Follow me @samirkaji for my thoughts on the venture market, with a focus on the continued evolution of the VC landscape.This week on the show we’re joined by Dana Settle, Co-Founder of Greycroft. Founded in 2006, Greycroft began with a mission to invest in areas outside of Silicon Valley and specifically in NY and LA. The firm currently has over $2B in Assets Under Management, over 60 employees, and has invested in companies such as Bumble, Scopely, Plated, and Maker Studios among many others. This was a special episode where we unpacked all of the components of firm-building including team development, fundraising, investment decision-making, and evolving to market dynamics. We hope you enjoy my conversation with Dana.Program note: This was recorded prior to the issues arising in the banking sector.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 Twitter.About Dana Settle:Dana Settle is a Co-Founder and Managing Partner at Greycroft. Dana’s active investments include Acorns, Anine Bing, Avaline, Bird, Citizen, Cloud Paper, data.ai, Goop, HamsaPay, Happiest Baby, Merit Beauty, Mountain Digital, Pacaso, Seed Health, Tapcart, Thrive Market and Versed. Her notable exits include Bumble (IPO), Maker Studios (acquired by Disney), Pulse (acquired by LinkedIn), The RealReal (IPO), Trunk Club (acquired by Nordstrom), and WideOrbit (interest sold to company management).Prior to Greycroft, Dana spent several years as a venture capitalist and advisor to startups in the Bay Area, including six years at Mayfield, and investment banking at Lehman Brothers.Dana holds a BA in Finance and International Studies from the University of Washington and an MBA from Harvard Business School.In this episode we discuss:(02:03) What led to the creation of Greycroft(06:46) How they found believers in their hypothesis and got their first fundraise completed(08:19) Advice for managers and entrepreneurs raising in the current market(11:34) Building a distributed and remote-first culture outside of Silicon Valley(15:33) The role of diversity when building strong partnerships(19:00) Traits Dana values when she is hiring for the firm(21:09) Why curiosity is so important and how she uncovers that in candidates(23:55) The importance of creating a safe space for new voices to be heard in a firm(27:59) Why Dana hated the internal politics of old Silicon Valley and wanted to remove that from Greycroft(30:54) The decision to follow-on invest in their portfolio companies(33:11) How Greycroft manages conflicts within the partnership(35:01) The philosophy around team-building within the firm and how that benefits their portfolio companies(37:19) How Greycroft remains nimble with such a large organization(39:26) The bull case for Venture Capital moving forward(42:09) What Greycroft got the most correct and the most wrong in its historyI’d love to know what you took away from this conversation with Dana. 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.This week we are joined by Shuly Galili, Founding Partner of UpWest, an early-stage firm founded in 2012 with her partner Gil Ben-Artzy to invest in seed-stage founders from Israel that are seeking to expand into the US market. UpWest has 4 funds under management and has invested in nearly 100 companies at the early stage that today have a collective market cap of over $20B. 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 Twitter.About Shuly Galili:Shuly is a Founding Partner at UpWest, a Silicon Valley seed fund investing in startups at the Israel-US technology junction. UpWest portfolio crossed $2B in VC funding and includes companies such as SentinelOne, HoneyBook, Stampli, CyCognito, Imubit, and more.She helped found the California Israel Chamber of Commerce (CICC), a business platform for ongoing tech exchange serving a network of over 10,000 companies. Under Shuly’s leadership as Executive Director, CICC had a significant impact on its members’ success in securing millions in venture capital, establishing US/Israel offices and R&D Centers and branding Israel’s emerging tech industry in Silicon Valley.In this episode we discuss:(02:23) What gap they saw they wanted to fill in 2012(08:45) How the go to market strategy is different in the US vs. Israel(10:51) What their first fundraise was like with a new strategy(14:03) The strategic support UpWest received from its early LPs(15:39) The realization that they needed to grow to realize their vision(18:10) How Fund II changed their investing strategy and approach(21:50) When do you know it’s time to raise your fund size?(25:42) What early-stage investors should optimize for(30:32) Defining a healthy venture GP partnership(33:57) UpWest’s decision-making process(35:20) How Shuly and Gil maintain their partnership(38:14) Advice to her younger selfI’d love to know what you took away from this conversation with Shuly. 