Kanvas

We make new ideas compelling, viable, and investible. We help innovative leaders and founders explore new products, services, functions (e.g. Innovation Labs), or ventures. 

"Kanvas for Start-Ups" -> 

We help founders secure funding, manage burn, and confidently make business decisions. We translate their vision into a compelling, viable, and investible business model.

We offer business model courses to our partner Venture Capital firms, accelerators, and universities to support their portfolio companies. Our capstone content is our six-week "Dreams to Dollars" program.

When we co-invest with our VC partners, we have a proven track record of directly contributing to multi-million dollar raises. 

Example engagements, services, and client references available upon request.

Founder + Partner

HF Scale Partners

Investing @ HF Scale Partners. HF Scale Partners invests in leading growth and late-stage technology companies through direct equity investments and secondary liquidity transactions. Investments include Canva, Anthropic, Epic Games, Eight Sleep, Anduril, ShieldAI, Pipe, Public.com, AngelList, Ellevest, Boom Supersonic, Possible Finance, Webflow, and more.

Principal

The Venture Mentoring Team

The Venture Mentoring Team (VMT) is a nonprofit educational 501(c)(3) dedicated to fostering the startup community by training and certifying mentors, and connecting them with the best and brightest entrepreneurs to help startups reach their full potential.  The organization is composed of 200+ experienced entrepreneurs and executives with corporate, legal, academic, profit and not-for-profit backgrounds who donate their time and talent. The VMT mentors startups to gain traction and sustainability up to their Series A funding.

NYC Chapter President

Certified Mentor for: eMerge Americas (Miami's premier tech conference), Target Forward Founders, Babson College, and more.

Certified Mentor

National Science Foundation (NSF)

One of my best career moments is serving as an Industry Mentor during the U.S. NSF's National iCorps Winter Cohort #3, 2024. Read for more:

About NSF I-Corps:

In NSF’s I-Corps competitive national program, top researchers in science and engineering fields are immersed in a hands-on experience of customer discovery — a key step in the entrepreneurial process that involves talking to potential customers, partners, and other industry stakeholders.

Selected teams are awarded up to $50,000 to conduct 100+ customer discovery interviews during a seven-week course. Through this process, the teams learn how to evaluate the potential for translating their laboratory invention into a successful product and/or service.

About the accepted research:

The Graham Test is a training and concussion assessment system that uses stability and reaction time in sport-specific positioning, with a primary focus on equestrians. As a lifelong equestrian, I'm deeply passionate about the impact this kind of system could have on our sport.

About the role:

NSF I-Corps Teams include a mentor – an experienced entrepreneur who can guide the team as they refine their business models, gain insights from their customer market, and pivot down alternate paths.

Industry Mentor (ICORPS PROGRAM)

Techstars

Mentoring startups on business models and go-to-market strategies. Since 2006, Techstars has worked with startups across a range of verticals, from aerospace to finance, logistics, and retail, connecting them to a network of successful mentors and partners. Each year, Techstars chooses over 500 early-stage companies to join one of their 3-month, mentorship-driven accelerators, investing $120K and providing hands-on mentorship and access to the Techstars network for life.

Affiliated Programs: Techstars New York Comcast

Mentor

Hustle Fund

Angel investing alongside Hustle Fund, seed to Series A. 
Focusing on systemic issues that keep me up at night (e.g. FemTech, financial literacy, digital health)

Angel Squad Member

Global Women in VC

The world’s largest global community for women in venture capital to connect, collaborate, and create new opportunities. Learn more here: https://www.women-vc.com/

Member

Forbes

Founding member of Forbes’ invite-only, private networking forum for leading women to exchange ideas, innovation, dialogue, and support one another.

ForbesWomen Forum

Day One

I participate in Office Hours and Group Mentoring sessions to help founders fine-tune their business models and pitches. It's a blast.

Day One is building an ecosystem to power the next generation of entrepreneurship. Our Fellowship program is purpose built for early-stage entrepreneurs to tap into a vibrant community, powerful network, and guidance from experienced operators, investors and founders.

