From Small-Town Hustle to Silicon Valley Strategy
Sarah Kunst is not your average venture capitalist. 🌟 As the Founder and Managing Director of Cleo Capital, she brings a rare combination of lived entrepreneurial grit, marketing savvy, and bold, purposeful investing. From growing up in Mt. Pleasant, Michigan to navigating Chanel’s boardrooms, founding a sports media startup, and launching a venture fund with a mission—Kunst has built her career across intersecting identities: operator, investor, and ecosystem reformer.
This guide unpacks Sarah Kunst’s multi-dimensional journey, her philosophy on leadership and investing, and the hard-won advice she offers to early-stage founders navigating today’s unpredictable startup terrain. 💼 Whether you’re raising your first round, rethinking your founder mindset, or simply seeking inspiration from someone who’s walked both sides of the table—Sarah Kunst has something valuable to offer. 🚀
Built in the Real World: How Early Lessons Shaped a VC
Growing up with entrepreneurial parents in Michigan, Sarah Kunst got a front-row seat to small business realities—her father ran an insurance agency, and household conversations often centered on money, budgeting, and negotiation. 💰 By middle school, she was negotiating her allowance and buying her own necessities—lessons that would shape her instincts as a savvy operator and later, as a fierce advocate for financial literacy and negotiation, especially for women. 💡
In college, Kunst split her time between classrooms and real-world experience—managing philanthropy projects for her sorority 🎓, repping Apple on campus 🍏, and strategically setting her sights on New York’s fashion and media scene. These weren’t side hustles—they were stepping stones. Every role built a toolkit that would later serve her as a founder and investor.
Her early post-grad stints at Chanel, Apple, and Red Bull taught her how iconic brands operate at scale. But by 2009, she pivoted into tech startups, landing at Guest of a Guest, and eventually Mohr Davidow Ventures, marking her early entry into the world of VC. Her trajectory wasn’t accidental—it was a deliberate, well-informed climb through layered industries. 🚀
The Founding Years: What Proday Taught Her About the Grind
Kunst didn’t just fund startups—she built one. 💪 In 2015, she founded Proday, a fitness platform that connected users to pro athletes’ training routines. 🏋️♀️ The startup gained traction, joined the Dodgers Accelerator, and positioned Kunst as a founder to watch. 🌟
But behind the scenes, the journey was grueling. Sarah Kunst describes the founder grind as “far from glamorous” and “almost never fun.” 😓 When Facebook’s algorithm shifted, Proday’s marketing engine broke down, and despite her best efforts, the company stalled. Years later, she referred to it as a sports media company that “failed.”
Still, the lessons were invaluable. From debugging operations to managing growth with limited resources, Sarah Kunst learned to operate across functions, make hard calls, and keep moving. She emerged with a clear-eyed view of what it takes to build something from scratch—and why resilience and realism matter more than startup mythology. 💥
Cleo Capital: A VC Firm Designed for the Overlooked
In 2018, Sarah Kunst launched Cleo Capital with a mission: fund overlooked founders and ideas that traditional VCs missed. The insight came while scouting for Sequoia, where she saw how few women had access to early-stage capital and deal flow.
Cleo Capital now writes $100K–$1M checks at the pre-seed and seed stage, often as the first institutional investor. It focuses on three thesis areas:
- 💰Future of Income: How people earn, grow, and manage wealth
- 🛍️Complicated Consumer: Tackling nuanced consumer needs
- 🖥️Decentralized Enterprise: Leveraging decentralization for innovation
But Cleo isn’t just about check-writing. Its scout model—with a majority women network—intentionally expands deal sourcing into underrepresented communities. Diversity isn’t a feel-good add-on; it’s a business edge.
And that conviction is paying off. Cleo’s portfolio includes Ellevest, FalconX, Groq, Hill House Home, Cameo, and more. Kunst’s approach is clear: back founders others don’t see and give them enough early capital to focus, build, and win.
How She Leads: Pragmatism, Purpose, and Straight Talk
Sarah Kunst’s leadership style? Candid, gritty, and purpose-driven. 💪 She doesn’t sugarcoat founder life. Her mantra is direct: “Just get stuff done.” Her advice? Practical, blunt, and urgent:
- “Stop waiting for perfect. Launch the damn landing page.” 🚀
- “Your excuses suck.” 🧠
- “Sweat is required—perseverance means you’re going to sweat a lot.” 🔥
Yet, beneath the hard edges lies a mission: use venture capital as a lever for systemic change. 🛠️ Sarah Kunst wants to challenge assumptions about who gets funded, rewire decision-making power, and push founders to build companies that matter.
