4/21 | Katherine Wood - TPG — Synergist Network

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Synergist Senior Sound Bites - April 2021:

Katherine Wood

Principal, TPG Capital
B.S. Stanford University, M.B.A Harvard Business School

Background
Katherine Wood is a Principal at TPG Capital based San Francisco, where she focuses on investments in the healthcare sector. She currently serves on the Boards of LifeStance Health, Convey Health Solutions, Kadiant, and Neogene Therapeutics, and was previously on the Boards of AskBio and Adare Pharmaceuticals. She was also involved in TPG’s investments in Allogene Therapeutics, Aptalis, EnvisionRx, IASIS and Par Pharmaceutical. Prior to joining TPG in 2009, she worked in healthcare investment banking at Goldman, Sachs & Co. Katherine received a B.S. with Honors in molecular and cell biology from Stanford University, where she was on the varsity field hockey team, and an M.B.A. with Distinction from Harvard Business School.

Can you tell us a bit more about your background - how was the transition from Goldman Sachs to TPG? What led to your decision to attend business school? Why did you decide to return to TPG?

I joined TPG in 2009 at the depths of the global financial crisis. It was an interesting time to learn the business when the environment was so challenging, but it was fun to be a part of some of the non-traditional deals we did then.

Business school was a great opportunity to pick my head up after four years of hard work and meet an incredible range of people with different career paths and life experiences. I worked at a healthcare IT company during school to experiment with a new role, and even took my first finance class (at long last!). Having the headspace to reflect and absorb different possibilities helped me understand what I had enjoyed about investing and TPG. One of the fun parts about the job is it keeps changing and presents new challenges every year. Working with teams and leaders I admire has mattered a lot too.

What influenced your decision to focus on healthcare? What trends are you most excited about?

I come from a long line of physicians and scientists in my extended family, and I thought I might head in the same direction when I was in college. When I stumbled into banking, working with biotech companies was a nice bridge from the science I had studied, particularly as I had a lot to learn in basic finance and modeling skills.

One area of healthcare I find most important is behavioral health. It is the pandemic no one talks about and has been undertreated for a long time. Two of my investments are in psychiatry and autism services. In each case, we have seen that as patients are more willing to seek care and the “last mile” is made easier via telehealth, it has an enormous potential to improve not only quality of life but also physical health and cost of care.

Any advice for women who are looking to build a career in finance long-term?

Early in your career, it’s easy to focus on nailing deliverables and exceling at exactly what is asked of you. To the extent possible, strive for breadth of experience, which sometimes comes in unexpected ways. Having an awareness to pursue relationships, leadership experiences, or new investment ideas outside of your core role can be rewarding in the longer term.

It’s also important to be with a firm that shares your values. There are many ways to be a successful investor, and it’s worth finding the culture and investment style that resonates with you.

How do you balance personal and work life?

Tactically, I’m a big fan of scheduling or blocking personal time so I adhere to it the same as I would a work meeting. Admittedly sometimes I snooze through the 6am workout block, but I always stick with the 6pm family time. I let my teams know to call if they need me then so I can avoid checking email.

On the personal side, you won’t make everything, but it matters more to be there for the important moments. I’ll never regret taking a redeye to be at a friend’s wedding or the time I took to spend with my family when my son was born. You can also find ways to integrate work and personal. When I’m on the road, I’ll often sneak in a meal with a friend in that town.

With my family, it’s a team effort across my husband and nanny to balance everything. Before we had our son, we couldn’t even keep a cactus alive, but fortunately we’ve adapted. Parenthood can be both energizing and exhausting, but ultimately a lot of fun if you accept that things won’t always go as planned.

Favorite book, podcast, or show?

I’m currently watching Halt and Catch Fire, a series about the early days of Silicon Valley and “Silicon Prairie” (set in Dallas, my hometown). It reminds me a bit of Mad Men but with strong female leads. I also loved Ted Lasso for its lightheaded optimism, especially this year. My other go-to’s are The New Yorker magazine and Slow Burn podcasts.

Thank you for your time Katherine! To learn more about TPG click here.