6 Questions With…Andrea Gallagher
Who Is Andrea Gallagher?
I was born in Oregon, but I was raised in Washington, DC. I then headed west for college, where I focused on psychology and user experience research. The arrival of the Web pulled me out of graduate school, and I’ve worked in Web and software ever since. I’ve worked in startups, consulting, and enterprises. Overtime, I lived in the San Francisco area, London, San Diego, then San Francisco again, and now Morgantown!
What experiences with entrepreneurship do you have?
I started with a few startups in the dot.com boom, including one that was a first-generation VR/metaverse company called Worlds, inc. I then spent 10 years in consulting, where we were mostly supporting venture-backed clients who needed to define a great customer experience fast. In enterprise (in Biotech, then at Intuit and Google), I spent a lot of my energy on “intrapreneur” efforts – how can companies maintain the passion and creativity to thrive in a competitive space.
When did you know you wanted to be a part of the Vantage Ventures community?
I had my eye on Vantage, and it’s one of the reasons we picked Morgantown. I knew I needed a strong venture community to connect with, and I saw it in this team. I’ve seen founders reach out to each other with puzzles, questions, and worries. Even with a co-founder, the startup life can be lonely and uncertain.
Where do you draw your motivations from?
Solving important problems to help people get unstuck.
Why did you choose West Virginia?
The mountains and the opportunities. We love hiking and the outdoors, so that was a key pull for us. But we also saw a hunger for change and a culture of fixing things that need fixing.
What are your top two pieces of advice for startups?
- Be crystal clear about the problem you are solving and who you are solving it for.
- Constantly test your concept and be honest with yourself about what you are learning.