Zoe Van Den Bol: Hello everyone and welcome to the Driving Alpha podcast, where we interview top GPs to talk about how they drive alpha for their portfolio companies, their LPs, and the rest of the entrepreneurial ecosystem. I am thrilled to be joined by Heather Hartnett, the CEO and Co-founder of Human Ventures.
So her career started in philanthropy and investing at the David Lynch Foundation, where she honed her skills in fundraising and built a powerful network within the family office ecosystem. Her journey then led her to City Light Ventures as an entrepreneur in residence, where she focused on building companies that delivered measurable social impact as well as financial returns.
Heather is also the Co-founder of Transact Global, a rapidly growing community of emerging fund managers around the world, collectively managing well over $5 billion in assets. A Kauffman Fellow and one of Entrepreneur’s 100 Women of Influence, Heather is a sought-after voice in the industry, frequently speaking at events such as TechCrunch Disrupt and Fortune Brainstorm, and contributing to Fast Company and Forbes.
Through these experiences, she shaped Human Ventures into so much more than a VC fund — it’s a collaborative platform complete with a build studio, a fund franchise, and a unique corporate partner network. She focuses on investing in companies that meet fundamental human needs. Human Ventures backs individuals with grit, an underdog mentality, and a network mindset, primarily at the pre-seed and seed stages.
Notable investments include Current.com, The Skimm, Tia Health, and Headspace. Now Heather, it is great that we’re able to sit down and have this conversation — so thank you for joining us. To start, could you just elaborate a little bit more on your background and the founding story of Human Ventures?
Heather Hartnett: Sure. Thanks so much for having me, Zoe. I love the theme of Driving Alpha — it’s our business. It’s so forgotten sometimes — really, what are the differentiators that give you that edge? Why are you doing this in the first place? Why is there this mentality of investing in innovation?
We started Human Ventures 10 years ago now, and we’re based in New York City. We’re very long New York. I think the fundamental theme of Human over the years has been “meet the founders where the needs are.” When we started Human in New York, there really weren’t that many places for founders to build together.
So we started what’s called a startup studio. It was a very novel concept at the time — not a lot of studios out there. We had some great people beginning this trend with Bill Gross and Idealab and Betaworks and things like that, but very few. In New York, aggregating a really strong network around founders was really important.
So we started building companies with the founders themselves. Over many years, we started to have some really good success — some hits. And so, the fund franchise naturally came out of that. But I really think that the core of “what do founders need at what time?” — the ecosystem changes a lot. That’s where we’ve adapted the different structures and offerings that Human Ventures has led over the last 10 years.
Zoe Van Den Bol: I know you said it was a natural progression based on what the founders you were working with needed over time. But could you elaborate a little more on when you had that “aha” moment — when it made sense to expand into a fund, or network building, starting from that build studio? What were those progressions like within your mind, in working with your co-founder and the rest of the team?
Heather Hartnett: My co-founder, Joe Marchese, is a serial entrepreneur. He sold a couple of companies, but his last company in 2015, he took a position within Fox. He worked for James Murdoch at the time. He was my first backer. He said, “If you want to start something, let’s start it now.”
At that time, there wasn’t even really a pre-seed environment. So what we thought founders needed was support — especially in New York: access to customers, access to talent, access to each other. We created kind of a connective tissue for that. As you start to build the companies, you have significant ownership in some. They start to raise capital, and you need to defend your ownership. You need to continue to invest.
I loved the notion of impact investing, I loved the notion of early-stage investing, but you really felt like you needed to earn your right to be there. So until the need really came from us being able to build companies that worked — then we launched our first fund. And now we’re three funds in.
I think right now, the differentiated approach is that after 10 years of building in this ecosystem, you have layers and layers of networks that can drive value for your portfolio founders. We always talk about the flywheel effect in venture. I really do think after a decade, you really start to see that — with founders coming back to you looking for investment, with really top talent coming out of the companies you’ve invested in and returning again for investment.
