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00:00EMILY: YOU SPENT DECADES WALKING TO THE MALLS. I ' M CURIOUS WHERE YOU THINK THE CONSUMER IS GOING NOW, FACING ALL OF THE SHOCKS, UNCERTAINTY OF HIGHER GAS PRICES. WHAT IS THAT TELLING YOU ABOUT WHERE THEY WILL BE WANTING TO SPEND THEIR MONEY? KIRSTEN: THERE IS A LIST OF THINGS ON THE MACRO LEVEL IMPACTING US TODAY. OVER THE LAST TWO YEARS, AN UNPRECEDENTED TIME OF CHANGE AND DISRUPTION. THIS CONSUMER HAS REALLY BEEN THROUGH A LOT THE LAST COUPLE OF YEARS. AS MUCH AS ANYTHING THAT HAS BEEN DEMONSTRATED IS THAT PEOPLE ARE RESILIENT. WE HAVE DEFINITELY HAD HIGHER SAVINGS RATES, LOWER SPENDING DURING THIS TIME PERIOD. SENTIMENT FLUCTUATING AND GOING UP WITH THE MOST RECENT GOING DOWN AGAIN. WE ARE BACK ON ANOTHER LEG OF THE ROLLER COASTER. AS WE ENTERED THIS YEAR, I WAS REALLY LOOKING FORWARD TO SEEING WHAT ARE THE NEW NORMS PEOPLE ARE ESTABLISHING. THAT ' S WHAT WE KEEP OUR FOCUS ON. IT IS NOT GOING BACK TO WHERE WE WERE BEFORE. IT ' S NOT WHERE WE ' VE BEEN THE LAST TWO YEARS. IT ' S THINKING ABOUT THE RECENT EVENTS GOING FORWARD. THROW IN A WAR, INFLATION, INTEREST RATE INCREASES, AND THAT ' S A LOT OF UNCERTAINTY. AND YOU SEE THAT SHOW UP IN CONSUMER SENTIMENT AND CONSUMER CONFIDENCE NUMBERS. EMILY: WHAT DOES THAT MEAN FOR THE NEXT LEG OF THE ROLLER COASTER AND WHERE YOU WILL BE PUTTING YOUR MONEY? YOUR JOB IS TO FIGURE OUT THOSE EARLY BETS THAT NONE OF US SEE. KIRSTEN: SAVINGS RATES HAVE BEEN HIGHER AND SPENDING HAS BEEN LOWER. THEY ARE PARTICULAR ABOUT WHAT THEY ARE BUYING AND HOW THEY ARE BUYING. I THINK THAT CONTINUES. IF WE THOUGHT THIS YEAR WOULD BE THE YEAR TO REEMERGE AND EVERYTHING TO COME BACK ON, I THINK YOU HAVE A WHOLE OTHER HOST OF REASONS FOR PEOPLE TO BE A BIT CAUTIOUS. THAT BEING SAID, PEOPLE ARE FULLY HEALTHY. WE HAD TO HIGHER SAVINGS RATES. SPENDING HAS STARTED TO TAKE BACK AND SAVINGS RATES ARE STILL HIGHER. THE JOB MARKET IS INCREDIBLY FAVORABLE TO PEOPLE LOOKING FOR JOBS. SO THERE IS KIND OF A COUNTERBALANCE TO SOME OF THE THINGS THAT FEEL THREATENING OUT THERE. AND I THINK PEOPLE SHOULD PROCEED WITH CAUTION. BUT I THINK THEY WANT TO GET OUT AND SPEND A LITTLE BIT MORE AND DO THINGS AGAIN. EMILY: THERE HAS BEEN A TON OF MONEY FLOODING INTO THE ECOSYSTEM AND VALUATIONS HAVE BEEN HIGH. I ' M HEARING VALUATIONS ARE STARTING TO COME DOWN GIVEN THIS UNCERTAINTY. KIRSTEN: THAT IS THE TIERING. IT SEEMS LIKE THE PRACTICAL OR EXPECTED THING TO HAVE HAPPENED. EVERYBODY ' S LIFE HAS BEEN DIFFERENT THE LAST TWO YEARS. WE TALKED ABOUT THE CONSUMERS LIFE BEING DIFFERENT. INVESTORS HAVE BEEN, TO. WE WENT HOME ON MARCH 20, 2020, AND THOUGHT WE CAN ' T DO OUR JOBS BECAUSE IT IS SUCH AN IN PERSON TYPE OF JOB. LAST YEAR WAS A RECORD YEAR FOR INVESTING AND THE ECOSYSTEM WAS MORE THAN TWO X THE YEAR BEFORE. PEOPLE AT WORK, FOCUSED AND CRANKING OUT MAKING NEW INVESTMENTS. IT IS NAVIGATING AN UNCERTAIN ENVIRONMENT. A TIME TO TAKE APPOSITE MAKE SURE PEOPLE ARE SET UP FOR SUCCESS. THINK ABOUT HOW YOU SET PRIORITIES FOR THIS YEAR AND THE CHANGING LANDSCAPE. THINGS WERE FROTHY LAST YEAR ON A LOT OF LEVELS. IT ' S NEVER ALL ACROSS THE BOARD. THERE ' S A LOT OF INNOVATION AND NEWNESS DRIVING INNOVATION. THIS DOES GIVE PEOPLE PAUSE TO RESET A LITTLE BIT. IT IS HEALTHY FOR EVERYBODY AND THE ECOSYSTEM IN GENERAL. IT IS MORE OF A CONVERSATION RIGHT NOW ABOUT HOW DO WE EXPECT THAT TO PLAY OUT? EMILY: YOU HAVE RAISED OVER $1 BILLION AND YOU ARE CELEBRATING THE 10-YEAR ANNIVERSARY OF FO RERUNNER VENTURES. HOW DO YOU PUT THOSE HUNDREDS OF MILLIONS