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 Agency 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.This week we are re-joined by friend of the pod Ryan Hoover who is the Managing Partner of Weekend Fund and Jordan Gonen, Co-Founder and CEO of Compound, a fintech platform that provides wealth management and advisory services to founders and employees of startups. This was a special episode covering the growing intersection of the private wealth sector and venture capital investing, and what trends we are all seeing. We hope you enjoy my conversation with Ryan and Jordan.Frank, Rimerman + Co.’s history is closely intertwined with that of Silicon Valley. With humble beginnings similar to so many start-ups, Frank, Rimerman was formed with a desire to serve the entrepreneurial and venture communities of the Valley and the determination to think outside-the-box.When it comes to venture funds, we work with almost 500 VC groups from over 20 states across the USA. We have worked with over 400 fund groups during their first year of operations, making us one of the leading providers in the country to emerging managers.No one wants to be bored at work. That’s why we chose to work with some of the most innovative and creative people – people who are changing the world around us every day. Their excitement fuels our passion and determination to grow and serve this special community.Frank, Rimerman + Co, Passion Works Here.www.frankrimerman.comAbout Ryan Hoover:Ryan is the founder of Weekend Fund. He started his professional career as a product manager in the gaming industry. His fascination with technology and behavioral psychology led him to help write Hooked: How to Build Habit-Forming Products.In 2013 he founded Product Hunt, inspired by his curiosity and a desire to support early-stage makers and founders. The company raised capital from Y Combinator, Andreessen Horowitz, and others before joining AngelList. About Jordan Gonen:Jordan Gonen is the Co-Founder and CEO of Compound. Prior to that, he was at Scaphold (YC W17) and Pluot (YC W16). He also had stints at Inside, RealtyShares, Cultivation Capital, and more.Jordan’s writing has been featured in Forbes, Fortune Magazine, Startup Grind, Entrepreneur, Business Insider, Inc., Time, Mashable, Elite Daily, the Huffington Post, and others. Jordan studied at Washington University in St. Louis.In this episode we discuss:(02:20) Why Jordan started Compound(05:06) Why High Net-Worth Individuals seek out Alternative Investments(08:31) Motivations for becoming an LP(12:08) Advice for those new to Venture Investing as an LP(16:46) How you should evaluate a fund manager(23:04) Building deal flow as an emerging manager(27:22) Red flags when evaluating an investment(32:31) What the markets will hold in 2023I’d love to know what you took away from this conversation with Ryan and Jordan. 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 Agency 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.This week we are joined by Eddy Chan, founding partner of Intudo Ventures, which employs a hyper-local strategy by backing entrepreneurs in Indonesia. With over $230M in AUM, the firm has become one of the largest Indonesia-only based firms.Eddy and I had a fun conversation on the reasons why hyper-local strategies can work, what these regions need to scale, and some of the interesting ways they leverage their LP base to help with portfolio building.  Frank, Rimerman + Co.’s history is closely intertwined with that of Silicon Valley. With humble beginnings similar to so many start-ups, Frank, Rimerman was formed with a desire to serve the entrepreneurial and venture communities of the Valley and the determination to think outside-the-box.When it comes to venture funds, we work with almost 500 VC groups from over 20 states across the USA. We have worked with over 400 fund groups during their first year of operations, making us one of the leading providers in the country to emerging managers.No one wants to be bored at work. That’s why we chose to work with some of the most innovative and creative people – people who are changing the world around us every day. Their excitement fuels our passion and determination to grow and serve this special community.Frank, Rimerman + Co, Passion Works Here.www.frankrimerman.comAbout Eddy Chan:Eddy Chan is a founding partner of “Indonesia-only” Independent venture capital firm Intudo Ventures with over US$230 million in committed capital, that acts as the Indonesia beachhead strategy for dozens of leading institutions, funds, and family offices from around the world. Intudo portfolio companies include Xendit, Pintu, Pinhome, Halodoc, TaniHub, Kargo, PasarPolis, BeliMobilGue (acquired by OLX), Nalagenetics, Populix, and more.Prior to co-founding Intudo Ventures, Eddy worked on venture investments in startups since the late 1990s, including PayPal, Palantir, and Affirm, founded and operated venture-backed technology