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Founder-First VC: Equity, Access & Real Signals
General Partner Christina Quinn (SSC Venture Partners) sits down with Adam W. Barney to move beyond the panel talk and into practice: which signals actually earn a second meeting, how to translate messy early traction into credible proof, and concrete ways funds and founders can widen the on-ramp for underrepresented builders...without performative theater.
In this episode:
- Signals VCs trust: customer pull, learning velocity, and the right kind of focus
- Noise to ignore: vanity metrics, bloated roadmaps, and “partnerships” that aren’t
- Equity → operations: process changes that expand access (deal flow, diligence, support)
- Deck clarity: the 6-slide path that respects everyone’s energy and still lands the point
- EnergyOS move: one weekly habit to protect momentum while fundraising
3 takeaways you can use today
- Clarity > volume. Lead with one sharp problem, one real customer proof, one next milestone.
- Access needs a system. Make inclusion a process, not a press release—change sourcing and the first-meeting gate.
- Protect your energy. Schedule your recharge/review loop before you ship; it’s how you keep signal high for the long game.
Guest
• Christina Quinn, General Partner - SSC Venture Partners
• LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/christinamquinn/
• Firm: https://sscventurepartners.com/
• Email: christina@sscventurepartners.com
Host
Adam W. Barney - Transition Leadership Coach & host of Is Anything Real?, the Reality-First Leadership show for builders who optimize for proof over theater.
👉 Book a 20-min Foundation Call: https://calendly.com/adamwbarney/foundation-call-20min
Support the show (48-hour push)
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- Drop a 5★ review with “Lead with Humanity” in your note, language that helps others find it this week
Chapters
00:00 Why founder-first still wins
02:11 Real signals vs. theater
07:08 Equity into operations
12:45 Turning early traction into proof
18:10 Deck clarity and decision hygiene
23:40 EnergyOS habit for momentum
26:55 Next steps for founders
Creators and Guests
What is Is Anything Real??
Is Anything Real? is the Reality-First Leadership podcast for builder-leaders who want outcomes, not optics. Each week, Adam W. Barney sits down with founders and operators to unpack positioning, marketing, community, energy management, and influence - plus the numbers behind what actually worked.
You’ll hear: a quick Reality Check, a practical Proof Stack (inputs → actions → outcomes), and one EnergyOS habit you can run this week. Specifics over slogans; humane systems over hustle cosplay.
New episodes every Wednesday at 12:00 PM ET.
👉 Book your 20-min Exploration Call: https://calendly.com/adamwbarney/explorationplugin-20min
[00:07.5]
Welcome back to "Is Anything Real?", the show where we don't just chase impressions, we interrogate them. Today's spicy take: rhe most powerful stories often can't be told, especially if you work in venture capital or anything that's SEC adjacent. I'm your host, Adam W. Barney, and today we're peeling back the legalese to talk about what it really means to market in a world where paid advertising isn't just optional, it's often off limits.
[00:33.4]
Joining me is Christina Quinn, a marketer turned VC whisperer who consults for fund managers navigating compliance chaos and brand invisibility, all while backing emerging talent through SSC Venture Partners. Christina, welcome to the show.
[00:48.9]
So nice to be here, Adam. Nice to see you. Awesome. Okay, I've got to start here. Based on our previous conversation. Craigslist first job twins. You're officially my favorite guest. Based on that. Honestly, you're the only other person I've ever met who has a similar or the same story.
[01:06.4]
So, yes, definitely something that stood out about both our backgrounds. Awesome. Let's rewind a bit, though, to really start. You started in boutique mutual funds, landed at HarbourVest, and now work with emerging VC managers. What would you say is the common thread across all of that?
[01:23.8]
Yeah, I think in every role I've ever had, the thing that has truly been the through line for all of it is helping people articulate their stories. Right. My boss at the first firm I ever worked at, which was a small boutique in Rhode Island that serviced boutique mutual funds, was that people invest with people.
[01:44.2]
And I do think at the end of the day, like, there are not as many sales processes or even marketing motions where the final decision to buy, so to speak, comes from having to sit down with the person who's the head of the business. And I think in both private as well as public funding that's often the case if you're doing large numbers, when it comes to investing.
