Cat Lee

Background

Cat Lee is a former Partner at Maveron, the consumer-focused venture capital firm co-founded by Howard Schultz and Dan Levitan ¹. She joined Maveron as Partner in January 2019 ¹ and departed around mid-2020 to co-found Pace, a mental health startup ².

Before entering venture capital, Lee had an extensive operating career in consumer technology. She holds a BS in Computer Science from Stanford and an MBA from the University of Michigan ³. She began her career in engineering at Lockheed Martin, then spent time at Google and Facebook from 2007 to 2011, where she worked on Facebook’s developer platform ¹⁴. She then spent six years at Pinterest (approximately 2012–2018), progressing from Head of Product Growth to Head of Global Partner Marketing to Head of Culture ¹⁴.

Lee transitioned into investing through First Round Capital’s inaugural AngelTrack program, where she was one of 15 people selected from over 500 applicants ⁴. She also served as a Scout at Sequoia Capital for approximately eight months before joining Maveron ¹.

At Maveron, Lee was one of six partners on Fund VII ($180M), alongside Dan Levitan, Jason Stoffer, Anarghya Vardhana, David Wu, and Natalie Dillon ⁵. Her addition helped make Maveron’s investment team 50% women ¹.

After departing Maveron, Lee co-founded Pace in June 2020 with Bettina Elling, Jack Chou, and Alex Shye ². Pace is a mental health platform that connects users through facilitated support groups. It raised $18M including a $13M Series A led by Pace Capital with participation from Sequoia and BoxGroup ⁶. As of 2025, Lee is affiliated with Penknife Collective, a consulting collective focused on go-to-market strategy ⁷.

Stated Thesis

Lee has publicly stated that her investment focus centers on supporting female-founded companies. In an AMA hosted by Elpha (republished by Y Combinator), she described herself as “passionate about exploring and supporting companies by and for women” and stated her “vision is to see more multi-billion dollar companies founded by women and run by women” ⁸.

Her evaluation framework prioritizes team above all else: “People > Market > Product. I believe all of the best companies start with amazing people that have a personal connection to the mission” ⁸. She has also described a key test she applies: “Something I ask is if I would be willing to drop everything and work for the founder(s) at this company full-time” ⁸.

At Maveron, she invested within the firm’s broader consumer thesis. Maveron describes itself as seeking “companies that empower consumers to live on their own terms” across healthcare, social, gaming, and e-commerce sectors ⁴.

Lee was inspired to enter venture capital after learning about the funding gap between male and female entrepreneurs. She has cited Aileen Lee (Cowboy Ventures) as a key influence who recommended that joining a VC firm would be the fastest way to address the disparity in investment in female founders ¹.

Inferred Thesis

Cat Lee’s verifiable investment track record is limited in public data. Only one personal angel investment could be independently confirmed: Heard (therapist accounting platform, Series A, April 2022) ⁹. Her angel check size was self-reported at $10K–$25K with a target of approximately 5 companies per year ⁸.

At Maveron, Lee served on Fund VII’s investment team and took a board observer seat at Lovevery as part of Maveron’s Series B investment ¹⁰. Because Maveron invests from a pooled fund, individual deal attribution is not publicly available for most Fund VII investments. Maveron’s broader Fund VII portfolio includes consumer brands and platforms such as Lovevery, Modern Fertility, Parade, Dolly, Co-Star, Engageli, and Tempest ⁵¹¹, but it cannot be confirmed which of these Lee personally led or championed.

Based on her stated focus and the one verified personal investment (Heard, a fintech-for-therapists platform founded by a woman), her investing pattern is consistent with her stated thesis of backing female-led companies in consumer and health/wellness sectors. However, the sample size of 1 verified personal investment is too small for meaningful quantitative analysis.

Notable patterns: - Strong preference for consumer-facing companies (consistent with Maveron’s thesis) - Explicit focus on female-founded companies - Operating background suggests she adds value on product growth, marketing, and culture/people strategy - Angel check size of $10K–$25K places her in the micro-angel category

Portfolio

Note: Only 2 investments could be independently verified — 1 as a Maveron team member (board observer role) and 1 personal angel investment. Lee was part of Maveron’s Fund VII team, which made investments in numerous consumer companies, but individual deal attribution is not publicly available. Lee self-reported targeting approximately 5 angel investments per year ⁸.

In Their Own Words

“I’m passionate about exploring and supporting companies by and for women.” — Cat Lee, Elpha AMA (republished by Y Combinator) ⁸

“My vision is to see more multi-billion dollar companies founded by women and run by women.” — Cat Lee, Elpha AMA (republished by Y Combinator) ⁸

“People > Market > Product. I believe all of the best companies start with amazing people that have a personal connection to the mission.” — Cat Lee, Elpha AMA (republished by Y Combinator) ⁸

“Something I ask is if I would be willing to drop everything and work for the founder(s) at this company full-time.” — Cat Lee, Elpha AMA (republished by Y Combinator) ⁸

“We believe in the power of emotional connection; a Pace Group is intended to fill a different role in people’s overall social mental health.” — Cat Lee, on Pace’s mission, Grit Daily, December 2021 ⁶

What Founders Say

No independently sourced founder testimonials found. Maveron leadership praised Lee upon her joining: the firm described her as “wicked smart, a life-long learner, funny, and kind” and noted that her “varied operating roles across people, marketing, product, and engineering enable her to directly help founders in many different specific capacities” ¹. However, these are firm statements, not independent founder testimonials.

Sources