companies with operations in Silicon Valley and Asia, practiced corporate/M&A law and worked as an investment banker.Eddy holds a J.D. from Georgetown University and a B.S. in Business Administration from UC Berkeley.In this episode we discuss:(01:32) Why Eddy founded Intudo in 2016(05:47) The reasons Eddy thought Indonesia was ready for a hyper-local fund(09:52) Capital availability for companies that are in Indonesia(16:01) Navigating hyper-local challenges of getting companies far enough so that they can attract that Series A and how its different from Silicon Valley(22:55) How the first fundraise went and why LPs are more comfortable now(28:41) Why independence is a core value to Eddy and why no single LP can be more than 10% of the entire fund(31:16) How Intudo’s portfolio becomes a beachhead into Indonesia and the larger Asian market for its LPs(37:01) Intudo’s concentrated portfolio construction(41:09) Balancing due diligence and the speed of the marketI’d love to know what you took away from this conversation with Eddy. 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 Agency 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 are officially 100 episodes in! For our 100th episode, we are joined by the founders of Better Tomorrow Ventures, also known as BTV, Jake Gibson and Sheel Mohnot. BTV is based in San Francisco and was founded in 2019. BTV focuses on early investing in FinTech companies, and has $300M+ in AUM. Jake and Sheel initially met at 500 startups, where Sheel worked. They are both seasoned fintech founders and angel investors: Sheel built and sold two fintech companies before starting the 500 Fintech accelerator, and Jake co-founded NerdWallet (now publicly traded).About Jake Gibson:Jake Gibson is a founding partner of Better Tomorrow Ventures. He has been involved in FinTech for over a decade — he started his journey as one of the co-founders of NerdWallet before becoming an angel investor. Today, he is a Founding Partner at Better Tomorrow Ventures (BTV). Prior to NerdWallet, Jake studied math and quantitative finance at MIT and traded interest rate derivatives at JPMorgan.About Sheel Mohnot:Sheel Mohnot is a founding partner of Better Tomorrow Ventures. Before BTV, Sheel was a Partner at 500 Startups, running the 500 FinTech Fund and the FinTech track within the San Francisco Accelerator program. His recent startup experience includes 2 successful FinTech exits – a payments company and a high-stakes auction company. He also created and hosted a podcast called The Pitch.He formerly worked as a financial services consultant at BCG and did Microfinance work at the non-profit Kiva. Sheel holds an MBA from the University of Michigan and a BS from Carnegie Mellon. In this episode we discuss:(02:24)  BTV’s origin story (06:27)  Handling their first raise at the beginning of the pandemic(11:28)  How their fund construction remained the same despite market conditions(17:27)  Surprises during their first fundraise(19:29)  How Sheel and Jake view fund construction and ownership targets(24:18)  The shift in the market from rewarding Beta to rewarding Alpha(27:55)  How founders are reacting to market conditions(29:28)  What they are seeing in the Series A markets today(32:19)  How VC’s dry powder will actually get deployed(34:53)  Making sense of the market segments in 2023(37:53)  Why FinTech is still in the early-stages even though it has been heavily invested in(42:15)  Non-obvious things that it takes to run a successful firm(45:17)  Things they would have done differently at the start of their firmI’d love to know what you took away from this conversation with Jake and Sheel. 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 Agency 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 are joined by Jonathan Abrams, Co-Founder and General Partner at 8-Bit Capital. Jonathan previously was an angel investor and entrepreneur founding both Nuzzel and Friendster, the latter of which he helped grow to over 100MM users and where he met his current partner at 8-Bit, Kent Lindstrom. Jonathan also co-founded Founders Den with Zack Bogue of DCVC in 2011, which quickly became one of San Francisco’s earliest and most popular startup work and event spaces.We think you’ll really enjoy Jonathan’s story, and how he thinks about all aspects of seed-stage investing.A word from our sponsor:Tactyc is the first software solution for venture capital portfolio forecasting and planning. The platform is rapidly increasing efficiency and data-driven decision-making for GP’s and works with over 150 funds globally.Tactyc makes it easy for managers to build (and maintain) their portfolio models without dealing with complicated spreadsheets. It enables portfolio construction in minutes and for managers to share their intended fund strategy with potential investors. Post-launch, Tactyc also offers advanced analytics for GPs to optimize