The GoingVC Podcast

In the 1800s, nearly three out of four whaling ships in the world were American, not because of better sailors but because of better financing. That model is basically a modern VC fund.In this special AI-voiced episode, we turn one of the most-read pieces on the GoingVC blog into a conversation and trace 200 years of venture capital: whaling voyages and the power law, J.P. Morgan backing Edison, ARDC's $70,000 bet on Digital Equipment that returned roughly 500x, Arthur Rock and the Fairchild family tree behind Sequoia and Kleiner Perkins, the dot-com crash, the rise of accelerators, micro VCs, and the unicorn era.Note: the two voices in this episode are AI-generated. The content comes from GoingVC's research.

👋 Hey Listener!We're really excited to be bringing to you today our conversation with John Forbes at Julian Capital and Deep Checks. As always, if you've got any questions, feedback, guest ideas, or just want to say hey, don't hesitate to shoot us a message at [email protected] Forbes (@john___forbes) started two businesses before finishing high school, joined Dorm Room Fund as its youngest partner at Berkeley, and helped take a disaster-coordination startup from zero to product-market fit before landing at Julian Capital, a pre-seed and seed deep tech fund. He also runs Deep Checks, the largest deep tech funding platform. He joins JJ and Asad to talk about why deep tech is having its moment, the three risks investors get wrong, and how AI is rewiring diligence.SectionsOrigin story — T-shirts and wellness apps in high school, four years at Dorm Room Fund (including a 20-block sprint to the interview), and a climate tech wedge into deep techWhy deep tech, why now — Software's compressing multiples, falling defensibility, and the structural tailwinds pulling capital toward hardwareDeep Checks — Solving the matching problem in deep tech: one-minute applications, batches every three weeks, and vetting investors who are actively deploying, not just "deep tech curious"Life as a principal — Sourcing, diligence, LP updates, and building a startup for startupsInfinite curiosity — Why sitting at the frontier with founders chasing their magnum opus never gets oldThe biggest mistakes in deep tech diligence — Underwriting market pull, wrapping your head around the shape of technical risk, and stress-testing the competitive landscapeHow deep tech founders should pitch — Less metrics, more proof that you're the exceptional founder for this exact businessAI in deep tech — Core to the product, core to the workflows, or an extension of your own brainTrends and a shout-out — Surprisingly uniform submissions across subsectors, and Aalo's small modular reactors for data centersThe future of diligence — Expert-level context at your fingertips, and why asking the right questions now beats being the expertAdvice for emerging managers — Sourcing is the input that matters most; picking and winning don't matter if you're not seeing the best companiesBook — David McCullough's John Adams biography (and wanting to be Ben Franklin when he grows up)

👋 Hey Listener!We're really excited to be bringing to you today our conversation with Bedy Yang at 500 Global. As always, if you've got any questions, feedback, guest ideas, or just want to say hey, don't hesitate to shoot us a message at [email protected] Yang has spent 15 years helping 500 Global grow from an accelerator running lots of little bets into a $2.2B multi-stage platform with 30+ unicorns. She joins JJ and Asad to talk about investing outside-in, what first-time managers get wrong about LPs, and where AI alpha actually concentrates.SectionsOrigin story — Growing up Chinese-Brazilian with roots in Taiwan, and how a global network became an accidental path into ventureThe seat at the table — The Startup to Startup dinner that crystallized her "talent is everywhere" conviction500's evolution — From one fund to regional funds with partners on the ground, and why local expertise was the unlockWhat she's had to unlearn — Over-modeling market outcomes (the Nubank lesson), and trusting founders to figure it outVC Unlocked — Why 500 built a training program, what they screen for in participants, and the "permission" effect on first-time managersWhat first-timers misunderstand about LPs — Institutional capital takes years; your first close is usually closer to home than you thinkFund two — Why the second raise is the hard one, and what makes LPs re-up before returns landEmerging markets misconceptions — Separating markets big enough to win alone from those that must go global on day oneUnderappreciated regions — Eastern Europe and Central Asia, sitting between East and WestSovereign and government capital — The Sanabil work with PIF, right-sizing a first fund, and doubling it halfway throughAI — Why infrastructure alpha stays concentrated in Silicon Valley, where the rest of the world can win, and the 18-month window for nationsClosing advice + book — There's no perfect time to raise, and The Anxious Generation by Jonathan Haidt

👋 Hey Listener!We're really excited to be bringing to you today our conversation with Victor Orlovski at R136 Ventures. As always, if you've got any questions, feedback, guest ideas, or just want to say hey, don't hesitate to shoot us a message at [email protected].

👋 Hey Listener!We're really excited to be bringing to you today our conversation with Caroline Winnett Berkeley SkyDeck. As always, if you've got any questions, feedback, guest ideas, or just want to say hey, don't hesitate to shoot us a message at [email protected].

👋 Hey Listener!We're really excited to be bringing to you today our conversation with Rob Biederman of Asymmetric Capital. As always, if you've got any questions, feedback, guest ideas, or just want to say hey, don't hesitate to shoot us a message at [email protected].

👋 Hey Listener!We're really excited to be bringing to you today our conversation with Tom Drummond of Heavybit Industries. As always, if you've got any questions, feedback, guest ideas, or just want to say hey, don't hesitate to shoot us a message at [email protected].

👋 Hey Listener!We're really excited to be bringing to you today our conversation with Shambhavi Mishra of Antler. As always, if you've got any questions, feedback, guest ideas, or just want to say hey, don't hesitate to shoot us a message at [email protected].

👋 Hey Listener!We're really excited to be bringing to you today our conversation with Rachel Springate of Muse Capital. As always, if you've got any questions, feedback, guest ideas, or just want to say hey, don't hesitate to shoot us a message at [email protected].

👋 Hey Listener!We're really excited to be bringing to you today our conversation with Manish Patel of Nava Ventures. As always, if you've got any questions, feedback, guest ideas, or just want to say hey, don't hesitate to shoot us a message at [email protected].