Emerging VC Talent: Edition 8, Bailie Salk
Welcome to my monthly interview series on emerging VC talent! We talk everything from gathering insights on emerging industries and tech, venture dynamics, and career-best practices.
In the eighth edition, I interviewed Bailie Salk, Associate at Venrock, who sits on the AI team. Venrock is currently investing out of their 10th $650M fund that invests across AI, fintech, defense and healthcare companies. They have invested in disruptive and industry changing companies such as Apple, Intel, Cloudflare, and Athenahealth, among many others.
TL;DR: Key Takeaways
- Setting Up for Success: Building trust with founders starts from the very first interaction. Getting to know them on a deeper level allows for quicker problem-solving when they encounter challenges.
- Favorite Quote: “What I can promise is that if you throw me a challenge, I’ll figure it out… I know I can’t be an expert in everything, but I can be resourceful, responsive, and relentlessly committed to helping however I can.”
Q: What was your first job?
A: My first job was actually starting my own company at eight years old. I’ve always loved working with my hands, and my mom is an artist, so creativity was a big part of my upbringing. I launched a jewelry business, built a (very scrappy) website with my parents’ help, and sold my pieces to neighbors and my parents’ friends.
My uncle helped to take campaign photos for me where I modeled the jewelry for marketing materials, and I was fully in it: branding, sales, customer service. We eventually let go of the domain when I was in college, though it was searchable for longer than I would’ve liked.
Q: Tell me a little more about your career trajectory so far.
A: The WannaCry and Colonial Pipeline ransomware attacks made me realize how the digital world could seriously impact the physical. That realization led me to study cybersecurity and political science. I was fortunate to have one of the only female professors in the Computer Science department, and she inspired me to pursue cybersecurity.
I was interested in pursuing a graduate degree, and my university had a Master’s program in the computer science department, but at that time, it was only for executives. I applied, made my case, and was accepted. I decided to defer for a year to get some work experience under my belt.
I did get my Master’s in cybersecurity, but before that, I worked at a company called AlphaSights, and that’s where I was introduced to venture capital. I got exposure to deal flow and investing insights, and I fell in love with it immediately. While there, I looked at a company in the identity and access management space. I read an article and noticed the name of one of their early investors. I was really curious: How did he find and back this company so early, before there was a product or revenue? So I tracked him down.
I sent a lot of cold emails, made cold calls, back-channeled, and leaned on my network: friends, family, anyone who could help. Finally, my parents helped me get on the phone with the investor from the article. They weren’t hiring for an investor position at the time, but after pulling an all nighter to proactively make a sourcing deck, I joined the team a couple weeks later.
Q: You’re transitioning into a new role. Can you talk to me a little more about that?
A: In my new role as an Associate at Venrock, I’m supporting two incredible Partners, Ethan Batraski and Ganesh Srinivasan, across their workflows, with a focus on AI, application layer, developer tools, etc. At Venrock, we’re focusing on investing in breakthroughs that will overcome current AI limitations — like persistent memory and workflows that represent true expertise in specialized fields. Ethan and Ganesh are some of the most brilliant and thoughtful people I’ve met, and I’m genuinely excited to learn from them.
When I was interviewing during grad school, it was all cold emails and kicking doors down, which is something I’ve never been shy about. The worst you can get is a no. This time around, it was slightly different. I was already in a job I loved, which gave me the space to be more intentional. I took the time to evaluate the risks and make sure I was aligned with the fund, not just professionally but culturally too. I am eternally grateful to Venrock for giving me the opportunity to continue to do a job that I truly love.
Q: How do you build and reinforce trust with founders?
A: Trust starts from the very first interaction. Both sides need to show up with openness and a willingness to be authentic. For me, that means asking the questions others might skip over during diligence, not just about the business, but about the person. What motivates them? How were they like growing up? What keeps them up at night?
These conversations lay the groundwork so that when tough moments inevitably come, we’re not stuck at surface level, and we can actually dig in and work through it together.
That being said, it’s important to be thoughtful and respectful in how you ask those questions. At the end of the day, I want founders to know that I’ll be in the trenches with them, no matter what.
Q: What skills do you lean into to bring value to founders?
A: The most immediate value I bring tends to be around revenue: making customer introductions, helping with sales strategy, and connecting founders to the right people. I’m constantly working to expand my network in thoughtful, non-transactional ways so that when a founder needs help, I can make a warm, high-quality intro.
I also know my own limitations, and I try to be honest about them. What I can promise is that if you throw me a challenge, I’ll figure it out. I’ve always had a “build the plane while flying it” mentality. I know I can’t be an expert in everything, but I can be resourceful, responsive, and relentlessly committed to helping however I can.
Q: You founded a group called Capital Collective. What was the inspiration behind it?
A: Capital Collective is a membership group for the next generation of women in venture capital. We provide access to curated resources, deal flow, and intimate events designed to grow both personal and professional networks.
At its core, the inspiration was simple: I love building relationships. I truly believe that meaningful connections can be made at any stage or season of life, and some of the most rewarding aspects of this industry come from the friendships and community you build along the way.
Venture lends itself beautifully to that. It’s an ecosystem rooted in relationships. While words like “community” and “networking” get tossed around a lot, I try to approach it with real intentionality. If Capital Collective helps one person meet other people they wouldn’t have otherwise crossed paths with, then it’s done its job to build greater connectivity.
I’m deeply bullish on the women in this group, even those I haven’t met yet. If I can play a small part in helping someone feel more connected, supported, or seen, that means everything to me. Capital Collective consists of the next generation of fund managers. These are women who I hope to one day sit on company boards with. It’s about paying it forward without expecting anything in return.
Q: How do you think about your role and mindset as a young VC in today’s landscape?
A: We’re seeing a paradigm shift ushering in a new generation of talent in venture. It’s easy to get caught in the day-to-day, but I believe young VCs need to be bold, take risks, and push boundaries. That’s something I’m working on every day.
Brian Ascher, Partner at Venrock, said it best when he shared a quote from Ronnie Oldham: “Excellence is the result of caring more than others think is wise, risking more than others think is safe, dreaming more than others think is practical, and expecting more than others think is possible.” That quote really captures how I feel about my pursuit of excellence.
I’m especially grateful to be surrounded by people who inspire that mindset and who challenge me to grow, think bigger, and do better.
When it comes to investing, I’ve found that some of the best early-stage VCs are those who deeply understand what it takes to build a company from the ground up, often because they’ve been operators themselves. I’m drawn to working with partners who bring that kind of experience. That said, there are also exceptional career VCs who’ve never operated but bring incredible pattern recognition, discipline, and conviction to the table.
It’s really about finding people who care deeply, think independently, and lead with enough courage to make non-consensus decisions. I’d also say that having interests outside of work is incredibly important, but when you love what you do, it doesn’t feel like work.
Q: Best piece of advice?
A: Lead with gratitude. That’s been a guiding principle for me in both life and work.
Another of the best pieces of advice I’ve ever received came from Julie Grant at Canaan: find your tribe. That really stuck with me, and it’s what inspired me to start Capital Collective. I’m always looking for people who are high integrity, intellectually curious, and kind. I’ll go out of my way to find and hold onto those types of relationships.
Know an emerging VC talent I should feature? Send me a note on Linkedin.
Originally published at https://medium.com on March 27, 2025.
