Tank Talks By Ripple Ventures

On today’s Tank Talk, we have a throwback episode with Elizabeth Yin, Co-Founder & General Partner of Hustle Fund.We spoke with Elizabeth in July of 2020 and covered her journey in leaving Google and starting LaunchBit, an ad-tech platform that she eventually sold to BuySellAds, and how she eventually made her way onto the investment side with 500 Startups. We dig into Elizabeth's time in running the 500 Startups Mountain View office and how she was able to select founders to back after reviewing over 20,000 pitch decks. Next, we discuss the reason she started Hustle fund with her partner Eric and what their mission is for the next 25 years. Finally, we ask Elizabeth to explain what hustle means to her as an early-stage investor and how she assesses hustle when meeting founders for the first and sometimes only time before deciding on backing them with a $25,000 investment.About Elizabeth Yin:Elizabeth is the co-founder and managing partner of Hustle Fund, an early-stage seed fund. Prior to Hustle, she was a partner at 500 Startups and ran their accelerator program. She founded LaunchBit in 2011, and started her career at Google. She completed her BS at Stanford and her MBA at Sloan/MIT.A word from our sponsor:Ripple Ventures is always focused on helping our founders and CEOs find the best partners to work with. But before we introduce any provider to our companies, we always make sure we try the product first. And when it comes to managing business expenses at Ripple, we were super excited when the team at Jeeves came knocking on our door.Jeeves helped get me and my team setup with physical and virtual credit cards in days. I was able to allow my teammates to expense items in multiple currencies allowing them to pay for anything, anywhere at any time. We weren’t asked for any personal guarantees or pay any setup or annual fees either. Not only does Jeeves save us time, but they also give us up to 3% cashback on our purchases including expenses like Google, Facebook or AWS every month. The best part,  Jeeves puts up the cash, and you settle up once every 30 days, unlike some other corporate card companies that make you pre-pay every month. Jeeves offers a truly all-in-one expense management corporate card program for international startups and we at Tank Talks could not be more excited to partner with them. Listeners of Tank Talks can get set up with a demo of Jeeves today and take advantage of a $700 discount and skip the waitlist  by visiting tryjeeves.com/tanktalks to learn more.In this episode we discuss:02:28 Elizabeth’s journey to becoming a founder04:58 What lead to the acquisition of LaunchBit07:23 How Elizabeth got to 500 Startups and what their process was like there11:32 The economics of accelerators vs. venture capital14:53 Hustle Fund’s mission and why they launched17:41 How Hustle Fund defines ‘hustle’ and is there such a thing as too much hustle20:18 The difference between hustle and multitasking21:10 Qualities in startup teams Elizabeth looks for23:52 How Hustle fund supports founders and encourages them to not burnout25:54 Hustle Fund’s investment strategy27:42 Early lessons and changes from the pandemicFavorite Books:The Lean StartupThe Hard Thing About Hard ThingsPredictable RevenueElizabeth’s words of inspiration“Building a startup is tough, so make sure you dig deep and decide why you want to do it, besides the money, because it can really be your north star when moving through difficult times”Follow Matt Cohen and Tank Talks here!Podcast production support provided by Agentbee.Agency This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit tanktalks.substack.com

There’s a term one hears to describe the venture capital market in 2021—frothy. What does that actually mean and what does it mean in the larger historical context of Venture Capital? We speak with Phil Boyer, a partner at Crosslink Capital since 2014. Crosslink was founded in Silicon Valley in 1989 and has institutional memories of the beginning and end of Dot-Com bubble 20+ years ago and the global financial crisis in 2008. How does the firm’s deep history inform what is happening today, what is the outlook for the future, and how can founders pitch their companies to funds like Crosslink.About Phil Boyer:Phil brings over a decade of experience as a technology investor with deep sector expertise within enterprise and vertical software (AI, cloud, developer tools, SaaS, security). He is passionate