How Roger Raised IA’s First Fund as an Emerging Manager

Roger Ehrenberg is the Co-founder of Game Changers Ventures and IA Ventures.

We talk about the current Seed stage venture environment, what he learned investing in sports teams, how COVID changed sports, what he’s investing in today, characteristics of the top founders, advice for emerging managers, and his real estate and consumer brand projects in Detroit.

Thank you to Michael Kim, Jon Oberheide, Jesse Beyroutey, James Fitzgerald, Dan Feder, Sarah Smith, Marc Weisser, and Charles Hudson for help brainstorming topics for the conversation.

Thank you to Hanover Park for supporting this episode. Upgrade to an AI-native fund admin at https://www.hanoverpark.com/Turner

Timestamps:

3:45 Current Seed stage market

7:17 Starting Game Changers to invest in sports

12:25 Investing in the Miami Marlins

16:45 Investment opportunities in sports

18:21 Tomorrow Golf League

23:54 Investing in sports teams

25:50 Business models in sports

27:12 Importance of real estate development, gambling

32:53 How COVID changed sports

38:41 Clippers experimenting with cheap tickets & concessions

41:51 Opportunities monetizing super fans

46:51 Sports as an investable venture asset

53:24 Great founders find big TAMs

56:31 The desire to win

58:09 Sending letters to break into Wall Street from Michigan

1:02:38 Raising IA Ventures Fund 1 in 2009

1:07:58 Advice for emerging managers

1:13:18 The Trade Desk’s three bridge rounds

1:18:03 Lessons on recycling capital

1:20:16 What it’s like working with your kids

1:24:53 Brand Detroit

1:29:14 Being world class at multiple disciplines

Referenced

Game Changers Ventures: https://gamechangers.vc

IA Ventures: https://www.iaventures.com

Eberg Capital: https://www.ebergcapital.com

TGL Golf: https://tglgolf.com

Brand Detroit: https://www.branddetroit.com

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LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/rehrenberg

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