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Katelin is passionate about helping founders build scalable, diverse, and inclusive cultures. First introduced to the notion of intentional cultural development at Pixar Animation Studios, she studied alongside some of the most brilliant creative business minds of this generation. From there, she spent a decade building teams as a senior executive at some of the internet’s most influential startups, including Klout and Reddit. In early 2020, Katelin made the leap from operator to investor, supporting a new generation of leaders. Through the course of her career, the one common denominator remains: enabling people through belonging to create beautiful, innovative products that move the world.

Katelin is currently a Founding Partner at Alexis Ohanian’s venture capital firm Seven Seven Six, where she invests in people-first companies and manages the firm’s programs, including the 2% Growth & Caregiving Commitment and Operator in Residence Program. She is deeply committed to helping founders and the broader venture ecosystem evolve their diversity, equity, inclusion & belonging practices, creating new opportunities and access to wealth for people and products typically underrepresented in the tech industry. As an investor, she is passionate about supporting the companies that will shape the future of work, life, sustainability, and the delicate balance that enables us to thrive.

ask is made by @shanemac @mikelellcessor & Paul Chuffo at Joyride Media

Key Seven Seven Six Initiatives referenced in the show:


2% Growth & Caregiving Commitment: https://www.linkedin.com/posts/sevensevensix_at-the-early-stage-founders-are-their-startups-activity-6733061139955011584-tZzB
Operator in Residence Program: https://www.sevensevensix.com/news/announcing-our-2021-operators-in-residence
Twitter thread from @Intentionaut: https://twitter.com/Intentionaut/status/1386746223709806593?s=20

Spikeball CEO Chris Ruder is NOT the quick-hit, hockey stick growth guy. That said, Spikeball just crossed $100m in total revenue, so... In this episode of ask, Chris shares his thoughts about starting a business without risking it all. While building Spikeball, he kept his corporate job for over 5 years and we sit down to discuss the conversations with his wife and brother which led to him going full-time. It's a story of quiet confidence, patience, persistence, and is a powerful example of a less risky way to start a business.

✨Special Guest: Coach, writer (@99u, @WnotW), and speaker Tina Essmaker



🗣️Talking Points:

- How Tina reimagined her career path

- Coaching creatives to "the other side" of professional and personal transitions

- Giving permission to acknowledge our personal limits and avoiding burn-out



Follow Tina: @tinaessmaker

🎖️ Special Guest:  Former US Navy Captain @ldavidmarquet (Part Two) 

 🗣️ Talking Points:

 - David’s new book “Leadership is Language” (out TODAY) 

- Why leaders never say THEY and the WE/THEY boundary  

- Why THINKING is  >>> than doing things FAST

Follow David: @ldavidmarquet

🎖️ Special Guest:  Former US Navy Captain David Marquet (Part One)  

🗣️ Talking Points:

 - David’s path to the Navy 

- Internal versus external mindsets 

- Why REAL leadership means giving others control



Follow David: @ldavidmarquet

"The number one cause of distraction is not what is happening outside of us, but in fact what happens inside of us. The root cause of most distraction is not the external triggers, it's the internal triggers. So, I don't care what life hack or guru does your tells you to do with how to hack back your time. Fundamentally, if we don't first and foremost figure out what we are trying to escape from, what uncomfortable sensation prompts us to look for relief—to look for a psychological pacification from our devices, from television, from too much booze, too much work, too much, whatever—then that becomes a distraction. If we don't deal with that stuff and either fix it or learn methods to cope with it, we are always going to succumb to distraction."