Ep 113: Katie Rae, CEO & Managing Partner of The Engine
- Author
- Jason Jacobs, Katie Rae
- Published
- Mon 20 Jul 2020
- Episode Link
- https://www.mcj.vc/media/podcast
In today’s episode, we cover:
- The benefits of partnering with MIT in founding The Engine
- The mission and vision of The Engine
- The Engine’s focus on “tough tech” and the role it plays as a backer of it
- How The Engine compares with a typical VC firm and important differences that makes it unique
- How Katie landed at The Engine after a long career in technology and investing
- The role MIT plays at The Engine
- The relationship between The Engine and its portfolio companies
- The cross-functional resources The Engine brings to bear on behalf of its companies
- Katie’s perspective on balancing investor returns and organizational mission
- The criteria The Engine uses in selecting companies in which to invest
- How VC has become more MBA-driven than science-driven and the neglect of “tough tech”
- The biggest gap in the financing landscape for “tough tech”
- The overlap between The Engine’s style of investing and the style popularized on Sand Hill Road
- What The Engine’s LPs think of the incubator’s hybrid impact and returns mission
- What Katie thinks of “impact investing”
- How Katie would allocate a $100B to deliver impact
- The durability of “tough tech”
Links to topics discussed in this episode:
- The Engine: https://www.engine.xyz/
- Public Benefit Corporation: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Public-benefit_corporation
- Blended Finance: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Blended_finance
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*Editing and post-production work for this episode was provided by The Podcast Consultant
