“It’s alot of reacting to the situation, but we don’t run these companies. I think that as a minority investor you have to have the mentality that you backed a set of entrepreneurs to do it, and you have to coach them and support them as best as you can, but you can’t run the company.”

In today’s episode, Cynthia and Zoë welcome Wharton alumni Charles Birnbaum to the podcast. After beginning his career on Wall Street, Charles moved into the venture capital space. As a partner at Bessemer Venture Partners, he invests in early stage fintech, consumer and education companies including Alloy and Brightwheel. Listen in to learn more about Charles’s experience breaking into venture capital, major industry trends, and advice for investor-founder relationship management.