From Revolution's two-person San Francisco office, the prominent D.C. headquartered venture capital firm's youngest partner, 29-year-old Clara Sieg, runs through coffee meetings, impromptu entrepreneur interviews and the next jet set.
Flying between Montreal, D.C., Gotham, Los Angeles, and Colorado, Sieg's role at Revolution makes her unique in relation to colleagues based in Washington, where the firm is synonymous with investment headlines and industry defining business moves. The Valley is a different beast, Sieg tells me between brief sips from an orange club soda can. We speak from Revolution's penthouse D.C. office, overlooking Farragut North on a bright November morning, where Sieg is visiting for the day for a monthly team meeting.
"At Revolution, we don’t view investing as just writing a check"
In San Francisco, Revolution is simply a face in a crowded startup funding space, not the name or brand to know. Investment competition, access to capital and the pure volume in notable tech companies, is unsurprisingly greater on the West Coast than in the present mid-Atlantic region. Because of these conditions, the Valley tends to be a more expensive place to do business for venture capitalists, as valuations are typically greater and naturally, competition can spur exaggerated price tags.
With that being said, to date, Revolution Ventures, which as a fund is only two years old, has made 7 investments in West Coast companies, according to data collected by Crunchbase.
"At Revolution, we don’t view investing as just writing a check – we’re partnering with a company for the next 5 to 10 years and those founding teams will be part of our family for a very long time. It’s more of a marriage than a capital infusion, so the relationship and personality fit is important - and our ability to add value is key," Sieg explained, "if you’re just looking for money or we don’t think we can add much value, we’re probably not a great fit for you and there are likely cheaper sources of capital elsewhere."
Sieg, a Stanford alum, works specifically for Revolution's early-stage investment focused division called Revolution Ventures. Revolution Ventures typically invests in tech company's Seed and Series A rounds, where the total can range from a few hundred thousand dollars to several million.
She sits on the board of Framebridge, a Lanham, Md.-based e-commerce platform for art framing, and Montreal, Calif-based Busbud, creators of a mobile software product that enables customers to search, compare and book city-to-city bus tickets by connecting them with bus operators. In addition, Sieg is a board member for a third company, based in Denver, that she declined to name due to a pending announcement.
For reference, her industries of focus include financial technology, e-commerce, retail and the on-demand economy. That figure, of 3 board seats, is set to increase as well, Sieg told DC Inno, through future planned investments and due to the maturation of the current portfolio cos.
"The idea is not to be the parent you have to report to, but to be the first call when something isn’t working"
She added, "we take a very concentrated approach to investing, only backing 4 to 5 companies per year, and working closely with those teams. The idea is not to be the parent you have to report to, but to be the first call when something isn’t working so we can help you get through it, using our networks and business building know-how to help accelerate your growth, and bringing the Revolution resources to bear to help you “fight above your weight” and scale into a market leader."
The biggest misconception that people have about the venture capital industry is that "it’s [like] Shark Tank. It’s not," Sieg said. She explained, "a part of my job is making investment decisions, but the real core of our business, and what fuels the growth of both our companies and Revolution, is what happens after we’ve invested."
Clara's daily responsibilities tend to vary dependent on where the firm is in its investment cycle, she told DC Inno, but they consist of everything from conducting due diligence and networking at pitch events to sitting in on board meetings and providing advice to portfolio founders that are looking to grow their businesses. The day normally begins with a coffee, jog and blitz of emails from her smartphone during the commute to work. About 50-60 percent of her time is used traveling the country.
"I am really a morning person," she paused, lost in thought, before continuing, "and I didn't even start drinking coffee until three years ago!"
She leads the firm's San Francisco office under the guidance of managing partner David Golden, formerly the vice chairman and director of JP Morgan’s global investment banking practice for technology, media and telecommunications clients. He boasts more than 30 years of indsutry experience, working with numerous emerging growth companies, and is Sieg's mentor.
Golden's everyday mentorship has been invaluable, Sieg said, and has effectively made her the VC she is today. The pair cooperate on a daily basis, towards making investment decisions, meeting with portfolio companies, working to building serviceable networks for those founders and in ultimately, strengthening Revolution's vast business portfolio.
"so, you’re Monica on Silicon Valley?"
Sieg joked, "I get 'so you’re Monica on Silicon Valley?' a lot, but I think that’s mainly because I’m a female in venture with brown hair." It comes with the territory.
As a female venture capitalist, in an industry that is largely dominated by men, Sieg said that while she has admittedly experienced some annoying moments—epitomized by people confusing her for a business admin or secretary rather than a firm partner—there are many advantages to being both young and a woman in the boy's club investment circle known as Silicon Valley's venture capital scene. In addition, though recent media coverage has largely revealed negative connotations about the environment, it's far from all bad and many generalizations are off mark.
"[I] often bring a different perspective on opportunities because I’ve had different experiences, which is healthy and, I think, breeds better and more well-rounded decision making," Sieg told DC Inno.
In asking her if she has seen a common trend, behavior or particular concept being pitched in Silicon Valley, Sieg provided a memorable response that perfectly depicts the aforementioned HBO show, Silicon Valley: "they often come in waves, but we’re lucky to see a wide array of innovative companies across different industries. But yes, there have been periods of Uber for x, Airbnb for y, Dropbox for z."
"I’m just waiting for the Uber meets Airbnb meets Postmates for millennials who like Blue Bottle and are allergic to cats. I’m not sure what it’ll look like, but probably an on-demand coffee truck that you can sleep in and park your drone and doesn’t allow cats or, if it is part cat café, provides Benadryl."
Originally a Pittsburg, Pa. native, Sieg has spent the last 12 years living on the West Coast. Her extensive network of contacts spans multiple cities across different industries. She began working with Revolution six years ago while the firm was in the midst of raising its growth fund. Sieg then joined on full-time about three years ago from Probitas Partners.