That’s started, and it’s going strong. I think New York is one of the most exciting places to be in tech and venture.
Zoe Van Den Bol: Got it. And I mean, look, I am in New York as well. I’ve been here about eight years — almost a New Yorker once you hit 10. So of course, this ecosystem is very dear to me as well.
Why was New York so special to you? Why did you want to focus on entrepreneurs here? Why was there a big need for them in this geography? Especially in times like now — the Bay has always been a big venture hub, and there’s all this conversation about how you can really build with distributed teams across the U.S. Why is New York City still a great place to build, and why do you still choose to be based here?
Heather Hartnett: I think it’s the people, honestly. It’s the New York networks — the undercurrent that drives people here is unlike anywhere else. Every city has its own flavor, and San Francisco is absolutely the epicenter of deep tech. The amount of innovation and technology that comes out of San Francisco is amazing.
But you want to make sure that you can also build for commercial use cases. In New York, you have every customer. You have every major company. You have people at the height of their careers. You have people at the beginning of their careers. You can meet anyone. People are so accessible in New York because there’s this mentality of connection.
Even the geographic layout — everyone is really living together. You’re reliant on each other, even though you’re in your own silos. The natural ability to network here is unlike anywhere else. Whether you’re in hospitality or telecom or finance, you can find the people, and you can navigate through that ecosystem through human connection.
That’s the underlying difference. If you really get to the heart of it, the New York mentality — and I see this with founders in different areas — New York founders are very attuned to a network mindset. And that really works well with what we have to offer our ecosystem of companies and founders.
Zoe Van Den Bol: And then just going back to your thematic focus — you really focus on the future of human needs. So what exact themes fall under that umbrella?
Heather Hartnett: I always say that the things we need as humans don’t change — they’re fundamental. The technology that helps service them changes, and that’s exciting. I love the fact that we have this new wave of artificial intelligence that is helping make things more accessible.
When I look at human needs, I think of healthcare. I think of wellness. I think of your family. I think of your livelihood. I think of your environment. Over time, we’ve built up our portfolio where you can really see what that means — and what a “human company” means.
I think those are categories where you’ll always find there’s a specific need. People are willing to pay. They’re willing to figure out what they need to solve those challenges and problems. I say that we invest in technology that’s in service of humanity — versus the other way around.
We’re in a really interesting bifurcation right now — how does AI integrate with humanity? How does it either aid more humanity or detract from it? So I think it’s more important than ever now to have these conversations and understand where tech is actually serving how we can be more human.
Zoe Van Den Bol: Definitely a lot of interesting discussions I’ve been having with friends who are outside of the tech and venture realm. A lot of them are pretty scared about the emergence of AI, and it’s like — no, there are a lot of opportunities where it can help you today and the promises are in the future.
Do you have any examples within your own portfolio — companies you’ve been really close to — where, especially in this world of AI, it really is advancing these human needs?
Heather Hartnett: Yes. There’s a category we’ve been referring to for a while as “experiencing connection” — relationship and connection. I think now, given where these models are, there’s a very interesting opportunity to see how humans actually connect with one another — and surface insights that can help that.
Now, you can see that detract from it as well. But we’re really focused on it. We made an investment that we’ll be announcing here shortly in a personal relationship management tool. And for the first time, you can see connections — things that connect all of us.
Databases traditionally have been very technically minded — not relationship minded. And now, with natural language querying, with understanding how people are connected, you can really visualize and see completely different threads in your network — and call them up.
As someone who is a very relationship-driven person, I’ve always been frustrated with all of these tools. I think now we’re going to be able to see things like instant prompts — like when you need to think about, “Who do we know in this space?” or “How do we think about getting a job?” or “How are we going to fundraise?” or “Who do we reach out to for diligence?”
All of that is going to be surfaced to you in a much more intuitive way than it has been in the past. That’s professional relationships.
