Maria joined Madrona in 2021. She focuses on sourcing and evaluating new investment opportunities across Madrona’s investment themes and supports the growth and strategy of current portfolio companies. Maria partners with consumer, enterprise, and Web3 founders. Across each of these spaces, she takes a design thinking and user-focused approach. She believes in the power of young entrepreneurs and changemaking technology, elevating people’s lives through greater productivity and new experiences.

On the consumer side, she loves products that connect technology with culture and fundamentally change how we live, work, or play. She pays close attention to generational shifts like Gen Z behavior and the rise of side hustles. In enterprise, she likes products that focus on providing a wonderful user experience, unlocking greater efficiency and productivity. Lastly, she loves the community and energy around Web3, and that crypto democratizes ownership. She is excited about the incredible field of opportunity for Web3 infrastructure and consumer applications, as well as insights from consumer behavior within the Web3 ecosystem that may apply to business models more broadly.

Journey to Madrona

Maria was an associate at K50 Ventures before joining Madrona. There, she focused on Pre-Seed through Series A investments. Maria co-founded a consumer syndicate group that invested in early-stage, value-driven companies for the next generation of consumers. Maria started her career in the Gap Inc. Rotational Management Program. She rotated through multiple business functions and product categories and completed project work with the corporate strategy team. Maria has lived in Chicago, NYC, San Francisco, and London. She also traveled solo around Asia. Her fascination with consumer behavior makes her excited to have new experiences in cities around the world.

Lessons learned

Building a startup is incredibly hard. There will be endless tough decisions, but hard experiences provide growth opportunities. Facing tough decisions and working through them will lead to the best personal and company growth opportunities that improve team and company functionality in the long term.

When she’s not in the office…

Maria can be found at art museums, workout classes, hiking, baking, or painting in her free time.

Noteworthy

Maria graduated with honors in entrepreneurship from Washington University in St. Louis with three majors: marketing, entrepreneurship, and design. Maria served as her class vice president,and president of Delta Gamma sorority. She also participated in multiple student-run entrepreneurship clubs. Maria founded a media company in college, The Power Thread, which highlighted and shared stories from underrepresented small business owners and entrepreneurs. Maria was also a competitive figure skater for 12 years and competed as a member of Team USA from 2012 to 2014 at national and international competitions.