Approach to Venture Capital

This episode is part of our new Capital Series hosted by Jason Jacobs. This series explores a range of capital sources and the individuals who drive them. From family offices and institutional LPs to private equity, government funding, and more, we take a deep dive into the world of capital and its critical role in driving innovation and progress.

David Aronoff is Chairman and General Partner at MCJ Collective. 

David has been in the venture space for nearly 28 years and joined MCJ a few years ago. His role has transitioned from LP to advisor to executive chair, and finally the last two years plus to his current role and chairman and general partner. 

Jason and David go in-depth, not only into David's journey, but also into the transition he made after a long career in traditional VC towards seeking more purpose, how he combines purpose and profit more squarely in this next chapter, plus his journey to finding MCJ. Then we have a fun grilling session where Jason gets to role play and ask David all the questions we get asked from LPs as the partners have been out raising the fund.

Enjoy the show! 

In this episode, we cover: 

• [3:56] David's background and decision to join MCJ Collective
• [9:42] His journey exploring climate and solutions 
• [13:00] David's thoughts on MCJ's early rolling funds 
• [20:02] His mission-driven transition back to full-time work and building MCJ Collective the firm 
• [24:01] The thought process behind the launch of MCJ's traditional fund structure 
• [29:32] David's previous fundraising role vs. his role at MCJ 
• [33:00] His thoughts on MCJ's stack, data room, and preparation
• [38:48] MCJ's overall strategy 
• [44:33] David's perspective on ownership and MCJ's portfolio math
• [49:04] The diligence process
• [55:21] Time allocation of MCJ's five partners
• [58:38] MCJ's decision-making process 
• [1:00:16] David's views on how the team will scale 
• [1:02:32] MCJ's fundraising status to date, investor breakdown, and closing plans
• [1:08:36] David's thoughts on the future of MCJ's venture fund 
• [1:20:10] The "why" behind his work at MCJ and who he wants to hear from

Get connected: 
David Aronoff Twitter / LinkedIn
Jason Jacobs Twitter / LinkedIn
MCJ Podcast / Collective

*You can also reach us via email at info@mcjcollective.com, where we encourage you to share your feedback on episodes and suggestions for future topics or guests.

Episode recorded on August 14, 2023 (Published on August 23, 2023) 

Enjoyed this episode? Please leave us a review! Share feedback or suggest future topics and guests at info@mcj.vc.

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• Cody Simms on LinkedIn
• Visit mcj.vc
• Subscribe to the MCJ Newsletter

*Editing and post-production work for this episode was provided by The Podcast Consultant