'You just get a bit over it': Why women are quitting VC for coveted operator roles
Women who joined VC during the post-Covid boom are exiting for startup roles, citing limited advancement and exhaustion from advocating for diversity.
In venture capital, they call it “pattern matching” — identifying similarities in successful investments — but Claire Bristow and Adele Moynihan spotted a different pattern: the escape route their female colleagues were taking.
Both women recently left roles in Australian venture capital for chief of staff positions at high-growth startups.
Bristow departed Skalata Ventures for pet food company Lyka, while Moynihan left her role establishing Bupa Ventures to join telehealth provider Hola Health.
They’re part of a broader trend of women leaving VC for operational roles — including Casey Flint moving from Square Peg Capital to San Francisco-based ReflectionAI, Lucy Tan leaving Square Peg for Traild, Britt Bloom transitioning from EVP to BlendAI, and Kat Throssell departing Giant Leap for Ovom Care.
