Kate McAndrew, 38 Kate is a co‑founder and general partner at San Francisco’s Baukunst VC who juggles a high-stakes career with full-time parenting. She and her co‑founders invested out of their $100million debut fund in 2022 to support early‑stage tech and design startups. Now 2Xer and mother of 4, Kate has powerfully combined routine, technology and heart to ensure her success at the highest level.
5 a.m.: Deep Work at Dawn
4a.m. startup: Kate rises early, sippers her pour‑over coffee while writing for a focused 90 minutes (she’s also listening to music under headphones), and after some breakfast follows it up with more creative “deep work” between 4–7a.m., which is her extremely productive time to really get things done.
Green juice ritual: She makes herself a vitality-boosting green smoothie every days, filled with functional mushrooms that promote mental clarity and brain health.
Family Time & Fitness
Morning with her son: On mornings when her son is with her, she spends 45 minutes reading in bed before getting dressed and taking him to school.
Move or dance: She will respond to emails if not dancing in the afternoon. When classes are running, Kate goes to dance religiously at least three times a week, usually at noon as essential emotional and physical self‑care.
Seamless Mobility
Stay close: Kate walks to Baukunst’s office, which sits at an equal distance from her and a co‑founder; the middle-of-the-road location has eliminated parking headaches. To her dance classes, she books Waymo rides that make travel time phone‑call productive.
Work Blocks & Networking
Scheduled afternoons: Board meetings, founder strategy sessions and focused work happen during Kate’s afternoons. She balances extended blocks for deep thinking and networking coffees with a greater number of shorter transactional 30‑minute Zoom calls.
Lunch efficiency: A faster, healthier lunch such as a cup of soup or sushi keeps her fueled without the distractions.
Evenings & Boundaries
Slow transition: On her parenting days, Kate relaxes with a glass of wine on the way to picking up her son and then devotes the evening to him no work devices allowed. They have dinner, take a bath and go to bed by 7:45p.m., asleep shortly thereafter.
Alternatives: When her son isn’t around, evenings are for industry events, dinner with her partner or extra dance sessions.
Core Tenants of Her Succeesful Career
Intentional scheduling: Quarterly planning and following natural energy rhythms provides Kate structure and empowerment in relation to her time.
Tech‑enabled flexibility: Technology helps steal back some of the clock, from the automated morning routine to easier ride‑sharing.
Superlative self‑care: Dance isn’t a luxury — it’s where she works out, releases her emotion and stays connected to community.
Adaptability: In startups, routines evolve. Kate regularly cleans house, shedding what no longer serves her and iterating what does.
Why This Matters for New Founders & Parents
Design your life, don’t just accept it: High-energy contributors find the routine they need to run a VC firm and parent with intention.
Conscious transitions: Activities-can you think of other examples?-such as dancing and considered buffer zones demilitarize emotional tension in roles.
Regular calibration: Regular recalibration means that every season is greeted with an upgraded system rather than an obstinate habit.
