I do a lot of public speaking ... and it’s always there in the back of my mind. But it was theater when I was young that taught me some tricks for dealing with it. ... The stutter more or less, with a combination of some speech therapy, went away. What (employees) don’t know is sometimes if I’ve had a little bit to drink, if I’m tired or a little frustrated, or even pregnant, it comes out.
This interview has been edited for length and clarity.
