Intro

Follow me @samirkaji for my thoughts on the venture market, with a focus on the continued evolution of the VC landscape.

Tom Loverro, General Partner at IVP is our guest as part of our Venture Unlocked Shorts series intended to go deep on a single topic.

We revisit Tom’s Twitter post from early 2023, which spoke to the market shift that was in motion and the difficulties start-ups would face in a capital-constrained market. Specifically, he spoke about 2024 as being a time of reckoning for many companies that were built with growth at all costs mentality. 

We went through that original post, and what’s transpired since then, including why it’s time for well-positioned startups to go on offense again. 

Tom brought a lot of interesting insights for founders and VCs alike, so we hope you enjoy the episode. 

About Tom Loverro:Tom Loverro is a General Partner at IVP in Menlo Park, California, where he focuses on investing in enterprise software and fintech companies. Since joining IVP in 2015, he has served as a Board Director or Observer for several companies, including Attentive, NerdWallet, Paper, Podium, Skydio, and TaxBit. He has also co-led investments in Amplitude, Datadog, GitHub, IEX, OnDeck, and Tanium.

Prior to IVP, Tom was a Principal at RRE Ventures, focusing on early and mid-stage startups, and an Entrepreneur-in-Residence at Lightbank. He also served as Senior Director of Product Marketing at Drobo, Inc., and began his career as an Investment Banking Analyst at Goldman Sachs within the Technology, Media, and Telecommunications Group.

Tom holds an MBA from the Kellogg School of Management at Northwestern University, with concentrations in Finance, Marketing, and Entrepreneurship & Innovation. He earned a BA in Political Science and History from Stanford University.

In this episode, we discuss:

(01:37) - Discussion on Tom's Twitter post from January 2023 and its context

(02:09) - Tom's insights on the shift from a zero interest rate environment

(02:59) - The concept of a mass extinction event for startups in 2023-2024

(03:31) - Comparison with the Great Financial Crisis and its impact on startups

(04:01) - The role of venture excess in 2021 and its aftermath

(05:00) - Discussion on venture fund deployment and its impact on startups

(06:49) - Dry powder theory and its implications on startup funding

(07:49) - Insights on current market conditions and startup valuations

(09:14) - Strategies startups adopted in response to market conditions

(10:27) - The three archetypes of startups in the post-2021 era

(13:18) - Observations on fundraising challenges and potential outcomes for startups

(14:48) - Impact of LP capital dynamics on venture funding

(16:34) - The evolving role of private equity in acquiring tech startups

(18:09) - Comparison of venture fund impacts on early and late-stage investors

(21:30) - Discussion on the IPO market and its high bar for startups

(24:19) - The broader ecosystem of liquidity options for startups today

(25:41) - Tom's recent post on shifting from defensive to offensive strategies

(28:47) - Characteristics of startups that should consider going on offense

(30:00) - Importance of survival, product-market fit, and unit economics for startups

(31:50) - Potential exogenous events and their impact on market predictions

(34:00) - Tom's advice to founders on acting with conviction

I’d love to know what you took away from this conversation with Tom. Follow me @SamirKaji and give me your insights and questions with the hashtag #ventureunlocked. If you’d like to be considered as a guest or have someone you’d like to hear from (GP or LP), drop me a direct message on Twitter.

Podcast Production support provided by Agent Bee

This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit ventureunlocked.substack.com