Anna Barber left McKinsey in 1999 to join PetStore.com, an early e-commerce startup. Working there, she watched how the business was funded and got close to its investors, which sparked her interest in venture capital.
I want to go a little bit back to the beginning. What was the first spark that really got you into venture? Can you share what it was?
Yeah. So we'll have to go way back. I was in tech a long time before I got into venture. I started my career in the mid-'90s working in corporate law and then strategy consulting. So I was at McKinsey as a strategy consultant. And then back in '99, everyone was leaving banking and consulting to go work at startups. And I really got the bug of entrepreneurship really more than venture. And so in 1999, I left McKinsey to go work at PetStore.com, which was one of the early e-com players in there. I got to see our investors and get to know investors from the side of being an operator and, you know, looking at how our company was being capitalized. I didn't really yet have the bug because I was really pursuing my entrepreneurial bug.
Paige of Behind Genius driving an AI electric train in St. Louis (Intramotev Visit)