Better.com

Learned a lot driving strategy and execution during hyper-growth. Highlights below:

+ Drove strategic planning initiatives across C-Suite to facilitate decision-making (e.g. 2020 strategy roadmap, investor relations, quarterly Board Meeting materials)
+ Orchestrated optimizations across the biz during hyper growth, including scaling onboarding capacity of the underwriting function by 200% (in one month!)
+ Managed weekly executive metric gathering and presentations. Became intimately familiar with things like CAC and LTV, and how their fluctuations provoke insights/action. Took a SQL course, too
+ Organized a new cross-functional Data Governance team to standardize company-wide metrics reporting. Motivated to make my weekly executive metric presentations a little easier (!) and to eliminate KPI confusion I saw popping up in different teams
+ Participated in investor meetings and crafted materials as the business prepared for its Series D raise ($200MN)

... caught the 'startup bug' while I was here. Passion projects evolved accordingly. Left to pursue them, and been an entrepreneur ever since.

Strategy & Business Operations

Founder & Partner @ Kanvas | Foster Innovation, Develop Business Strategy, Drive Growth

We’re co-hosting our first Official NYC Tech Week event!! 🥳 
At “Founder Secondaries: The Why’s, When’s, and How’s,” 

We will help founders explore when they should ‘take chips off the table’ regarding shares on their path to IPO or Exit. 

Our discussion will cover:
✨ different kinds of venture secondary transactions, 
✨ who founders could partner with in those transactions (pros/cons of each), 
✨ how much is ‘too much to sell’, 
…and more.

There is a lot of conversation around secondaries... but very few talk about both the investor AND the founding team, like we will.

We cannot wait to co-host with the wonderful team at Corient! 

Big thank you to TECH WEEK by a16z for accepting us as an official event.

Please note - this is an invite-only event. If you’re a Series B+ founder and you’d like to apply to attend, please check out the Partiful link in the comments. ✨ 

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I'm Katie Nowak, an innovation leader, new venture designer and investor sharing examples & lessons weekly.

Follow me + hit 🔔 to stay tuned.

Katie Nowak

Innovation Leader, New Venture Designer, Speaker @ Kanvas || Investor @ Altra Venture Partners

"How do I join a public company board?!?!" 🤯 
Last week, 50/50 Women on Boards Bay Area shared serious insights re: how to start the search for your first public board role.

Here’s what you should know -

✨ Network is queen. 

Like in most things, your network is the most important amplifier.

The most common advice -

Tell everyone you know/meet that you want to be on a board!!

(Prepare a more professional sentence or two, of course.)

✨ You deserve it.

In a world newly fascinated by merit, 

if you're a senior leader, you’re likely already qualified to serve on a board.

…so don’t hold back!

Boardroom experience can look like:
+ Advisory to a startup CEO
+ Board strategy presentations
+ C-Suite executive experience
...and so much more.

✨ It’s a two-way street.

If you do have the chance to serve on a public company board, don’t forget to diligence the culture during your interview process.

Every Board is different, and a lot is at stake!

Take a pulse on the Board dynamics, its relationship with the CEO, and the company culture.

✨ Don't overlook the logistics.

The Board Resume, Bio, and Photo are must-haves.

Getting expert guidance on these can make all the difference.

If you happen to be one of those experts, I'd love your tips 😉 

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The inaugural kick-off of 50/50 Women on Boards Bay Area event was one of the TOP networking events I’ve attended.

It was full of good vibes, incredible conversation, real-time executive coaching, and data-driven insights on the Board landscape.

Huge, huge thank you to my dear friend Carol, Heather, and Shane of 50/50 Women on Boards for welcoming into such a powerful movement.

Onwards and upwards to achieving gender parity on public boards!

PS - Want to come with me to the next one!? Comment below 👇 

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I'm Katie Nowak, an innovation leader, new venture designer and investor sharing examples & lessons weekly.

Follow me + hit 🔔 to stay tuned.

50/50 Women on Boards Bay Area Kick-Off

VC advice can be generic - 
but Charles' insights cut straight to what matters. ✨ 

I had the pleasure of moderating a conversation with All Raise VC Champion Charles Hudson, founder of Precursor Ventures, yesterday.