[02:05.4]
And so whether you're someone trying to do a mutual fund strategy or you're someone who's been running a multi billion dollar strategy for your whole career, you need to be able to articulate your story and tell your customers, in this case investors. Right. How you're going to manage their capital in a way that's going to be aligned with their goals.
[02:25.0]
I mean, that's what it comes down to. Right. So, telling the stories. But, how would you say marketing became your superpower in a world where almost no one's allowed to say anything? Yeah. It's funny because if you had asked me when I was in undergrad, I very much, I thought I was going into magazine publishing, right?
[02:42.7]
Like "The Devil Wears Prada" was my favorite movie. I had interned at Conde Nast. That was very much the world I saw myself in. And so I really fell into everything finance-related by accident, despite the fact that I went to the business school at Boston College, which was a great place, and I'm obviously a huge fan of, but I'd say for me, like, what I loved about, and it's why I've spent my whole career and it really hooked me from the beginning is marketing and financial services is kind of more of a problem-solving exercise, I'd say in some ways, right.
[03:10.8]
You have these specific regulations. There's certain things you literally cannot say, or you can say it, but you have to caveat it. And I'd say I, throughout the course of a lot of my career really was able to be good at what I was doing or level up in what I was doing by becoming that friend of compliance and not just understanding, you know, okay, we can't do this, but asking why.
[03:33.4]
And thankfully being in environments where I had people who spurred that intellectual curiosity and were willing to explain it to me. And I think it's once you start to understand what is possible, it then gives you the space to like, okay, well, we can't say this about the product, but we can highlight this thing over here, or we can say it if we caveat it, or we have an appendix with footnotes, etc.
[03:55.1]
So I think for those of us maybe that like to solve puzzles or you know, love a board game, love a strategy game, it fits in that circumstance. I would say it's sort of regular marketing but with more, you know, obstacles to go over.
[04:10.3]
More, more obstacles, more roadmaps. I mean, I remember working with Bank of America through the 2008 financial crisis when SOX compliance came into play. And I think the only thing that probably people listening would understand even better is the healthcare, the HIPAA compliance and how to play there.
[04:27.3]
So. Right. It's a fascinating world to work in. Yeah, the products too. What I would add to that as well is it's very interesting when you're marketing a service because you can't touch it, you can't physically interact with whether someone's going to be a trusted partner to you or you have numbers to engage with.
[04:48.2]
But there is something different, I think, than when you're selling a physical product or even a service that's really easy to wrap your head around. It's sort of this intangible thing sometimes when you're speaking about an investment strategy as the product that you're hoping someone engages with and ultimately wants to buy. Yeah, I mean, in that vein, I'm sure you've got at least one, you had to be there moment from your time in financial services marketing that people who've never worked in that industry just wouldn't understand.
[05:15.0]
Is that something, not to obviously break any NDAs or compliance, is there one that you would want to bring to the conversation here? It's an interesting question. I mean, I think a thing that I feel really fortunate. So I've had my own boutique since 2021, went off on my own and kind of had the thesis that what I had learned while I was at HarbourVest, which was largely around how do you build and market great financial service products in the private markets.
[05:41.0]
Right. So not public things like venture capital, things like private equity, real assets. HarbourVest had been doing that for 35 years when I was there. And so really learned from people who are the experts and have spent their whole career really honing those messaging. My thesis was that background is something that there's a lot of people who want to start their own fund and maybe they're really good at investing, but they actually haven't had to do that business side of it.
[06:04.4]
They haven't had to do the marketing or do you know, the other less glamorous things like the bookkeeping and all of the operational stack. And so my first client, when I went out on my own actually was a BC alum. So very easy connection for me because the fund that I manage now we invest in Boston College entrepreneurs.
[06:22.5]
You and I have talked about that. And so, BC is a common thread in a lot of things in my life. But one of the first funds I had the opportunity to work on, my first client, so to speak, that was an individual fund manager for my own is a gentleman named Bill Clerico, who was a couple years ahead of me at BC, successful tech founder.
[06:39.0]
He co-founded a company called WePay, got acquired by JP Morgan down the line. But for him, his second act after that really incredible journey was he had land, had bought like rural land in Northern California, and was sort of trying to think about what to do next with his life.
