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

In this special episode of Origins, we interview Alex Pall and Drew Taggart of The Chainsmokers, one of the most successful artists and producers in the world, and now active VCs through their firm Mantis. We discuss how they got into music, their break as DJs and rising up the early charts of Hype Machine and then Spotify, as well as more recently how they discovered angel investing and how they're building Mantis VC. Safe to say this was one of the most interesting episodes we've ever recorded and hope you'll give it a listen. As always, a huge thank you to Carta, the title sponsor for this season of Origins. It's a core product that we use daily --> Get 10% off when you use the Notation Signup Link (Terms and conditions apply). This season is also sponsored by SVB and Cooley, two of the earliest and most trusted supporters of our work at Notation.

Josh Kopelman is the co-founder of First Round Capital, a pioneering seed-stage venture capital firm. He's been an active entrepreneur and investor in the Internet industry since it's commercialization. He co-founded Infonautics while still an undergrad in 1996, which went public in 1999. He then co-founded and ran Half.com, a fixed price marketplace connecting buyers and sellers of used books, movies and music products, which he sold to eBay in 2000. In this episode, we discuss Josh's early career as an entrepreneur and all of the lessons learned having started two companies, taking one of them public at a really young age, and then selling Half.com to eBay at the height of the dot com. We discuss his early angel investing practice, including investments in companies like Linkedin and Delicious, and the ultimate decision to start First Round Capital with his partners, raise institutional funds, and build out their unique "platform." As always, a huge thank you to Carta, the title sponsor for this season of Origins. It's a core product that we use daily --> Get 10% off when you use the Notation Signup Link (Terms and conditions apply). This season is also sponsored by SVB and Cooley, two of the earliest and most trusted supporters of our work at Notation.

Hunter Somerville is a General Partner at Greenspring Associates and is responsible for the sourcing and due diligence efforts on fund, direct and secondary opportunities. He's also actively involved in the assessment of micro-vc managers for the Firm. Additionally, Hunter serves on the LP Advisory Boards for firms such as Bullpen Capital, Redpoint China, Fika Ventures, Foundry Group, among many others. In this episode, we discuss Hunter's path at Greenspring (and LP firms in general), leading to his promotion to General Partner, how he spends his time at the firm and evaluates opportunities and managers, how the firm is responding to the Covid-19 pandemic, and his outlook for the future.

Atul Rustgi, Partner at Accolade, discusses evaluating VC managers, fund size, and COVID-19 impact. Talks about investing in early-stage venture and late-stage growth equity funds. Reflects on the evolution of the venture capital industry from 2007. Provides insights into current environment challenges and future outlook on software and healthcare investments.

Kanyi Maqubela, Managing Partner at Kindred Ventures, discusses his journey in venture capital, investment processes, and navigating the current economic crisis. The podcast covers his childhood, founding startups, and insights on building conviction in investments amidst Covid-19 challenges.

Ciaran O'Leary, co-founder of BlueYard VC, discusses the evolution of European tech and VC, adapting to Covid-19, and investing in revolutionary companies like Meatable and Bit Bio. BlueYard's focus on a new internet stack, financial liberty, and nature as a technology sets them apart in the VC landscape.

Mark Suster is the Managing Partner at Upfront. He previously was the founder & CEO of two successful enterprise software companies, the most recent of which was sold to Salesforce.com where Mark became VP, Products. He's also one of the OG VC bloggers at https://bothsidesofthetable.com. In this episode, we discuss Mark's journey as both an entrepreneur and VC going back to the dot com, how he joined GRP Partners in 2007 and transitioned the firm into what it is now Upfront, and how he plans to grow the firm's team and talent into the future. This was a master class in VC firm building. As always, a huge thank you to Carta, the title sponsor for this season of Origins. It's a core product that we use daily --> Get 10% off when you use the Notation Signup Link (Terms and conditions apply). This season is also sponsored by SVB and Cooley, two of the earliest and most trusted supporters of our work at Notation.

A panel discussion with Beezer Clarkson, Alda Leu Dennis, and Trae Vassallo on VC portfolio construction covers critical topics like reserves, follow-on strategy, recycling, opportunity funds, and more. This episode is considered highly important for VCs and LPs, offering diverse perspectives on fund strategies.

Chad Byers, co-founder of Susa Ventures, shares insights on growing up in Silicon Valley, founding Susa with his partners, strategic fund planning, and building a successful seed firm. The episode is a playbook on seed investing, offering valuable tips and experiences for aspiring investors.

Lo Toney is the founding managing partner of Plexo Capital, a new $42.5 million fund incubated inside of GV focused on making investments in seed-stage VC firms led by women or people of color. In addition to investing as LPs, Plexo Capital makes direct investments in startups that are funded by firms where Plexo has an LP position. The fund’s investors include Alphabet, Intel Capital, Cisco Investments, the Royal Bank of Canada, Kapor Capital, the Hampton University Endowment and the Ford Foundation. Previous to Plexo Capital, Lo was a partner at GV and Comcast Ventures, as well as an operator in various capacities at Zynga, Nike, and eBay. In this episode, we discuss Lo's unique career journey, some of the early lessons he learned helping to build iconic web products in the dot com era, how he landed at GV and more recently decided to build his own venture platform in Plexo Capital. We're excited to announce Carta as the title sponsor for Origins this season, a product we use and love. Get 10% off when you use the Notation Signup Link (Terms and conditions apply). This season is also sponsored by SVB and Cooley, two of the earliest and most trusted supporters of our work at Notation.