Investing at the Early Stage and Achieving Product-Market Fit

On episode eleven of Turpentine VC, Ann Miura-Ko—co-founding partner at Floodgate—sits down with Erik Torenberg to dive deep into the core fundamentals of VC partners talk about behind close doors, including how to identify inflection points to give you an edge when starting a fund, muscles Floodgate has built in the -1 to 0 space, the true opportunities in AI, and more. If you’re looking to improve your sourcing, tracking, and due diligence, check out: https://synaptic.com/turpentine

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SPONSORS:

🧲 Learn why Craft, Bedrock, NEA and 100s more trust Harmonic’s data to source deals. Harmonic is the most complete startup database, finding new companies as soon as they incorporate and tracking them through IPO. Head to https://bit.ly/harmonicturpentine and make sure to mention Turpentine VC during your demo.

Synaptic unifies over one hundred real-time company performance metrics across alternative datasets like user traffic, employee data, app downloads, product reviews, and more. It’s your all-in-one source for alternative data that helps you make better investment decisions. To learn how Synaptic can improve your sourcing, tracking, and due diligence, visit https://synaptic.com/turpentine

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RECOMMENDED PODCAST: 

Every week investor and writer of the popular newsletter The Diff, Byrne Hobart, and co-host Erik Torenberg discuss today’s major inflection points in technology, business, and markets – and help listeners build a diversified portfolio of trends and ideas for the future. Subscribe to “The Riff” with Byrne Hobart and Erik Torenberg: https://link.chtbl.com/theriff

RECOMMENDED PODCAST: LIVE PLAYERS

Join host Samo Burja and Erik Torenberg as they analyze the mindsets of today’s most intriguing business leaders, investors, and innovators through the lens of their bold actions and contrarian worldviews. You’ll come away with a deeper understanding of the development of technology, business, political power, culture and more. LIsten and subscribe everywhere you get your podcasts: https://link.chtbl.com/liveplayers.

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Join our free newsletter to get Erik's top 3 insights from each episode every week: https://turpentinevc.substack.com/

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RELATED SHOWS:

If you like Turpentine VC, check out our show The Limited Partner with David Weisburd, where David talks to the investors behind the investors: https://link.chtbl.com/thelimitedpartner

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X / TWITTER:

@annimaniac (Ann)

@eriktorenberg (Erik)

@floodgatefund

@TurpentineVC

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TIMESTAMPS:

(00:00) Episode preview

(01:29) How Ann thinks about macro

(04:33) Is 2023 better for incumbents or start-ups?

(07:12) When is the right time to start a fund?

(10:23) How Ann identifies inflections that guide her approach to innovative VC

(12:40) Sponsor: Synaptic

(15:43) Why Floodgate's fund size is their strategy

(19:36) Ann's litmus test for product market fit

(22:32) What would prompt Floodgate to change their strategy?

(25:51) On how Ann evaluates people

(28:02) Muscles Floodgate has built on the -1 to 0 space

(31:52) Ann's thoughts on Sam's Factory Model Venture theory

(39:22) AI as an inflection point

(44:11) Ann's thoughts on exciting opportunities in AI

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This show is produced by Turpentine: a network of podcasts, newsletters, and more, covering technology, business, and culture — all from the perspective of industry insiders and experts. We’re launching new shows every week, and we’re looking for industry-leading sponsors — if you think that might be you and your company, email us at erik@turpentine.co.