Venture with Grace Harris Stolzenberg, Pear Partner on Founders, Startups & East Coast VC
Oct 8, 2025
Harris Stolzenberg, a Partner at Pear VC and a former founder, shares insights on expanding venture capital in Boston. He discusses his transition from investment banking to startups, revealing lessons on product-market fit and the operational challenges of scaling a services business. Harris emphasizes the importance of building local relationships and offers advice for student founders. He also highlights current trends in AI, robotics, and healthcare, showcasing his bullish outlook on humanoid technology and the need for visionary founders.
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From Banking To Startup Boots-On-The-Ground
- Harris describes moving from investment banking to a startup role at Pando and wearing many hats early on.
- He learned firsthand that strong execution can't fix a product without product-market fit.
Scaling A Service That Hit A Market Ceiling
- Harris co-founded a corporate retreat startup that quickly reached over $1M revenue but capped due to market size.
- They realized customers wanted humans, not software, and ended up as a tech-enabled services business and later sold.
East Coast VC Is More Deliberate Than SF
- Boston's VC culture tends to be slower and diligence-heavy compared with Silicon Valley's early conviction style.
- That difference helps explain why many East Coast founders still relocate to SF for scaling and talent.
