Venture Unlocked: The playbook for venture capital managers

Brad Gerstner, Founder and CEO of Altimeter Capital, discusses his early life, the evolution of internet search, valuation challenges in private markets, and his efforts to create equal opportunities and address labor displacement caused by AI.

Mamoon Hamid, Partner at Kleiner Perkins, discusses the transformation of Kleiner Perkins into a boutique venture capital fund focused on early-stage investing. They emphasize the significance of culture and focus. Topics include tracking OKRs, sourcing deals, the evolving landscape of venture capital, and staying focused on strengths.

Experienced institutional venture LPs Beezer Clarkson, Guy Perelmuter, and Chris Douvos discuss the impact of the economic downturn on emerging managers, the challenges faced by emerging managers in attracting institutional capital, the importance of including emerging managers in investment portfolios, investing in 'grownups' and the importance of repeatability, LP perspectives and decision-making challenges, establishing metrics and exit strategies in venture capital portfolios, letting winners ride vs taking chips off the table, and understanding venture capital as a fiduciary.

Ben Lerer and Graham Brown, Managing Partners at Lerer Hippeau discuss building competitive moats in VC. They cover topics like building and productizing a community, maintaining competitive advantage, the value of community and networks, exceptions and sacrifices in deals, and the importance of relationships and empathy in VC.

Chris Farmer, Founder and CEO of SignalFire, discusses building a next-gen tech-enabled VC firm. Topics include: disrupting traditional VC models, treating VC like a tech company, navigating overvaluation in the market, trends in venture capital, and the future of the industry.

Mark Suster, managing partner of Upfront Ventures, discusses the current state of venture fund fundraising and explores different sources of capital for emerging managers in the venture capital space. He also discusses the benefits of hosting events for LPs, the differences between raising funds from institutional LPs and family offices, and the decision-making process of big pensions and family offices when it comes to investing in emerging managers versus established firms.

Follow me @samirkaji for my thoughts on the venture market, with a focus on the continued evolution of the VC landscape.On this week’s show, we’re excited to have Hernan Kazah, Co-Founder and Managing Partner of Kaszek, one of the largest Latin American firms with nine funds under management. The firm launched in 2011 and over time they’ve made early-stage investments in companies such as Nubank, QuintoAndar, Kavak, Creditas, and Nuvemshop.Before becoming an investor, Hernan Co-Founded MercadoLibre in 1999, an online auction and e-commerce platform that later went public in 2008. At a market cap today of over $60B, the company represents one of the great entrepreneurial successes in the region. During our conversation, we spoke about the growth of Latin America, making the shift from a company builder to a full-time investor, and how founders and investors should think about the capital-scarce market we are navigating today.A word from our sponsor:Privately owned and headquartered in New York City, Grasshopper Bank is built to serve the business and innovation economy. As a client-first digital bank, Grasshopper combines the best of banking technology and years of industry expertise to deliver best-in-class experiences with trusted security and unparalleled support. Grasshopper's digital solutions are tailored for venture capital and private equity firms, startups and small businesses, fintech-focused Banking-as-a-Service (BaaS) and commercial API banking platforms, and more. Serving clients globally, Grasshopper provides flexible, firm-focused lending solutions, as well as a dedicated Relationship Manager committed to meeting the unique needs and strategic focus of your firm across all entities, including funds, general partner and management companies. Grasshopper is a member of the FDIC and an Equal Housing Lender.For more information, visit the bank's website at www.grasshopper.bank or follow on LinkedIn and X.About Hernan Kazah:Hernan Kazah is the Co-Founder and Managing Partner of Kaszek Ventures. Hernan has overseen Kaszek’s growth into the largest venture capital firm in Latin America. It has invested in more than 100 startups and is known for its ability to spot the next tech talent and hands-on approach.Prior to investing, Hernan Co-Founded MercadoLibre, the most successful "from-garage-to-Nasdaq" startup story in Latin America to date, and one of the largest technology companies in the region.He has a BA from the University of Buenos Aires and an MBA from Stanford.In this episode we discuss:(02:57) Hernan’s journey into tech and investing(04:39) Lessons from MercoadoLibre that he wanted to apply in building Kaszek(10:38) Why he decided to move to venture in 2011(14:11) The long process of building an LP base with an unproven theory(20:21) Advice and mentorship Hernan sought out prior to starting Kaszek(24:56) How Hernan manages his time to help his portfolio(28:57) Comparing the market of 1999/2000 with today’s market(36:04) What it means to support founders(42:33) Why Hernan is mostly handsoff in his portfolio companies(46:50) How to have tough conversations with founders(48:10) The best career advice he’s recievedI’d love to know what you took away from this conversation with Hernan. Follow me @SamirKaji and give me your insights and questions with the hashtag #ventureunlocked. If you’d like to be considered as a guest or have someone you’d like to hear from (GP or LP), drop me a direct message on Twitter.Podcast Production support provided by Agent Bee  This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit ventureunlocked.substack.com

