The Michigan Venture Capital Association is proud to offer the Venture Fellows Program to Michigan’s venture capital community. The program, launched in 2023, is designed to increase the number of venture professionals in Michigan in order to accelerate the fundraising and deployment of capital into early-stage companies.
Bio Update: Including but not limited to your role, what you’ve been working on, and key achievements
Claire joined Straylight Capital (Previously Plymouth Growth) as an Analyst on the Execution Team in April of 2025. Since joining the firm, Claire has worked on a variety of projects across the firms teams ranging from sourcing and attending conferences to supporting active diligence deals. Claire spends most of her time reviewing data rooms and supporting execution team efforts but has also had the opportunity to support investor relations efforts including aggregating quarterly reports, creating newsletters, and spearheading the planning of her firms 2025 Annual Meeting.
What are some of the most important skills you’ve learned during your fellowship and how have they benefited you?
It’s been nearly a year since I started my fellowship, and I can confidently say that I am still in what I’d call “sponge-mode” focused on understanding the nuances of this industry, maximizing exposure, and repeating reps. My firms strategy is right in what we call the “magnificent middle” between VC and PE so there are a lot of angles to learn and learning certainly hasn’t slowed down. From what I’ve gathered, this industry and career is for the endlessly curious, so I don’t think my “sponge-mode” mindset is going to end any time soon.
One of the most important skills that I have started to develop as a young professional in this fellowship is something that my friend (shoutout Paige!) and I coined: “puddle jumping.” For us, puddle jumping isn’t necessarily about diving deep but going an inch deep across a lot of different areas and knowing when it’s time to move on to the next one. It’s the ability to shift between workstreams, cover a lot of ground, and prioritize what actually needs attention without getting stuck in one thing for too long. Most days, I’m jumping puddle to puddle, moving the ball forward, and then transitioning to the next priority. Of course, there are moments and periods that require going deeper, but I’m learning that part of this role is learning how to keep making progress while balancing multiple priorities at once. Taking an intentional and organized approach to puddle jumping by blocking off my calendar to have dedicated focus time has helped me be more effective in my role.
So far, what’s the most memorable thing you’ve experienced during your fellowship?
This is a great question. One of the most memorable experiences for me has been our 2025 Annual Meeting. It’s the one time each year were in the same room with our investors, representing who we are, what we’ve built, and what we are continuing to build. I raised my hand to take ownership of the planning process, and my team trusted me to run with it. Seeing the confidence in my team as we headed into the day and knowing I could add real value as a new team member who was still getting ramped up, was really fun and rewarding.
While seeing the fruits of your labor is nice, what was really special was meeting so many of our investors and LPs in person. In addition to investing, we spend a lot of time building material, sharing updates through newsletters and announcements, and communicating virtually. Having the chance to put faces to names and build on those relationships in real life added a whole new dimension to the work we do throughout the year.
How are you promoting a diverse and inclusive entrepreneurial and investment community in Michigan?
For me, this year has been focused on proximity to students. Maintaining a presence in Detroit and staying connected to students who are ultimately deciding what careers they want to pursue and where they want to build them is something I care about. When you are a student it’s hard to know what you don’t know, and I’ve been working towards making this community feel more accessible through mentorship programs, speaking events, and pitch competitions so that students can be more fully-informed on the different opportunities within this space.
I’ve also tried to be intentional about being a connector. That’s meant introducing Detroit founders to communities that can help them integrate more deeply into the city, helping my Grand Rapids peers better understand the Detroit scene, or referring friends for roles at different startups or entrepreneurship programs. A lot of individuals and organizations are doing great work to build community across Michigan and the broader Midwest (Another shoutout for my friends at the MVCA and over at Midwest House!) and I try to build on that momentum.
What excites you the most about your career in Michigan?
There is a lot of dialogue in Michigan and the Midwest about building up our ecosystem. Whether that means modeling ourselves after the coasts, competing with them, or trying to bring more coastal deals here. While that conversation is very important, what I personally love about my career in Michigan is actually much simpler: I’m close to my family and the people that matter most to me, I get to contribute to investing in and growing companies in a region that shaped me, and values tend to align. Interestingly, many of my friends and family in larger coastal cities have talked about gravitating toward other Midwesterners. There is something unspoken that we share that travels and bonds us.
I love meeting new people and learning how different environments shape how people think, build, and operate, and I wouldn’t want to lose that exposure. At the same time, I think Michigan doesn’t have to look like Silicon Valley or NYC to be successful. This ecosystem can have its own identity. What that identity ultimately becomes is still unfolding but there are many people, often quietly and subconsciously, working together to shape it. Being part of that is exciting and personal in the way that extends beyond my career.
Besides work, what is one of your passions or aspirations — what do you love to talk about?
What a fun question! I like to think of myself as a “hobby collector” and no, I don’t collect physical things. I have a wide range of interests and am always reading up on something new or trying a new activity. I tend to cycle through hobbies like learning guitar, biking Detroit’s riverfront, reading my grandpa’s old George Carlin books, or spending my nights reading Substack essays on whatever topic I’ve decided I’d like to learn more about.
Having said that, my most recent topic of interest is the balance between consuming and creating. I typically spend my days reviewing data rooms for technology companies and my nights listening to whatever podcast or audio book caught my attention. At some point, I realized I have fallen into a rhythm of read, analyze, absorb, sleep, repeat. Consumption can fuel creativity but only if there is space to produce something from it. I certainly don’t have the perfect balance yet but am always grateful for opportunities like this where I can create and contribute to ideas rather than just taking them in. If you’ve made it this far, thank you for reading and be kind to one another.