Kara Nortman

Founder & Managing Partner, Monarch Collective · 1 appearance on the record.

computed by AI from the episodes · how this works → · full disclaimer →

investorfounderexecutive@karanortman ↗LinkedIn ↗Wikipedia ↗

Kara Nortman is an investor and sports entrepreneur who co-founded Angel City FC and launched Monarch Collective. Previously, she served as a Managing Partner at Upfront Ventures and spent nearly seven years as an executive at IAC.

6statements → 1claims → 1claims resolved → 4/5average certainty → 1.83/5average debate potential → ≈4.5/5argument clarity, estimated → 6said about them ↓

0 supported 1 partly supported 0 contradicted how the 1 claim stands · each chip opens the sources

1 assertion · 2 opinions · 2 insights · 1 disclosure · every statement was checked. The predictions and assertion are the 1 claim: statements the public record can support or contradict. 1 is resolved. Everything else (opinions, insights, what ifs, disclosures) can never be settled by the record, so it carries no assessment.

The record, in short

What the tape says about how Kara argues and how the claims held up. Everything they said, and everything said about them, is in the tabs below.

How they sound: speaking style how? →

266 words/min while actually speaking · 2.3 um and uh per 1k words

No argument clarity score for Kara Nortman: no usable question→answer exchanges on raw tape (a fair score needs 8+). We do not score a sample that small. Roundtable and news formats yield far fewer direct exchanges than interviews. Their coarse estimate from 12 exchanges on the produced feed is ≈4.5/5, shown at half point precision because the sample is small and produced tape scores higher.

Measured by listening to 5,676 words across 1 episode, but every recording we have of Kara Nortman is the aired feed, and an editor cleaned that audio before release. Some of the hesitation was cut before we ever heard it, so read these as floors: the true rates are at least this high. These are measurements of speaking style, not scores. How it's measured →

How the interview went all their pushback → series average →

Across 1 rated episode:

host pushback ▾ 2/10

pushed back at the host ▾ 1/10

setup questions received 70%

host pushback: the hardest questions Harry asked, tap to play ▶ 9:22“at such a young age, 24, 25, how did you generate the respect from the founders that you deserved when, when you did have Little experience.” ▶ 13:04“Do you think you can ever be too close to a board member?” ▶ 14:59“Do you spend the majority of your time with those that are struggling? I've heard other VCs who spend the majority of your time with the kind of unicorns of their portfolio to ensu…”

when Kara pushed back ▶ 22:14“Yeah. I mean, you know, the data, the data that comes out of VC is almost all always anecdotal. So I'd love to say, yes, I've seen that data and it's awesome. But if you have it, I…”

What they said6 What others said6 Episodes1

Everything Kara Nortman said on 20VC that made the record, most notable first. Filter by type, assessment or year in the ledger →

Opinion

Nortman: Deal picking accounts for at least 50% of VC value creation

“I definitely think the picking is 50% or more, but I very much believe in the doing”

Kara Nortman Dec 7, 2016 ▶ 16:18 20VC: How To Assess Founder Psychology, Why Talking About Financial Returns In The First Meeting Is Always Wrong & How To Allocate Time Amongst A VC Portfolio with Kara Nortman, Partner @ Upfront Ventures

Assertion Partly supported

Nortman recruited Sean Rad to IAC before he created Tinder

“I went in and recruited Sean Radd into IAC and gave him his first business plan, which turned into something completely different. It wasn't Tinder. He took it and very much made it his own, but it was something I got involved with the day-to-day of in the fir…”

Kara Nortman Dec 7, 2016 ▶ 8:36 20VC: How To Assess Founder Psychology, Why Talking About Financial Returns In The First Meeting Is Always Wrong & How To Allocate Time Amongst A VC Portfolio with Kara Nortman, Partner @ Upfront Ventures

Insight

Nortman: Selecting board members for brand over chemistry is a founder mistake

“I think this is a mistake a lot of people make as founders, which is to try to get the biggest names or something that they think is sort of like a brand of a particular board member without really doing a lot of work to make sure that you have the right chemi…”

Kara Nortman Dec 7, 2016 ▶ 9:44 20VC: How To Assess Founder Psychology, Why Talking About Financial Returns In The First Meeting Is Always Wrong & How To Allocate Time Amongst A VC Portfolio with Kara Nortman, Partner @ Upfront Ventures

Insight

Nortman: Board seats drive gender diversity faster than VC partner roles

“I think that's the fastest place to make change, getting more women into venture roles, into, you know, kind of real decision-making GP roles in firms that can write real check is another one. It seems like that takes longer than changing the board, but both o…”

Kara Nortman Dec 7, 2016 ▶ 24:32 20VC: How To Assess Founder Psychology, Why Talking About Financial Returns In The First Meeting Is Always Wrong & How To Allocate Time Amongst A VC Portfolio with Kara Nortman, Partner @ Upfront Ventures

Opinion

Kara Nortman: Founders focusing on exits in first pitch are a red flag

“Somebody who's talking about exit in the first meeting. And I should say not, and not exit in terms of, you know, because we may ask that sometimes, hey, where does this go? What happens? Who do you think might this might be a part of someday more like they're…”

Kara Nortman Dec 7, 2016 ▶ 28:20 20VC: How To Assess Founder Psychology, Why Talking About Financial Returns In The First Meeting Is Always Wrong & How To Allocate Time Amongst A VC Portfolio with Kara Nortman, Partner @ Upfront Ventures

Disclosure

Nortman: Upfront partners only invest in about two new companies per year

“We only invest in about two companies a year.”

Kara Nortman Dec 7, 2016 ▶ 16:50 20VC: How To Assess Founder Psychology, Why Talking About Financial Returns In The First Meeting Is Always Wrong & How To Allocate Time Amongst A VC Portfolio with Kara Nortman, Partner @ Upfront Ventures

The other half of the tape: Kara Nortman's own voice is left out of every number here. Other people bring the name up 5 times in 4 episodes on 20VC. 1 statement on the record names them. every mention, with the transcript →

Who brings them up most Harry Stebbings 3 Alexis Ohanian 2

Statements about Kara Nortman, by other people (1)

Disclosure

Ohanian Gave Angel City FC Founders Majority Ownership Without Capital Contribution

“I actually made sure the three founders Natalie, Cara, and Julie actually had a majority of the ownership.”

Alexis Ohanian Aug 7, 2024 ▶ 13:10 Alexis Ohanian: The Full P&L Breakdown of the World's Most Valuable Women's Sports Team | E1187 · 20VC with Harry Stebbings