Haley Barna
Co-founder
Birchbox
Hayley Barna is a Partner based in New York. Prior to joining First Round she co-founded Birchbox, the leading beauty and grooming retailer seed funded by First Round in 2010.
She served as Co-CEO at Birchbox for five years from conception and launch to growing the business to over a million monthly subscribers. She raised over $70M in venture capital, expanded the business internationally and launched new businesses and channels like men’s and retail stores. Hayley oversaw key functions including marketing, operations, strategy and technology.
Before launching Birchbox in 2010, Hayley received her MBA from Harvard Business School. She started her career as a strategy consultant at Bain & Company in New York. She also spent time at two very different ends of the retail spectrum through her roles in strategy at Christie’s in Hong Kong and product management at Amazon in Seattle.
In addition to her current role at First Round, Hayley is a board member at RAB Lighting and Madison Reed.
“Don’t forget to sell the dream.” “Start with how the world is going to be different five years from now because your business exists, and then back it up with the really detailed, awesome plans for what you’re gonna do next.” “I’m bound to make mistakes in this new role, both in my investment decisions and how I handle conversations with entrepreneurs. But I commit to being authentic, open minded and empathetic to the founder’s fundraising experience.”