Her advocacy is equally bold. From speaking up against sexual harassment in tech to mentoring through Cartier’s Women’s Initiative and leading philanthropic efforts, Kunst lives her values across all platforms. 🌍✨
💡 Tactical Advice Every Founder Should Hear
Sarah Kunst’s founder advice hits hard and sticks. 🎯 It’s not fluff or recycled quotes—it’s drawn from lived experience, wins and failures alike. Her guidance is both strategic and personal, designed to help founders survive the gauntlet of early-stage building and fundraising. 💼 Here are key takeaways she often shares:
🚀On Starting:
Start now. Don’t wait for funding or permission. “Pick a name. Make a landing page. Just start.” Small actions compound. 🌟
🧠On Mindset:
Resilience is non-negotiable. Startup life is hard—and often not fun. But growth comes through grit.
🎯On Focus:
“Know your why.” Don’t chase markets you’re not passionate about. Your time is your most valuable asset.
💸On Fundraising:
If the terms are clean and the money is green, take the check. Be coachable—ego kills companies faster than failure.
🤝On Networking:
Don’t cold pitch billionaires. Build real relationships and make specific, thoughtful asks.
❌On Imposter Syndrome:
“Throw it out like a rotten apple.” There’s no room for it in the pitch room.
Taken together, this advice forms a toolkit for execution-minded, high-resilience founders who are serious about growth. Sarah Kunst doesn’t sugarcoat the work—it’s sweaty, unglamorous, and often uphill. 🧗 But her message is clear: if you commit to the process, you’ll not only build something great—you’ll become someone capable of even more. 💪
Making Moves: Programs, Exits, and Ecosystem Play
Cleo Capital isn’t just deploying capital—it’s building infrastructure for founder success. 🧱 During COVID, Sarah Kunst launched Chrysalis, a founder-launchpad for laid-off tech workers. In 2024, Cleo rolled out a Cybersecurity Accelerator to fund consumer protection startups combating digital threats. 🔐
Cleo has backed over 100 startups 🚀, with exits like Rootine, Agora, and Rent the Backyard. And Kunst herself has earned serious recognition—Forbes 30 Under 30, Top Black VC to Watch, and WSJ’s Top Women in VC, among others. 🏆
Through board roles, speaking gigs 🎤, and nonprofit work, Kunst amplifies her impact across the ecosystem. Her voice is clear: VC can be better—and more inclusive—without sacrificing returns.
The Founder Behind the Fund
Beyond the spreadsheets and scout programs, Sarah Kunst is deeply human. 🌱 Her first job? Working on a farm. 🧑🌾 Her early lessons in negotiation came from arguing for hair product budgets as a kid. Her interests include crypto, investing, travel ✈️, and building wealth through both capital and contribution. 💸
She quotes Toni Morrison to describe her ethos:
“If you are free, you need to free somebody else. If you have some power, then your job is to empower somebody else.”
That line is more than inspiration—it’s how she shows up, funds, leads, and mentors. ❤️ It’s what founders feel when they work with her.
Final Takeaways for Founders
Sarah Kunst’s story isn’t about following a linear path—it’s about rewriting the playbook. 📖 From boardrooms to burnouts, from Proday to portfolio exits, she’s taken every experience and turned it into leverage. 🔧 For founders, her message is clear:
🔁Diversify your experience—corporate, startup, investing—it all compounds.
🔥Use setbacks as fuel.Proday’s lessons made Cleo stronger.
🛠️Prioritize practical execution. Fancy pitch decks don’t beat daily momentum.
🤝Build your tribe. From scouts to mentors, the right people matter.
📢Don’t play small. Take up space, know your worth, and make noise for change.
In a startup world still figuring out how to be inclusive, Sarah Kunst is already there—investing, advising, and advocating. 🌍 Her legacy is unfolding in every founder she funds and every system she challenges. 💡 And if you’re a founder with something bold to build, her call to action is simple:
Start anyway. Learn by doing. Build something that matters. And don’t wait for permission. 💥
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🔖How to Get Accepted to Cleo Capital Cybersecurity Accelerator
