On the latest episode of Straight to Why, Amanda sits down with Vanessa Larco, co-founder of Premise and former partner and investment committee member at NEA, to explore what it takes to build through the impossible—and how the experience of building has shaped the way she invests.
From helping launch Xbox Kinect when the technology barely worked to spending years evaluating founders and ultimately starting Premise with Mercedes Bent, Vanessa has built a career around conviction, curiosity, and an instinct for people who are “urgently dissatisfied.” Amanda and Vanessa discuss what makes an exceptional founder, why choosing a co-founder is closer to choosing a life partner than hiring an executive, and how venture capital can better serve the companies it backs. They also explore the rise of AI agents and why the next generation of iconic companies may come from people who never think of themselves as technologists.