How VC Katie Haun weathered the crypto market collapse

Good morning, Broadsheet readers! ServiceNow‘s CFO brings her company into the Fortune 500, the Trudeaus announce their separation, and Katie Haun weathered a yearlong crypto storm. Have a wonderful Wednesday!

– Year one. In January 2022, Katie Haun was on the cover of Fortune. The venture capitalist had just revealed her plans to leave Andreessen Horowitz and launch her crypto fund Haun Ventures, which became the largest debut fund ever raised by a solo female VC.

But shortly after Haun’s triumphant $1.5 billion moment, the market turned. Crypto—once the hottest sector for Silicon Valley investors—was suddenly, to some, a liability.

In a new Fortune piece, reporters Leo Schwartz and Anne Sraders outline how Haun has navigated such troubled waters. Like many founders and VCs, she honed in on a message: downturns are when the real builders get to work. But the crypto slump has been less of a temporary dip, and more of a market correction defined by historic frauds and collapses. Leo and Anne compare launching a new crypto fund in early 2022 to “starting a new movie theater chain right before the pandemic.”

While Haun successfully raised her fund, many investment opportunities dried up and she had to rethink her deployment schedule. Some investors who were once infatuated with Web3 have shifted focus to A.I., but Haun has continued to back promising startups in the category, like the NFT platform Zora and the blockchain network Aleo.

In this feature, Haun’s colleagues, friends, and LPs share their view of the firm’s performance so far.

It’s too early to determine the success of the firm’s bets, most say. Much of Haun’s attention, while dealmaking is slow, has been on crypto advocacy with lawmakers. The former prosecutor shifted to a behind-closed-doors strategy as the general public’s view of the industry plummeted.

Read the full Fortune story here.

Emma [email protected]@_emmahinchliffe

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