How many of them could’ve did it with finesse?
Now everybody like, ‘she really is the best’
–Nicki Minaj, “Chun-Li“
We first met Katie Haun when she joined the board of Coinbase, but her reputation preceded her. She had famously taken down the corrupt agents on the Silk Road task force as part of prosecuting the first famous cryptocurrency-related mega crime. I remember thinking at the time, “Wow, she took down federal task force agents for lining their pockets. She is definitely the real deal.”
As I learned more about her career, I was even more impressed. She stood up to murderous motorcycle gangs and cartels, shut down organized crime, nailed RICO murderers, uncovered the largest money laundering and cybercrime rings, and stopped white collar crime and public corruption. Through it all, her prosecutorial record was whatever and 0. She never lost a case. Not once. Not ever.
So when Katie left the government and began working in our world teaching a cryptocurrency class at Stanford, joining the board of HackerOne, investing in companies ranging from seed to Series C, and advising crypto companies like Chia and Chain, we paid extra close attention. We learned that the same qualities that enabled her to graduate from Stanford Law with honors, clerk for U.S. Supreme Court Justice Anthony Kennedy, and testify before Congress were in full effect in the hyper competitive startup world. A big challenge, we thought, would be for an outsider to network in Silicon Valley or quickly come up to speed on the dizzying array of technologies required to do so. We were wrong. Nearly every crypto entrepreneur we saw already knew and liked Katie. Anyone who was learning about crypto knew who she was and had great things to say. She was relentless, she was pervasive, and most of all, she was effective.
And, oh by the way, in addition to English, she speaks French, Italian, and some Arabic.
I am absolutely thrilled to announce that our newest General Partner is Katie Haun.