We’re also seeing this incredible intent with some of the LLMs — with ChatGPT and others — of people using it for therapy, for discussion, for inner dialogue, understanding themselves more. Now, I don’t know that the models are fit to give you the right answers. So we’re working with some of the industry’s most world-renowned experts.
Esther Perel is one of our advisors to the fund as well. Thinking about what answers you should be getting back — are they tuned and trained the right way to help you when you’re asking those questions? And the answer is — right now, I don’t think they are.
But I do think it’s showing the willingness of people to actually converse and understand themselves in a different way. And that’s a huge opportunity. So that human relationship and connection element is very under-invested in, under-explored, and exciting to me.
Zoe Van Den Bol: Yeah, definitely a lot of interesting things to focus on within the intersection of AI and connection. I mean, I find it so funny where, like you said, people are using these LLMs as their therapist.
I was talking to someone last night and they said, “Yeah, I was working through this problem. Chat said I should take this approach.” And I’m like, “Okay, maybe try it out and let me know how it goes.”
So I definitely see a world where we use these tools to really help us. I’m definitely biased and in that camp as well. But one thing I want to focus on now is you’ve kind of coined this term: human alpha.
We’re Alpha Partners — Driving Alpha — so I definitely want to dive into this concept a little bit more. What does human alpha mean to Human Ventures? How is this a critical differentiator for your fund? And just elaborate a little more on this thesis.
Heather Hartnett: When we started Human, I was so surprised that all the URLs and the name weren’t taken — like “human.ventures” or “human.vc.” I’m like, the whole industry is based on people.
Yes, you’re investing in technology, and everyone’s looking for the best tech and alpha and how it’s going to make things more efficient — but you’re really not. You’re actually looking at the talent alpha. You’re looking at where things are underpriced. You’re looking at underserved markets. It’s driven by people.
We had this term when we first started: “good human.” It was people who had really high agency, but also were fundamentally good people. They wanted to see the world move in a better direction.
That term became kind of nomenclature internally. We’d say, “We should have them come in and be part of the network somehow.” Now we have a lot more systematic approaches to how we bring people into the network.
But I think good people really do beget good people. That flywheel we were talking about before — it’s baked into the DNA of the firm. I’ve been talking to LPs about this as well: when you’re building a firm and you have many years and layers built on top of each other, the principles you started with get solidified.
And what we did was really identify our tribe of “human.” People self-identify with it. You meet them at a certain point in their career, and then as they grow — high-agency, ambitious, New York-based — you wake up one morning and everyone’s the head of something: head of revenue, CMO, CEO.
You’re building this network of talent that comes back to you. So I think building both the tech and founder ecosystem alongside an influential corporate network has been a huge differentiator for us — and continues to be.
But that’s where the alpha is. You see value where others don’t. You start investing in it. Over time, you see it come to fruition.
I always call it “picking stock in people.” You’re picking stock in people.
Zoe Van Den Bol: Yeah. So, okay — networks are very important here. How are you leveraging these networks to really discover these people?
Heather Hartnett: Great question. Part of it, like I said, is your brand, your systems, and the processes you build. From the very beginning of Human, we’ve always done 50 to 60 events a year, at minimum.
In the early days, we would just book out eight-top tables at restaurants a couple of months in advance. As we collected really great people, we’d put them together and have these interesting conversations. That was really the genesis of how our network was started — constantly bringing good people together and having them meet one another.
When you watch them help each other, that creates value. If you made the introduction, they create value for each other, and then it comes back to you — the source of that introduction. It’s very creative.
Then we started doing more founder events, more specific events around talent, recruiting, marketing — all of it. It just kept building on itself.
Now we’re doing very thematic, really influential events around different categories. We’ll bring in our founders, our corporate partners, and make sure they meet the right people in the room.
Networking has become this thing — “oh, we have to throw these events.” But the events themselves are not the value. It’s understanding who should be in the room and who should be connecting in the room.
We’ve always had people from Human play the role of connectors at those events. And now, the bigger thing is — we have a hospitality space in our office, and we always say: if you meet somebody here you can help, please do. And if you do, let us know. That way we know what’s happening in real-time and how the network is feeding on itself.
