Tara Stokes is a Principal on the Investment Team at Point72 Ventures, focused on investing in artificial intelligence and machine learning companies and partnering with founders of model-driven businesses. 

Prior to joining Point72, Tara was an Associate in the Investment Banking Division at Morgan Stanley, where she began her career as an equity trader focused on technology, media, and telecom. 

I started my career in TMT equity trading.

Covering technology, media, and telecom companies taught me a lot about healthy companies vs. unhealthy ones, what’s signal and what’s noise, and the importance of innovation and new research in the sector.  

The biggest part of my process is understanding founding teams.

I have a big family, and I was on a lot of sports teams growing up. It taught me that the people you surround yourself with will inspire you, challenge you, and support your growth. A good team goes a long way. 

Small talk cheat sheet:

East vs. West Coast perspectives, the Grand Slam tennis championships, a great article you’ve read.   

We’re all optimists here.

This job combines creativity and discipline to drive transformative outcomes. You need to be a believer in possibilities, and then do the work to solve it, together.