Fund 81

I tried for many years to maintain a jam-packed schedule with zero margin for error, but life never seems to fit into perfectly scheduled boxes. After a straw-that-broke-the-camel’s-back moment, I’m learning to live off of the brink of disaster.

I've spent more time than necessary on our fund administration and reporting, in part because of some of the easily avoidable administrative mistakes I’ve made over my 10-year journey as a startup investor. In this episode, I share some of the lessons I’ve learned to help you avoid the same headaches.

The two templates I mention in the episode are here:

The quarterly survey we send to our portfolio companies (https://docs.google.com/forms/d/1U9TQrJSk-8vr1dJDl6l0ZDdfNJ3MKAwK2r8YWACb0is/edit)

Our quarterly report to our LPs (https://drive.google.com/file/d/1bmJj_utOufDOORIXlRCUfsLnE7FFmLzL/view)

It's hard to believe that it’s been more than two months since my last episode. I just haven't felt the inspiration to post. However, over these past two months and throughout all of 2020, I've learned something that I want to record to make sure that I remember - My anxiety about the potential outcomes is almost always worse than the actual outcome.

For more color and a quick life update, check out this episode.

In this second episode of a new series to feature startups sourced from our Fund81 VC forum members’ portfolios, I interviewed Alaffia Technology Solutions (https://www.alaffia.io/) nominated by the Hustle Fund (https://www.hustlefund.vc/).

Alaffia Technology Solutions automates medical claim audits to reduce and recover the billions of dollars medical insurance companies improperly pay to medical providers each year.

If you’d like to get a sneak peek at these companies before these episodes go live, check out our Fund81 forum. Fund81 is a group of authentic investors who challenge the status quo and ask thought-provoking questions. Membership is by invitation only, but you can learn more and nominate yourself here: https://www.mergelane.com/fund81

Beezer Clarkson invests in early-stage venture funds in the US, Europe, and Israel as the managing director at Sapphire Partners (the division within Sapphire Ventures that invests in venture funds). In this episode, Beezer shares how the pandemic is affecting Sapphire Partners’ investment strategy. I also share what I’ve been seeing from investing in startups and venture capital funds through our MergeLane fund.

The two podcast episodes Beezer mentions are:

Samir Kaji’s Venture Unlocked with the Hustle Fund’s Elizabeth Yin: https://ventureunlocked.substack.com/p/venture-unlocked-episode-1-elizabeth

Notation Capital’s Origins with Fika Ventures’ Eva Ho:

https://podcasts.google.com/feed/aHR0cHM6Ly9mZWVkcy5zaW1wbGVjYXN0LmNvbS9jRl95YXdFSg/episode/ODlmMzZjZjMtMGZmNS00MmEzLTlmY2MtYjRhYWFjZjc5MTlk?hl=en&ved=2ahUKEwjdjqbFmP3sAhVFbs0KHd9KAEAQjrkEegQIBRAF&ep=6

Enjoy.

Martin Babinec founded the HR services company Trinet in 1988, serving as its CEO for 20 years and as chairman for 10. Since he founded the company 32 years ago, Trinet has grown to annual sales of $4 billion and is now listed on the New York Stock Exchange.

Martin founded and built Trinet in Silicon Valley while commuting from Upstate New York. After seeing the stark difference between these two startup ecosystems, he embarked on a ten-year journey to transform his talent-exporting community in Upstate New York to a talent-magnetic community to support the innovation economy. His journey included a run for congress in 2016, the creation of a new political party, and several experiments to create more innovation economy jobs in his region. He has just released a book entitled “More Good Jobs” (https://www.moregoodjobs.org/) about his experience.

In this episode, Martin offers timely advice on why and how VCs should engage politically, and how they can leverage opportunities outside traditional startup ecosystems.

I’m starting a new series to feature some startups sourced from our Fund81 VC forum members’ portfolios. In this episode, I interviewed Gurjot Narwal, CEO of Gini Health.

Gini Health is disrupting the supplement industry by making a smart and fully-customized multivitamin based on health data that changes according to continuous lifestyle data. Its app allows people to easily track their food, sleep, and poop (warning - there is some talk about poop :). Gini Health uses this lifestyle data, DNA, and current health status/deficiencies to deliver supplements and nutrition advice that is so customized that even identical twins will receive different recommendations.

Gini Health was nominated by Sunil Sharma, managing director of Techstars Toronto.

If you’d like to get a sneak peek at these companies before these episodes go live, check out our Fund81 forum. Fund81 is a group of authentic investors who challenge the status quo and ask thought-provoking questions. Membership is by invitation only, but you can learn more and nominate yourself here.

The proliferation of venture capital funds, accelerators, and other startup resources has left many VCs wondering how to deliver unique value to their portfolio companies and how to scale that value to fit their portfolio strategy. I invited Ben Capell, partner at Peterson Ventures, to join us for a candid conversation.

Enjoy.

It seems that nearly every startup I talk to is recruiting developers, technical co-founders, CTOs and other tech talent. I invited Evan Walden of Getro to share his thoughts on recruiting top talent in the current environment and the role VCs can play to help their portfolio companies address this ongoing issue.

https://www.getro.com/

Enjoy.

Kim Smith, executive director of the League of Innovative Schools, has worked for many years to address education equity and has a unique perspective on the barriers to entrepreneurship.

In this interview, Kim shares her thought-provoking insights to help drive racial equality in our venture capital industry, and makes a powerful call for white co-conspirators who are ready, willing, and able to fight.

For more, read Kim’s op-ed: A Call to Action — Black Educators Need White Co-Conspirators to Combat Racism in Schools and Empower Our Students to Succeed (https://www.the74million.org/article/smith-a-call-to-action-black-educators-need-white-co-conspirators-to-combat-racism-in-schools-and-empower-our-students-to-succeed/).

If you want to become a white co-conspirator and change the venture capital diversity ratio, Kim emphasizes that anti-racist work must be done in parallel. She suggests taking time to:

Reach out to a white colleague or industry peer who you can work with in affinity and invite them to be an accountability partner in anti-racist work.

Reflect on the characteristics of a white supremacy culture and your role and perspective. Review the list (https://www.showingupforracialjustice.org/white-supremacy-culture-characteristics.html) and mark the characteristics that are evident in your organization and yourself. Engage in a candid exchange with a peer.

Kim referenced Dr. Bettina Love in her op-ed. She is leading an abolitionist teaching movement. Watch her 30-minute presentation where she talks about co-conspirators (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=J_sL_DbXjr8&feature=youtu.be). While Dr. Love’s presentation is focused on education, there are many applicable lessons for VCs.