Breakout Team

On Building the Future

Fifteen years ago, consensus said technology was worthy of investment, science less so. I didn’t agree, and while working with Peter Thiel I built my definitive view of the future and have been driven by it ever since. I see technology leverage as the great unlock for  biology and chemistry to create transformative products. I built Breakout for the entrepreneurs who believe that a future powered by science isn't just possible—it's inevitable.

On Spotting Superhumans

Our job is to find and support superhumans: obsessed founders who are the perfect fit for the opportunity they are tackling, who attract world-class teams and move with velocity. Working with the founding teams at Cytovale, Twelve and ZymoChem is a constant reminder that no matter how exciting the technology, success always comes down to people.

On Stacking the Deck

Too many investors hope their founders get dealt the perfect hand. At Breakout, we use our connectivity to stack the deck. We bring in the strategics, the corporates, the cross-sector investors, the niche operators, the advisors who’ve been in the trenches... We don’t wait for network effects; we engineer them.

On Reading Signals

Not everyone hears “anthropology major” and imagines a path to venture investing, but maybe they should. From designing sales strategies for Fortune 500 companies to leading tech start-ups, I’ve seen the power of noticing subtle behaviors and patterns. Of knowing what drives someone, what they believe, what they need, and why they build. In a business centered on people, it pays to be observant.

On Relentless Pursuit of Vision

I’ve spent my career around people building toward a future that does not yet make sense to everyone else. The founders I’m drawn to are beautifully impatient. They can't sit still. They want to be challenged. They have a strong point of view, but they are not precious about it. They want a real thought partner. That is where the real work begins: helping turn a strong point of view into something clear, compelling, and hard to ignore.

On Turning Observation into Action

I started on Wall Street as an equity research analyst, which gave me an early education in how markets absorb new technologies and what it actually takes to build an enduring business. I learned how growth shows up, what drives adoption, what public investors reward, and how industries evolve. I loved the puzzle of it. But I am not especially interested in solving important problems from a distance. It is more fun from the inside. That is what pulled me toward early-stage investing: the chance to work alongside founders at the moment when a big idea starts taking commercial shape.

On Digging Deeper

I am at my best when things are complicated. My instinct is to take the emotion out of the swirl, get clear on what matters, and make the path forward easier to see. Sometimes that means building a model together, pressure-testing a decision, tracking down a missing piece of intel, or asking "why?" five more times than anyone wanted. I like the real work, the part that is messy, detailed, and occasionally late at night. If I am in it with you, I am really in it.

On Decisions with Intention

I’ve made the whole Breakout team read Annie Duke’s Thinking in Bets because it captures something essential about venture: how to make sound decisions before the picture is fully clear. In dynamic environments, you rarely get perfect information. You make the best decision you can with what you know, you stay honest about the tradeoffs, and then you keep going. I find that way of thinking clarifying, both in individual company decisions and across a portfolio. Good judgment is not about pretending uncertainty is not there. It is about building the muscle to think clearly inside it.

On Asking the Right Questions

One or two questions usually tell me how a founder thinks, especially if they can challenge assumptions their field takes for granted. I’m not looking for contrarian takes. I’m looking for the thread they’re pulling that no one else sees yet.

On Shrinking the Search Space

I don’t get excited about a beautiful experiment unless it’s aimed at a real-world inflection point. It’s a lesson I learned as a diagnostics founder and now use as an investor. Now, I look for teams — like at Passkey, Phantom Neuro, and Vitra Labs — who are ruthless about cutting ideas that don’t translate. That discipline is rare.

On Relationships Over Connections

The people around you become your collaborators, your champions, and your sounding boards. Prioritize finding and really knowing them. Take the Kauffman Fellowship: the program itself was excellent, but it’s the long-term relationships that deliver industry-level insights and continually refine my investor perspective.

On Embracing Discomfort

I swim with the Dolphin club here in SF, and it’s not uncommon to walk into the freezing waters of the Bay alongside folks in their 80s and 90s. There’s something about embracing discomfort that keeps you excited about life and healthy enough to keep finding your edge. You keep going because it never gets easier.

On supporting scientists

When scientists take the leap from “PhD-to-Founder,” they suddenly face the dual challenge of building a company while continuing to navigate the science. My own “PhD-to-Investor” path began as an organic chemist in an engineering lab at Georgia Tech, so I understand not just how these founders think, but where their blind spots often lie. We share a common language—rooted in science—and I can bridge that to the world of business, helping them translate their ideas into lasting companies.

On getting early reps

My time scouting startups as a Breakout Fellow taught me an enduring lesson in evaluating leadership: the best founders value hard questions and candid feedback as much as they value a favorable term sheet. Those early experiences, before I was deploying capital, sharpened my ability to assess teams and reinforced that rigor and trust go hand in hand.