reserves, analyze probabilistic outcomes for their investments and extract insights for future capital deployment.Check them out at tactyc.io.About Jonathan Abrams:Jonathan is a co-founder and General Partner of 8-Bit Capital, an early-stage investing firm. He is also a co-founder and Managing Partner of Founders Den, San Francisco’s favorite workspace and community for startups and investors.Previously Jonathan was the founder of the professional news discovery service Nuzzel and the pioneering social networking service Friendster, and a software engineer at Netscape and Nortel. Jonathan is an investor in over 50 startups, including AngelList, ClearTax, CoinList, Docker, Front, HelloSign, Instacart, Mixmax, Pachyderm, Republic, SafeGraph, Sense, Shortcut, Slideshare, Stream, and Zeplin. Jonathan received an Honors B.Sc. in Computer Science from McMaster University in Canada.In this episode we discuss:01:57 Jonathan’s journey to creating 8-Bit Capital with Kent04:08 The opportunity they saw when founding 8-Bit06:07 How his experiences at Nuzzel and Friendster shaped his view as an investor08:20 What being founder friendly truly means11:37 Shifting from an active angel investor to a fund manager14:41 The hardest lessons leveling up from an angel investor18:14 Dealing with the deal flow noise as a team of two21:20 How to deal with conscious and unconscious bias when advising founders23:28 Jonathan and Kent’s decision-making process25:02 Thoughts on scaling 8-Bit28:11 Competing against larger, later-stage funds getting into seed-stage investing31:23 Deciding on follow-on investing33:35 How they came to decide on 50-50 fund construction for follow-on35:41 Keeping and increasing their pro-rata in competitive later rounds38:19 Biggest lessons from Friendster39:49 The advice he would give himself at the start of 8-BitI’d love to know what you took away from this conversation with Jonathan. 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 Agency 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.This week we are joined by Gautam Gupta, who is the co-lead of TCV’s new expansion stage strategy called TCV Velocity. TCV was founded over 25 years ago with over $15B invested in over 350 companies. Prior to launching TCV Velocity, Gautam spent time as an investor at General Catalyst and M13, and in between those shops he was Founder and CEO of Naturebox. Gautam brought such an interesting point of view to our conversation, and we covered a lot of ground spanning from early to late-stage investing. Hope you enjoy this episode!Aumni is an investment analytics company dedicated to improving private capital markets. Aumni’s technology digitizes hard to track unstructured data from private transaction agreements and organizes it in a structured database through an intuitive dashboard. For investors across the board, the insights provided by this data improve the managers ability to build strategy and make better decisions. Today, Aumni tracks data from over 250 thousand private market transactions to provide anonymous, aggregated market benchmarks.As someone that works deeply in the private fund space, I’m incredibly excited that Aumni’s solution helps fund managers provide more insightful accurate reporting to their investors.  Check them out at Aumni.fund.Subscribers of Venture Unlocked can sign up for 20% off when you mention Venture UnlockedAbout Gautam Gupta:Gautam is General Partner at TCV where he focuses on investments in the consumer technology space including commerce, consumer-facing healthcare, education, software, and financial services businesses. Before TCV, Gautam was a Partner at M13 Ventures, an early-stage venture capital firm focused on consumer technology, where he led investments in marketplace, consumer subscription, and B2B2C models.Gautam started his career at General Catalyst in 2004. He was initially an intern while in college and later became a member of the investment team. He left to launch NatureBox and, as CEO, helped build the company into a nationally recognized brand with millions of customers. He did his undergrad at Babson College.In this episode we discuss:02:13 Gautam’s career journey as an investor and founder04:52 How being a founder has shaped him as an investor07:50 Identifying whether a company truly is a venture backable company10:27 Why TCV setup the Velocity Fund to do earlier stage and smaller investments11:33 What is an expansion phase investment?14:35 Pros and Cons of traditionally later stage firms investing earlier17:19 Creating a unique brand in a larger firm19:24 How today’s market is compared to past down markets in 2008 and the dotcom bust23:07 Changes in deals and the market in the last year26:11 Competing in today’s market as an investor29:01 How Power Law is skewing the markets31:05 Looking back on deal memos of the past to see how short-sighted they were33:48 Why TCV Velocity is sticking with their investment thesis36:17 Why investors get pro-rata decisions wrong so often38:48 Advice he would give himself in 200741:08 Common traits of successful foundersI’d love to know what you took away from this conversation with Gautam. 