Megan Kelly

Origin Story: In a couple sentences, how would you describe your path to becoming an investor?

I've been lucky enough to spend most of my career working closely with CEOs at public and private companies and seeing first-hand what it takes to build and grow strong, sustainable businesses. I began my career at JPMorgan, both as an operator and investor, first in business management & strategy partnering with the CEO of the U.S. Private Bank, and then as an investor in the Financial Institutions Group. Excited about the opportunity to help build a company from the ground up, I joined Arianna Huffington's Thrive Global as her Chief of Staff. With the desire to find, invest in and help support the next generation of founders I joined First Round Capital, first partnering with and apprenticing under Hayley Barna and now as a New York-based Associate.
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Investment Approach: What are the key factors you consider when evaluating a founding team?

I want to understand what work a founder has done to go deep on the problem their company is tackling. What was their process to gain insight into their customer's pain points?
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If I'm coming to pitch to you or your firm, what's the one piece of advice you'd give me?

Have a deep understanding of the competitive landscape and where your product fits in. Can you clearly articulate why the product you're building is 10x better than the competition?