about serving as a partner with early-stage founding teams, with an eye towards helping strong technical teams build category-defining companies. At Crosslink, Phil’s investments include Armory, BetterUp, Iron Ox, Molekule, Overjet, Verodin (FEYE), and Weave (IPO NYSE: WEAV), among other companies.Prior to Crosslink, Phil was an investor with NYC-based venture capital firm Tenfore Holdings, with early investments in Optoro and Trulioo during his tenure. Before beginning his venture capital career, Phil wrote and published research on the technology sector at Credit Suisse and RBC, where he covered companies such as Google, Amazon, LinkedIn, eBay, Priceline, Yelp, and many others.A word from our sponsor:Ripple Ventures is always focused on helping our founders and CEOs find the best partners to work with. But before we introduce any provider to our companies, we always make sure we try the product first. And when it comes to managing business expenses at Ripple, we were super excited when the team at Jeeves came knocking on our door.Jeeves helped get me and my team setup with physical and virtual credit cards in days. I was able to allow my teammates to expense items in multiple currencies allowing them to pay for anything, anywhere at any time. We weren’t asked for any personal guarantees or pay any setup or annual fees either. Not only does Jeeves save us time, but they also give us up to 3% cashback on our purchases including expenses like Google, Facebook or AWS every month. The best part,  Jeeves puts up the cash, and you settle up once every 30 days, unlike some other corporate card companies that make you pre-pay every month. Jeeves offers a truly all-in-one expense management corporate card program for international startups and we at Tank Talks could not be more excited to partner with them. Listeners of Tank Talks can get set up with a demo of Jeeves today and take advantage of a $700 discount and skip the waitlist  by visiting tryjeeves.com/tanktalks to learn more.In this episode we discuss:02:49 The evolution of metrics founders need for later round financing07:34 Why Team is so important to investors at the series A round12:17 How growth velocity can be just as important as size of ARR16:27 What is Net Dollar Retention and why is it important to investors22:49 How to properly calculate CAC/LTV25:03 Deal velocity and speed to close as a metric28:17 Is it better to land and expand deals or to hunt for bigger deals from an investor perspective32:06 Conviction in your model is important and knowing what you want to build33:49 How the speed of venture rounds is affecting the market and larger considerations for founders36:46 How Crosslink is dealing with the market39:55 The Crosslink Alpha network and how it brings value to its foundersFast FavoritesAcquiredHow I Built ThisNewsletterWhat’s Hot in Enterprise IT by Ed SimTech GadgetAirpodsTrendxOpsBookThe Hard Thing About Hard Things by Ben HorowitzLife LessonThe only thing that stays constant is change.Follow Matt Cohen and Tank Talks here!Podcast production support provided by Agentbee.Agency This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit tanktalks.substack.com

Ecommerce and auctions for physical goods is a maturing space in the online world, but when you want to sell a business itself or a digital good it is much less evolved. Our guest today, Blake Hutchison, CEO of Flippa, is working to change that. Flippa has a suite of tools on its platform to help streamline these transactions and help buyers and sellers with these sometimes complicated transactions. They recently completed an $11M Series A raise led by OneVentures to expand their buying and selling options and to offer new ways to support the community.About Blake Hutchison:Blake leads the team at Flippa, the leading marketplace globally to buy and sell sites, stores, and digital properties. Flippa was started in Melbourne in 2009 and he joined the team in 2018. Prior to Flippa, Blake held roles at various companies, including Xero, Good44, and Lonely Planet.A word from our sponsor:Ripple Ventures is always focused on helping our founders and CEOs find the best partners to work with. But before we introduce any provider to our companies, we always make sure we try the product first. And when it comes to managing business expenses at Ripple, we were super excited when the team at Jeeves came knocking on our door.Jeeves helped get me and my team setup with physical and virtual