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 Agency 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.This week we are joined by Patrick Chun, Founder and Managing Partner of Juxtapose. Based out of New York, Juxtapose can best be described as a creation-oriented investment firm that leverages expertise to launch and invest in companies. The firm currently has over $500M in AUM across its funds. I had so much fun recording this episode as Patrick was able to offer great insights from his extensive experience in creation-oriented investment models, including leading builds at Accretive and Thrive, as well as, working at top venture and growth equity firms like Bain Capital Ventures and Francisco Partners.Aumni is an investment analytics company dedicated to improving private capital markets. Aumni’s technology digitizes hard to track unstructured data from private transaction agreements and organizes it in a structured database through an intuitive dashboard. For investors across the board, the insights provided by this data improve the managers ability to build strategy and make better decisions. Today, Aumni tracks data from over 250 thousand private market transactions to provide anonymous, aggregated market benchmarks.As someone that works deeply in the private fund space, I’m incredibly excited that Aumni’s solution helps fund managers provide more insightful accurate reporting to their investors.  Check them out at Aumni.fund.Subscribers of Venture Unlocked can sign up for 20% off when you mention Venture UnlockedAbout Patrick Chun:Patrick is a co-founder and managing partner at Juxtapose where he helps to manage the team across strategies and works closely with the firm’s leaders across the business, including concept development and talent identification. Patrick also participates meaningfully with the portfolio and its CEOs, including involvement at the board level.Prior to founding Juxtapose, Patrick spent a significant portion of his career building and investing businesses at the earliest stages, including senior and partner-level experience at early-stage and at firms oriented towards company creation, such as Thrive Capital, Accretive, and Bain Capital Ventures.He started his career at McKinsey & Company. Patrick has a BA from Harvard College, an MA from the Harvard Graduate School of Arts and Sciences, and an MBA from Harvard Business School.In This Episode We Discuss:02:04 Patrick’s journey and inspiration to co-found Juxtapose 11:21 The art and science of company creations models 16:10 Defining a firm that is part private equity, part venture capital in profile 19:42 The squint and wedge frameworks that Juxtapose uses to evaluate companies and ideas22:49 How they score ideas internally and decision making frameworks25:24 Fund construction methodologies29:09 How Patrick keeps interests aligned with founders in the co-creation model32:01 Finding the right CEO for their businesses37:50 How they raised capital from LPs, and what worked for them with institutions42:45 Communication cadence with their LPs46:16 Patrick’s overall view of the market and what innovations we’ll see in the coming yearsI’d love to know what you took away from this conversation with Andrew. 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 Agency 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.This week we are joined by Andrew McCormack, one of the founding partners at Fintech-focused Valar, which was founded in 2010 and has raised north of $2B. Before starting Valar, Andrew worked closely with Peter Thiel at Clarium Capital, Thiel Capital, and Paypal.Aumni is an investment analytics company dedicated to improving private capital markets. Aumni’s technology digitizes hard to track unstructured data from private transaction agreements and organizes it in a structured database through an intuitive dashboard. For investors across the board, the insights provided by this data improve the managers ability to build strategy and make better decisions. Today, Aumni tracks data from over 250 thousand private market transactions to provide anonymous, aggregated market benchmarks.As someone that works deeply in the private fund space, I’m incredibly excited that Aumni’s solution helps fund managers provide more insightful accurate reporting to their investors.  