Leo is a co-founder and General Partner at Susa Ventures and Humba Ventures. He writes $1m-$3m checks via Susa, mostly in B2B SaaS companies, and $250k-$500k checks via Humba, mostly in deep tech and in critical sectors (manufacturing, energy, defense, etc). Humba is a new early stage fund in the Susa fund family. 00:00 - Top moments 01:09 - Intro 02:30 - What led you into investing? What was the founding story of Susa Ventures? 04:43 - What was the portfolio construction and the thesis of Susa Ventures? And has it evolved over time? 07:30 - What’s the thesis around Humba and What’s the portfolio construction around it? 10:12 - What’s the most overrated advice that you’ve heard about fundraising for funds? 12:03 - How would you go about, sourcing LPs, building relationships, and closing LPs? 13:49 -What was the the hardest lesson or the biggest mistake, that you did as a group when you were fundraising and you realized later on? 15:40 - How have you, improved over in each segment, around sourcing? 19:37 - What’s the best way to build a great deal flow? 21:23 - How one can think about building a brand? 22:45 - What’s your take on picking? 25:26 - What do you think are the biggest lies out there? 27:50 - How much do you think, investing is random and luck? 29:47 - What’s the hardest thing, about building Susa Ventures and Humba Ventures? 31:40 - What’s making you smile lately? 32:49 - Is there a hack that you can’t live your life without? 34:18 - If you’re hosting a dinner, and could invite three folks, dead or alive, who would they be? 35:18 - What do your friends know you for?

97: From Engineer to Venture Capitalist: Leo's Journey with Susa Ventures & Humba Ventures