Follow me @samirkaji for my thoughts on the venture market, with a focus on the continued evolution of the VC landscape.On this week’s show we’re excited to have Tomasz Tunguz, Founder of newly formed Theory Ventures. Tomasz spent nearly 15 years at Redpoint Ventures, before recently spinning out to start Theory Ventures. Earlier this year, Theory closed a $230MM fund to back early stage entrepreneurs. Those who have followed Tomasz’s writing, know that he is incredibly analytical and thoughtful in his approach to business. This conversation was no different as we went deep into topics such as portfolio construction theory, business models in VC, and how to be strategic in raising a VC fund. About Tomas Tunguz:Tomasz Tunguz is a Founder and Managing Director at Theory Ventures. He is an active blogger at tomtunguz.com and is co-author of Winning with Data which explores the cultural changes big data brings to business and shows you how to adapt your organization to leverage data to maximum effect.Before founding Theory, Tomasz was Managing Director at Redpoint Ventures, where he backed many early-stage SaaS, data, and infrastructure founders in his 14-year tenure. He began his career as the product manager for Google’s AdSense social-media products and AdSense internationalization.Tomasz attended Dartmouth College and graduated with a BA in mechanical engineering, a BE in machine learning, and a master’s degree in engineering management.In this episode we discuss:(01:42) Why Tomasz joined Redpoint(03:01) The decision to start Theory Ventures (06:32) Raising his first fund during one of the most difficult raise environments in recent history(07:45) What his plan was with the raise(10:47) How Tomasz created and sustained momentum during his raise(16:12) Common objections from LPs and how he overcame them(19:49) What it means for a venture firm to have a business model(23:00) How Theory’s thesis addresses the problem of multiples in the venture market(24:59) Winning deals without paying premiums(26:13) Why the 3x net returns on venture needs to increase to be competitive(27:40) Getting comfortable with a smaller portfolio(31:29) Tomasz’s mental model of picking and diligence with a smaller portfolio(34:30) Qualitative signs he looks for in founders and companies(38:19) Why Tomasz embraces the emerging manager label(39:30) What the next decade of venture looks like(42:07) The best career advice he’s receivedI’d love to know what you took away from this conversation with Tomasz. Follow me @SamirKaji and give me your insights and questions with the hashtag #ventureunlocked. If you’d like to be considered as a guest or have someone you’d like to hear from (GP or LP), drop me a direct message on Twitter.Podcast Production support provided by Agent Bee This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit ventureunlocked.substack.com