Check them out at Aumni.fund.Subscribers of Venture Unlocked can sign up for 20% off when you mention Venture UnlockedAbout Andrew McCormack:Andrew is a founding Partner at Valar Ventures. Andrew’s career in technology has included business and corporate development roles at eCount (acquired by Citicorp) and Yahoo!. He joined PayPal in 2001, where he worked closely with Peter. After PayPal’s sale to eBay, Andrew helped launch Clarium Capital and later founded a restaurant group in San Francisco.In 2008, Andrew rejoined Peter at Thiel Capital, where he led various international initiatives for Thiel Capital and Peter personally. Andrew received his B.A. in Political Science from the University of Pennsylvania.In this episode we discuss:01:47 Andrew’s journey into the technology world and working a Clarium11:38 Valar’s early investment thesis18:49 Valar’s fundraising journey21:15 Benefits of smaller portfolios with more ownership 25:42 Career prolonging investing vs return maximation investing31:09 How Valar’s model has worked in the down market of 202234:30 What was wrong with the 2021 valuations37:26 The strategies that Andrew thinks will be successful in the Venture market moving forward41:39 Lessons from some of Andrew’s misses46:35 The career lesson he learned while he was operating a restaurant groupI’d love to know what you took away from this conversation with Andrew. 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 Agency 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.This week we are joined by Joanna Drake, co-founder of Magnify Ventures, which just completed an oversubscribed $52MM Fund I. Prior to Magnify, Joanna invested through her firm Core Ventures Group, and as part of the Broadway Angels group. Joanna is also the co-founder of RAISE Global, the leading emerging manager summit whose mission is to accelerate the next generation of fund entrepreneurs by both connecting them to LPs and providing the necessary education around building a firm.I’ve been part of its summit since it began in 2015, and I’m thrilled to see the impact and growth it’s created.Given Joanna’s background as a two-time fund entrepreneur and RAISE co-founder, we went deep into raising a fund and building partnerships. For anyone starting a firm, this is a must-listen, and I Hope you enjoy this conversation with Joanna.Aumni is an investment analytics company dedicated to improving private capital markets. Aumni’s technology digitizes hard to track unstructured data from private transaction agreements and organizes it in a structured database through an intuitive dashboard. For investors across the board, the insights provided by this data improve the managers ability to build strategy and make better decisions. Today, Aumni tracks data from over 250 thousand private market transactions to provide anonymous, aggregated market benchmarks.As someone that works deeply in the private fund space, I’m incredibly excited that Aumni’s solution helps fund managers provide more insightful accurate reporting to their investors.  Check them out at Aumni.fund.Subscribers of Venture Unlocked can sign up for 20% off when you mention Venture UnlockedAbout Joanna Drake:Joanna Drake is the Co-Founder and Managing Partner of Magnify Ventures. For the last decade she has advised and invested in high-caliber founders solving important problems with technology, as General Partner of Core Ventures Group and a member of Broadway Angels, a world-class all-female investor collective. She is also the Co-Founder of RAISE Global.Prior to venture investing, Joanna was a serial entrepreneur and company builder, including serving as COO for the Western operations of DeNA, and founding executive of Current TV, the Emmy and Peabody-award-winning cable network known for its early innovations in interactive television and social media. Other executive roles were with market pioneers Moxi Digital (precursor to Apple TV) and ReacTV (personalized video newscasts). She began her career as a strategy consultant with Booz Allen, working with the world's leading media and technology conglomerates.In this episode we discuss:03:09 Joanna’s journey to become a venture capitalist04:34 Characteristics and traits that Joanna was looking for in a partner08:23 What healthy partnerships look like and commonalities of partnerships that haven't worked well12:02 Steps you can take to ensure a healthy partnership14:37 The origins of RAISE Global19:17 What she learned from organizing the conference and how it helped with her recent raise for Magnify26:14 Advice to emerging managers that may not hit their initial targets on how to adapt and adjust29:00 How afraid of negative signals should managers be?31:12 Other levers managers can use with LPs to get a quicker close35:23 How managers without deep networks of LPs can start a raise38:40 Joanna’s personal experience of fundraising43:10 The difference between generalist funds vs. sector-specific in their ability to win deals46:06 Ensuring portfolio companies can get downstream funding in a tougher marketI’d love to know what you took away from this conversation with Joanna. 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 Agency 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