[06:55.5]
And he was a volunteer firefighter. And for him, one of the biggest things was learning about what risks are from wildfire, learning about how do you solve and treat wildfire. Right. What are those big concerns? And, so he launched a fund, and I got to work with him up to the launch and work with him on the deck that he used to raise the $35 million fund.
[07:13.8]
And that was really cool, I'd say. And it's so interesting because that was in 2021, right. We've seen several large, really devastating mega fires, obviously, in that time period since. And he was defining a category at that point, which was firetech. So, think their fund invests in different technologies that are working to prevent, detect, suppress, and recover from wildfire.
[07:36.9]
So really, you can get a wide span in terms of what types of companies you're investing in. But, yeah, I'd say for me, that was a really fun one to work on too, because it's somebody who's so passionate about what they're doing and who's not afraid because they have an entrepreneurial background to do something that hasn't existed before, or try to establish a foothold.
[07:54.1]
And so that's one that I felt super fortunate and privileged to get to work on kind of right away within the first couple months of starting off my own business. So that's really cool. That is pretty cool. Also, I think a lot of listeners here are probably used to talking about, you know, ad metrics and sales funnels.
[08:11.7]
In a VC, it's more like PowerPoint decks and LP trust, right? Totally. Can you give listeners a sense of what fund marketing really looks like behind closed doors? Yeah, definitely. And it's funny because I think when people think of things like venture capital, right, they picture Shark Tank, and they picture an entrepreneur pitching in front of a group of people.
[08:29.7]
And, what I think a lot of people don't know is what the entrepreneur does, the fund manager often has to do too, right? They have to also pitch potential investors because the capital they manage typically comes from different people, institutions. So most fund managers have been in the same seat as an entrepreneur in that they're sitting in front of someone saying, hey, what do you think about what I'm trying to build?
[08:50.1]
Do you want to back it? And especially for an emerging venture manager, it's very, very similar. But, yeah, so a lot of PowerPoints, I'd say I've been a slide girl for a lot of my life. That's kind of what distinguished. That's the few that told me. Same world coming from the agency space. That's it, right?
[09:05.8]
It's yeah. You look back on yourself in college and you realize, was I always the person in the group project who wanted to do the deck? And the answer is yes, but never did I think, oh, that'll translate to financial service, that'll translate to multi-billion dollar product someday, who knows. But yes, lots of PowerPoint, I would say depending on what kind of company you're at.
[09:23.9]
What's interesting in financial services is because you're limited, a lot of it looks like thought leadership, right? So it's how can you author really good market research or how can you help educate people? It's kind of those different pillars. When we think about content at when I was still at you know, bigger firms, you're trying to figure out like what are the lean swim lanes you can play in.
[09:46.4]
And more often than not it's really showing people that you have perspective and being able to articulate how you understand a marketer In the case of Convective, right, it was like how do you build a segment people maybe haven't thought about. So a lot of times in venture specifically, especially where we've had this rise of funds individually managed, like a solo GP is what it's called, you kind of have to build your own brand voice.
[10:09.4]
And there actually is a lot of the same types of marketing you'd see in other things, right. You think of a brand that's led by an individual or like a celebrity led brand. Well the same can go for venture if your job is to make sure the best companies come to you. If you build a great platform and people know who you are, they recognize you, they understand your brand voice, right?
[10:26.6]
I'd say those same tenets really apply. And then on the other side, right, when you get into actual like hard advertising, a lot of it's, there's conferences, right. We think about like co-branded opportunities. The big banks of the world really convene a lot of people, right.
[10:41.6]
You know it from the consumer side in that way, but they also have a lot of budget and money that goes into bringing people together for in-person programming or conferences, sponsorships, that sort of thing. And a lot of, I'd say, bringing together both the people who are invested in the products as well as the underlying, whether that's entrepreneurs or business leaders.
[11:03.8]
So you still see, I mean listen, we all. You get ads for financial services firms, but it's like a car ad where it's all that fine print and I cannot, cannot without restrictions include.....at the end. I think that it's not the other thing too is right it usually, I'd say the brand voices of these firms are kind of formal and it's trust, and it's lots of blues and you know, people shaking hands.