credit cards in days. I was able to allow my teammates to expense items in multiple currencies allowing them to pay for anything, anywhere at any time. We weren’t asked for any personal guarantees or pay any setup or annual fees either. Not only does Jeeves save us time, but they also give us up to 3% cashback on our purchases including expenses like Google, Facebook or AWS every month. The best part,  Jeeves puts up the cash, and you settle up once every 30 days, unlike some other corporate card companies that make you pre-pay every month. Jeeves offers a truly all-in-one expense management corporate card program for international startups and we at Tank Talks could not be more excited to partner with them. Listeners of Tank Talks can get set up with a demo of Jeeves today and take advantage of a $700 discount and skip the waitlist by visiting tryjeeves.com/tanktalks to learn more.In this episode we discuss:03:15 The current state of online marketplaces and why they have seen such explosive growth04:15 How the marketplace worked prior to Flippa07:04 What is the right size of deal for a site like Flippa09:36 What buying and selling actually is like when using Flippa13:39 How Flippa helps qualify buyers to help maximize sellers time15:22 Other ways Flippa brings trust into the marketplace16:42 Why most sellers are not prepared to sell at the beginning of the process19:02 Why digital marketplaces like Flippa are more trustworthy than private sellers20:10 Statistics from recent sales on Flippa23:57 Are rollup funds and other institutional buyers using Flippa24:57 How Flippa differentiates itself from other competition29:42 How Flippa fits into the early stage VC model31:02 Future features for Flippa32:44 How Flippas large user base is an asset for the company and community as a whole34:12 Plans for crypto on Flippa34:49 What their $11M Series A will mean to themFast FavoritesPodcastBusiness WarsNewsletter/BlogInvesting.ioGadgetiPhoneTrendNFTsBlack Box ThinkingLife LessonDon’t peak when you’re 18.Follow Matt Cohen and Tank Talks here!Podcast production support provided by Agentbee.Agency This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit tanktalks.substack.com

Podcasting as a medium has been around for close to 20 years, and it has become a vibrant channel of community and connection with little regard for gatekeepers and constraints. Which is wonderful for something like Tank Talks, but less so for communicating non-public and sensitive internal information to employees. Our guest today, JP Gooderham, founder and CEO of Storyboard, is helping companies to use podcasting as a safe, secure, and transparent to way talk to each other and help overcome the physical distance of remote work through podcasts.About JP Gooderham:JP started at Google when he graduated from Tulane University in 2013, he worked his way up the ranks to become Global Product Lead and decided to found Storyboard in 2019. In 2020, Storyboard raised a $4.5M seed round lead by CRV and joined by Harry Stebbings of 20MinuteVC, Operator Partners, Slack Fund, Dave Ambrose, and Matt Ziskie.A word from our sponsor:Ripple Ventures is always focused on helping our founders and CEOs find the best partners to work with. But before we introduce any provider to our companies, we always make sure we try the product first. And when it comes to managing business expenses at Ripple, we were super excited when the team at Jeeves came knocking on our door.Jeeves helped get me and my team setup with physical and virtual credit cards in days. I was able to allow my teammates to expense items in multiple currencies allowing them to pay for anything, anywhere at any time. We weren’t asked for any personal guarantees or pay any setup or annual fees either.Not only does Jeeves save us time, but they also give us up to 3% cashback on our purchases including expenses like Google, Facebook, or AWS every month. The best part, Jeeves puts up the cash, and you settle up once every 30 days, unlike some other corporate card companies that make you pre-pay every month.Jeeves offers a truly all-in-one expense management corporate card program for international startups and we at Tank Talks could not be more excited to partner with them. Listeners of Tank Talks can get set up with a demo of Jeeves today and take advantage of a $700 discount and skip the waitlist by visiting tryjeeves.com/tanktalks to learn more.In this episode we discuss:02:56 The challenges of employee