Meet the Investor Who Bet Early on Warby Parker, Glossier, and Dollar Shave Club

While most VCs were focused on software, Kirsten Green at Forerunner Ventures saw the potential of the direct-to-consumer revolution

Kirsten Green speaks onstage at the 2018 Forbes Women’s Summit at Chelsea Pier in New York City. Photo: ANGELA WEISS/AFP via Getty Images

Usually, the pitches from entrepreneurs arrive electronically. Occasionally, they arrive in the mail. At times, they even arrive hand-delivered by a particularly eager young person hoping to stand out by conveying an I’ll-do-anything-to-succeed passion.

Their destination: 1161 Mission Street, Suite 300, in San Francisco. It’s the office of Forerunner Ventures, Kirsten Green’s venture capital firm.

The pitches, however they arrive, never stop coming. Each year, there are 2,500, give or take. July 2018 was a typical month: 198 business proposals, including 67 wanting to launch new online brands (cosmetics, shoes, toiletries, clothing, you name it), another 64 pitching “platforms” (mostly for selling goods on mobile devices), 16 new retail concepts, and 18 e-commerce marketplaces. Green and her team of a half dozen colleagues sift through all of them. About one in 10, perhaps 200 to 250 a year, get invited to present their ideas to Green in person. Like pilgrims heading to Mecca, the entrepreneurs trek to Forerunner’s office just south of…