Podcast Summary: The Investor with Joel Palathinkal

Episode: Brynne Kennedy: Impact VC

Date: August 20, 2025
Host: Dr. Joel Palathinkal
Guest: Brynne Kennedy (Venture Partner at Impact Venture Capital & Managing Director at Archibald Ventures)

Overview

In this episode, Dr. Joel Palathinkal interviews Brynne Kennedy, an accomplished investor, entrepreneur, and former congressional candidate, now Venture Partner at Impact Venture Capital and Managing Director at Archibald Ventures. Throughout the discussion, Kennedy shares her multifaceted professional journey, emphasizing innovation as a force for societal good, the intricacies of fundraising on both the entrepreneurial and VC sides, and practical strategies for building effective sales and investment teams. The episode dives into actionable advice for emerging fund managers, founders, and anyone interested in the intersections of venture capital, entrepreneurship, and public policy.

Key Discussion Points & Insights

1. Brynne Kennedy’s Non-linear Journey to Venture Capital ([02:25]-[05:40])

• Background & Career Path:

  • Started in investment banking and private equity, working globally (notably Asia).
  • Founded and ran Move Guides (later Topia), transforming from a relocation service into a leading HR tech platform for distributed work, growing to operations in 100+ countries.
  • Raised $110M in VC, led acquisitions, and managed major company growth cycles.
  • Became involved in innovation and technology policy, advising on education, workforce, and infrastructure.
  • Ran for Congress in 2020, advocating for bipartisan innovation and broader economic opportunity:

    “There’s not that many people in Congress… that have lived these things, are working on the future innovations for society. So I should bring this perspective into the government…” – Brynne Kennedy [03:51]

• Post-Congress:

  • Focused on venture capital, working with funds (Impact VC—AI focus, Eight Dimensions Ventures—health & wellness), and continued policy advisory.

2. Core Skills for Fund Managers & Entrepreneurs: Fundraising, Storytelling, and Relationship Management ([05:40]-[10:42])

• Translating Skills Across Domains:
  Fundraising as a “lifeblood” skill, needed in entrepreneurship, politics, and VC. Kennedy emphasizes the essential nature of sales/storytelling for successful capital raising.

  “Fundraising is a tool. It’s a skill that’s important because it allows for the deployment of capital into things that are productive for society.” – Brynne Kennedy [07:09]

• Comparing Fundraising in Politics vs. VC:
  Many skills—storytelling, stakeholder management—translate between raising VC, building a startup, and political campaigns.

3. Building Relationships with LPs and the Art of Fundraising ([10:42]-[14:35])

• Market Observations:

  • Many funds and entrepreneurs exist, but few have a concrete go-to-market and growth plan.
  • Successful funds/companies:
    • Identify their ideal customers
    • Stage funding
    • Set milestones to drive investment conversations

• Best Practices for LP Relationship Building:

  • Start with targeted research: “Am I talking to the right people?”
  • Prioritize direct introductions over cold outreach.
  • Build relationships through networking and nurture them; cold emails rarely work.
  • Have a differentiated, compelling fund thesis.

  “You can’t just pick up the phone and ask someone for money. I always advocate a direct introduction…” – Brynne Kennedy [12:18]

4. Fundraising Collateral: Materials and Process ([14:35]-[18:53])

• Three Layers of Fundraising Collateral:

  1. Teaser (1-2 pages): A hook, to get the meeting/Zoom/coffee.
  2. Deck: Concise (10-15 slides + appendix), sent as a pre-read.
  3. Data Room: Detailed fund info, GP bios, pipeline, (for due diligence).
  • Importance of a clearly defined, focused thesis:

    “It’s really important to do the work in advance… There are so many people raising funds… that just isn’t good enough in a market where so many people are competing for capital…” – Brynne Kennedy [17:19]

5. Scheduling and Etiquette with LPs ([18:53]-[23:37])

• Calendly vs. Manual Scheduling:

  • Kennedy prefers manual scheduling (or assistant) to reduce friction for potential LPs, pointing out that people look for reasons to say ‘no.’
  • Suggests that manual process feels more “white glove” and less burdensome—especially for older or more traditional LPs.

  “Your job as someone raising money… is to make it as easy as possible for them to say yes… I would personally not use calendly…” – Brynne Kennedy [20:15]

6. Building an Early Sales Team in Startups ([23:38]-[33:49])

• When to Hire First Sales Rep:

  • Founders should drive sales up to ~$1M ARR or Seed round.
  • Foundational for learning market fit, customer feedback, and credibility with VCs.