engagement in the landscape of remote work04:56 Ways companies are using Storyboard to reach distributed workforces08:14 Use cases for Storyboard and audio has a way to build and maintain culture11:03 The affect of the pandemic on adoption of platforms like Storyboard13:32 How fast it takes for a company to fully adopt Storyboard into their internal communication15:59 Turning listeners into creators and driving ROI18:42 Storyboard’s playbook for upping ROI to their customers22:54 Diving into social audio tools beyond podcasting25:31 How secure is audio from outside listeners27:36 Case studies of companies using Storyboard to solve communication challenges30:53 How Storyboard is different from traditional Learning and Development33:54 How bottom up content is the future of employee communication and training37:15 Why Harry Stebbings decided to make his first investment in the podcasting spaceFast FavoritesPodcastBeyond The GridNewsletter/BlogNewcomerGadgetWhoopTrendAudioBookShoe Dog by Phil KnightLife LessonEat the frog firstFollow Matt Cohen and Tank Talks here!Podcast production support provided by Agentbee.Agency  This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit tanktalks.substack.com

Voice has long been the final frontier of computing interfaces, and now with the technology of smart speakers and other voice-enabled technologies we are finally able to access what science fiction has been writing about for decades. Our guest today, Braden Ream, founder and CEO of Voiceflow, is helping create that future. Voiceflow, then known as Storyflow, was one of the first portfolio companies backed by Ripple Ventures. Back then it was a platform that helped build skills on Alexa, but has since grown to become the go-to platform for voice and chat-based interfaces and is being used by global Fortune 500 companies like USAA, McDonalds & BMW.About Braden Ream:Braden Ream is the Co-Founder and CEO of Voiceflow, a platform that helps teams design, prototype and launch voice & chat assistants. Founded in 2018, Voiceflow currently powers 300M monthly messages and is deployed across 75,000 teams. Prior to Voiceflow, Braden worked at RBC and founded a social media app.A word from our sponsor:Ripple Ventures is always focused on helping our founders and CEOs find the best partners to work with. But before we introduce any provider to our companies, we always make sure we try the product first. And when it comes to managing business expenses at Ripple, we were super excited when the team at Jeeves came knocking on our door.Jeeves helped get me and my team setup with physical and virtual credit cards in days. I was able to allow my teammates to expense items in multiple currencies allowing them to pay for anything, anywhere at any time. We weren’t asked for any personal guarantees or pay any setup or annual fees either.Not only does Jeeves save us time, but they also give us up to 3% cashback on our purchases including expenses like Google, Facebook, or AWS every month. The best part, Jeeves puts up the cash, and you settle up once every 30 days, unlike some other corporate card companies that make you pre-pay every month.Jeeves offers a truly all-in-one expense management corporate card program for international startups and we at Tank Talks could not be more excited to partner with them. Listeners of Tank Talks can get set up with a demo of Jeeves today and take advantage of a $700 discount and skip the waitlist by visiting tryjeeves.com/tanktalks to learn more.In this episode we discuss:03:12 The history of voice tech leading to Voiceflow09:32 Why Alexa, Siri, and other voice-enabled platforms are succeeding where prior platforms have failed14:02 How the pandemic has helped shape the voice tech industry16:36 The other factors pushing forward voice tech21:42 How the voice apps are the new landing pages and the next internet25:23 Becoming a standard toolset for developing voice interfaces31:32 Addressing privacy concerns around voice tech36:02 How wake words work on Alexa and other platforms38:29 Plans for their recent raise from Felics Ventures, Ripple Ventures, True Ventures, Craft Ventures and othersFast Favorites:PodcastEconomics ExplainedNewsletter/BlogPaul GrahamTech GadgetiPad/Apple PencilNew TrendChessBookCrossing the ChasmBlue Ocean StrategyLife LessonThe world is run by people no smarter than you.Follow Matt Cohen and Tank Talks here!Podcast production support provided by Agentbee.Agency This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit tanktalks.substack.com

