VP of Marketing @ HYCU | #5to9: Keeping Up With 2 Kiddos

My first job was bussing tables at my dad’s restaurant, where I learned something that still shapes how I lead today: it’s not just the product that keeps people coming back, it’s the experience.

That idea is at the core of how I approach growth. Whether it’s a restaurant or a B2B company, sustainable growth comes from creating experiences that customers care about, understand, and want to return to. In practice, that means combining clear positioning, disciplined targeting, customer insight, and a willingness to experiment, all grounded in data and accountability, to build programs that drive pipeline, improve retention, and support long-term growth.

I’ve built and led marketing and growth teams across enterprise, mid-market, and startup environments, helping companies move from reactive execution to focused, predictable growth. Along the way I’ve rebranded companies, built revenue engines, scaled teams, and helped leadership teams clarify how they show up in the market.

Most recently, I led marketing at PathFactory, where I oversaw the merger with Uberflip — unifying messaging, content, and teams to position the business for its next phase of growth. Before that, I’ve held senior leadership roles at HYCU, Alyce, Avid Technology, Iron Mountain, and EMC.

In addition to my operating roles, I advise B2B startups and mid-size companies on how to simplify their strategy, find their edge, and build growth programs that connect clearly to revenue.

I tend to do my best work where there’s momentum, complexity, and opportunity — and where leadership wants a partner who can help turn strategy into execution and execution into results.

Contact:  lorenco.pete@gmail.com

Pete Lorenco

Nina Butler

A born-again Bostonian and Martha’s Vineyard native, I attribute my passion for making personal connections in my professional life to my neighborly Island roots. After a decade+ of building early stage tech companies, I am now Chief of Staff at Pillar VC, a Boston based seed stage firm that invests in technical breakthroughs and exceptional founders across AI, deep tech, human health and more. 

Head of Marketing

I had the great fortune of participating in Wellesley College's Upskill Week this past week. It was amazing being at the mothership, and giving back in a way that I wish was more available to me when I was an undergrad.

Students had one week to work in small groups, isolate a meaningful problem on campus, run customer discovery to validate approaches, and come up with commercial solves (side note -- it's remarkable that in the age of AI, many had already whipped up full product prototypes by this afternoon).

Earlier in the week, a question was posed that's been gnawing at me:

"Why isn't Wellesley viewed as a business school?"

It isn't?!

Within 15 years of graduating, over 40% of alumnae ascend into management roles, primarily CEO, President, or Executive Director.

While entrepreneurship may not be advertised curriculum, a liberal arts environment is exactly the backdrop to hone the soft skills that set you apart in business.

Yes, I had to learn how to build a P&L elsewhere - but this is what I did learn while here that I use daily:

Communication that moves people forward
Public speaking without flinching. Engaging in challenging dialogue where everyone gets smarter, not divided. Actually listening to dissenting opinions instead of just waiting to talk. (And yes, I wish I'd taken more psych classes to understand what makes people tick.)

Social emotional intelligence that wins people over
The empathy and self-awareness to read a room, understand stakeholders, and build genuine connections. These aren't "nice to haves" – a high EQ is the foundation of everything from sales to leadership to recruiting, you name it.

Insatiable curiosity that creates opportunities
Making unexpected connections across disciplines. Testing and iterating like a scientist. Diving deep into research when you need to become an expert overnight. Pushing beyond your comfort zone and never being too shy to ask the silly question that everyone else is thinking.

Liberal arts gave me the ability to learn anything, connect with anyone, and adapt to everything. 

To the students I met this week: you're already building the toolkit that matters most. Don't underestimate it.

(+ snaps to my amazing group working to elevate our athletic experience on campus!)

Events are one of the best ways to leave lasting impressions.

They're immersive. They're emotional. They connect us face-to-face in a digitally inundated world.

And they are the backbone of how we at Pillar VC stay connected to our community.

We just opened up a dream role on our team:

Our Event & Operations Manager will own our event and supporting operational experience end-to-end. In addition, your thumbprint will be all over how we build and manage our network, drive community engagement, sustain brand awareness, and support the in-office experience for our Boston-based crew.

If you’re proactive, creative, sweat the details, and get energized creating high-touch experiences, we want to hear from you.

Apply below or drop me a line!

Open article: Hiring: Event and Operations Manager - Pillar VC by pillar.vc

Hiring: Event and Operations Manager - Pillar VC

Joined an all-star cast this past fall - excited to see the heights Pillar VC reaches in 2026!

Ten years ago, we started Pillar VC with a simple hypothesis: if we treat founders the way we would want to be treated, good things will happen.

A decade later, all data suggests it works.