…and what an incredible session it was!

Here are some valuable nuggets for my fellow investors:

✨ It all comes down to people.

If we want to attract good founders, we should hire good people. 

...and expand our network beyond traditional hiring circles.

Take the time to 'source' talent the way you should for founders.

✨ Career transparency drives retention.

Promotions in venture can feel like the conclave - and they shouldn’t!

Setting a clear rubric to measure progress against helps keep Principals and Associates engaged.

PS - the best way to stand out as a Principal going for Partner? 

Third-party feedback from outside your team (other partners, investors, founders, etc).

✨ Secondaries are here to stay.

In today’s market cycle, liquidity is a top priority for LPs.

Here's why - 

LPs often fund new fund investments from prior fund exits.

If exits are delayed for 1-2 years, they can weather the storm.

But if exits are delayed for 3-4+ years... how they finance future venture investments can be impacted.

In a world where companies are staying private longer than ever,

Venture funds should think critically about how secondaries fit into their portfolios, in context of LPs' growing duration sensitivity and fund targets.

PS - we at Altra Venture Partners are here to help if you’re considering secondaries. ;)

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Charles, thank you for all that you do to give back to All Raise and the wider community! I learned so much from you, and I know our group did too.

Thank you to Sophia for spearheading another amazing event. ✨ 

If you are a Principal investor interested in getting deeper into topics like these, we’d love to have you at All Raise.

Apply to the All Raise VC Champions program (link in the comments)!

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I'm Katie Nowak, an innovation leader, new venture designer and investor sharing examples & lessons weekly.

Follow me + hit 🔔 to stay tuned.

All Raise 'Ask Me Anything' with Charles Hudson

“Where do I start with my market size?!?!” 🤯 

I had the pleasure of answering that question with Angel Squad’s Emerging Founder School this morning.

In short -

Market Sizing = figuring out how big your opportunity is! 

But if you want a longer answer -

Here's a glimpse of what we covered in our workshop:

✨ Know your customers, first.

You can’t determine target markets without first understanding...

…what you’re selling!
…who you’re selling to!

What is the problem you are solving?

Who needs this problem solved?

✨ Segment your market.

Break your customers down into groups.

Age, region, interests are example filters.

Focus on those that are best suited to win, early.

✨ Gut-check your market size with tops-down analysis.

Here's how:

TAM = the total possible market for your product, aka everyone who could buy it

SAM = the part of the TAM you could actually reach, based on your offering and where/how you sell

SOM = the share of the SAM you could realistically win in the next 5 years

Use market research and your best, rooted-in-research estimates.

Based on that and YOUR goals, is your market large enough / too small?

(PS - the 'your goals' piece is key. They could be: scaling to IPO; selling the business at $10M ARR; running a lifestyle business; etc. Founders come in many different variations!)

✨ Build a plan with bottoms-up market sizing.

Happy with your TAM, SAM, SOM?

Now it’s time to make it believable. 😎 

How many customers can you actually reach in your SOM?

How will you reach them - in what channels?

Why are you best positioned to capture them?

What "distribution moat" do you have?

PS - bottoms-up planning is often the gateway to a financial model ;)

✨ Check your assumptions.

My fave fave fave step (yes three fave's were necessary)

How feasible is your market size?

What assumptions are you making?

...are they realistic?

And how might they change over the course of your biz?


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So grateful to my dear friend Aaisha for allowing me to play a ~ small ~ role in the incredible Emerging Founder School she is creating with Angel Squad.

Cannot wait to cheer on this awesome founder cohort as they achieve their dreams.

They're ones to watch, for sure!!

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How are you thinking about your market size today?

What challenges are you facing?

Drop ‘em below and I’ll come share thoughts!

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I'm Katie Nowak, an innovation leader, new venture designer and investor sharing examples & lessons weekly.

Market Sizing and Scalability with Emerging Founder School

Here are 6 signs of a WINNING business strategy,
whether you’re a founder or an enterprise 🤯 

✨ The customers (that matter) adore you.