On building winning networks

When I joined Breakout, my GPs gave me the best advice: meet people, lots of them. I did, and I loved it. The best deals don’t just attract capital; they attract the right people. Building a syndicate is not about filling a round. It’s about assembling investors whose skills, relationships and conviction multiply a company’s chances of success. It’s my favorite part of our role.

On investing as a team sport

I’ve always loved soccer, and startups often give me the same feelings. It is about balancing ownership of your role with knowing when to pass the ball to someone better positioned. Trust builds over time in both your teammates and yourself, and that trust fuels growth. 

On Finding Flexibility

Whether they’re launching a venture firm or running a Fortune 500 company, every leader feels pressure to do more with less. My job is to help figure out how. Sometimes it’s as simple as revisiting a vendor contract; sometimes it’s more complex, like structuring new capital strategies. There’s always an opportunity if you look for it.

On Going Beyond Numbers

Any good CFO can keep the books clean, but the real challenge is helping teams stay focused when situations get hairy. In my 20+ years of working in finance and operations management, I’ve seen what happens when there isn’t a measured approach to growth—systems bend, priorities blur, and small things get missed. If we can spot pressure points early, we can chart and stick to a better course.

On Relationships over Playbooks

The first step in working with a company is always the same: determine the team’s goals and what kind of support they need. I don’t try to force a quick playbook, because the best strategies are purpose-built.

On Multitasking and Chopsticks

I can use chopsticks with both hands. Being ambidextrous is a good fun fact and a pretty decent metaphor for how I operate. In a fractional C-level role, you’re juggling several teams’ top priorities, so it’s important to be ready to switch hands.

On Making Legal Work for You

Legal should speed you up while keeping you from crashing. Over my 20+ years as Counsel, I’ve helped leadership at firms of all sizes and scopes move quickly while avoiding problems they otherwise might not have seen coming. We standardize where we can and focus on keeping the process as clean as the deal.

On Supporting Scientists

Some of the most interesting people I work with are scientists and their partners. As an advisor and adjunct professor, I’ve guided researchers on what changes—especially from a legal and ownership standpoint—when an idea becomes a company. I use the same lens for VCs backing spinouts with complex structures and first-time founders.

On Building Community

I co-founded the network Startup Socials for entrepreneurs who want to talk honestly about building. We’ve focused on creating local communities, globally. That includes hosting in 20+ cities. It’s shown me how open conversations with people facing the same hurdles matter more than surface connections.

On Eyeing New Summits 

I’m always pushing myself to set and pursue ambitious goals, both professionally and personally. Just this summer, I climbed Mt. Kilimanjaro. Not to prove anything, but because I knew I could if I tried. There’s always a higher summit to reach in business and in life.

On Anticipating Needs

I built my career from the ground up in customer service and operations, so I’m wired to spot what’s missing before anyone even asks. From backing our GPs to managing investor relations, I’ve learned that anticipation isn’t magic — it’s muscle memory around the smallest details and focusing on how you make people feel. I treat every handshake, email, and intro as if it echoes.

On Carrying the Thread

I’ve been with Breakout since our Labs era, and with those 8 years comes a kind of pattern recognition: I see what we’ve tried, what stuck, and what helps us level up as a team. That continuity allows me to keep one eye on what matters day-to-day, and one on where we’re headed.

On Founders with Grit

My degree in outdoor adventure recreation at Cal Poly SLO taught me what every founder already knows: the climb to the summit is brutal, the weather turns fast, and no one’s coming to bail you out. I get founders because I’ve had to chart my own course, too.

On Motherhood and Perspective

Motherhood has transformed how I operate under pressure. Patience in chaos. Adaptability on zero sleep. If I can handle a 6 a.m. meltdown over the wrong color cup, I can handle urgent firm needs with composure and focus.

On Founders as Translators

Humans are storytellers by nature, and nobody has a more important story than a founder. From being a grad student at UNC to joining venture at Xontogeny and Perceptive Advisors’ PXV Funds, I’ve seen how hard it is to get listeners excited by data alone. But if you can translate your work into a new vision people can really believe in, you can move mountains.

On Weaving Networks

There’s a universal wonderment of facing a near-impossible problem and knowing just the person to solve it. These moments feel magical because we can’t predict or engineer them… or can we? Decades of studying and building communities say: yes. Blending my passions for social science and problem-solving, I weave Breakout’s collective network into a living tapestry patterned with the “coincidental” connections our founders will need at their most critical moments.

On Amplifying Success

When you’ve got 20-something active portfolio companies building the future with science, there’s always news worth amplifying. Being a consistent megaphone for our founders—whether through social platforms, newsletters, or direct outreach—is a role I take seriously. Every time we highlight a company win, it’s another chance for that team’s soon-to-be cornerstone partner to take notice.

On Favorite Ice Cream Flavors

I ask everyone their favorite ice cream flavor. Not just because I’m into dessert (I am), but because the answer inevitably comes with a story. A childhood memory, some strong opinion, an unexpected plot twist... people tell you who they are when they’re not trying to impress you.