Mackenzie Varthi ’20, Founder, Maja
Mackenzie Varthi ’20, Founder, Maja
Mackenzie Varthi ’20 is the founder of Maja, a food startup dedicated to expanding access to healthy, plant-based options. After launching her legal career at Davis Polk & Wardwell in the Tax group, Mackenzie found herself navigating the complexities of remote work, new parenthood, and a cross-state commute during the COVID-19 pandemic. Recognizing both a gap in the market and a need for greater flexibility, she took the leap into entrepreneurship. Drawing on the resilience and critical thinking skills honed at NYU Law, Mackenzie is building a business grounded in purpose, creativity, and adaptability. Read more below.
What made you decide to pursue a career in entrepreneurship after NYU Law?
I graduated from law school during Covid in 2020. My now-husband and I were engaged, and we had already decided to live in Connecticut, before COVID began, at the halfway point between New Haven, where he works, and New York City, where I was working. I started working in the Tax group at Davis Polk remotely in fall 2020. By the end of 2021, things had changed a lot, since Davis Polk wanted everyone to come back to the office four times per week and I had had my first child in March 2021. My husband had an even more unpredictable and demanding job than I had in Big Law, so I realized around that time that working in Big Law with the unpredictability was not going to work, given our life circumstances.
It was around the same time that I realized that there was a whitespace in the market for the food products I ended up creating. I decided I wanted to start my own food brand in order to expand access to healthy, plant-based food options while also doing something that I was passionate about and that allowed me to have more flexibility in my schedule.
How did NYU Law prepare you for this career?
NYU Law taught me a lot about resiliency and problem-solving skills and how to think through things in different ways and from different angles, which I think has helped me a lot with starting my own company.
Why do you think lawyers find success in this career path?
I think law school teaches you a lot about grit and determination and critical thinking, which all are great attributes to have when pursuing entrepreneurship.
What was the biggest challenge you faced as a lawyer in this career path?
I have found it hard as a solo founder at times due to not having other people to collaborate with or bounce ideas off of. Right now for my company, it’s just me, and I have no employees yet, so it can get lonely and is a big contrast to working in Big Law or other law firm settings where there is a lot more collaboration.
What is the most important thing students should do while they are still in law school to prepare themselves for a career in entrepreneurship, in venture capital, or at a start-up?
I think it would be great to seek out an internship at a start-up your 1L summer, at least to get experience in the start-up space and to make sure that it's something you actually want to pursue after graduation rather than taking a more traditional law path. I wish I had had the opportunity myself to spend time working in a start-up before pursuing that path.
What was the most important lesson you learned in your career thus far?
I think so far in my career I wish I had networked more and leveraged connections to strengthen my network. At least in the consumer packaged goods space, I have realized it’s all about referrals for other providers and connections, so I wish I had put more of an emphasis on building those relationships and going to more events off the bat.
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