Athlete CEO #32: Kobie Fuller of Upfront Ventures on Finding Success as a Founder

Kobie Fuller is the perfect venn diagram of the Athlete CEO – he was a track star at Harvard, used his background in tech to invest early in some of the top winners of emerging technologies including Oculus and Exact Target, and now works as a partner for Upfront Ventures where he continues to help discover and fund innovative tech companies.

He has seen startups rise and fall and knows what it takes to be successful in founding a company, and shares with us what he’s seen over the years. He also is uniquely familiar with how the worlds of sports and business intersect in their values and daily practices, which he has used to help advise new business owners as well as find his own success as a co-founder through Valence Community, a social network for Black professionals started in November 2019.

Prior to Upfront, Kobie was the CMO at REVOLVE in Los Angeles, one of the world’s largest fashion e-commerce sites. Earlier in his career he was an investor at Insight Venture Partners and a founding member of Openview Venture Partners. He was the captain of the Harvard track team when he attended and ran the 200m, and the 400m events.

Topics discussed include:

Why Kobie got kicked off the basketball team growing upAccomplishing big things by taking on the mentality of “It takes what it takes”Putting in the work needed to achieve your goalsThe similarities between athletes and venture capitalistsHow to surround yourself with elite performers instead of bozosThe founding of Valence Community in 2019How start up founders can be successful by leaning in to what they’re uniquely equipped to doHow to find a mentorTips on balancing your life and being a good example to your kidsInvesting in yourself by being selfless and selfish at the same timeThe importance of investing in your health and wellness