We have internal tools now to see that happening. I think the whole is greater than the sum of the parts — the network starts to become a bigger value than you could ever imagine.
Zoe Van Den Bol: Yeah, I mean, us at Alpha Partners — we wouldn’t be in business if we didn’t have great VC partners and leveraged our relationships. But also, we really try to build trusted relationships that are mutually beneficial.
It’s top of mind for me because I hosted a dinner last night — these “Women in VC” dinners. I host them in my apartment, I cook for everyone. The feedback I got last night was: “It’s really great to be around such dedicated, ambitious people — but also people who are open to meeting others and want to be helpful.” That spirit expands outward.
I wouldn’t be in the investor position I’m in today if I hadn’t met a lot of other great investors who pushed me. It really does take a village to build anything.
I find it interesting that you mentioned tools to track this stuff. So — how systematic is it? And what do those tools look like?
Heather Hartnett: Like I said, now is the time that technology can actually keep up. We’ve always had hacks around the databases we use. But now I think there’s a lot more intuitive processing — not just tagging people, but actually understanding things that make them human.
And you’ll hear — we do have human.ai. You’ll see that coming out soon. It’s going to be a product that Human is launching. More to come on that — it’s exciting!
I do want to touch on something you said about Human Alpha. I’ve noticed that about you — your ability to naturally bring together community. I think it’s such an under-talked-about skill within venture. Some firms understand that, and they value it and hire for it. But when people are trying to break into venture, they ask: “Where do I start?” or “How do I get a job in VC?”
Firms rarely look for this intangible — “Oh, they know a lot of people.” I really look forward to the point where we can actually put more vocabulary and value on those soft, intangible skills — which I think, especially in the age of AI, are the most important skills that make us human. And I don’t think tech is going to duplicate that anytime soon.
Zoe Van Den Bol: No, I’ve been thinking about that a lot too. I’ve always had the fear that I’m not a technical person — how far could I go if I’m not super technical?
But with AI — I’ve been playing with the no-code tools, and I’m like, “Okay. As long as I understand it, maybe I don’t need to learn to code after all.”
What becomes more valuable are these networks — these human connections — that AI can’t do for itself. I’ve also been thinking about the creator economy — not just content creators, but creators who make community, bring people together, and create environments where connection can happen.
That hasn’t gotten enough emphasis — creating the setting for relationships to form. I was fortunate because Alpha reached out to me. They said, “We heard you’re a big community builder — a few people floated your name to us. We think this is a valuable skill.”
And it makes sense, given Alpha’s model. At the early stage, at least from the interviews I’ve done — and from time spent in early-stage VC before moving to growth at Alpha — you really need these connections to build up companies. You need to meet customers, investors, team members.
So having an intentional, vetted network — and bringing those pieces together — that’s how you start.
Heather Hartnett: And there are so many layers to it. Yes — knowing a bunch of people, understanding that a network is important — that’s phase one.
You do this naturally, but some people don’t. So how do you develop those relationships? How is it genuine? How is it not transactional?
Because someone technically minded might think, “I need to gather the smart people.” But it’s all one side of the brain. People who naturally build networks understand what the other person might need. There’s a give and take. It feels fulfilling.
It doesn’t mean it can’t be professionally rewarding — it just can’t be transactional in nature.
That next layer is very under-investigated: why do people have goodwill with others?
Barry Diller, who’s still going strong at IAC and is a master at this, once told a mentor of mine: “You’re only as good as your latest response.”
So — what have you done to develop that relationship so that when you do reach out, they want to respond? People forget this in the industry all the time.
Everyone’s fundraising. I can’t tell you how many emails I get — “Can you introduce me to this LP?” And I always think, “Yes, I could.”
But how have you developed that relationship? Why is it you I’d use my one bullet on?
