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Katie Pfleger shared thisA few weeks ago, we posted the first video in a new TRACE TikTok series called SOS in Soho. The idea is simple: ask our community for help with the things we are actually working through. First up was hiring a Social Media Manager. Our first video got us exactly one inquiry. So a few days later, we posted another one saying our video flopped and we still needed help. We also changed the format completely. We filmed from more angles, added more movement, and kept the frame changing throughout the video to make it more engaging. That video took off. It has now reached 14K+ views, 500 likes and 125 shares. We also received hundreds of emails, DMs, and LinkedIn applications, and around 50 candidates we are genuinely excited about. A big part of building TRACE in public has been letting people see the process, not just the polished parts. This felt like a good example of why that matters. It was also a reminder that content is a constant test-and-learn. The honesty made the story stronger, but the way we told it mattered too. a16z speedrun wrote about a few different ways founders are building in public, including hiring, and this felt especially relevant after the last few days. And don't forget to throw us a follow on TikTok!
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Katie Pfleger shared thisTeam TRACE has doubled in size! Gordon Li joined us as our founding engineer, and Yashas Rajanna Naidu is focused on machine learning. They’re both insanely talented builders and we feel very, very lucky to have them building TRACE with us. And we’re hiring again! We're looking for a full-time Social Media Manager to join us in NYC. Spread the word - link in comments!
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Katie Pfleger shared thisFun night last week at SHAKTI's summer soiree with their NYC portfolio companies, investors, and community. Kudos to Sydney Landau and team for putting together a great event!
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Katie Pfleger shared this6 weeks ago, I graduated from Harvard Business School. Since then, it's been full speed ahead. Ella Rubin and I have been in the thick of hiring and building TRACE, and we closed our $3M seed round in our final month as full-time students. So grateful for the early press along the way: TRACE was featured in Inc. Magazine and Vogue Business (links in comments). None of this happens without professors like Reza Satchu and Leonard Schlesinger, who pushed us to think bigger, act with conviction, and build something real. More exciting news coming soon... including our TRACE HQ opening in NYC!
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Katie Pfleger shared thisThanks for the mention Tiina Nyman!Katie Pfleger shared thisWhat's happened in circular fashion during the past two weeks? 🔗 Read the full recap from Circular Fashion News Substack. Link in comments. ▪️ ThredUp launched a peer-to-peer model with 0% selling fees and the possibility for customer returns. ▪️ Trace, a new solution at the intersection of rental and resale, raised $3 million in seed funding. ▪️ A new report found that 96% of secondhand clothing exported to Uganda and Tanzania are reusable. ▪️ Next launched clothing repairs and alterations in the UK with SOJO. ▪️ Seaweed-derived fiber innovator, Keel Labs, filed for bankruptcy. ▪️ Recyclable RFID tag producer PulpaTronics won the Manufacturing Futures Innovation Challenge Prize 2026 by Fashion District London. ▪️ Enzymatic recycling technology developer, CARBIOS, announced to delay its recycling plant in China to 2028. ▪️ Fédération de la Mode Circulaire and KPMG launched a report on the state of circular fashion in Europe. The report estimates that by 2030, circular fashion could represent a market of ~€104B in Europe, along with over 88,000 jobs. ▪️ Textile Exchange released an LCA study for polyester, identifying the environmental impact hotspots for virgin and recycled polyester. ▪️ The H&M Foundation revealed the Global Change Award winners. The winners included, for example, DPP solution Alu, material innovations KelTex and CanvaLoop, textile dye solution Microbeworks Scientific, and textile recycling solutions Rhea's Factory and Fiberly. #circularfashion #sustainablefashion #fashionindustry #textilerecycling #fashionresale #fashionrepair #circulartextiles
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Katie Pfleger shared thisBig TRACE milestone: we raised a $3M oversubscribed seed round, and now we're hiring! We're looking for incredible engineers to help us build what’s next 💚Katie Pfleger shared thisToday we’re announcing TRACE’s $3M oversubscribed seed round, led by Serena Ventures with participation from SHAKTI VC. We’re building agentic recommerce. Today, buying something means taking all of the risk. You spend money, hope you’ll still want it later, and if you decide to sell it, you’re stuck doing the work yourself. We think ownership should be liquid. TRACE is building a future where intelligent systems coordinate demand, supply, pricing, and transactions automatically, giving every purchase a clear path to resale and eventually a guaranteed exit. Two months ago, we launched our first product. Last month, we closed our seed round. Along the way, we’ve seen engagement metrics significantly outperform marketplace benchmarks and learned exactly what we want to build next. 🚀 Now we’re building the next version of TRACE and hiring our first two engineers. Job posting links in comments. If you’re excited about consumer products, AI, marketplaces, mobile, and building a new category from day one, we’d love to talk. We’re just getting started.