Digital marketing is increasingly important to the success of every business, but it’s a dynamic industry, seeing major disruptions this year with the change to tracking brought by iOS 14. Our guest, Dan Pantelo, founder and CEO of Marpipe, is helping marketers figure out what’s actually working through scalable A-B testing and performance marketing with his platform Marpipe.We talk to Dan about the need for better testing, the current state of MarTech, and his recent $8M series A raise led by Stage 2 Capital along with ourselves at Ripple, Samsung Ventures, Laconia Capital Group, and others.About Dan Pantelo:Dan started out as a street salesman in some of NYC's lowest-income neighborhoods selling electronics on street corners. He went on to found Pantelo Group, an agency that quickly grew to $2M in monthly campaign spend. He founded Marpipe in 2019. Dan did his undergrad at Binghampton University.A word from our sponsor:For anyone that is lucky enough to be a part of building startups, we’ve all seen that mad-rush to answer extensive security questionnaires and implement SOC 2 controls the moment that big whale of a client is on the hook in order to not lose the deal. Which unfortunately ends up swallowing the entire organization's time and resources in the hopes to land that whale, right? Lucky for us at Ripple, we have partnered with compliance automation provider Drata. Drata saves our portfolio companies from these same issues when it comes to effectively proving a strong, ongoing security posture and achieving frameworks like SOC 2 and ISO 27001.Drata allows startups to put Security and Compliance on Autopilot. Companies using Drata experience an average time savings of 85% when compared to running the SOC 2 process manually. Build trust with customers by proving your commitment to security, and maintain continuous compliance in between your audits. Don’t take it from us, Drata works with all kinds of startups like ClearCo, Lemonade, FullStory, Slice and countless others. They're backed by top venture funds such as Okta Ventures and GGV, and are currently G2's number one ranked cloud compliance software provider for customer satisfaction. Listeners of Tank Talks can get set up with a demo of Drata and take advantage of a 15% discount offer and waived implementation fees by visiting drata.com/tanktalks to get setup today.In this episode we discuss:03:20 How personalization in advertising, data, and customization have evolved over the years since advertisers were forced online05:48 Every company is now a marketing company with a subject matter expertise09:28 Other challenges digital marketers face and how they are overcoming them11:30 How brands are using technology to harness User Generated Content (UGC)15:09 Why companies should be focused more on performance marketing20:16 The traditional ad creation process vs. the process with Marpipe24:27 Why creative is now more important with better tracking and recent changes to Facebook27:11 Typical ROI Marpipe customers are seeing31:14 the Marpipe target customer35:12 How Marpipe can use data to decipher trends and what works for specific clients36:46 The future of performance-based marketing39:22 Plans for the $8M Series A raiseFast FavoritesPodcastHow to Take Over The WorldNewsletter/BlogBanklessTech GadgetAirpod ProNew TrendDAOsBookBlack Swan by by Nassim Nicholas Taleb Life LessonOnly worry about things in your direct controlFollow Matt Cohen and Tank Talks here!Podcast production support provided by Agentbee.Agency This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit tanktalks.substack.com

The market for cars in 2021 has been one of the most pandemic-affected markets. The supply of both new and used cars has never been tighter and our guest today is seeing it from all sides. Dan Park is the CEO of Clutch, Canada's first and largest online car retailer. We talk to Dan about the automotive industry, his path to becoming CEO, and about his plans for the $60M he recently raised from Canaan Partners, FJ Labs, and Real Ventures.About Dan Park:Dan is CEO of Clutch, an online platform for car buying and ownership. Prior to Clutch, Dan was GM & Head of Uber Eats Canada. During his time at Uber, Dan led the growth of Uber's food delivery platform in Canada. Previously, Dan was a Venture Partner at Azure Capital Partners and led the firm’s Canadian investment efforts.A word from our sponsor:For