Ashley Mayer is a Co-Founder and General Partner at Coalition, an early stage venture firm powered by active operators. Coalition invests at the Pre-Seed and Seed and is obsessed with connecting founders in their portfolio and beyond with world class operating talent.
In this episode, Ashley shares her path from Box during IPO prep, to shaping narrative at Social Capital, to helping build Glossier, and ultimately starting Coalition. We discuss storytelling as a true competitive advantage, messaging versus story market fit, intentional cap table design, and why we are in a particularly sloppy era for startup storytelling. Ashley also shares advice for first-time angels and emerging managers. A grounded conversation on narrative, conviction, and building companies and funds with intention.
Learn More About Nucleus: https://nucleustalent.io/
Follow Alex: https://x.com/alexklein0x
Timestamps:
00:00 - Welcome to The Rise
01:41 - Why storytelling matters
03:38 - Lessons from Box and Social Capital
07:26 - Glossier and consumer storytelling
10:11 - Founding Coalition
21:05 - Intentional cap tables
25:02 - Human energy and company building
25:58 - Messaging versus story market fit
29:35 - First-time versus repeat founders
31:17- Expertise, AI, and credibility
38:30 - The sloppy era of storytelling
40:05 - Advice for emerging managers
45:23 - One company Ashley admires
46:20 - An emerging manager to watch
47:20 - Closing
#venturecapital #investing #podcast #vc #startup #tech