In 2025:

- Closed $175M Fund IV in March, our largest fund yet

- Deployed $35M+ across 17 new investments, spanning AI for infrastructure, AI vertical software, human health, robotics, mining, energy, etc. (Edison Scientific, Metri Bio, Gekit, Skeletalis, Inc., Mesoware, Liza Health + 5 more MIT lab spinouts to announce later this year)

- Our portfolio companies raised $450M (VideaHealth, Portal Biotech, Catena Labs, Latent Labs, Kula Bio) 

- Witnessed great progress from our portcos: Samuel G. Rodriques and team Edison launched Kosmos, an AI scientist condensing 6 months of research time into a single day, Latent Labs launched their generative AI model, Latent-X, speeding up drug design for researchers, Nabla Bio's multi-year $1B partnership deal with Takeda, strong continued growth at Higharc, Abridge + Boston born businesses Jellyfish, Reclaim Health, VideaHealth & Hometap

- Celebrated amazing portfolio outcomes: Circle went public with a $19B+ market cap, Zilla Security got acquired by CyberArk, Neural Magic (Acquired by Red Hat) got acquired by Red Hat and Abridge became Fund I's next unicorn, raising money at a $5.3B valuation

- Welcomed 5 new members to the Pillar team with decades of operator, investing & start-up experience amongst them: Nina Butler, Zach Martins, CPA, Leah Elizabeth Morris, Leone Baron, and Kayan Patel

- Our first fund (2016) is now well above top 5% benchmarks (TVPI, DPI, NIRR) for its vintage

What I’m most proud of is we’ve remained committed to the original Pillar promise: support founders at the earliest stage of their journey with an insanely powerful community.

Like these memorable events:

- Founder Camp, convening 100 portfolio founders, Founding Pillars & experienced CEOs in Vermont

- Outpost retreat in Park City for the country's top biotech founders, scientists & pharma partners


This year also marked a major step forward in expanding our research-backed model beyond Boston. We launched our Encode: AI for Science, by Pillar VC program, a one-year fellowship funded by the UK government’s Advanced Research + Invention Agency (ARIA) and Department of Science, Technology and Innovation. Attracting 600 applications from AI/ML researchers, now 18 Encode Fellows are embedded at top universities across the UK, beginning research that could become our next generation of portfolio companies.

This year marks a decade of Pillar. Reflecting on it, one truth stands out:

Important breakthroughs happen when you least expect them, after persistently providing brilliant people the resources, connections & runway to pursue what others think is impossible.

That's what we've done for 10 years.

That's what we'll do for the next 10.

Here's to backing exceptional people doing hard things.

Calling all Boston Builders! 

Share with us your biggest, boldest, most-in-need-of suggestions on Sarah's call to action 👇

Less talk, more building. As we move into a much larger office in Boston this fall, we’re asking—how we can use it to actually help founders?

This week sparked a lot of conversation after Brian Halligan (co-founder of HubSpot) questioned whether the Boston startup ecosystem still has real momentum. Reasonable people can debate the answer. From our vantage point, we’re still very bullish.

More than 70% of our investments have been in Boston-based companies, many coming out of MIT and Harvard. Our research institutions still receive billions in funding. Some of the world’s largest biotech customers are here, representing hundreds of billions in market cap. And Boston continues to produce leading companies across biotech and deep tech.

What we appreciated most about the conversation wasn’t the hot takes—it was the action. Ryan Durkin is pushing forward the MA AI coalition. Brian is trying to recruit YC to set up shop here. CEOs, founders, and investors are organizing around a shared goal: keeping great talent building in Boston. Less talking, more doing.

Which brings me to our own moment of reflection.

In September, we’re moving into more than 30,000 square feet in Back Bay. It’s a beautiful space—dual kitchens, conference rooms, ~200 desks, and views toward South Boston—and it feels like an opportunity we shouldn’t waste.

We’ve always believed in building together. Our current space has hosted dozens of companies co-working over the years, and last year we hosted 50+ events with thousands of founders, researchers, and operators. We’ll keep doing that—but with this much room, we want to think bigger.

So I’m genuinely curious: how should we use this space to support builders in Boston? Are there programs or experiments you wish existed? Is there something you’d want to help lead or try?

Reply here, or email us at hq@pillar.vc. We’d love to hear your ideas.

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Pete Lorenco

Nina Butler

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The Battle

Pete Lorenco

Nina Butler

Followers

Posts

Engagements

Likes

Performance Score.css-goub6s{font-size:var(--chakra-fontSizes-md);font-weight:500;color:var(--chakra-colors-gray-600);display:block;margin-top:var(--chakra-space-1);}Nina Butler's LinkedIn Performance

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