[11:30.8]
And I think over time, as there have been more Neobanks coming about, you start to see some quirkier folks coming to the market. But I think it's, you know, traditional banking or finance marketing has a certain vibe to it that you have to strike the balance of. I mean, I also know in your work over time you've worked with founders who are probably, you know, founders or investors who are brilliant, but they hate that self-promotion.
[11:57.5]
Oh my gosh. Yeah. How do you help them, show up without oversharing and build that balance into how they maybe do that at those in-person events or at some of these broader initiatives that come out there to the world? Yeah, I'd say that's where I really would credit my initial boss, Stacy Havener.
[12:15.0]
She actually has a pretty strong presence, in financial services marketing herself, and is very active on LinkedIn and other channels about helping people do that. But I think it's really helping someone tell their story authentically. And I think it also, what it also comes down to is when you're an investor and you're helping startups with this or you're helping a fund manager with this, it's trying to help them differentiate.
[12:36.6]
And I don't think that's really that dissimilar from any type of advertising or marketing. Right. Is, you're often in a competitive field and you need to really deeply understand how to articulate what makes you special, unique, different. And on the flip side, I think it's that, but then it's also understanding your consumer.
[12:55.3]
I think a lot of times people can get very caught up in, well, I have these great returns and look at my track record. Right. Past performance doesn't indicate future results. The common thing we always have to disclaim. But in reality everyone knows that you are judged a lot by your track record and if you've done well in the past, pattern, recognition is something people care about.
[13:13.4]
But I think you can have the greatest background in the world. But if you're not putting yourself in front of the right customers and you're not trying to understand their point of view or what they need, then it becomes a problem. And I'd say one of the biggest things. And the people that do this best, that I've learned from over time, realize that when you're in front of an investor, you need to understand them before they start to understand you.
[13:36.7]
I think the instinct can be. And this is natural, I think, in most areas. Right. No one wants to sit there and be pitched. Everyone wants to feel like you get what their problem is, and you understand what they're trying to figure out, and what they're working on. And the same goes in financial services. Right? Someone who manages a portfolio for their customers, clients, in that case, is still trying to achieve a goal.
[13:56.9]
And your job is to understand how does your strategy maybe fit into that or not, so that you're not wasting each other's time. Right, right. I mean, sort of another lane, you know, you and I both care deeply about representation, especially at the earliest investing stages. You know, in that sort of mindset, how does early-stage capital maintain being the keystone for equity in the startup world?
[14:21.5]
And why do so few marketers talk about that? I think it's tricky. Right? We've been in a tough environment for kind of a while. I think there are some folks who have strategies that are very explicit. Right. A lot of really amazing people manage funds that are specifically targeting underrepresented groups of founders.
[14:43.3]
But on the flip side, we've seen kind of crazy regulation and people who are angry. This is a little spicy, but we've seen people, like, try to sue folks who are really just trying to get dollars in the hands of people and say, oh, that's discriminatory. Or, like, you can't be focused on this type of entrepreneur because you need to be focused on everyone.
[15:03.1]
And so, I think it's a delicate balance because there's some folks who have very distinct marketing that tells you what they're doing. And I'll give you my own example, right. We invest in Boston College entrepreneurs. You could come to me and say, well, that's discriminatory. What about BU? What about Northeastern? And, the fact of the matter is that's what our thesis is.
[15:19.0]
And I can tell you all the reasons why we do it and why that's critical to how we do our job well. But, I think that it's tough because you can be loud about that, but then when there's regulatory issues, you're worried about toeing the line on.
[15:34.3]
I think a lot of people are becoming very close with their counsel on, okay, like, how can I say this in a way that makes sense? I don't know if that fully answers your question though. But it sort of gets into this. You've obviously got a front row seat to how capital shapes who gets to lead and who stays invisible.
[15:53.2]
For sure. How can marketers, especially in finance, push that needle or push that conversation even more simply? Yeah, I mean, especially right now too, where you see people cutting back on their DEI policies or changing their DEI policies so they're not vocal about it anymore.
[16:09.3]
I mean, I like to look. So when I was at HarbourVest, it's a multinational firm, we had offices all over the place. And I think, in Europe, you see a lot of really good standards around this. I think they're really far ahead on equity and inclusion and the importance of, like, social conscious investing strategies and all of that.