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Katie Pfleger shared thisElla Rubin and I met at admitted students day at HBS 2 years ago. We bonded over fashion and a mutual frustration with resale. Thank you Ali Donaldson for the Inc. feature on TRACE | the first presale marketplace for fashion! This is just the start. addtrace.comKatie Pfleger shared thisLast fall, Reza Satchu invited me to Harvard Business School for their annual pitch competition. After listening to the student entrepreneurs, one startup really idea stuck with me. It was Ella Rubin and Katie Pfleger's pitch for TRACE | the first presale marketplace for fashion. Instead of buy now, pay later, they wanted to build a marketplace for buy now, sell later. As someone who covers the consumer and retail space, I was intrigued. Kevin O'Leary didn't agree, but that didn't matter. A few months later, these two MBA students have won over an even more famous (and more shopping-minded) champion: Alix Earle. My latest for Inc. Magazine https://lnkd.in/gzPdyy7MThese Harvard Business Students Want to Change How You Shop With a Buy-Now, Sell-Later ToolThese Harvard Business Students Want to Change How You Shop With a Buy-Now, Sell-Later Tool
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Katie Pfleger reposted thisLast time I was quoted in an article was when I was voted one of the three top women soccer players in NYC. Not sure anything will ever top that in my Dad’s eyes, but this came pretty close. Grateful to Ali Donaldson for wanting to write about TRACE | the first presale marketplace for fashion and my partner in crime Katie Pfleger. It’s just the start for TRACE 💚Katie Pfleger reposted thisLast fall, Reza Satchu invited me to Harvard Business School for their annual pitch competition. After listening to the student entrepreneurs, one startup really idea stuck with me. It was Ella Rubin and Katie Pfleger's pitch for TRACE | the first presale marketplace for fashion. Instead of buy now, pay later, they wanted to build a marketplace for buy now, sell later. As someone who covers the consumer and retail space, I was intrigued. Kevin O'Leary didn't agree, but that didn't matter. A few months later, these two MBA students have won over an even more famous (and more shopping-minded) champion: Alix Earle. My latest for Inc. Magazine https://lnkd.in/gzPdyy7MThese Harvard Business Students Want to Change How You Shop With a Buy-Now, Sell-Later ToolThese Harvard Business Students Want to Change How You Shop With a Buy-Now, Sell-Later Tool
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Katie Pfleger reposted thisKatie Pfleger reposted thisLast fall, Reza Satchu invited me to Harvard Business School for their annual pitch competition. After listening to the student entrepreneurs, one startup really idea stuck with me. It was Ella Rubin and Katie Pfleger's pitch for TRACE | the first presale marketplace for fashion. Instead of buy now, pay later, they wanted to build a marketplace for buy now, sell later. As someone who covers the consumer and retail space, I was intrigued. Kevin O'Leary didn't agree, but that didn't matter. A few months later, these two MBA students have won over an even more famous (and more shopping-minded) champion: Alix Earle. My latest for Inc. Magazine https://lnkd.in/gzPdyy7MThese Harvard Business Students Want to Change How You Shop With a Buy-Now, Sell-Later ToolThese Harvard Business Students Want to Change How You Shop With a Buy-Now, Sell-Later Tool
Katie Pfleger commented on a post
1w
Thank you for sharing Brett!
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Katie Pfleger liked thisKatie Pfleger liked thisThis week, over 180 Harvard Business School students will walk into my course, The Founder Mindset. I know something about these students that most of them will not admit yet. All of them desperately want to build something of their own. They may be among the most talented people in the world, and that is exactly what makes them hesitate. Talent gets offered options. Another credential, another safe job, and another year of open doors. Optionality is a curse because it feels like progress. Every year a student tells me there is no harm in waiting a few years before starting. I have spent 25 years teaching founders, and the ones who waited for the perfect moment are still waiting. This semester has one purpose. Create urgency amidst uncertainty. Over the next few months, these students will sit across from founders who committed with imperfect information, overcame tremendous adversity and built companies worth billions. They will pitch. They will get judged. And they will realize that the founders in front of them started exactly where they are now, with the same doubts and lack of information. Somewhere in this new class are founders who will build companies none of us have imagined yet. My job is to help them start now.
