Amy McCullough is a Managing Director and member of Trilogy’s investing team. She joined Trilogy in 2007 after four years in the investment bank of JPMorgan Chase in New York. Amy was an equity research analyst covering the Small and Mid-Cap Applied Technologies sector which included more than 35 companies with a combined market capitalization of over $70B. Prior to being an equity analyst, Amy was an Assistant Treasurer in the Treasury and Security Services division of Chase where her primary responsibilities included derivatives and equities consulting services for clients of the firm. A Seattle native, Amy began her career in Microsoft’s Treasury department working with the Treasury Operations team and the Portfolio Management Group.

Amy has a BA in Business Administration with a focus in Finance from the University of Washington.  She is a former Advisory Board member at Ada Developer’s Academy, an intense software development training school for women.  Amy is also involved as an advocate and supporter of the Female Founders Alliance, a national startup community for women headquartered in Seattle.  Within the community, Amy is a member of the Board of Trustees of Epiphany School, an independent school in Seattle serving grades Pre-K through 5th.  Amy lives with her husband and their two young daughters and one very spoiled dog in Seattle.

What do you look for when you make an investment in a company?

In addition to the merits of the business itself, which obviously need to meet a bar in terms of the magnitude of the opportunity, we are laser focused on the caliber and character of the entrepreneurs we work with.  We are excited to work with people who are passionate about their business, possess superpowers in areas that will give them a differentiating edge as they build their company, and who demonstrate a level of humility when it comes to the journey and unknowns that they are about to undertake.  Fundamentally, we look for upstanding people we will be proud to call partners for years to come and who are excited about the prospect of what our team brings to the table. Cultivating meaningful relationships, both internally and externally, are a big part of the business for us and are one of the best things about working with talented leaders over multiple decades.  As a team, we are incredibly proud of the quality of entrepreneurs that are part of our portfolio.

On the importance of diversity

Our team brings a wealth of differentiated backgrounds and life experiences, and partly as a function of that, I think we tend to invest in a pretty diverse group of entrepreneurs.  About 15% of our portfolio has been founded by or has a CEO that is a woman or a minority (or both) and though we’re proud of that differentiating statistic, there is clearly more work to be done in terms of investing in founders who might not have a traditional ‘tribe’ or origin story.  Leadership and cultural practices come from the top and it’s our belief that companies who take an active role in shaping the culture of their company from the very beginning, in a purposeful way, are laying the foundation for long term success and diversity of thought in their organizations.

Why do you think people work with Trilogy?

At the very early stages of a company, we believe it’s in the company’s interest to work with a local partner whose focus is specifically on companies at that stage of growth.  Given both the closely held nature of our fund and the evergreen structure, we spend none of our time on fundraising and all of our time working with our portfolio or prospective companies.  Entrepreneurs get our undivided attention, which is something that I think companies we work with from Day 1 really appreciate and view as a differentiator vs. other sources of capital. At the Seed stage, you want someone you can go have coffee with once a week or pick up the phone late in the day and swing by the office to brainstorm or work through an acute challenge.  Ideally, you also want someone who has a local network to help you hire, develop your board, and introduce you to prospective customers. And as the company begins to grow and subsequent rounds of funding are raised, the relationship will naturally evolve but that level of trust and partnership that was cemented at the very beginning remains and is a unique attribute of working with our team.