Ashley Mayer / Coalition Operators

Ashley Mayer is a Co-founder and GP of Coalition Operators, a $12.5 million early-stage fund investing pre-seed to Series A.

Ashley’s background is in communications: Box, Social Capital, Glossier. She built a network across tech, then decided to start a fund teaming up with three other operators (Jaclyn Nelson, Toyin Ajayi, and Lindsay Ullman) to create something different.

The idea: connect experienced operators with early-stage startups that need their expertise. Match experience with potential. Thrive Capital and General Catalyst saw it and came in as anchor LPs.

Our conversation gets into Ashley’s transition from corporate communications to fund management. The ambiguity, the psychological challenges, what it actually takes to build a fund from scratch. She’s honest about what was hard.

Ashley’s investing approach comes from her operator background. She’s focused on founders and how they run things. Coalition helps founders build strategic cap tables that act as their strongest network. It’s not just capital. It’s bringing in investors who provide real value.

What struck me was how Ashley took years of operating experience and used it to reshape early-stage investing. Sometimes the best innovations come from people willing to challenge how things are done.

Full episode below, or on Spotify / Apple Podcasts