082: Kristen Craft of Silicon Valley Bank

Boston Speaks Up

Guest Kristen Craft is a proven entrepreneur with more than 15 years of experience in enterprise software and digital marketing. In her role as Director of Early-Stage Startups at Silicon Valley Bank, she’s become well known around the Boston startup community for her passionate support of founders. Craft has helped build several prominent brands in Boston and is committed to supporting companies with excellent cultures and strong values. Her past experience includes leadership roles at Animalz, Tettra, Ovia Health Wistia, and Transparent Language, as well as launching her own start-up, Brown Box Storage. A life-long learner, Craft earned her BA from Brown University, and earned a Masters of Education at the Harvard Graduate School of Education. Upon graduation, Craft decided she wasn’t ready to leave the classroom just yet, so she went on to MIT’s Sloan School of Management to earn her MBA. In this episode, Craft discusses the various challenges entrepreneurs face when first building their startups (and how you can avoid them) and the importance of following the proper steps when starting a business. We also explore her Harvard, MA roots, her early jobs as a teenager and our mutual passion for reading with our children.