anyone that is lucky enough to be a part of building startups, we’ve all seen that mad-rush to answer extensive security questionnaires and implement SOC 2 controls the moment that big whale of a client is on the hook in order to not lose the deal. Which unfortunately ends up swallowing the entire organization's time and resources in the hopes to land that whale, right? Lucky for us at Ripple, we have partnered with compliance automation provider Drata. Drata saves our portfolio companies from these same issues when it comes to effectively proving a strong, ongoing security posture and achieving frameworks like SOC 2 and ISO 27001.Drata allows startups to put Security and Compliance on Autopilot. Companies using Drata experience an average time savings of 85% when compared to running the SOC 2 process manually. Build trust with customers by proving your commitment to security, and maintain continuous compliance in between your audits. Don’t take it from us, Drata works with all kinds of startups like ClearCo, Lemonade, FullStory, Slice and countless others. They're backed by top venture funds such as Okta Ventures and GGV, and are currently G2's number one ranked cloud compliance software provider for customer satisfaction. Listeners of Tank Talks can get set up with a demo of Drata and take advantage of a 15% discount offer and waived implementation fees by visiting drata.com/tanktalks to get setup today.In this episode we discuss:02:44 How the auto industry is evolving and why now is a great time for disruption04:56 The effect of the pandemic on modernizing the automotive industry and how its effected supply and demand for cars07:39 How consumer behavior during the pandemic pushed forward app adoption09:18 What the enduring lessons from the pandemic will be for the automotive industry10:30 Why the dealership model is ready for disruption11:42 How established players in the industry are fighting back against being disrupted from outsiders13:18 Breaking down the existing legal structures between dealerships and automotive brands16:16 How Clutch is using their data to analyze the aftermarket and used car market18:59 Why Clutch is a better way to buy a used car20:43 Real-world lessons Dan and his team have had to make while building Clutch22:06 How Clutch has captured market share23:18 How Dan defines Clutch’s company culture24:26 Why Dan left Uber Eats to become the CEO of Clutch26:46 Plans for Clutch’s recent $60M raiseFast Favorites:Favourite PodcastHow I Built ThisMasters Of ScaleRevisionist HistoryThis American LifeBlog/NewsletterThe PeakTech GadgetGoPro MaxTrendCanada’s startup sceneBookShoe Dog by Phil KnightFollow Matt Cohen and Tank Talks here!Podcast production support provided by Agentbee.Agency This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit tanktalks.substack.com

Our guest today, Gale Wilkinson, founder and managing director of Vitalize Venture Capital, is working to change how we work, how we learn, and how people can access investing in startups.Vitalize is known for investing in the future of work and the future of learning startups. They typically invest $250K-$1.5M at the pre-seed and seed stages. Portfolio companies include Placer, The Mom Project, Toucan, Zero Grocery, Zingtree, hiitide, and many more. They have also recently launched a platform that allows non-qualified investors to invest in start-ups before they hit the public markets.About Gale Wilkinson:Gale started in analyst roles at Nielsen and Orbitz before moving into investing in 2012 by founding Irish Angels, a network of angel investors affiliated with the University of Norte Dame. In 2017 she launched a formal fund, Vitalize Venture Capital. She did her undergrad at Notre Dame and got her MBA at the University of Chicago. She is currently a member of the Kauffman Fellows class of 2023.A word from our sponsor:For anyone that is lucky enough to be a part of building startups, we’ve all seen that mad-rush to answer extensive security questionnaires and implement SOC 2 controls the moment that big whale of a client is on the hook in order to not lose the deal. Which unfortunately ends up swallowing the entire organization's time and resources in the hopes to land that whale, right? Lucky for us at Ripple, we have partnered with compliance automation provider Drata. Drata saves our portfolio companies from these same issues when it comes to effectively proving a strong, ongoing security posture and achieving