RF|Binder hosts Hour to Empower sessions on a regular basis, bringing together speakers and industry leaders to spark thoughtful conversations, inspire reflection and strengthen the way we partner with our clients.
For our latest Hour to Empower session, RF|Binder welcomed Megan Bent, Founder and Managing Partner of Harbinger Ventures, a private equity firm that backs fast-growing consumer brands led by founders of mixed genders, for a conversation with our own CEO and Founder Amy Binder. Megan reflected on what led her to challenge the status quo in investing, how conversations around gender and leadership have evolved, and what it takes to build and scale a successful business today.
Questioning the Status Quo
Megan spent more than a decade in venture capital before launching Harbinger Ventures in 2016. As she advanced in her career, she found herself in rooms that were still primarily male, whether among investors or leadership teams. Over time, that pattern became harder to ignore, leading her to question whether it was intentional or accidental.
That realization became the starting point for Harbinger. She set out to build a firm with purpose, one that created more balanced teams and brought different perspectives into how businesses are built and scaled. It also shaped how she approached investing, including how she thought about funding gaps and the role women play in driving consumer behavior in the CPG space.
How Leadership Thinking Has Evolved
Megan noted that the conversation around diversity and leadership has evolved a lot over the past decade. What once took a more simplistic view, often defined through gender and race, has become a more nuanced way of thinking about how teams are built and how different perspectives come together. She spoke about building progressive cultures where diversity of thought and experience is part of how teams operate, and where making space for different opinions and healthy debate leads to stronger businesses.
Female leaders are not looking to be defined by their gender. Many see themselves simply as leaders, bringing the same level of competitiveness, collaboration and business instinct as their peers. That shift has created more openness to different leadership styles and stronger collaboration across generations, with real value in having both experienced executives and younger voices at the table.
Defining the Founder Mindset
Megan shared three qualities she consistently sees in founders who are able to grow successfully.
- Pure play athleticism. Founders need to be coachable, instinctive and competitive, while still operating as team players. Knowing when to lead and when to step back matters just as much as having the drive to win.
- A clear vision and purpose. The strongest founders are building something they genuinely believe in. That sense of purpose carries through different stages of growth and is often what makes an idea stick.
- The ability to build both a business and a brand. A strong concept is not enough on its own. It has to translate into a real commercial model, where both the brand and the fundamentals support long-term growth.
The Reality of Entrepreneurship
Megan also spoke candidly about the realities of building a business. Moving from investing to building meant defining culture, values and a team from the ground up. Raising capital took on a different weight, with both rejection and success feeling more direct, and failure becoming part of the process.
She shared three key pieces of advice for founders today. First, the current fundraising environment requires more discipline, with less access to capital and a greater need to operate with limited resources. Second, founders need to be prepared for the long term, as building a business requires unwavering commitment. Third, self-awareness is critical, as founders need to be able to both sell their vision and understand the fundamentals of the business. Confidence for women was another important theme. The skillsets are often already there, but how that confidence is communicated can make a meaningful difference, especially in male-dominated spaces.
Owning the Narrative
As the conversation wrapped, Megan returned to the idea of narrative and how often it is underestimated. Clearly articulating who you are, what you are building and why it matters can shape how a business is perceived and supported over time. For women, that clarity and confidence are especially important in spaces that have not always made room for different perspectives. It was a reminder that beyond the business itself, how a story is told can influence what comes next, and as communicators, that is where we can have real impact.
Thank you, Megan, for an enlightening conversation.
