Investing in Startups

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/  

Eric Golden is the Founder of Canopy Capital and host of the Making Markets podcast. Eric was a portfolio manager and intrapreneur at Fidelity prior to setting up Canopy so he has great perspective on both markets and life as a venture-backed founder. We talked about those experiences, his current views on the Fed, markets, and crypto, and how Eric's view of venture capital has evolved over time.   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/  

Mike Cardamone is the founder and managing partner of Forum Ventures. Forum is a New York-based firm with a structure that layers together an accelerator, studio, and pre-seed fund. We talked about why Forum likes B2B SaaS, how Forum helps startups run faster, how Mike sizes up AI opportunities, and why new investors into startups might be making a mistake by following Big Brand VCs into early stage deals. We also talked about the state of play in startup accelerators and Mike's views on the direction of the space and business model. Please enjoy.   Investing in Startups is hosted by Joe Magyer and produced by Seaplane Ventures.

Niki Scevak is the Co-Founder of Blackbird Ventures and a multi-time startup founder. Blackbird is the largest venture capital firm in Australia and has backed massive winners such as Canva, Zoom, and Culture Amp, among others. We talked about the power of investing early, how AI companies solve problems for customers and why they're interesting to investors, and how world-beating companies can come from anywhere. Please enjoy.   Investing in Startups is hosted by Joe Magyer and produced by Seaplane Ventures.

Mac Conwell is the Founder of RareBreed Ventures, a Baltimore-based firm that invests in pre-seed and seed startups with dope founders. We had a great conversation about the types of investments that excite Mac, how the regulatory environment affects startups, and Mac’s experience of taking 4,000 meetings to get his firm off the ground.   Investing in Startups is hosted by Joe Magyer and produced by Seaplane Ventures.

Jerry Neumann is a wildly successful early stage investor and one of the best writers and thinkers about the craft. The founder of Neu Venture Capital talks about how he thinks about whether AI is a consensus trade in venture, the theory and reality of portfolio construction, and the origin story of an investment that returned 5000X. We also talked about the reception to a book that Jerry coauthored with Elizabeth Zalman, Founder vs. Investor.   Investing in Startups is hosted by Joe Magyer and produced by Seaplane Ventures.