Ep 113: Katie Rae, CEO & Managing Partner of The Engine

In today’s episode, we cover:

• The benefits of partnering with MIT in founding The Engine
• The mission and vision of The Engine
• The Engine’s focus on “tough tech” and the role it plays as a backer of it
• How The Engine compares with a typical VC firm and important differences that makes it unique
• How Katie landed at The Engine after a long career in technology and investing
• The role MIT plays at The Engine
• The relationship between The Engine and its portfolio companies
• The cross-functional resources The Engine brings to bear on behalf of its companies
• Katie’s perspective on balancing investor returns and organizational mission
• The criteria The Engine uses in selecting companies in which to invest
• How VC has become more MBA-driven than science-driven and the neglect of “tough tech”
• The biggest gap in the financing landscape for “tough tech”
• The overlap between The Engine’s style of investing and the style popularized on Sand Hill Road
• What The Engine’s LPs think of the incubator’s hybrid impact and returns mission
• What Katie thinks of “impact investing”
• How Katie would allocate a $100B to deliver impact
• The durability of “tough tech”

Links to topics discussed in this episode:

• The Engine: https://www.engine.xyz/
• Public Benefit Corporation: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Public-benefit_corporation
• Blended Finance: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Blended_finance

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*Editing and post-production work for this episode was provided by The Podcast Consultant