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Former Activist To Venture Capitalist: The 30 Under 30 VC Elevating Founder/Investor Relations – Forbes


A 29-year-old venture capitalist and founder of a fund with a niche service offering, Drokova is pushing the boundaries of contemporary investment.Nick Otto

Unlike her peers, venture capitalist Masha Drokova isn’t best known for her daring investments or big exits. She’s recognized for something a bit more controversial: her past as a pro-Putin youth activist. Named to Forbes’ 2019 30 Under 30 List for Venture Capital, Drokova used to lead Russian patriotic youth movement Nashi; a group implicated of harassing those critical of Putin’s regime. In 2010, she left the ranks of the political organizationdue to disillusionment with their intensifying aggressive tacticsmoved to Europe and began pursuing a global career in investment and public relations.

“They said I was betraying Russia,” reveals Drokova. “I was spending time trying to understand people from different sides and everyone hated me. Lots of press have hated me, and it’s been a cycle that I’ve run through again and again.” After working for Runa Capital’s international brand and spending a few years as a VP leading global communications at tech company Acronis, the former member of “Putin’s private army” relocated to the United States in 2014, where she opened her own PR firm. “I closed the door and don’t really follow what’s happening there,” Drokova says of her connection to Putin and his administration, pointing to how she hasn’t communicated with the president in a decade.

To the 29-year-old, what the public thinks of her history isn’t that meaningful. She’s unyielding in her belief that what should matter most are her present contributions. Earlier this year, she founded her own firm Day One Ventures. With a fund size of $30 million, Drokova’s company packages the best of both worlds: offering investment in startups paired with resources to lead marketing and communications.

Her transition from adolescent activist to one of the only female founders of fully-backed funds (Crunchbase’s latest Women in Venture report shows just four women belonged to this category in 2017) was natural for a person used to leadership roles. “I have very simple rules for life,” she says. “One of the rules is to never do what you don’t want to. I also never spend time with people with whom I don’t feel a deep human connection with. I think every kind of partnership is something you should want to grow and develop together.”

This philosophy transcends from personal preference and spills over into professional actions. The young VC “lives by love” and tries to facilitate a similar attitude within the startups she partners with. Drokova approaches entering into partnerships with entrepreneurs the same way many approach relationships with significant others.

“I do ask [founders] weird questions, like: ‘What was your biggest heartbreak? And how did you live through that?’” Getting direct about emotional pain is only scratching the surface. “I also ask, ‘What was the moment in your life when everyone hated you?’ Or, ‘What was the hardest thing to go through in your entire career?’” She says she even has founders open up about their most spectacular dreams that never came to fruition.

Drokova clarifies that she doesn’t push intimate conversations with the aim to upset anyone she’s considering a business agreement with, but rather to see how these prospective partners mitigate roadblocks. “Hardship is one of the best ways to grow. I want to see how they go through a crisis.”

In many ways, idiosyncratic strategies like these speak to the VC’s business savviness. Day One Ventures is barely a year old and already backing a selection of more than 20 scaling startups like Winnie, Digital Genius and 30 Under 30-founded company Superhuman. Simultaneously, the firm runs point on PR for the brands they work with, as managing professional communications is intrinsic to their investment.

By doing this, Day One leverages the power of versatility to stand out from other funds focusing on early-stage startups. “We just realize how valuable it is to help companies grow by having them put together the narrative which clarifies what they do and explains easily and simply what their mission is,” Drokova says. “Then, how they should share it with the world.”

There’s no denying that merging PR management with funding is an agile way to redesign the classic founder/investor partnership. Drokova doesn’t stop there, however. She invests only in products she can swear by. For the VC, everything is personal – from her communication style with business leaders to how she devotedly uses their products and services.

It all spirals down to a pivotal deciding point for the angel investor: can she see herself using the product-in-question for the rest of her life?

If the answer is yes, Drokova is interested. She’s crafted a lifestyle out of using the ideas she invests in. “I wake up and I shower with Nebia. And then I typically listen to something on Portal, like a nice talk or inspiring ideas. I use Knowhere News because even if I’m not connected to Russian politics I still want to receive accurate information, and I know how information can be changed.” The list goes on to name everyday usage of 10 of the products her fund has endorsed, including Public Goods, Atoms and Truebill. It also subtly echoes Day One’s initiative to champion the marketing and communications of the brands they are financing.

Is her way of doing business—comprised of a candid founder/investor camaraderie and publicized product devotion—the way forward for all VCs? Drokova hopes so. “I do think that it creates a new model of relationships that they [other investors] can hopefully incorporate. It’s a relationship that you choose,” she says.

Displaying trust, vulnerability and a staunch belief in a startup are the traits within an investor that Drokova believes contemporary founders now look for. “Once you have this truth and transparency with each other, you want to have it more.” Her advice to fellow backers is pure and uncomplicated. “Yes, you could still succeed if you screw your portfolio of companies, but you could succeed even more if you’re just great to your founders.”





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