Venture Unlocked: The playbook for venture capital managers

Glenn Solomon, managing partner at Notable Capital, shares nearly three decades of venture experience, discussing his journey from tennis at Stanford to tech investing. He emphasizes the need for venture firms to adapt to a global landscape and rebrand for founder success. Glenn highlights innovative hiring practices, focusing on character over past performance, and the power of nurturing relationships in building a thriving venture ecosystem. His insights shed light on creating lasting firms by fostering agility and strong partnerships.

Ben Sun, co-founder of Primary, a top seed-stage fund, dives into his journey from investment banking to pioneering a successful venture capital firm. He shares insights on GP-led secondaries and the critical metrics needed for scaling seed funds. Discussing the challenges of alignment between VCs and founders, he emphasizes the value of strong platform teams in boosting success. Ben also explores the evolving VC landscape, highlighting the importance of sector specialization and strategic investment timing for maximizing returns.

Lindel Eakman, a seasoned investor at Foundry with a rich history at UTIMCO, shares insightful lessons from his journey in venture capital. He discusses the significance of being an early investor in Union Square Ventures and his preference for collaboration with smaller partnerships. Lindel emphasizes the importance of quality reference calls in assessing General Partners and highlights the critical role of emerging managers in the evolving landscape of venture investing. His people-centric approach underscores the value of relationships in navigating the investment process.

Tom Loverro of IVP discusses the market shift in 2023 and 2024, advising startups to go on offense. He covers the repercussions of the capital-constrained market, transitioning from defense to offense, and the importance of high-conviction opportunities in venture capital.

Venture capitalist Mike Maples discusses the importance of identifying pattern-breaking founders in startups, emphasizing the value of insights and inflections for success. He shares insights on investing in non-consensus startups like Twitch, highlighting the need for unique visions and authenticity in founders. The podcast explores the power of unique insights, inflection points, and being non-consensus in the venture capital landscape.

TX Zhuo, Co-Founder of Fika Ventures, talks about founder-first mentality, LP fundraising challenges, and valuation methodology in venture capital. They discuss building trust with founders, managing tough conversations in fast-paced funding rounds, and the importance of consistency in decision-making frameworks.

Michael Kim, Founder of Cendana Capital, talks about backing small, emerging managers in venture capital. He discusses qualities of great emerging managers, challenges in fundraising, and the need for liquidity in the secondary market. The podcast explores topics such as portfolio construction, fund sizing, and the evolution of seed funds in the VC landscape.

Amy Saper, Partner at Uncork Capital, shares insights on embracing constraints for creativity in startups. She talks about non-consensus investing, evaluating technical teams, and attracting talent. Amy reflects on her transition to venture capital and learnings as an institutional investor.

Meghan Reynolds of Altimeter Capital discusses evolving VC liquidity challenges like strip sales and GP-led secondaries. They emphasize the need for GPs to adapt to changing industry dynamics. The podcast also highlights the role of Sydecar in enhancing accessibility and liquidity for emerging VCs in private markets.

Venture capitalists Jenny Fielding, Kirby Winfield, and Nate Williams discuss the seed stage market reset, fund sizing, reserve strategies, and LP perspectives. They touch on founder challenges, revenue growth, Series A graduation rates, evolving funding dynamics, reserve strategies, and fund stability considerations.