Investors Like Me: Sarah Kunst

Sarah Kunst is the managing director of Cleo Capital and a contributing editor at Marie Claire magazine. She has served as a senior advisor at Bumble, where she focused on their corporate VC arm Bumble Fund, and she’s on the board of the Michigan State University Foundation endowment.

Kunst has been named a Future Innovator by Vanity Fair, Forbes 30 Under 30, and a Top 25 Innovator in Tech by Cool Hunting. She has been recognized in Business Insider as a 30 under 30 Women in Tech and Top African-American in Tech, a Pitchbook Top Black VC To Watch, a top woman in VC by The Wall Street Journal, and was named a top DealmakeHer by the National Retail Federation. She was also named a coach for the Cartier Women’s Initiative.

Before diving into our Q&A with Sarah, get more insight on her investing style and experience in this interview on Motley Fool Live below.

I started investing with my 401(k) match at my first job out of college. My dad preached the gospel of compounding interest, and I didn't want to miss out. A few years later, I got started as a professional investor in the VC world, and I've been actively investing as a VC and angel in private markets and still putting my 401(k) and IRA money away annually, of course! I also started investing in crypto in 2013 and continue to allocate to interesting and higher-risk asset classes, alongside my more conservative investing.

When I was very young, my parents made it clear that money was a reward for work, not something that was handed to you. I had chore charts and a sizable allowance for a young kid, but I also was responsible for buying many of my own basics outside of food, etc. I learned at a young age to shop for shampoo when it was on sale, and I successfully convinced my parents that if I wasn't allowed to shave my head, they had to give me extra money for hair care products. Negotiating, saving, spending, and earning have always been a big part of my life. So many people are scared to talk about money. I'm grateful I was raised in a home where it wasn't taboo.

My journey has been long! I started investing and saving as a kid and got into Bitcoin in 2013 and venture capital in 2012. The biggest challenge early on was having capital to invest into the spaces I'm excited about. Being right about a bet on a small scale drives a lot less returns than being right on a large scale.

Read and listen and learn! So much great content out there and so much to learn from following markets and macro events, as well as going deep on a few areas you're excited about.

Invest into fundamentals, and, if you like what you're invested in, hold. Don't buy high and sell low!

I don't see my personal and professional goals as [being] at odds with each other. I focus on living an integrated life where my work and life can coexist. Apps and technology make portfolio tracking and investing easy, so instead of opening a social media app for the 50th time, I'll open my finance apps and make sure I'm aware of what's happening.

I'd buy more Bitcoin when I first heard about it from the Winklevoss twins in 2013! I was interested and saw how passionate they were, but I didn't go deep enough when the price per coin was low.

More diversity in investing, more companies being founded, and technology making it easier to access deal flow.

The lack of diversity at the top of capital allocation and company leadership, the continued reliance on fossil fuels, and geopolitical instability.

I admire Alfred Lin, top VC at Sequoia Capital, for his tireless focus on investing in world-changing start-ups and his endless support of his founders.

I strongly recommend a wide media diet. Find sectors or companies that interest you and spend time learning about them from as many angles as possible. I learn as much about consumer companies from TikTok as I do from earnings calls.

TO THE MOON!