Pivotal Ventures Investing Director Erin Harkless Moore on Driving Impact Through Her Investing Portfolio, First Experience Meeting Melinda Gates, and Key Lessons Learned Through Investing at Pivotal Ventures | Seed To Harvest Ep51 Artwork

Seed to Harvest

🎙️ Seed to Harvest | Stories from Technical Storytellers

Welcome to Seed to Harvest, the podcast by Behind Genius Ventures.

We talk to early-stage founders, operators, and investors—people building with code and conviction. Each episode is a chapter in their story: from the messy beginnings to the quiet pivots, from planting ideas to growing companies that matter.

Expect:
🌱 Honest conversations on the earliest chapters of company-building
🧠 Tactical insights from technical minds with narrative soul
✨ Reflections on resilience, rituals, and reinventing what’s possible

This podcast is for the builders who think in frameworks and metaphors. The ones who whiteboard in wild places. The ones writing their own mythologies—one commit, pitch, or poem at a time.

From spark to story.
From seed to harvest. 🌾

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Seed to Harvest

Pivotal Ventures Investing Director Erin Harkless Moore on Driving Impact Through Her Investing Portfolio, First Experience Meeting Melinda Gates, and Key Lessons Learned Through Investing at Pivotal Ventures | Seed To Harvest Ep51

February 20, 2023 • Paige Finn Doherty • Episode 51

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Today, I’m joined by Erin Harkless Moore, who leads the fund and direct investment program for Pivotal Ventures, an investment and incubation company created by Melinda French Gates to advance social progress in the United States. With over a decade and a half of investment experience, building and managing customized portfolios for endowed institutions and family offices, Erin is responsible for identifying, investing and overseeing a diverse portfolio of investments that drive breakthrough innovations and advance women’s power and influence.

Seed to Harvest is a podcast focused on stories & tactics from a diverse array of investors, founders, and creators, hosted by Paige Finn Doherty, a founding partner at Behind Genius Ventures and author of Seed to Harvest, an illustrated children's book for adults.

Connect with Paige 🌱💜

Behind Genius Ventures blog | https://www.behindgeniusventures.com/

Personal Blog | https://paigefinndoherty.com/

Twitter | https://twitter.com/paigefinnn

00:00 Welcome to Seed To Harvest: Erin Harkless Moore
04:47 Book Recommendations
10:09 Finding the right path
15:12 Behind the scenes of allocation
20:09 Erin's vision

Show notes:
Erin Harkless Moore | https://www.linkedin.com/in/erin-harkless-cfa/

Pivotal Ventures | https://www.pivotalventures.org/

Melinda French Gates | https://twitter.com/melindagates?lang=en

Sea of Tranquility | https://www.amazon.com/Sea-Tranquility-Emily-John-Mandel/dp/0593321448

Mellody Hobson | https://twitter.com/MellodyHobson

Ariel Investments | https://www.arielinvestments.com/about-us/

Carla Harris | https://twitter.com/carlaannharris?lang=en

Morgan Stanley | https://www.morganstanley.com/

Kim Lew | https://twitter.com/kimlew_cio?lang=en

Recast Capital | https://recastcapital.com/

Include Ventures | https://www.includeventures.com/

Fairview Capital | https://www.fairviewcapital.com/

W.K. Kellogg Foundation | https://www.wkkf.org/

Ford Foundation | https://www.fordfoundation.org/

Monique Woodard | https://twitter.com/MoniqueWoodard

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