  “I believe the founder should be doing the majority of sales in the early years, principally up to about a million dollars of ARR…” – Brynne Kennedy [24:26]

• Profile of Early Sales Talent:

  • Early sales hires must be able to generate leads themselves, thrive on a blank canvas, and do work that SDRs would do in later-stage companies.
  • Warns against hiring salespeople who expect mature pipelines or territories from the start.

7. Sales Team Structures and Incentives ([29:43]-[33:49], [48:46]-[52:45])

• Full-Stack Sales Reps:

  • Early stage: Sales reps should spend 30–70% of time on pipeline generation, shifting to more closing as the pipeline matures.
  • Even at scale, expect some lead generation from AEs, not just SDRs.

• Incentivizing Sales Teams:

  • SDRs: Paid on meetings booked.
  • Account Executives: Paid on revenue closed.
  • Marketing/Demand Gen: Paid on pipeline targets.
  • Keep targets simple; focus on revenue outcomes.
  • Use aggressive accelerators for top performers.

  “In the enterprise side, the typical structure is 150% of the comp is base and 50% is variable tied to hitting their targets... Once they hit quota and start exceeding it, then having a pretty exponential increase...” – Brynne Kennedy [51:14]

8. Hiring and Interviewing Sales Talent ([33:49]-[37:47])

• Interview Process:

  • Stage 1: Assess skills/experience (pipeline management, methodologies).
  • Stage 2: Test for heart/hustle (behavioral—“what’s the hardest thing you’ve done?”).
  • Stage 3: Require mock sales meetings/presentations to test communication, initiative, and ability to learn about the business.

  “Sales is hard. A lot of it really sucks… You need to test for grit and tenacity.” – Brynne Kennedy [35:23]

9. Sales and Marketing Collaboration in Early Startups ([38:59]-[45:54])

• Nurturing Leads & Follow-Up:

  • Sales must have meaningful follow-ups (not just “checking in”), enabled by marketing content (webinars, product updates, whitepapers).
  • Early hire: Jack-of-all-trades marketing manager to create content, demand gen, and align closely with sales to drive pipeline.
  • Demand Gen/Marketing should be revenue-oriented in early stage; brand marketing becomes important after product-market fit and a scalable pipeline.

  “There should be a minimum of 3x pipeline coverage to hit your number… The magic of the early business is getting that machine working.” – Brynne Kennedy [42:00]

10. Final Advice & Memorable Quotes

[46:38] Life Philosophy

• Positive Reframing and Growth Mindset:

  “All people and circumstances are your allies… this person is giving me a gift that I can learn from and that I can use to further my goals is a really important principle.” – Brynne Kennedy [46:44]

• Maintaining Positivity Despite Rejection:

  “If you’re feeling super down, just pick up the phone and call an old friend… We receive positivity back from people as humans. It really reframes your perspective.” – Brynne Kennedy [48:12]

Memorable Moments & Strong Quotes

• “Fundraising is a skill that allows for the deployment of capital into things that are productive for society.” [07:09]
• “You can’t just pick up the phone and ask someone for money. I always advocate a direct introduction…” [12:18]
• “Your job… is to make it as easy as possible for them to say yes.” [20:15]
• “Founders should be doing the sales in the early years, up to about $1M in ARR… you get important feedback in the early days that goes back into the product…” [24:26]
• “The most important thing is that the salespeople you hire will do lead generation and pipeline building as well as sales and are motivated by that…” [27:38]
• “Sales is hard… test for grit and tenacity… How do they handle it when the 99th person says in a really rude way, no?” [35:23]
• “All people and circumstances are your allies.” [46:44]

Timestamps for Key Segments

• Intro to Brynne Kennedy / Her Career Journey: [02:25]–[05:40]
• Translating Skills Across Sectors: [06:41]–[10:42]
• How to Build Relationships with LPs: [10:42]–[14:35]
• Fundraising Materials and Cadence: [15:30]–[18:53]
• Scheduling Etiquette with LPs: [18:53]–[23:37]
• Hiring Sales Reps & Timing: [24:19]–[27:06]
• Early-Stage Sales Hiring & Structuring: [27:11]–[33:49]
• Interview Process for Salespeople: [33:49]–[37:47]
• Sales-Marketing Collaboration & Lead Nurturing: [38:59]–[45:54]
• Final Life Advice: [46:38]–[48:46]
• Sales Incentive Structures: [48:46]–[52:45]

Conclusion

Brynne Kennedy’s insights bridge the worlds of entrepreneurship, venture investing, and public policy, with practical, hard-won advice for fund managers and founders. She emphasizes the parallels between sales, fundraising, and leadership, and underscores the importance of relationship-building, clarity of thesis, and maintaining resilience and positivity throughout the entrepreneurial and fundraising journey.