Sometimes I do — I love it, especially if we’ve worked together or done deals together, or if they’ve come to our events. If you have a real relationship, that’s not an ask — it’s a give. And that’s amazing.
But I feel like the transactional nature of this industry has done itself a disservice — especially now, when everyone has to learn how to fundraise. Before, there was more capital than funds. It was easier to raise. That’s changing.
Zoe Van Den Bol: Yeah. No, I mean, it’s a really interesting balance. Something that comes up a lot is: how much of your time should be spent just being someone’s friend versus saying, “Okay, I actually need something from you — I need to take action for my career, my company, or my fund”?
So how have you managed that balance between wanting to build trust and not expecting anything in return versus the reality of needing something from that person — and maybe sooner rather than later?
Heather Hartnett: I think that when you see natural networkers who are really good at what they do — like Desiree Gruber, who started Full Picture, or Beth Comstock, the former Vice Chair of GE — they’re masters at this. So is my partner, Joe Marchese.
What you notice with people like that is they don’t look for something in return. They invest in high-agency people who also understand reciprocity — Adam Grant talks about this too. They contribute to the community pot without taking more than they give.
So if you build a network of people who believe in contributing, you get this abundant, high-quality network. For me personally, I love the Enneagram. I think it’s a great personality framework — especially for understanding people beyond surface-level data.
I’m a 3-wing-2, which says a lot to anyone who knows Enneagram. That means I’m an achiever and a helper. I genuinely love helping people. And I think a lot of people in venture do too.
The achiever in me wants to get the deal done, return capital, and build a great brand. But the helper in me is fulfilled by seeing others succeed.
So when I ask someone for something, I always think: when was the last time I gave to this relationship?
There’s always this notion — especially in politics — of the “favor file.” And I think, inherently, women are really good at relationships. I don’t want to make this too gendered, but there’s definitely a nuance here.
In more relationship-driven industries — like real estate or media — people get this intuitively. But in tech and finance, it’s all about efficiency. And I think that needs to change.
Zoe Van Den Bol: Yeah. And so, just because you brought up media, that reminds me of your co-founder Joe’s background. You both come from different worlds but are both very network-driven.
How did you come together? What was the founding story of your partnership — and how have those differences in background helped build Human Ventures into what it is today?
Heather Hartnett: Yeah, I always say: similar values, very different skill sets around people.
We share values like reciprocity, relationships first, being human-driven. But our backgrounds are very different. Joe comes from the advertising and media world. I didn’t know anything about that space when we started working together.
But now, it’s so interesting — the entire business model of the internet, advertising, is being disrupted. And suddenly, everyone Joe has been talking to for years — CROs, publishers, ad tech executives — they’re at the epicenter of what’s changing.
Tech is driving the innovation, yes — but the dollars, the commercial impact, that’s happening here in New York.
So I think this notion of human attention — it’s one of the biggest human needs. We only have so much attention. So who’s earning it? How is that changing?
That’s really Joe’s focus. He’s a master networker, but more importantly, he’s a master relationship builder.
And we’ve blended work and life in such a cool way. His birthday party isn’t just friends or just work — it’s everyone from all parts of his life. He and his wife invite people who couldn’t come to their wedding 20 years ago to their anniversary party now.
It’s always about community. And I feel really grateful to be part of that network.
You go to one of those events, and it doesn’t feel like a work event. You leave feeling full — not drained. Doesn’t matter if you’re an introvert or extrovert. It’s just real.
In terms of skill sets — I’m on the investing side, and Joe’s on the build side. He’s a great investor, and I’ve helped build some of the companies here too. But we really have two different vantage points.
Entrepreneurs think anything is possible. Joe will never think there’s no way to do something. He’ll figure it out. He’s like, “Let’s build it, let’s try it, let’s iterate.”
And I’m like, “Well, as an investor, here are the 10 reasons that might not work.”
That dissonance is actually important. It leads to really valuable discussions about how we spend capital.
We don’t invest in anything we don’t think we can add value to. And I know that’s controversial. People say, “VCs can’t add value — that’s bogus.” And sometimes it is.
