Anna Whiteman

Anna is a Vice President at Coefficient Capital, a growth equity fund investing in consumer products and services that leverage technology to create competitive advantage. Its portfolio includes Haus, Oatly, and Hydrant, among others.

Entrepreneur named Anna one of its 100 Powerful Women of 2020 and Business Insider named her one of its “30 and Under: Rising Stars in Venture.”

On the first hour of her day.

Once I’m up I pour a cup of black coffee and take 20 minutes to just be with my thoughts. Then I go for a quick run on the beach.

Right now I have a dedicated running playlist that I’m obsessed with. After my run, I’ll have a big bowl of fruit and a smoothie to get started.

On her keystone habits.

There are really two routines that I swear by.

First, I haven’t missed a day of being active or sweating in 6 years. It’s a non-negotiable for me and directly impacts my happiness and mental health.

Second, I always make sure to center myself before calls or meetings to ensure I’m present in conversations. That goes for both professional and social settings.

I really do live by these two. I’ve found that everything during quarantine has slowed down, so my actions have become a lot more intentional. 

On networking and community.

I recently finished one of those online assessments that helps you understand your personality type, and I guess I'm a very natural people connector!

At the core of that is that I'm a firm believer in what goes around comes around. I try to do good things for people whenever I get the chance.

Critically, I never expect anything in return.

People want to do good things for people who do good things for them. It’s a positive feedback loop that I find very fulfilling. That’s why I do what I do.

The world is a just better place if we do good things for good people.

On consumer behavior.

While I started my professional life in the nonprofit space, I very quickly realized that consumer behavior changes measurably with dollars and investing was a more direct and quantifiable way for me to grasp the impact of my work.

Economics, to me, is the simplest way to understand, quantify, and influence consumer behavior. Layer on my personal interests in health and wellness and I quickly fell down the consumer rabbit hole.

Since that moment, I’ve been involved in the early-stage consumer ecosystem, specifically focusing on wellness trends and evolving behavior in that space.

On her family ties.

My dad’s been my roommate for the past 2 years!

His job required him to move to New York and he didn’t want to get an apartment because he wanted to commute back to live with my mom on the weekends.

So I offered up my spare room and if we weren’t best friends before we definitely are now. He’s hilarious and has this really rare and funny rapport.

He’s incredibly goofy which aligns quite closely with my personality. I have a funny Irish Catholic brood of a family. 

Growing up everyone in my family has always been each others’ best friends, both parents and kids. I’m one of four and so there was always someone around who was down to get into some trouble. During quarantine I moved back home, so it’s been a riot to live with all of them in this tiny house in South Jersey. 

On winding down at night.

Right now I take a natural sleep enhancer at around 8:30, head down to my front porch, and read Red Rising for a while. It’s my current SciFi obsession.

I go to bed 2 hours earlier than I used to, around 9 or 10 most nights.

I’ve also drastically reduced screen time before bed which has helped tremendously with sleep latency. 

Sometimes I’ll have some mezcal right before bed, for some reason that always makes me fall asleep instantly. Then I’ll dive into my (admittedly very basic) skincare routine and finally knock out.