Shaping the Future: Inside Aloft VC's Mission-Driven Tech Investment ft Crystal McKellars

Crystal McKellar is a Harvard-trained lawyer. She learned to invest from Peter Thiel and began her venture career in 2012 at a growth-stage venture capital fund backed by Thiel. There, she held board positions at Neurable, Siren Care, DoubleDutch (acq. Cvent), and Fractyl Labs, and was instrumental in the fund's 2012 investment in Palantir Technologies.While working for Thiel, Crystal supported several frontier health tech startups, and from her work with Palantir developed a deep network in the national security tech arena.  Since then, Crystal has been at the forefront of a nascent but growing movement in Silicon Valley to develop and deploy the best technologies in the service of our national security. In 2019, Crystal launched her first early-stage fund under the name Anathem Ventures, later rebranding as Aloft VC, and invested in contrarian bets turned category-leaders including Vannevar Labs, Brave Health, Cooler Heads, Obviant, Siren Care, Mach Industries, and Angle Health. Many of the founders in Aloft’s portfolio began their careers at Palantir or elsewhere within the Thiel network. Prior to her career in venture capital, Crystal graduated with honors from Yale College and Harvard Law School, and practiced securities law at global law firms Davis Polk & Wardwell and Morrison & Foerster. While practicing law, she made her first angel investment in the national security space into SpaceDev, which designed and built the hybrid rockets for Paul Allen’s SpaceShipOne, the first-ever crewed private spaceflight. Prior to her legal career, Crystal was an award-winning actress, starring on the hit television series The Wonder Years. Topics: - Journey from Law to Venture Capital - Trends in Frontier Technology Investments - Portfolio Construction 🍎 Apple: http://apple.co/3d6bGea 🎤Spotify: http://bit.ly/gracegong 💻Website: http://smartventurepod.com 🍿YouTube: https://bit.ly/gracegongyoutube 📰 Newsletter: https://bit.ly/421p8tJ 🔥TikTok: http://bit.ly/3IMfbK9 👏LinkedIn: http://bit.ly/3Xs8GQP ❤️IG: http://bit.ly/3kfBWMs 💡Twitter: http://bit.ly/3GwyeWc ___________________________________________________ Grace Gong hosts a top VC podcast called "Smart Venture Podcast" (SVPpro.com). Past guests include C-level and VP executives from Google, Meta, Amazon, and others; Managing Partners of leading funds, many of whom were featured on the Forbes Midas List; and unicorn founders such as the founders of Craigslist, Square, Loom, and Cruise. Prior to this, Grace worked in venture capital and private equity. She has authored books that topped the New Release in Venture Capital category on Amazon. Additionally, she is a LinkedIn Top Voice in Finance and is an angel investor.