Kara Nortman

• Co-founded six companies across multiple full-time roles (Seedling, Moonfrye, P.S. XO, Angel City FC, All Raise, Monarch Collective) → extremely high agency; she creates structures rather than waiting for permission.
• Moved from IAC operating executive to VC Partner to fund founder → pattern of stepping into roles with more ownership each time; likely impatient with situations where she can't shape the outcome.
• Possibly — mixed tenure shape across career (short stints at Morgan Stanley, Battery, Microsoft vs. eight years at Upfront) → comfortable moving on when the next category-creation opportunity is clear, but capable of long commitment when the mission is right.
• Active public speaker at Milken, Masters of Scale, SuperReturn, AltsLA, and FEG forums → comfortable on big stages, uses speaking as a distribution channel for the Monarch thesis, not just personal brand.
• Writes on Medium (Venture Inside blog) about venture capital, women's sports, and founder mentality → processes ideas publicly; likely responds well to substantive engagement with her written arguments.
• Attended FIFA Women's World Cups as a fan before building Angel City FC → personal conviction preceded professional thesis; she is an insider-by-passion, not just by capital.

Openers

• Open on the FC Viktoria Berlin acquisition — Monarch's first international deal, a 38% stake in a German Frauen-Bundesliga club closed in November 2025. It signals the fund moving from NWSL operator to global women's sports platform, and she'll have a clear thesis on what European football rights are worth.
• Reference the fund expansion from $150M to $250M in March 2025, driven largely by existing LP re-ups from Pivotal Ventures and Hello Sunshine — it's a vote of confidence in the model and a good entry point into where the fund goes next.
• Mention her CNBC Changemakers Spotlight in April 2026 and the specific framing of Monarch Collective — the recognition came while the women's sports market is crowding, so she'll have a sharp view on what differentiation actually looks like when generalist PE starts paying attention.

Discovery questions

1. Now that you've made your first European acquisition in FC Viktoria Berlin, how do you think about the difference between building a portfolio in NWSL — where you helped shape the league — versus investing in a league like the Frauen-Bundesliga where the infrastructure already exists?
2. Angel City FC became the most valuable women's soccer franchise in the world. How much of that valuation was driven by the business fundamentals versus the cultural moment — and how do you separate those two signals when evaluating new Monarch portfolio investments?
3. The fund expanded from $150M to $250M in under two years with strong re-up from existing LPs. At what point does the women's sports asset class get crowded enough that Monarch's first-mover edge starts to compress — and what's the moat you're building against that?