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Kathryn O'Day
Partner at Atlanta Ventures | Startup COO Turned VC | 7x Ironman
Kathryn O'Day is a Partner at Atlanta Ventures, a venture capital firm based in Atlanta, Georgia. She is an experienced startup executive and investor with a strong background in entrepreneurship and business operations.1
Professional Background
Kathryn joined Atlanta Ventures as a Partner in April 2021, where she focuses on empowering entrepreneurs to start, grow, and learn.1 Prior to her role as a venture capitalist, she had an extensive career in startup leadership:
- Drum Technologies, Inc.: Founding Team member and Head of Ops (2019-2021)
- Rigor: COO (2016-2019) and Director of Client Success (2015-2016)
- Pardot: Senior Manager of Client Services (2008-2015)
Notable Achievements
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Kathryn has been involved in multiple successful exits and acquisitions, including:
- A $100 million exit
- Acquisition by a Fortune 500 company
- Two acquisitions by Fortune 1000 companies1
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During her tenure at Rigor, the company:
- Won "Best Place to Work" award five times
- Ranked #430 on Inc. 500 Fastest Growing Companies (#9 in Atlanta)1
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At Pardot, she contributed to:
- Winning "Best Place to Work" award three times
- Growing the customer base from 75 to 4000+
- Expanding the department from 4 to 100+ employees
- The company's acquisition by ExactTarget for $95 million (2012)
- Subsequent acquisition by Salesforce for $2.5 billion (2013)1
Education and Personal Interests
Kathryn graduated from Amherst College in 2005 with a degree in Spanish, concentrating in literature and sociology.1 She is also an accomplished athlete, having completed 7 Ironman triathlons.1
Current Focus
In her role at Atlanta Ventures, Kathryn meets with thousands of entrepreneurs annually, providing expert advice on building and scaling startups.2 She is particularly interested in empowering positive, supportive, and self-starting entrepreneurs to build innovative companies.1 Kathryn also shares practical advice for startup founders, leaders, and enthusiasts through her newsletter, The O'Daily.1
Highlights
How do you build a unicorn business? I’ll tell you what I’ve learned...
It starts with small, meaningful connections.
Getting founders together to share stories, learnings, successes, and support is one tiny way to strengthen the network of women striving for billion-dollar companies.
When you know you’re not alone, it gets a tiny bit easier.
When you swap advice and tips instead of "learning the hard way," everyone goes a little bit faster.
When you know someone else is working their ass off, just like you, it fires you up to go even harder.
Entrepreneurship thrives on community. — Where have you found a community? Who is your best founder tribe? Tag them below! 😉
Inc 500 company who is hiring? Yes, please!
Intown Golf Club is not just a fantastic company to work for but also offers an amazing experience for customers.
Bonus: this role reports to one of the best operational leaders I've ever met Jennifer Hemmelgarn!
If you know anyone in the construction project management/development space, please pass along. (Full job description in the comments below!)
As anyone in tech will tell you... if you can get a seat on a rocketship, hop on!
For those on the hunt for their “startup dream job,” I’ve written a whole post on finding it—linked it below! 😉
Got any other amazing startup job leads? How did you land your first tech role? Share your stories or any resources below!