You listen to them, and anticipate their needs.

Your non-customers, on the other hand, may not understand why anybody would ever buy from you.

That’s a good thing! That means you’ve been choiceful!

✨  A business model that’s different.

Your competitors and their activities look different from yours.

That means you’re attempting to deliver value in a distinctive way.

✨  Successful, profitable competitors. 

Your competitors are making a good profit doing business-as-usual.

That means, they don’t have to attack the heart of your market to survive.

You’ll have some time to grow…

…and maybe even turn them into partners!

✨  Competitors who attack each other (not you).

This is a build on the prior point. 

If you are the hardest target in the industry to attack,

Or you’re actually a “partner” to all and a “competitor” to none,

Then you’re strategically positioned to avoid defensive battles.

(Which can get pricey $$$)

✨  Defendable profit margins.

Resources do a lot of the talking in business!

If you are winning on profit margins, you have the best capacity to offensively chase new opportunities or defensively protect your turf, if need be.

✨  Customers look to you for ‘new’ things.

If your target market is looking to you first for innovations, new products, and service enhancements to make their lives better…

…you’re really on fire! Makes me think of the greats like Apple.

This is a great sign that you are uniquely positioned to create ongoing value for customers.

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Which of these points resonates most with you?

Where could you use the most help in your business today?

Leave a comment below and let’s dive in. 👇 

PS - if you want to read even more on this topic… check out “Playing to Win: How Strategy Really Works.” It is one of the my faves :)

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I'm Katie Nowak, an innovation leader, new venture designer and investor sharing examples & lessons weekly.

Follow me + hit 🔔 to stay tuned.

When should a new offering be a new business?! 🤯 
Here are some general guidelines -

If your new business…

… has an entirely different set of business processes (and metrics)
… requires a distinct brand to fulfill its value prop
… makes money with a different margin than your core biz
… requires new capabilities that your core biz doesn’t need
… has a different cost structure

It should be kept separate from the core.

Think - different brand, team, incentives, etc.

Great examples include:
✨ Louisa AI, Goldman Sachs' internal knowledge platform spun out to grow independently in the enterprise market.
✨ Waymo, Google’s self-driving business (not exactly like search, is it!)
✨ Nespresso, Nestle’s expresso pod biz (which took them 20+ years to scale!)

But if your new business…

…makes money very similarly to your biz today
…enhances the core biz in some significant fashion
…transforms and improves your core offering

Integration is on the table!

Great examples include:
✨ Caterpillar developed AI and IoT sensor analytics as part of its core offering
✨ Microsoft's integration of Teams into the Office 365 Suite
✨ Apple's rebrand of Beats into Apple Music and resulting integration into its broader hardware system

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Why is this important?

When you’re early in your business, you should focus on your core. 

If you have big ideas that are substantially different (see points above)… consider saving them for the Mid Term or North Star expansion, assuming your core is performing well :)

If you’re established and ready to pursue those new ideas, give them a reaaaally good look - are they a good fit for your core today? Or does their business model design suggest that they should be a separate brand?

Tell us what this brings up for you in the comments! 👇 

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I'm Katie Nowak, an innovation leader, new venture designer and investor sharing examples & lessons weekly.

Follow me + hit 🔔 to stay tuned.

“How should my biz evolve over time?!” 🤯 

Dreaming of your North Star without an idea of what is possible is HARD!

To help you envision the next 5 years of your business,

here are some common strategic shifts -

✨ Human-led to digital-first.

Here’s what this usually looks like -

A tech-savvy player emerges in a traditional space.

This player may start with a business model just like its competitors… 

…but starts to create proprietary tools and software that empower their human workforce to perform more tasks, better.

Eventually, the new player may become entirely digital first, with human oversight.

Existing players are now in a pickle - especially if they do not have the ability to innovate as quickly (e.g. legacy technology, culture change, investment hurdle).

When done well, this is one of our fave models.

✨ Product to Platform.

Many companies start by selling a single product (wedge play!); then expand into a suite of related offerings; and ultimately create a platform that allows third parties to create value.

