Origins - Inside Venture Capital, Hosted by a GP and an LP

Dustin Rosen, founder of Wonder Ventures, talks about his journey in VC, LA tech ecosystem evolution, SPVs, secondary transactions, and the importance of a founder-first approach in investing.

On this special episode of Origins, Marcos Veremis, partner at Accolade Partners, hosts Chris Ebeling, the Creative Director, Futurist & Co-Founder @ Virtually Human, which created Zed Run, a provably fair digital horse racing game built on blockchain technology. Marcos Veremis is a partner at Accolade Partners, a top-tier fund of funds, and one of the first firms in the market to launch a dedicated crypto fund of funds practice. Marcos was previously an MD at Cambridge Associates for more than a decade, where he focused on alternative investments, including crypto. Chris Ebeling has spent his career crafting unique visual experiences for Film, TV, Games and emerging technologies. Chris is a world-class Animator, Creative Director, Writer and Digital Artist having worked on Hollywood blockbusters such as The Lego Movie’s, The Great Gatsby, and Gods of Egypt. He has since moved on to co-found his own digital creative studio, Virtually Human, creators of Zed Run, a provably fair digital horse racing game built on blockchain technology, and a massive hit in the rapidly growing "play-to-earn" blockchain gaming category.

Jeff Morris Jr. is the founder and Managing Partner of Chapter One. He was previously the VP of Product, Revenue at Tinder. In the role, Tinder became the #1 top-grossing app in the App Store and one of the top-grossing products in mobile history. In this episode, we discuss Jeff's early career as a PM and growth specialist, his transition into angel investing, and ultimately the decision to launch Chapter One, which is now squarely focused on web3 investing.

Sapphire Partners continues their #OpenLP miniseries takeover by hosting Saul Klein of LocalGlobe and Latitude. With decades of experience in the region, Saul has been, and continues to be, an early champion of the European tech ecosystem. During the conversation, Sapphire’s Thomas Moon chats with Saul on topics including the evolution of venture in Europe over the past 20 years, the road ahead for European venture, and the journey from operator to angel to institutional seed investor.

Sapphire Partners continues their #OpenLP miniseries takeover by hosting Kim Lew, CEO and President of Columbia University’s endowment. During the conversation, Sapphire’s Nate Leung chats with Kim on topics including: How institutional managers consider and approach risk, particularly in the context of venture investing; Differences between foundations and endowments in terms of liquidity, portfolio construction, and risk allocation; What Kim looks for in new managers for the venture portfolio component of Columbia’s endowment; What quality mentorship and leadership looks like and how she cultivates investment talent; and her views on key investment trends across climate, artificial intelligence, crypto and more...

On this brand new season of Origins, we're passing the torch to our friends at Sapphire Partners to host an exciting new miniseries. Beezer Clarkson, Nate Leung and the team at Sapphire Partners are some of the most knowledgeable and experienced LPs in the industry, and we're extremely excited to listen as they interview a slew of amazing new guests. In this first episode, Beezer and Nate are hosting...well...us :-) They interview us about the history of Origins, Notation, our new fund Notation III, and what we see in store for the future of our firm and the industry broadly. We asked Sapphire Partners to host this season because they're true experts in the venture ecosystem - they partner with many of the most elite venture firms and have a deep LP network to bring exciting new voices to the show. Sapphire is hosting these next episodes in support of their #OpenLP initiative. OpenLP is a community-sourced effort that amplifies and aggregates LP and GP voices across the venture ecosystem.

Chris Paik and Jordan Cooper, co-founders of Pace Capital, discuss their decision to start the new $150M fund focused on Series A investments. They delve into their backgrounds, strategies for building a top firm, and unique approach in working with founders throughout the startup lifecycle. The episode also explores topics such as firm culture, equal partnerships in economics, and the importance of trust and relationships in fundraising.

Renata Quintini and Roseanne Wincek are general partners and co-founders of Renegade Partners, a new venture capital firm investing at the "supercritical" stage. Supercritical stage companies have raised institutional financing, have a product in market, and the budding signs of customer love, but are early, young organizations who are still writing their stories. Before Renegade, Renata was a partner at Lux Capital and Felicis Ventures, and before that an LP at the Stanford University endowment investing in private markets and venture capital. Roseanne was trained as a biochemist before joining Caanan and then IVP, investing in companies primarily at the growth stage. This was a fantastic deep dive into their decision to start Renegade Partners together, how they got the firm off the ground and raised their first fund, the unique opportunity they now see in the market at the supercritical stage, and how they plan to build a lasting firm.

Portfolio manager, Matt Auxier, discusses his investment philosophy within venture capital, the challenges and opportunities in early-stage investing, managing the University of Chicago's endowment amidst COVID-19, and the importance of diversity and inclusion in the startup ecosystem.

Sahil Lavingia and Steve Schlafman discuss new VC fund structures, the rise of solo capitalists, and the impact of AngelList on venture capital. They explore disruptive structures, evolving trends in funding models, and the accessibility of venture capital for founders and LPs.