[16:27.8]
And so I kind of think you almost have to look to like, who's leading the market in that way, and then say, okay, how can I learn from that? Or how can I steal? Right. Great artists steal little pieces of it to ingrain in our own. But I also think on the flip side, sometimes what becomes tough is we a lot of times tout the bad numbers or like, we want to talk about it on the nose of like, oh, you know, this group doesn't get enough.
[16:53.6]
And I've been part of that. I care about those numbers. I know those numbers. I champion people who talk about those numbers. But I do think sometimes I've realized that in these slower-moving areas, you almost have to lead with something different and recognize.
[17:09.2]
I don't know. I don't know. We're getting down a path. I'm breaking the third wall. But this is going to be harder for me to speak to because, like, on one hand, there's my feelings about it, which are so strong, and it's like what I believe in in venture. And on the other hand. There's the reality of the market that you work in.
[17:26.7]
Right, in the space that you work in. I mean, I guess to maybe shift that a little bit. What would be your advice to women or underrepresented leaders out there who want to get into the world of VC, but feel locked out? And that doesn't have to be an extensive answer, but is it showing up consistently, or is it about, you know, some other aspect?
[17:47.9]
That part, I hate to say it. Yeah, that part doesn't matter because I know some of the most consistent people in the world who show up that way every time. And they'll still get told no, because frankly, people are biased. And they might not know that they're biased, but if you look at someone's portfolio and they've never backed someone whose demographic looks like you, it doesn't mean they can't, but it tells you something, right?
[18:08.7]
I remember many years ago being at a panel at the CIC, and it was a panel of all female founders and one of them said this. I think it was actually Zoe from, it was ZapperRx at the time. But, she's, you know, head of a different thing now. But one of the things she said was, she was like, all of my male investors had daughters.
[18:27.2]
And so it was that piece. It was like they could see something in her. They had this positive bias where they believed in the power of young women. And so they could see some aspect. Right. They're not explicitly telling her that, but I do think sometimes it's like you can't really listen always to what someone tells you.
[18:44.4]
You have to look at their past performance. Right? What have they actually done? Do they show up? Do they. Are they actually an ally? And I think Allison Byers does a great point of making this point, which is venture capital is not the only way to raise money at the earliest stages.
[19:01.2]
And if you look at the numbers, actually VC, it's abysmal. It's like less than 2% every year. We've never had more than 2% of venture dollars in a year go to teams that are only led by women. That's just factual. Whereas if you look at the angel investing side, the stats are much better.
[19:18.1]
And I think some of that is too, because when you think about an angel investor, they usually have a longer time horizon. They usually have a more personal tie to what they're doing. They have a different agenda for allocating. And so, more often than not, what I would encourage is echoing that, which is like, if you can find a venture firm that seems aligned, and they get it, great.
[19:36.2]
And thankfully, there are hopefully more and more of those as time goes on. Right? But additionally, venture capital is not the only way to raise at the earliest stages. There are angels, right? There are like, kind of corporate, like, there's a bunch of different ways. And I think sometimes angels can be a better fit at the earliest stages, for more aligned capital.
[19:57.4]
And then the other thing I think is like, not to get discouraged. Like that's what I tell people is, it's usually not you, it's often other people. Obviously, if someone's pitching and they don't have their numbers or they're not their best self in that engagement. Right. We're all going to have bad days.
[20:12.9]
But, on the flip side, I do really think that focus on the people who resonate, and I think that goes for anyone; that's not just underrepresented founders. I think you have to ask questions, get curious and really understand who you're talking to and see if there's a fit for what it is that you're building.
[20:29.3]
And if there is, you go really hard on that. But if there's not, don't waste your time on people that don't have a track record of being an ally. I guess. Maybe cynical to say. I mean, that's a great point. I've been in rooms a few times with, with Allison and she's mentioned this aspect of "the angel next door".
[20:46.0]
Right. So that's a balance in it that talks probably about building the network or thinking about a different approach, which is valuable in the personal missions that we both sort of fall into here. Totally. And I'd say that's why angels, it's an individual.
