59: Ryan Hoover (Weekend Fund) | "101 Guide For Emerging Fund Managers" | 1947 VC
Apr 13, 2023
auto_awesome
Ryan Hoover, founder of the Weekend Fund and Product Hunt, dives into the world of angel investing and shares his journey of establishing the Weekend Fund. He discusses his evolving portfolio construction methods and the challenges of fundraising. Hoover emphasizes the importance of storytelling when pitching to limited partners and offers insights on relationship-building. He also reflects on the role of luck in success and shares recent personal well-being changes, showcasing his multifaceted approach to investment and life.
Ryan Hoover emphasizes the importance of identifying high-growth startups, illustrating how a single seed investment can drive significant portfolio returns.
Under Weekend Fund's diversified model, Ryan advocates for collaborative investments rather than leading rounds to enhance deal flow and adaptability.
Deep dives
The Venture Capital Landscape
The podcast highlights the power law dynamics in venture capital, where a small number of companies often drive the majority of returns. The speaker shares a successful investment example from their first fund, involving a $75,000 seed round that ultimately accounted for a significant portion of the portfolio's value. This illustrates the importance of identifying and investing in potential high-growth startups. The discussion emphasizes that having enough investment opportunities is crucial to find these standout companies.
Founding Weekend Fund
Ryan Hoover recounts his journey to angel investing and the establishment of Weekend Fund, which focuses on early-stage startups. Initially, he did not engage in personal investing due to company policies at Product Hunt and limited capital. After helping to integrate AngelList's fund product, Ryan was inspired to raise his first fund in 2017, starting with a goal of $1 million, which quickly grew to $3 million. This narrative underscores how his experiences have shaped the fund's investment approach.
Portfolio Construction Strategies
The podcast delves into Hoover’s strategies for portfolio construction in venture capital investment. He expresses a preference for a diversified fund model, avoiding lead investments in favor of collaborative relationships with co-investors. This model allows Weekend Fund to attract a wider range of deal flow and avoid the challenges associated with leading rounds. By aiming for smaller yet meaningful investments, the fund can maintain flexibility and adaptability within a volatile market.
Fundraising Techniques and Building Relationships
Ryan shares insights on effective methods for fundraising and relationship-building with limited partners (LPs). He emphasizes the importance of starting with a network of trusted contacts and seeking introductions to potential LPs through referrals. In addition, he discusses the innovative approach taken in Weekend Fund 3 by opening a community raise, which allowed a broader audience to invest smaller amounts, thereby increasing the fund's diversity and network. This strategy not only raised capital but also cultivated a community of engaged operators and founders.
Ryan Hoover is the founder of the Weekend Fund.
Weekend fund is an early stage fund that writes $100k - $300k cheques into early stage starups around the world across consumer and B2B.
Weekend fund helps founders with product, community building, and GTM strategy alongside an LP collective of 350+ exceptional founders and operators.
Ryan also founded ProductHunt.
Timeline :
02:02 How did Ryan get into angel investing and what was the thought process behind staring weekend fund ?
03:46 How did Ryan decide on portfolio construction?
07:05 How did his portfolio construction evolve?
10:57 What is Ryan’s fund raising process?
17:36 What is Ryan’s value proposition as a fund among the many in the US?
21:05 What is the optimal time to start investing after the first close according to Ryan?
24:31 What are the tactics used by Ryan to continue conversations with LPs who are interested to invest but prefer later funds?
26:28 When should one begin raising Fund 2?
27:39 What is something Ryan knows now he wishes he knew earlier?
30:36 What is Ryan most excited about of late?
33:21 How much of his success does Ryan attribute to luck?
34:54 If money and attention are not needed anymore what would he work on?
35:45 What changes have Ryan made in his diet and fitness routine?
37:03 What do Ryan’s friends know him for?
38:03 How attentive is he to Suzy?
Get the Snipd podcast app
Unlock the knowledge in podcasts with the podcast player of the future.
AI-powered podcast player
Listen to all your favourite podcasts with AI-powered features
Discover highlights
Listen to the best highlights from the podcasts you love and dive into the full episode
Save any moment
Hear something you like? Tap your headphones to save it with AI-generated key takeaways
Share & Export
Send highlights to Twitter, WhatsApp or export them to Notion, Readwise & more
AI-powered podcast player
Listen to all your favourite podcasts with AI-powered features
Discover highlights
Listen to the best highlights from the podcasts you love and dive into the full episode