Getting to know the team — meet Florencia

This month, we extend a very warm welcome to Florencia Quinteros, who recently joined us as Head of Operations.

Florencia arrives at Folklore with over a decade of experience building operational infrastructure, scaling teams and strategic M&A — most recently at publicly listed superannuation fund, Australian Ethical Super, and healthtech scaleup, TMRW. She thinks in two languages simultaneously, and approaches every problem with relentless curiosity and structural rigour - two things our Folks value greatly.

Her role at Folklore adds a productivity lens across the firm, which extends to Folklore founders and their teams, as they continue to scale.

From Australian Ethical Super to Folklore Ventures

“I've long been fascinated by the intersectionality of work, society and life; how ideas, systems and people collide to shape the world we're building toward. The VC space captures this beautifully. At its best, it's where the boldest thinking meets capital and action — right before an emerging industry is finding its form. There's a complexity to that where you're not just backing a company, you're participating in how the future gets configured and that excites me deeply.”

Lessons from scaling teams and building operations infrastructure

“At Australian Ethical, a publicly listed company four decades in, the challenge was keeping systems and people adapting without losing the momentum that got us there. As a business scales, agility is often the first casualty, so a lot of my work with the Board and SLT was about building the infrastructure to protect it, arming people with the tools and frameworks to keep moving fast at scale.

The startup world was a whole different kind of education. I've always considered myself an all-wheel drive, but this blank canvas was a great challenge and opportunity. Most recently at healthtech scaleup, TMRW, culture was intentionally built first, then the processes and systems to support it. Given the pace of technology over the past year, we were able to deploy solutions in real time in ways that simply weren't possible before. We got our beta to market in under six months, which I'm genuinely proud of.”

What excites you most about the Australian startup scene?

“We're at a genuinely pivotal moment. The tools available to founders today have democratised what's possible in a way we've never seen before and we're seeing people from the most diverse backgrounds step into the arena with real conviction. What makes Australia special, though, is the culture around it. There's a generosity here that I don't think you find everywhere. People are genuinely open to a coffee, a connection, a hand.

That combination of ambition and community is rare, and I think it's about to produce something special.”

What’s on your bookshelf

“I try to re-read The Alchemist every year. Heraclitus said "no man ever steps in the same river twice, for it's not the same river and he's not the same man", I think about that each time I return to this book. I bring a different version to it each time, and equally it rewards me something back.

I've just finished Rick Rubin's ‘The Creative Act’ and it was a masterpiece. Rubin has spent decades in the room with some of the greatest artists of our time and what he’s distilled is a philosophy of being. The book argues that creativity isn't a skill reserved for artists; it's a way of paying attention to the world. He talks about listening for what wants to emerge, rather than forcing what you think should exist. Which I think maps directly onto how the best ideas actually surface in organisations.”

Advice for operators who want to maintain laser focus

"Read voraciously and outside your field, this allows you to pattern-match at speed.

Apply first principles thinking to every problem.

Strip away assumption and convention until you find what is actually true.

Ultimately, an operators job is judgment at speed. The quality of the people around you determines how focused and free you can be. Surround yourself with people whose curiosity exceeds their job description, ones that challenge what they hear and set the bar high."

What do few know about you?

“I was born in Uruguay and spent a big chunk of my life in South America. I think in both Spanish and English simultaneously, my brain is essentially running two tabs at once, which makes experiencing the world a lot more colourful.”

If you could sit next to anyone at a dinner party …

“Alain de Botton. Apart from being a brilliant philosopher, he has such a beautiful way of recounting the world. There's a rare combination of depth and levity in the way he describes this experience we call life. I'd love to pore over every corner of existence with him. I imagine there wouldn't be enough hours.”

Florencia is always open to sharing tips for how businesses can scale quickly, or sharing insight on the sort of rigour required for startup success. She can be reached via florencia@folklore.vc.