Slice Podcast

We recently had the pleasure of sitting down with Hugo Amsellem, co-founder and general partner of Intuition Capital, a €10 million fund investing in consumer and culture startups across Europe and the US. Hugo's journey from startup ecosystem builder to fund manager is as fascinating as it is inspiring. Hugo's path to venture capital wasn't a straight line. In fact, he admits he used to hate VCs, but his passion for helping founders move culture forward during his time at The Family and Jellysmack led him to realize that starting a fund was the perfect way to channel his obsession."I've always hated VCs," Hugo confesses with a grin. "But I'm obsessed with helping founders move culture."With his co-founder Etienne (a former professional athlete), Hugo launched Intuition Capital to invest in startups at the intersection of culture and technology. What sets Intuition apart isn't just their focus on culture - it's their uncanny ability to spot cultural shifts before they hit the mainstream. It's as if they've got a hotline to the zeitgeist.We learned that their secret weapon is a series of events across cities in Europe and the US, creating a vibrant community of founders and investors passionate about consumer and culture. It's not just networking; it's cultural reconnaissance."We're essentially talking about culture more than we talk about consumer," Hugo explains, "because in the end, it's a better proxy to understand what we're trying to achieve."So, how does he do it all? We discovered that this man is wielding an arsenal of automation tools that would make even the most tech-savvy founders blush. Airtable, TextExpander, Superhuman, Texts.com - Hugo's toolkit is the stuff of productivity legend.Welcome to a VC fund that treats culture not just as a buzzword, but as the very currency of innovation.If you're a founder moving culture or just someone who wants to geek out about the intersection of tech and culture, you can find Hugo at hugo@intuition.vc or slide into his DMs on X (@HugoAmsellem)! To hear more, visit slicefund.substack.com

In this episode, we share a slice with Ashley Mayer, the Founder of Coalition Operators - a $12.5 million early-stage fund that's shaking things up in the pre-seed to Series A space. Ashley is a communications whiz who's worked with some of the hottest names in tech - Box, Social Capital, Glossier - who then decided to take her vast network and dive headfirst into the world of venture capital. Now, here's where it gets interesting - Ashley didn't do this alone. She teamed up with three other super female operators  ((Jaclyn Nelson, Toyin Ajayi, and Lindsay Ullman) to create something truly unique. Like most, transitioning from the structured world of corporate communications to the Wild West of fund management wasn't all smooth sailing for Ashley. She openly shares the struggles of dealing with the ambiguity of building a fund and the psychological challenges that come with it. Their big idea? Connect talented operators with early-stage startups that desperately need their expertise. It's like playing matchmaker, but instead of love, you're matching experience with potential. This is where heavy hitters like Thrive Capital and General Catalyst saw the potential and came in as the anchor LPs. Ashley’s approach to investing is quite unique. With her experience as an operator for some of the brightest talent, she’s laser-focused on the founders, and how they run the show inside and out. Ashley and her team at Coalition want to help founders build strategic cap tables that act as their strongest network. It's not just about the money; it's about bringing in investors who can provide real, tangible value. Throughout this interview, we couldn't help but feel inspired. Here's someone who's taken her years of operating experience and is using it to reshape how we think about early-stage investing. It's a reminder that sometimes, the best innovations come from outsiders who aren't afraid to challenge the status quo.So, what do you think? Is Ashley onto something with Coalition Operators? Are we seeing the future of early-stage investing unfold before our eyes? Drop your thoughts in the comments below!P.S. If you want to connect with Ashley (and trust us, you do), you can reach her at ashley@coalitionoperators.com or find her on LinkedIn. Who knows, you might just be the next founder or operator she's looking for! Thanks for reading slice’s Substack! This post is public so feel free to share it. To hear more, visit slicefund.substack.com

https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/slice-fund/episodes/E2-OwenOpal-Ventures-e2os0lq/a-abi27uo To hear more, visit slicefund.substack.com