Follow me @samirkaji for my thoughts on the venture market, with a focus on the continued evolution of the VC landscape.On this week’s show, I’m thrilled to be joined by Sunil Nagaraj, Founder of Ubiquity Ventures. Sunil started Ubiquity in 2017 to focus on backing technical founders at the pre-seed and seed stages around a thesis he calls “nerdy and early.” Before starting Ubiquity, Sunil spent just over 6 years at Bessemer Venture Partners, and began his career as a founder of a startup. With so many solo-GP firms emerging, Sunil took us through us his lens of a solo-GP, and how he has built and grown ubiquity over the last 7 years.This was a very insightful conversation and I hope you’ll enjoy it. About Sunil Nagaraj:Sunil Nagaraj is the Founder and Managing Partner of Ubiquity Ventures, a seed-stage institutional venture capital firm with over $150 million under management and a focus on "software beyond the screen"® startups. This includes B2B technology companies that utilize smart hardware or machine learning to solve business problems outside the reach of computers and smartphones.Prior to founding Ubiquity Ventures, Sunil spent the better part of a decade with Bessemer Venture Partners where his work included leading the seed rounds of Auth0 (acquired by Okta for $6.5 billion) and Zapier as well as investments in Rocket Lab (NASDAQ: RKLB), Spire (NASDAQ: SPIR), Velo3D (NYSE: VLD), Tile (acquired by Life360), and Twitch (acquired by Amazon for $1 billion). Before investing, Sunil was Founder and CEO of Triangulate, a VC-backed online dating startup using machine learning and behavioral data to improve matching accuracy. He has also worked at Bain & Company, Cisco, and Microsoft.Sunil holds an MBA from Harvard Business School and a BS in Computer Science from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.In this episode we discuss:(01:45) Sunil’s journey into tech and investing(04:33) The decision to become a solo GP after spending his career in partnerships and team(09:56) How the first raise for Ubiquity went(13:23) LP segments(19:28) The types of founders that Sunil likes to back(22:25) Biggest lessons learned during his time in VC(24:54) Lessons from his anti-portfolio(28:37) Sizing your fund to be both small and nimble and large enough to write meaningful checks(31:33) The potential for AI(36:25) Navigating the hype cycles in VC(38:43) When to make exceptions in terms of ownership or check size(41:20) What the current VC market is like and how it might evolve(44:28) The advice he would give himself at the start of his careerI’d love to know what you took away from this conversation with Sunil. Follow me @SamirKaji and give me your insights and questions with the hashtag #ventureunlocked. If you’d like to be considered as a guest or have someone you’d like to hear from (GP or LP), drop me a direct message on Twitter.Podcast Production support provided by Agent Bee This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit ventureunlocked.substack.com

Follow me @samirkaji for my thoughts on the venture market, with a focus on the continued evolution of the VC landscape.We’re pleased to welcome Oren Zeev, Founding Partner at Zeev Ventures. Without a doubt, Oren is one of the titans in venture investing with nearly 30 years of experience and one of the most unique. Unlike traditional firms that have achieved scale, Oren remains a solo-GP, and has an authentic and refreshing view on venture investing. Today, he manages over $2B in Assets under management and has backed companies such as   Houzz, Audible, Chegg, TripActions, and Tipalti, among many others.About Oren Zeev: Oren calls himself a “One Man Venture Capitalist,” and TechCrunch says he is a hybrid between an Angel Investor and a traditional VC. Prior to founding Zeev Ventures, Oren was a part of the founding team of Apax Israel in 1995. In 2002 moved to the US and co-headed, and later headed, the Technology Practice of Apax and the Silicon Valley office.He began his career at IBM and got his Bachelors from the Israel Institute of Technology and his MBA from INSEAD.In this episode we discuss:(02:21) The original thesis behind Zeev Ventures(09:44) Why Oren has avoided growing beyond a solo-GP(15:05) How Oren pushes himself to prevent biases and evolve his thinking over time(18:50) Why fund vintage doesn’t matter(21:24) The reason why Oren can be aggressive with follow-ons(23:59) What type of support can founders expect(27:50) Being relevant to founders as a VC(30:26) Working with other VCs on board(32:47) Advice to companies that had 2021 valuations that may need to raise soon(37:03) Thoughts on this downturn(41:47) Why Venture is still a good long-term investmentI’d love to know what you took away from this conversation with Oren. Follow me @SamirKaji and give me your insights and questions with the hashtag #ventureunlocked. If you’d like to be considered as a guest or have someone you’d like to hear from (GP or LP), drop me a direct message on Twitter.Podcast Production support provided by Agent Bee This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit ventureunlocked.substack.com