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Katie Pfleger liked thisWe are thrilled to partner with Bevel as they reimagine insurance for the AI era—bringing high tech + high touch to protecting what you love. Here we go team Adam Freed Aravindh Dorai ⭐ Read more here: https://lnkd.in/gMwNKPb4Katie Pfleger liked thisWe're excited to announce our $6M seed round – from SHAKTI, Resolute Ventures, and Bessemer Venture Partners – to reimagine private risk management for homeowners. Bevel brings the sophistication of wealth management to personal risk. We’re pairing AI-native technology with concierge-level service for home, auto, personal umbrella, and more. With this raise, we're hiring top-tier producers and building tools to better identify, mitigate, and insure risk at scale. We're grateful to our investors and carrier partners who share our vision for the future: Shakti VC, Resolute Ventures, Bessemer Venture Partners, and over a dozen executives from tech, investing, and insurance. ✉️ Read a letter from our CEO on the raise: https://lnkd.in/gWydcmg8 📰 See the official press release: https://lnkd.in/gNwjgq6n 🎙️ Thank you to James Thaler and The Insurer for the feature: https://lnkd.in/g5gJEPJ2
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Katie Pfleger liked thisKatie Pfleger liked thisWe're hiring our first operations role at Paper We just raised a $34M Series A from Accel and ICONIQ to build the next great design platform, and we're growing fast. Since launching Paper Desktop, we 25x'd ARR in a month and are growing 30%+ MoM (and accelerating!). If you're passionate about our mission, learn more at https://lnkd.in/eMFQrMt6
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Katie Pfleger liked thisOne year ago today, skipping MBA classes to go on a ridealong with a local HVAC/ plumbing company replacing a sump pump in a basement pit One year later, working with the largest HVAC and plumbing businesses nationwide helping their technicians impress homeowners on every visit...
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Katie Pfleger liked thisDay 15. New York. Pricing in the age of AI. One of the hardest problems in AI right now is how to price agents. Startups have a cost base of tokens. That is a line item most companies have never had to budget for. These are the models we are currently seeing work: - Per action. You charge for each discrete step the agent takes. An invoice parsed, a record updated in the ERP, a document filed. Closest to the real cost for the startup, but an invoice that changes every month is not ideal for the client. - Per outcome. You charge only when the agent delivers the result. Not the ten steps it took to handle a support case, just the ticket closed. Sierra built its entire business on this. The most important part is agreeing what counts as a result before anything else. - Per agent. A fixed amount per agent deployed. Closes faster, but the cost for a startup can vary month over month. What is clear is that all of them are moving away from classic SaaS and towards usage. Thanks to Russ Phillips and Blair Perry for the conversation in Memphis.
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Katie Pfleger reacted on thisKatie Pfleger reacted on thisSO excited to announce Lucille is a Startup CPG Shelfie Award Winner!! 🏆 If you're not familiar, the Shelfies are the largest awards program for emerging CPG brands. This year, over 2,000 products were submitted, narrowed down to 145 finalists, and just 45 winners. Lucille took home the win in Health & Wellness, one of the biggest and most competitive categories in the program. This industry is full of incredible people building amazing things, so being recognized amongst them means a lot. It's validation that what we set out to do, building real nutrition that actually tastes good, made for the people who raised us, is resonating. Special shoutout to the Startup CPG team in particular Caitlin B. Daniel Scharff Patricia Menegoto. You are doing amazing things for emerging brands. Thank you. Lucille's first gold! Checkout the rest of the winners at the link in comments.
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Katie Pfleger liked thisKatie Pfleger liked thisCommitment is the most important trait a founder has. People confuse it with grit. They are not the same thing. Grit is pushing through whatever happens to be in front of you with discipline and endurance. Always showing up. Every founder I admire has it. It is also table stakes. Why? Because grit asks nothing of your judgment. You never have to decide whether the thing you are enduring is worth enduring. Commitment, on the other hand, is a judgement call. Commitment means choosing one thing and cutting off every other option. You have to decide what is worth that. And you carry the risk of being wrong for years before anyone can tell you whether you were. Grit is safe. Commitment is risky. And risk is where the upside comes from. No one dreams of a life full of grit. People long to commit. To a person, a purpose, something they will not walk away from. If I had to choose one, I would take commitment over grit every day.
Experience & Education
Honors & Awards
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Dean’s List Spring Semester 2019
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Dean’s List Fall Semester 2018
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Dean’s List Spring Semester 2018
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Dean’s List Fall Semester 2017
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Dean's List Fall Semester 2016
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