From startup finance to VC: Growing a career beyond your comfort zone

Katya Marin is vice president of finance at QED Investors, a global venture capital firm focused on fintech. She works closely with QED's chief financial officer, Jamie Loving, on accounting policies and procedures, financial records, fund administration and reporting. 

Before QED, Katya spent 15 years at high-growth startups, including eight years as the head of finance at QED portfolio company Webs Inc. (acquired by VistaPrint in 2011). She built her accounting experience on the job without going a more traditional accounting route.  

We sat down with Katya to talk about her path to venture capital, working in the finance office of a firm, and her advice for breaking into venture capital. 

CARTA: Tell us about your path to finance. 

KATYA MARIN: Interestingly, I didn't set out to work in accounting. I studied philosophy at New York University and soon after graduating, through a close connection, got offered a job as an office manager for a trading firm in Chicago. It was in that role that I became increasingly interested in accounting as one of the critical tools for managing a business.

A great opportunity arose when one of the partners at the trading firm left to start his own firm and asked me to build out the operations and accounting function at his firm. 

After a few years there, I joined RollingStone.com as the accounting manager, which ended up being a definitive moment in my career. At Rollingstone.com, I  reported to the controller, a woman named Emily Rupp, and she really helped me hone my technical skills.  

I managed the monthly close, and Emily would review my work. She had amazing attention to detail and provided me with extensive notes. I got a list about 60 items long for my first monthly close. At the time, it seemed like overwhelming feedback, but these were precisely the lessons  I needed to grow into the work I do today. 

A few jobs after RollingStone.com, I landed the role of head of finance at Webs.com in the D.C. area, and that’s where I first worked with Jamie Loving, the CFO of QED. He was the fractional CFO at Webs Inc. at the time, and he saw us through the Vistaprint acquisition. We stayed in touch over the years, and eventually he recruited me to join his team at QED.

Had I not worked with Jamie at Webs, I almost certainly would not have found my way into venture capital. I had grown very comfortable running small operations teams, and I could have spent the rest of my career doing that work. Jamie completely changed my trajectory. 

VC was outside my comfort zone, but after five years with QED I can truly say it's my dream job. Having worked at VC-backed companies in the past, it’s been fascinating to be on the other side of the table. QED is scrappy and agile in its own ways, much like startups I have worked with (but with a much more predictable budget).  I have found that having both perspectives is very helpful. 

What's it like on the finance team of a venture firm? What do you enjoy most about your day-to-day life?

When I started at QED, we had a very small finance team—just Jamie and me. So, in the beginning, we had generalist roles. We handled the HR, onboarding, payroll, and benefits; we also managed the accounting for the management company; and then we covered the fund administration side, soup to nuts. This included everything from fundraising to subscription documents to capital calls, along with tracking and reporting investment performance, and internal reporting and investor relations.

The team has grown since then, but the beginning was terrific because I learned every aspect of VC finance. 

As far as day-to-day work is concerned, I love that the work has so much variety. On the management side, it's rewarding to help employees with their everyday needs and benefits. On the investment side, it's really exciting to see the different personalities of founders and their visions coming to life. 

I started this job just before COVID, so I had the opportunity to watch how our investment team worked with founders during turbulent times. Every partner rolled up their sleeves and spoke with each of their founders to help them think proactively about how to navigate their unique challenges. Seeing the team in action like this gave me a lot of confidence that QED was the place for me because I saw just how much they care about our portfolio companies and the people who work at them.

Earlier you touched on how mentors have guided your career. Are there certain lessons your mentors have taught you that have stuck with you?

Definitely. Emily took a chance on me and gave me the building blocks to handle everything that came later. I learned from her how to be very meticulous and diligent but still have fun doing the work.  

Jamie has also been an amazing mentor, and he has a very similar attitude. Get the work done, but enjoy it. Having worked with him for almost 15 years, I’m still struck by how consistently upbeat and supportive he is. He’s taught me that no task is trivial, and people can achieve great things when you give them the opportunity to test and learn.  By having such great mentors and leaders, I've learned that this work is about providing information as a basis for decisions,  being supportive in any way possible, and keeping the larger mission front-of-mind.  

What advice would you give to someone looking to build a career in venture? 

Never underestimate the power of building strong, authentic relationships throughout your career. When you find people with shared passions, keep in touch. 

It's important to be incredibly honest about what you don't know as much as what you do, and that's where the learning happens. The first thing I noticed at QED was how curious everyone is. That curiosity is how growth happens as individuals and as businesses.

There are so many different focuses at VC firms, and what I've observed is that a lot of succeeding at one is finding a focus that aligns with what you're passionate and eager to learn more about. Nigel Morris, co-founder and managing partner of QED, is passionate about fintech, not to mention as a co-founder of Capital One Financial. He is a luminary in the industry.  He's brought people on board who share that passion. I think it would be very hard to be a generalist trying to find companies that are going to do well in an abstract way as opposed to having that focus and thesis. 

Are there any common misconceptions about venture that you've found to not be true?

I think I did have some misconceptions before I was in the industry. I thought it would be a lot of strong, opinionated, inflexible personalities. But I've been struck by how thoughtful, collaborative, and creative our investment team is. A lot of the job is about working with founders, and strong relationships are the foundation. 

There are also a lot of extroverts, which is interesting for me because I tend to be the opposite (which is part of why I work in finance). But it's truly wonderful to have found a way to participate in the fintech ecosystem. Our investment team is very excited about the work that they do, and that energizes me every day.