099: Kristen Craft of Fidelity for Startups

Guest Kristen Craft is the new Vice President & Business Partner Manager at Fidelity for Startups, one of the largest brokerage firms in the United States, headquartered here in Boston. She’s a major catalyst supporting Fidelity in its efforts to help fill the startup banking void in Boston. Craft is working closely with the team at Shoobx, a Cambridge-based fintech Fidelity acquired in January 2023. Shoobx helps companies with equity and board management, storing and sharing important business information, and bringing together startup leaders, lawyers, and investors in a single collaborative hub. Similar to her previous roles, Craft’s role at Fidelity entails her helping startups navigate the financial moments that matter most: fundraising, cap table management, access to investors; alongside all of the other financial expertise and services that Fidelity has long been known for. Craft is a proven entrepreneur with more than 15 years of experience in enterprise software and digital marketing. With a passion for entrepreneurship, she’s become well known around the Boston startup community for her passionate support of founders and VCs. In her role evangelizing the Boston-area startup community, Craft also recently supported the production of a 2024 AI report from Value Creation Labs – Boston Startups Put AI and Data to Work in Vertical Industries and Enterprises. Craft is also a previous guest of Boston Speaks Up, and folks can learn more about her previous career journey in the episode from 2022. Her past experience includes leadership roles at Animalz, Tettra, Ovia Health Wistia, and Transparent Language, as well as launching her own start-up, Brown Box Storage. In her return to the Boston Speaks Up show, she is eager to share best practices on go-to-market strategy, fundraising, and other vital aspects of the startup journey. Drawing from her decades of experience as a startup operator and angel investor, she's gathered a great deal of wisdom and is enthusiastic about making the startup journey smoother for others.