[21:03.2]
Right. So they're going to have a very personal agenda more often than not as to why they're doing that. Right, right. You're investing in early-stage businesses; you know a lot of them are not going to work out. And you're giving that money knowing that 80% of the time, it's not going to come back to you.
[21:19.2]
But there's a reason you're doing it, and your mission aligned. I think for us. Like the reason our firm was founded was to try to be that friends and family network for people at BC who, you know, don't maybe have an angel next door. Although a lot of people kind of do, which is nice.
[21:35.2]
But I think compared to like a Harvard or MIT. where there's so much money available if you're an entrepreneur, BC has been, you know, we're building that ecosystem still, and the school's done a lot with it over the last decade. But I think like that's the most important part is even if you don't have personal access, it's putting your idea out there.
[21:52.3]
It's being open about what you're trying to do and talking to everyone about what you're excited about because it might not be your first degree, but like someone one degree off probably wants to help you, or understands, or has a point of view. Right. It's finding your tribe. Right. So it's out there. Just keep looking.
[22:07.9]
Right. Or keep working towards it. Yeah. And I think again. Right. I think it's also, you can only do that well if you're really in touch with who you are, what you're building, and why. I think that's the piece that has to be crystal clear because vice versa, that's what's going to connect with someone if they know what they're trying to do as well.
[22:28.2]
And then I think too it's like, don't waste too much time trying to educate someone if they don't understand it. Like that is a very noble effort. More people should learn how to be angels. I'm passionate about that. Like it's a great thing to understand. More people should invest in venture funds. Right. But if you're an entrepreneur and you're just trying to raise a round, you don't need to be the one doing that, that education all the time.
[22:47.0]
Right. You want to kind of be interacting with people who have already had that stage, are past it, or like, yes, I get it. I understand why I know what I'm doing and I want to now talk to people who I'm ready to back. That's incredible. Christina, this is exactly the kind of, you know, no BS conversation we try to have here.
[23:04.3]
Truth, nuance, and a healthy respect for the legal department. Where can folks find your work, your writing, or connect with you and SSC Venture partners? Yeah, I would say I am very active on LinkedIn. That's my primary channel. So Christina Quinn, and I'm not on X anymore for a variety of reasons.
[23:24.8]
So I'd say LinkedIn is really the place, and I'm always excited to chat with people in the Boston ecosystem, to chat with young entrepreneurs or what it's like to invest in first-time founders, people coming out of a college ecosystem, and obviously if you're passionate about BC, that's right up our alley, so love talking about that too.
[23:43.8]
And for anyone listening who's navigating a heavily regulated space, maybe in finance, health, or tech, what's one thing you'd tell them about cutting through the noise without crossing the line. Understand the regulation. It is so much more cost-effective to spend time chatting with a lawyer or a compliance person, someone who is an expert.
[24:07.3]
If you can be the best expert on what toeing the line looks like for you, you can help train your team. You can train the contractors you're working with. Like outsource to someone who is an expert and become that expert yourself because it will save you years and sometimes a whole lot of money when it comes to not messing up in that way.
[24:26.5]
Again, maybe I'm biased because I worked in these highly regulated industries the whole time. But I think like, understanding the rules is key. Yep. And legal and compliance should be your friends. You want to be friend of compliance. You want to be best pals with the people in compliance because their jobs are really tough.
[24:44.0]
They are stressed and pressed, and everyone is pulling them in a million directions. They are constantly having to deal with being downstream. And if you can take that person and say, I get it, and I'm on your side, and I care about you sincerely, it goes really far. And that's when you have a last-minute thing you're really trying to get approved.
[25:01.4]
They're more willing to work with you when you've shown that you respect what they're doing and know that they're not just a stick in the mud that's trying to ruin everyone's party. Like, they're not. They're just trying to do their job, too. Right? True. Yep. Well, thanks for tuning in to. "Is Anything Real?", the show that finds the truth behind the templated pitch.
[25:16.4]
I'm Adam W. Barney. Subscribe, leave a review, and check the show notes to hear more from Christina and SSC Venture Partners. And remember, if the loudest voice in your industry isn't saying anything real, maybe it's time to speak up differently. Thanks, Christina.
[25:32.6]
Thanks, Adam.