Here’s an example -

Apple started as a computer manufacturer.

Apple expanded into consumer electronics (iPhones/iPads)

Today,  Apple operates a platform ecosystem (App Store, iCloud, ApplePay) that supports third party developers and services.

✨ Mass Market to Mass Customization. 

Typically, businesses start with a standardized offering that appeals broadly to their target audience.

As they saturate that audience, they start to identify new ones.

...or, they start to identify sub-segments that could be better served by a nuanced offering.

By adding a level of ‘customization’ to their existing offering, companies can unlock new, or better serve existing, market segments.

As an example -

Nike’s online platforms allow you to design and order customer shoes online (mine involved lots of colorful speckles obviously).

White-labeled software offerings, tailored to a specific business.

✨ One Sector to Many Sectors.

In this case, businesses keep the core capabilities and/or user base the same.

They often expand to control more of the user journey to/from their product.

For example -

Red Bull started as an energy drink company, but became a major media brand to deepen customer engagement.

Uber launched as ride-hailing, but moved into food delivery and freight.


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Whew, that is a lot of options for how you can evolve your biz!!

(And it’s not even an exhaustive list…)

Which of these models do you see in your industry?

Which of these models is your biz following - or dreaming about?

Drop a comment and let’s discuss where you see the biggest opportunity.

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I'm Katie Nowak, an innovation leader, new venture designer and investor sharing examples & lessons weekly.

Follow me + hit 🔔 to stay tuned.

Tired of your LinkedIn requests getting ignored?!
I have 3 secrets for you... 🤯 

I recently spent hours sorting through my connection requests.

Here's how the best stood out -

✨ They included a note, not just the default invite
✨ They were personal, without any generic templates or AI
✨ They gave a clear reason for connecting, aka they actually read my profile

Whenever I see these three elements in a request, I reply. 

...and I make sure to include them in my own requests, too!

If you're reaching out to someone new (me or anyone else), remember: your message matters. 

A tailored, thoughtful note makes all the difference.

Invest the time, be genuine, and you will increase your hit rate!

Quality > Quantity. 

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Your turn -

What was the last cold LinkedIn message you replied to - and why?

Tell us in the comments! 👇 

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I'm Katie Nowak, an innovation leader, new venture designer and investor sharing examples & lessons weekly.

Follow me + hit 🔔 to stay tuned.

Whispers of life wisdom 
from my horse on Derby day -

✨ Lead with empathy.

Horses are hardwired to please their humans.

That means Roscoe always wants to be a good boy.

If he’s being “bad,” we are simply having a miscommunication.

When that happens, I need to put myself in his shoes. 

... was my cue not clear or incorrect?
... did it contradict a different cue?
... did I ask too many cues at once?
... was my body preventing the motion of his body?

More times than not, my mistakes are what prevent his potential.

There are a lot of leadership lessons wrapped up in there…

✨ Celebrate effort and progress.

Sometimes, Roscoe gets frustrated.

He understands the cue, he wants to do the movement, but it’s hard!

A reprimand would make things worse.

Instead, I am patient, and profusely reward him when he gets it right.

....even if just for one step.

It’s actually really cute - his entire facial expression changes!

He knows he did it!

Watching Roscoe blossom with this training style reminds me to be celebrate my progress, too, especially when I do hard things.

After all...

1 hard step in the right direction = 10,000 easy steps in your comfort zone.

✨ Enjoy the moment.

Roscoe loves food. Adores. Worships. 

He is the most food-motivated creature I have ever met in my life.

His pure, innocent joy over an apple or carrot reminds me to slow down, and enjoy each bite out of life myself.

(Even if he eats WAY faster than me lol)

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I’m grateful to Roscoe for gifting these nuggets of wisdom so effortlessly to me on my barn days.

What life lessons from Roscoe resonate the most for you?!

…and should this be a weekly weekend feature?! 

(Asking for Roscoe, who is contemplating being a LinkedInfluencer 😂)

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I'm Katie Nowak, an innovation leader, new venture designer and investor sharing examples & lessons weekly.

Follow me + hit 🔔 to stay tuned.

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