Erin Harkless Moore: Managing Director, Pivotal Ventures (Melinda French Gates)
Erin Harkless Moore is Managing Director of Investments at Pivotal Ventures, Melinda French Gates' company founded in 2015 to put more power in the hands of more people, especially women. A proud San Antonio native and Goldman Sachs alum, she traces her path from Wall Street through Summit Rock Advisors, Harvard Business School, and Cambridge Associates' mission-related investing practice, driven by a refusal to defer impact for 30 years as a senior partner once advised.
She explains how a professional crisis and an index-card exercise from her husband crystallized her intention to change how capital is allocated, which soon led to a call about a family office that turned out to be Pivotal Ventures. She breaks down Pivotal's three levers of philanthropy, investments, and policy, its first-check-at-Series-A direct strategy, the $648 billion care economy thesis, and her belief that being in the room means you belong there.
“What I wrote down was I want to change and push how change to push how capital is allocated.”
“If you're in the room, you belong in the room and don't give up your seat because of that, because of some other, someone else's perceptions or hangups.”
“Less certainty, more inquiry is a quote I, I came across once.”
Key takeaways
- 00:18:42A senior Goldman partner told her she could pursue impact in 30 years, advice that never sat right with her because tomorrow is not promised.
- 00:25:32A professional crisis prompted her husband to have her write her desired impact on an index card, clarifying her purpose to change how capital is allocated.
- 00:27:23A contact from her investing network reached out about a family-office role that, once the dots connected, turned out to be Pivotal Ventures, a Melinda French Gates company.
- 00:36:03Pivotal uses three levers, philanthropic capital, investments, and policy and advocacy, to address structural barriers without lowering the bar.
- 00:45:57Pivotal's research sizes the care economy at a $648 billion market opportunity, with much of the unpaid caregiving burden falling on women.
- 00:50:59For direct investments, Pivotal writes its first check at the Series A, looking for revenue around a million in ARR and a tenacious founder with lived experience.
- 00:52:54Pivotal's investment team takes cold inbound, including LinkedIn messages, and does not require a warm intro if a company or fund is on thesis.
- 01:05:00On DEI under attack, her message is about making the pie bigger, since women fully represented in positions of power benefits the economy and lifts up everyone.
Chapters
- 00:00:00Intro
- 00:06:49Erin’s Texas Origins: Grit, Values, Curiosity
- 00:16:05Goldman, Harvard Business School, and Cambridge Associates
- 00:20:44Power of Intention and How It Led Her to Melinda French Gates
- 00:30:46How to Grow Your Confidence: Overcoming Imposter Syndrome
- 00:34:55How Pivotal Ventures is Changing Who Holds The Power
- 00:41:57Pivotal Ventures Investment Thesis
- 00:50:19Tips for Founders to Pitch to Pivotal Ventures
- 00:54:34Want to Work At Pivotal Ventures?
- 00:59:55Motherhood, Work-life Balance, What Having It All Really Means
- 01:04:10Why DEI still matters
- 01:05:44Erin’s Vision: More Pivotal Ventures, More Power in the Right Hands
