GHP #81 - VC #5 - Knowing When to Hold & When to Fold with Pablo Srugo!

Episode 81 is with Pablo Srugo, Partner at Mistral Venture Partners!

Mistral is a seed to early stage venture capital firm that focuses on getting start-ups to Product-Market Fit. They look for investments that leverage the power of the internet to make businesses smarter.

Pablo is a two-time founder, having first launched MyTutor.ca, a tutoring marketplace for university students that was acquired in 2014. He later founded GymTrack, a VC backed startup in fit-tech that helped monitor equipment usage in gyms.

We talk to Pablo about his unique journey to venture capital. He highlights what they look for in founders and VC partners at Mistral, how they evaluate startups for investments, his thoughts on the growth of the Canadian VC space, and much more!

Mistral Venture Partners
https://mistral.vc/

Timestamps
 2:20 - Background - Founder Turned VC
13:00 - Transitioning from Founder to VC
16:10 - Advice for Founders working with VCs
22:33 - VC Deal Red-Flags
24:00 - What to look for in Founders
25:19 - “You want to have a pretty weak close rate.”
29:50 - Evaluating Passion
38:40 - Are we consolidating talent in Big Tech?
40:12 - Mistral Ventures
43:40 - VC Market - Canada vs. USA
50:38 - Building Relationships in VC
53:00 - How to Deal with FOMO
56:24 - Lightning Round