Investing in Startups

Sonia Nagar is the Founder and Managing Partner of SNAK Venture Partners. SNAK is a Chicago-based firm that invests in Seed stage marketplace startups. We talked about why SNAK loves marketplaces, what surprised Sonia about starting a new firm, why SNAK prefers B2B to B2C, first-mover advantages, and how AI has and hasn’t changed marketplaces. Please enjoy.   Investing in Startups is hosted by Joe Magyer and produced by Seaplane Ventures.

Graham Pingree is a Partner at Cendana Capital, a fund of funds firm that invests in small venture funds investing at pre-seed and seed. We talked about why Cendana is focused on small funds, why it has a concentrated strategy, what the firm looks for in emerging managers, how to think about reserves and recycling, and why big venture firms are surprisingly hard to kill.    Investing in Startups is hosted by Joe Magyer and produced by Seaplane Ventures.

Jenny Fielding is a Cofounder and General Partner of Everywhere Ventures. Jenny is a pre-seed investor with a fascinating background. She’s a founder, lawyer by training, has lived in 12 countries, and ran Techstars New York for many years. She’s also the author of Venture Everywhere, a book which comes out in March. We talked about Jenny’s strategy, why venture doesn’t scale, why everywhere doesn't use follow-on capital in its funds, and how Everywhere is navigating the Seed and AI markets.    Investing in Startups is hosted by Joe Magyer and produced by Seaplane Ventures.   Investing in Startups: https://www.investinginstartups.com/ Joe Magyer: https://www.linkedin.com/in/joemagyer/ Seaplane Ventures: https://www.seaplaneventures.com/

We're celebrating our 20th episode with a super cut of 17 contrarian takes on venture capital and startups. Our guests talked about AI, SF, false signals from coinvestors, why venture isn't an access game, network effects, emerging managers, portfolio construction, and more. Special thanks to the following guests for their contributions to this episode:   Niki Scevark, Blackbird Ventures Martin Tobias, Incisive Ventures Mike Cardamone, Forum Ventures Nick Moran, New Stack Ventures Mac Conwell, RareBreed Ventures Rajiv Bala, Clutch VC Peter Walker, Carta Eric Golden, Canopy Capital Colin Gardiner, Yonder Ventures Zach Coelius, Coelius Capital Jerry Neumann, Neu Ventures   Investing in Startups is hosted by Joe Magyer and produced by Seaplane Ventures.   Investing in Startups: https://www.investinginstartups.com/ Joe Magyer: https://www.linkedin.com/in/joemagyer/ Seaplane Ventures: https://www.seaplaneventures.com/

Amber Illig is the Founding General Partner of The Council, an early stage venture firm focused on essential industries like supply chain and healthcare. Amber has a deep operating background having worked at Apple, Cruise, Snap, and Eli Lilly. We talked about why Amber loves essential industries, how she built a proprietary network of operator angel investors, how she and that network help support founders, and her nuanced take on AI. Please enjoy.   Investing in Startups is hosted by Joe Magyer and produced by Seaplane Ventures.   Investing in Startups: https://www.investinginstartups.com/ Joe Magyer: https://www.linkedin.com/in/joemagyer/ Seaplane Ventures: https://www.seaplaneventures.com/

Winter Mead is the Founder and CEO of Coolwater Capital. Coolwater is an accelerator for emerging venture capital fund managers aimed at helping them to launch, build, and scale their firms. We talked about what investors should look for in emerging VCs, how VCs can build durable platforms, and how VCs are using AI to do their jobs better. Winter is one of the most thoughtful LPs in the venture space so it was great to have him on the show.   Investing in Startups is hosted by Joe Magyer and produced by Seaplane Ventures.   Investing in Startups: https://www.investinginstartups.com/ Joe Magyer: https://www.linkedin.com/in/joemagyer/ Seaplane Ventures: https://www.seaplaneventures.com/  

Zach Coelius is the Managing Partner of Coelius Capital. Zach is a 4-time entrepreneur and now solo GP who invests in early stage technology companies. We talked about why ideas are meaningless, demo day investing, platform risk, sniffing out product/market fit, B2B2C business models, and why Zach thinks ownership is overrated. This was a really fun, candid conversation.   Investing in Startups is hosted by Joe Magyer and produced by Seaplane Ventures.   Investing in Startups: https://www.investinginstartups.com/ Joe Magyer: https://www.linkedin.com/in/joemagyer/ Seaplane Ventures: https://www.seaplaneventures.com/

Alex Pattis is the General Partner of Riverside Ventures. Riverside is an early stage firm that operates both a traditional venture fund but also a syndicate with more than 6,000 LPs. Alex and I talked about the rise of syndicates, how they work, why he thinks most VCs oversell the value they add to founders, and what he’s excited to invest in today. Please enjoy.   Investing in Startups is hosted by Joe Magyer and produced by Seaplane Ventures.   Investing in Startups: https://www.investinginstartups.com/ Joe Magyer: https://www.linkedin.com/in/joemagyer/ Seaplane Ventures: https://www.seaplaneventures.com/  

Colin Gardiner, Founder and General Partner of Yonder Ventures, shares his deep passion for marketplaces and insights from his impressive journey, including roles at the Federal Reserve. He discusses the key qualities that distinguish successful early-stage marketplaces and explains the challenge of achieving sustainable network effects. Colin also navigates the unique dynamics of marketplace investments, highlighting the importance of supply aggregation and demand scaling. He offers valuable perspectives on how AI can enhance marketplace effectiveness and rethinks traditional venture capital strategies.

Peter Walker is the Head of Insights at Carta. Peter is a self-professed data geek who publishes some of the most interesting insights and research on venture and startups today. We talked about which pockets of the venture market are going strong, why San Francisco is still the leader in venture, and why speed matters in venture capital.   Investing in Startups is hosted by Joe Magyer and produced by Seaplane Ventures.   Investing in Startups: https://www.investinginstartups.com/ Joe Magyer: https://www.linkedin.com/in/joemagyer/ Seaplane Ventures: https://www.seaplaneventures.com/