OF DOLLARS TO WORK? KIRSTEN: I FEEL SO INVIGORATED TO BE ENTERING THE NEXT DECADE WITH 10 YEARS OF EXPERIENCE WORKING TOGETHER AS A TEAM AND FEELING EXCITED ABOUT WHAT WE DO IN THE FACE OF A TREMENDOUS AMOUNT OF OPPORTUNITY. YOU HAVE BEEN COVERING THE TECH INDUSTRY FOR A COUPLE DECADES AND I ' VE BEEN INVESTING IN IT. IT IS AT A PLACE WHERE IT IS UBIQUITOUS, NOT JUST PART OF BUSINESS, BUT PEOPLE ' S LIVES. AND WE ARE SEEING MORE USEFUL CASES FOR IT. I THINK THIS HAPPENED BECAUSE OF TECHNOLOGY AND CONDUCTIVITY. IT WAS CATAPULTED FORWARD IN THE FACE OF THE PANDEMIC, WHICH IS THIS IDEA THAT WE WANT TO BE MORE SELF-RELIANT AND TAKE MORE THINGS INTO MY OWN HANDS. MAYBE I WANT MORE FLEXIBILITY BECAUSE PEOPLE ARE CHANGING CAREER PATHS AND HOW THEY MAKE MONEY OR SEEK OPPORTUNITY. THAT IS FEELING LIKE A NEW LANDSCAPE OF POTENTIAL ACROSS THE BOARD. AND IS ALSO SHIFTING HOW PEOPLE ARE SPENDING MONEY. I THINK THERE IS A LOT OF OPPORTUNITY HAPPENING. I THINK THERE ' S MORE CONVERSATION ABOUT SUSTAINABILITY AND HOW TO DO GOOD FOR BUSINESS IN THE FUTURE. THERE ' S ALSO CONVERSATION ABOUT CRYPTO. OUR TEAM FEELS DEFINITELY LIKE WE ARE GETTING A TREMENDOUS AMOUNT OF OPPORTUNITY AND CHANGE. EMILY: WHY ARE YOU EXCITED ABOUT CRYPTO? KIRSTEN: WE ARE ON A STEEP LEARNING CURVE. HOW DO WE THINK ABOUT MAKING IT SOMETHING MORE APPROACHABLE AND PRACTICAL TO PEOPLE IN BUSINESS SO THAT IT IS NOT JUST A SUBSECTOR OF THE ECONOMY. IT ' S A NEW PROTOCOL AND A NEW WAY OF DOING THINGS. IT WILL ALLOW DIFFERENT KINDS OF ACCESS. HOW DO WE THINK ABOUT LEVERAGING THAT IN THE CONTEXT OF WHAT WE ARE ALREADY DOING? DOES IT MAKE BUSINESS TRANSACTIONS EASIER? DOES IT CHANGE THE GOODS YOU BUY? REALLY THINKING ABOUT HOW TO MAKE THAT UNAPPROACHABLE EXPERIENCE. EMILY: ONE THING NOT CHANGING FAST ENOUGH IS THE REPRESENTATION OF WOMEN IN THE TECH INDUSTRY. THIS 2% THAT KEEPS BEING THROWN AROUND, 2% OF VENTURE CAPITAL FUNDING WENT TO WOMEN ONLY. THAT IS LIKE 17%, BUT THAT MEANS MORE THAN 80% OF TECH VENTURE CAPITAL IS GOING TO ONLY MALE ENTREPRENEURS. WHY ISN ' T THAT CHANGING FASTER? WHAT IS GOING ON? KIRSTEN: IT IS INCREDIBLY DISAPPOINTING AND FRUSTRATING BECAUSE IT IS A DOWN TICK FROM THE YEAR BEFORE AND IT IS UNACCEPTABLE ON ALL KINDS OF LEVELS. ON THE POSITIVE SIDE, 12% OF PARTNERS THAT VENTURE FIRMS ARE WOMEN. THAT IS UP FROM 2% A FEW YEARS AGO. WOMEN RAISED $7 BILLION LAST YEAR, THAT IS UP SUBSTANTIALLY FROM ANY YEAR IN THE PAST. AND I SINCERELY HOPE AND BELIEVE THAT THAT CHANGING LANDSCAPE IS GOING TO BLOW THROUGH TO A MORE DIVERSE GROUP OF FOUNDERS BEING FUNDED. AND I DON ' T WANT TO GET HUNG UP ON ONE YEAR AS A TREND. WE CAN ' T ACCEPT THAT, RIGHT? LAST YEAR, LET ' S CALL IT AN ANOMALY AND THIS YEAR SAY THE INPUTS WILL DRIVE BETTER OUTPUT BECAUSE IT IS SO OBVIOUSLY CLEAR WHEN YOU LOOK AT RESULTS THAT MULTI-GENDERED, MULTIETHNIC TEAMS ARE BETTER COMPANY CULTURES. AND AFTER HAVING INVESTED IN 150 PLUS COMPANIES OVER THE LAST DECADE, WE CAN DEFINITELY SAY ONE OF THE BIGGEST INDICATORS IF NOT THE BIGGEST INDICATOR BETWEEN A COMPANY THAT DOES WELL VERSUS A COMPANY THAT DOES REALLY WELL IS THE CULTURE THAT THEY BUILD.

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An Unpredictable Consumer Landscape

Forerunner Ventures Founder Kirsten Green sits down with Emily Chang to talk about how inflation, rate hikes, and the war in Ukraine are impacting the VC landscape, and how the digital revolution ushered in by the pandemic is forever changing consumer habits. (Source: Bloomberg)

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