frameworks like SOC 2 and ISO 27001.Drata allows startups to put Security and Compliance on Autopilot. Companies using Drata experience an average time savings of 85% when compared to running the SOC 2 process manually. Build trust with customers by proving your commitment to security, and maintain continuous compliance in between your audits. Don’t take it from us, Drata works with all kinds of startups like ClearCo, Lemonade, FullStory, Slice and countless others. They're backed by top venture funds such as Okta Ventures and GGV, and are currently G2's number one ranked cloud compliance software provider for customer satisfaction. Listeners of Tank Talks can get set up with a demo of Drata and take advantage of a 15% discount offer and waived implementation fees by visiting drata.com/tanktalks to get setup today.In this episode we discuss:03:26 Why the future of work is such an important area of Gale’s investing07:37 Is future of work just a code name for automation09:23 How remote work and gig economy interact with each other10:42 What Vitalize is excited about with Future of Work13:23 How the metaverse and online will mix with real-world opportunities14:03 Overlooked opportunities in the future of workspace15:24 The ethical questions around working for multiple employers16:39 Areas Gale is wary of in the future of work19:10 Areas in the creator economy Vitalize is looking to bet on20:54 Future of learning and where college degrees will be in the coming years22:40 How the pandemic has affected the future of work and the future of learning23:32 Opening up Venture to populations that have been historically excluded from investing24:48 Gale’s goal for Vitalize and how founders and investors can connect25:26 Gale’s secret to being so great on TwitterFast favourites:PodcastVenture UnlockedNewsletter/BlogAxiosTech GadgetHer PhoneNew TrendEco-friendly packagingBookThe Startup Community Way: Evolving an Entrepreneurial Ecosystem by Brad FeldFollow Matt Cohen and Tank Talks here!Podcast production support provided by Agentbee.Agency  This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit tanktalks.substack.com

As we’ve seen from the last two years, BioTech holds immense promise for the future but brings along challenges as an investor into the space. Today we have a lively discussion with two sides of the BioTech investing world, Peter van der Velden, General Partner and Managing director of Lumira Ventures, and Anthony Mouchantaf, Director, Venture Capital at RBCx.About Anthony Mouchantaf:As Director of Venture Capital with RBCx, Anthony works closely with partners across RBC on the bank’s venture investment strategy and leads the venture fund finance group. Prior to joining RBC Anthony was a VC-backed startup founder and a venture capital investor with OMERS Ventures, based out of the fund’s London and Toronto offices.About Peter van der Velden:With 28 years of investment and operating experience, Peter has participated in building companies from start-up through to expansion in the life sciences, information technology, and consumer sectors. Peter’s experience includes: Founder of a boutique merchant bank focused on private IT-based companies, Head of Investment Banking for a boutique investment bank focused on the public IT-based companies, Partner in a buyout partnership targeting retail and consumer-centric businesses; Vice President Business Development for a venture capital-backed drug delivery company; and an Associate role at Canada’s then-largest venture capital firm. Peter started his working career with Canada’s largest independent vaccine manufacturer.A word from our sponsor:For anyone that is lucky enough to be a part of building startups, we’ve all seen that mad-rush to answer extensive security questionnaires and implement SOC 2 controls the moment that big whale of a client is on the hook in order to not lose the deal. Which unfortunately ends up swallowing the entire organization's time and resources in the hopes to land that whale, right? Lucky for us at Ripple, we have partnered with compliance automation provider Drata. Drata saves our portfolio companies from these same issues when it comes to effectively proving a strong, ongoing security posture and achieving frameworks like SOC 2 and ISO 27001.Drata allows startups to put Security and Compliance on Autopilot. Companies using Drata experience an average time savings of 85% when compared to running the SOC 2 process manually. Build trust