But for us, we believe we can change the trajectory of a business from day one. We only have so much attention and network power — so we want to direct it toward companies that really understand and value what we bring.
Zoe Van Den Bol: Yeah, that is… I definitely resonate with the whole “VCs add value” thing. It’s often like, “Okay — how, exactly?” But being self-aware enough to say, “We’re not the right investors for you because we can’t add value,” — that’s impressive.
One question I really want to understand is: how do you identify human alpha within the founders you back? Because you’re looking at them in the pre-seed and seed stages. How much time do you usually spend with them before making an investment?
And over time, if you’re comfortable sharing, do they end up being the person you thought they were in the beginning? After being on this journey of building with them for a few years?
Heather Hartnett: Ooh, the juiciest questions. We need a whole Part Two podcast just on this topic.
Just like with investing, people say you’re not really learning until your 50th investment. Same with evaluating people — you learn something every time.
I’ve built a thesis around “picking stock in people.” I’ve tried to identify heuristics, to formulate structured approaches. And there’s a longer answer here, but…
I think people tend to pick based on what they value in themselves. So the first step is being very self-aware: What do you think got you to where you are? And can you recognize those traits in someone else?
If you can find those people, they’re going to feel seen by you. That creates trust. And when there’s trust, you have influence — and that influence helps you help them.
So I really look for founders I resonate with. Founders who understand the flywheel we’ve built at Human Ventures — they get a lot out of our ecosystem.
We’ve had founders come to one of our events and say, “This is gold. I found five customers and three investors just by showing up.” That’s the kind of founder we’re a fit for.
But if someone is very technical, heads-down, and not oriented toward relationship-building, that’s totally fine — but maybe not for us. Another investor may add more value in that case.
So yes — there’s investor-founder fit. It’s not talked about enough, but I think it’s the secret behind a lot of successful investments.
From the beginning, I’ve used personality tests — Enneagram, StrengthsFinder — to try to understand founders beyond LinkedIn. Where they went to school, where they worked — that’s like 10% of who they are. Who they know is important, but even more important is: how do the people you respect perceive them?
That’s a big part of how we evaluate.
I’ve gotten to conviction very quickly in some cases. I’ve had that moment — “I would work for this person.” And that’s a high bar. If I’d leave my job to work for them, I want to back them.
The second question I ask is: would I back this person through the next three things they do? Because the first one or two might not work — and not because of anything they did wrong. Just the nature of startups.
That’s another high bar, but one that I ask myself every time. Because it’s not about the pitch or the idea — it’s about the person driving it.
That’s the real differentiator.
Zoe Van Den Bol: Yeah, that’s great. So many things I want to follow up on. We definitely need a Part Two in the future.
But Heather, I really appreciate you taking the time and joining the Driving Alpha podcast.
I want to leave the floor open — is there a way for founders or other VCs to get in touch with you? Or any final message you want to share with the community?
Heather Hartnett: Gosh, two things I’d share.
One: really look at this emerging space where tech is finally able to help us build better relationships. It might sound counterintuitive, but tech can actually help you become better at being human.
And two: go to more in-person things. There’s a huge difference between thinking you know someone online versus actually being in a room with them.
The premium on in-person interaction is going up.
And to your other question — I go to so many events. I’m very easy to find. If you can’t find someone who knows me to introduce you, then you’re probably not in the ecosystem yet — and that’s okay. But I’m very connected.
And here’s a hot take: I think in five years, email will go away. I really do. It might be sooner.
There’s too much noise. Feels like bots emailing bots at this point. The only things I listen to are warm intros — someone I trust making the connection — or relationships I already know.
So my advice is: invest in your relationships. That’s where everything starts.
Zoe Van Den Bol: Yeah. That’s a great takeaway. Thank you so much, Heather. And thank you to our audience for tuning in to this episode.
Heather Hartnett: Thanks, Zoe. I appreciate it.
