Kelly O'Rourke

I currently run operations for Good Friends Venture Capital, a fund started in 2019 by the founders of Warby Parker, Harry's, and Allbirds. Myself and one other person run the day-to-day operations - I handle everything on the operations side while my investing partner runs all of the investing. On my side, that's everything from legal, finance, tax, audit, and platform support, helping our founders with just everything on the day-to-day. I've been in venture capital for about 10 years in different roles, and in operations my entire career, so about 18 or 19 years total. I started at Menlo Ventures, one of the top-tier venture capital firms, as a receptionist right after college at UC Davis. Shortly after, I went into the startup world on the opposite side of the same ecosystem, and I ran operations for a venture-backed startup. That kind of got me started in operations where I was able to have this generalist outlook on things and kind of fit where needed - no day is the same kind of career. My prior CEO, Mary Beth, helped me step into my own, find my confidence, and find my voice. She's the one who helped me go from just an operations person to a COO of that company, and having her support with everything, she gave me just all of her trust and let me build whatever I wanted to build. I think that's where I really found my way and got me to where I am today.