with customers by proving your commitment to security, and maintain continuous compliance in between your audits. Don’t take it from us, Drata works with all kinds of startups like ClearCo, Lemonade, FullStory, Slice and countless others. They're backed by top venture funds such as Okta Ventures and GGV, and are currently G2's number one ranked cloud compliance software provider for customer satisfaction. Listeners of Tank Talks can get set up with a demo of Drata and take advantage of a 15% discount offer and waived implementation fees by visiting drata.com/tanktalks to get setup today.In this episode we discuss:03:32 Peter’s journey to becoming a BioTech investor06:04 What the Canadian BioTech scene was like 10 years ago07:36 How Anthony convinced the team at RBCx to take BioTech seriously08:52 The pandemic’s role in convincing LPs to take BioTech seriously11:33 Peter’s take on why institutional investors have started to take BioTech investing more seriously15:09 How life sciences has more liquidity than traditional tech sectors17:07 How the life sciences market has matured over the last 10 years18:21 Insight into how investment committees at institutional investors work and how they look at biotech and life sciences23:26 Why life sciences can be intimidating to traditional investors30:57 What needs to happen to get Canadian investors more comfortable with investing in BioTech35:15 Why making unicorns isn’t everything in investing38:09 What value RBCx brings to the table besides capital41:40 How to manage LP communications in the BioTech space48:13 How Canada can become a global life sciences powerhouseFast FavoritesPodcastAnthonyThis is Actually HappeningPeterMasters of ScaleAmerican InnovationsNewsletter/BlogAnthonyVisual CapitalistPeterStat NewsTech GadgetAnthonyOura RingPeterApple WatchTrendAnthonyTikTokPeterWork-Life Balance from remote workBookAnthonyThe Federalist PapersPeterAtlas Shrugged by Ayn RandFollow Matt Cohen and Tank Talks here!Podcast production support provided by Agentbee.Agency This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit tanktalks.substack.com

Data security is a huge concern, and a way to prove you take data security seriously is by obtaining a SOC 2 certificate. When obtained, SOC 2 is the gateway to larger enterprise contracts for SaaS companies, but the process of obtaining it can be labor-intensive, costly, and confusing. Drata was born to help streamline this process. We talk with Adam Markowitz, co-founder and CEO of Drata, to talk through SOC 2 and what Drata does for its customers.About Adam Markowitz:Adam is a former aerospace engineer who worked on rocket engines for NASA’s next-generation space launch vehicle as well as the Space Shuttle Main Engine. He went on to be the founder and CEO of Portfolium (Acquired by Instructure – 2019), proudly serving millions of students and grads from over 3,600 colleges and universities. He co-founded Drata in 2020 and recently closed a $25M Series A with GGV Capital, SVCI - Silicon Valley CISO Investments, Okta Ventures, Cowboy Ventures, and Leaders Fund.In this episode we discuss:01:58 What does SOC 2 Compliance and why is it so hard to achieve?05:03 The SOC 2 process with and without Drata06:48 Why SOC 2 is a growing concern for startups08:22 Is SOC 2 standard for B2B companies?09:53 What’s the first thing you should know if you’re asked for a SOC2 report?12:12 The difference between SOC 2 Type I and SOC2 Type II13:07 What the best case turnaround time for a SOC 2 Type I report13:48 Why many companies do a SOC 2 Type I on the way to get a SOC 2 Type II14:43 What type on content is in a SOC 2 report16:43 How founders should think about SOC 2 requests from clients18:25 How can startups instill a culture of cybersecurity20:59 Who should manage the SOC 2 process at smaller startups23:07 What Drata does to help simplify and automate the SOC 2 process26:13 What is the overlap between SOC 2 and HIPPA27:23 When is the right time to add a CISO position to a startup?28:50 Drata’s traction and recent Series A financingFast FavoritesPodcastMasters of ScaleNewsletter/BlogTed TalksGadgetAirpodsTrendHybrid/Remote workBookExtreme Ownership: How the US Navy SEALs Lead and Win by Jocko WilinkRelentless: From Good to Great to Unstoppable by Tim Grover and Shari WenkFollow Matt Cohen and Tank Talks here!Podcast production support provided by Agentbee.Agency This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit tanktalks.substack.com