InProd

In today's episode, we sit down with Teddie Levenfiche, co-founder of PerfectTed.  Formerly an Associate Consultant at Bain & Company in LA, Teddie moved back to the UK in April 2021, where he started to create the perfect blend of natural and sustained energy. PerfectTed is revolutionizing the energy drink space in the UK with their matcha-powered energy drinks. Join us as Teddie breaks down the problems around energy drinks, sourcing high-quality matcha, big beverage companies' approach to Matcha,  metrics for CPG brands, social media & content strategy,  and experience on the BBC's Dragons' Den.

Episode Chapters:

1. Starting at Penn and Entrepreneurial Pursuit - 1:12
2. Interest in Matcha - 2:15 
3. Sourcing Matcha - 4:30
4. Misconceptions around Matcha - 7:00
5. US versus UK Adoption - 8:58
6. Scaling Distribution to 400 Stores - 12:55
7. Unit Economics Over Time - 15:50
8. Daily Metrics - 17:20
9. Drink Brands Folding into Conglomerates - 20:05
10. Dragons' Den (UK Shark Tank) - 22:40
11. Beverage Brand Teddie Respects & Why - 25:57
12. Activation Services - 27:06
13. Expanding Across Borders - 31:00
14. Ending Questions - 31:20

As always, feel free to contact us at [email protected]. We would love to hear ideas for content, guests, and overall feedback.

In today's episode, we interview Judy and Eliot Fost, co-founders of Beli. Former investment analysts at McKinsey, their shared passion for food and exploration led them to create Beli, an innovative app. Beli allows users to organize restaurant lists, maps, and reviews, while also offering personalized recommendations based on their dining history. Join us as Judy and Eliot share insights on Beli as a social media platform, user acquisition, the product roadmap, competition, and their unique experience of working together as a married couple.

Episode Chapters:

1. Mckinsey to Harvard Business School - 0:55
2. Explaining Beli (App) - 4:12
3. Beli as a Social Media Platform - 6:41
4. Metrics and User Retention - 8:50
5. User Acquisition - 11:00
6. Monetization Strategy - 12:38
7. Expansion Plan - 14:30
8. Recommendations Based on Data- 16:22
9. Competition - 19:05
10. Content Creation - 20:40
11. The Future of Beli - 21:57
12. Experiences Around Food - 24:32
13. Ending Questions - 27:50

As always, feel free to contact us at [email protected]. We would love to hear ideas for content, guests, and overall feedback. 

During today’s discussion, we sat down with Carlos Alonso-Torras, a newly promoted Partner at FinTech Collective in New York City. Carlos is a former operator turned investor with a strong passion for investing in Latin America. His current fund focuses on Seed and Series A investing in FinTech globally. Since its inception in 2012, FTC has invested in over 50 companies, including MoneyLion, Vestwell, Willa, Flutterwave, and TradeBlock. Join us as Carlos discusses shifting from an operating to investing role, starting as an Associate and working his way up to Partner, vertical specializations within FinTech, and the investing ecosystem in Latin America.

Episode Chapters:

1. Motivation to get an MBA at Penn - 1:05
2. Operations to Investing - 2:05
3. Interest in FinTech - 3:17
4. FinTech Collective - 4:10
5. Promotions in VC - 4:50
6. Portfolio Support - 5:50 
7.  Vertical Specialization in FinTech - 7:10 
8. Venture & Growth Investing in Latin America - 9:40
9. Tech Adoption in LatAm - 14:10
10. Current State of Venture Capital Funding - 16:57
11. Mattilda Investment - 19:45 
12. Decentralized Finance Solutions - 20:50
13. Ending Questions - 22:45

 As always, feel free to contact us at [email protected]. We would love to hear ideas for content, guests, and overall feedback. 

Show Notes

• LatAm Digital Payments

 We are excited to introduce Romie Boyd, a partner at Sequoia, which has an exceptional reputation for its investments from seed to IPO and beyond. Sequoia has an impressive portfolio, having partnered with prominent companies such as Airbnb, DoorDash, HubSpot, 23andMe, and more. Having previously worked with Bain Capital's Private Equity Group in Boston, Romie shares insights on transitioning from Private Equity to Growth Equity, team dynamics at Sequoia, the impact of AI on personal and investor levels, thematic sourcing, and the art of building strong founder relationships.

Episode Chapters:

1.  College Soccer to Venture Capital - 0:55
2. Joining Sequoia - 3:10
3. Private Equity to Growth Equity - 6:20
4. Founder Traits and Deal Teams - 8:00
5. Culture - 10:40
6. Advancements in AI - 13:30
7. Generative AI Impacting VC Tech Stack - 16:55
8. Data Analytics & Business Intelligence - 20:25
9. Sourcing and Thesis Building - 21:45
10. Ending Questions - 25:05

As always, feel free to contact us at [email protected]. We would love to hear ideas for content, guests, and overall feedback.

 Show Notes

• Generative AI Article

Today, we welcome Shubham Goel, Co-Founder and Co-CEO at Affinity. Affinity is a relationship intelligence platform for dealmakers. Affinity uses machine learning to score and increase the chance of closing deals, transforming traditional CRM. In this episode, Shubham shares his experience of meeting co-founder Ray at Stanford as undergrads, and talks about the future of CRMs, risks in relationship management, expanding the business, and fostering remote team culture.

Episode Chapters:

1. Childhood in India - 1:00
2. Founding Affinity - 3:40 
3. Attending School in the Valley - 6:30
4. Affinity for PE/VC - 9:30
5. The Future of CRMs and AI - 12:30
6. Risks Impacting the Relationship Management Industry - 15:00
7. The Vision of Affinity - 17:00
8. Target Customer & Expansion - 19:20
9. VC Tech Stack - 21:10
10. Working with a Friend- 24:16
11. Team Culture and Engagement - 27:10
12. Ending Questions - 29:25

As always, feel free to contact us at [email protected]. We would love to hear ideas for content, guests, and overall feedback.

Today, we welcome Jack Soslow, an Investor in Andreessen Horowitz’s Gaming group. A16z, a major global venture capital fund, has invested in companies like Airbnb, Groupon, Facebook, GitHub, and Roblox. In 2022, the Games Fund I closed at $600 million, targeting Games Studios, Games x Consumer, and Infrastructure. During the discussion, Jack delves into his path to VC, product testing, the distinction between AR and VR, education gaming, generative AI, and women in gaming.

Episode Chapters:

1. Joining Oculus and Interest in Data Science - 00:48
2. Breaking into a16z - 5:00
3. Starting the Games Fund - 7:41
4. Gaming Defined - 10:24
5. Qualities in a Gaming Studio Investment - 13:06
6. Success in a Single Title - 17:13
7. Augmented and Virtual Reality - 19:35
8. Product Testing and Stickiness - 23:20
9. Generative AI on the Creative Workspace - 25:15
10. Use Cases Beyond Traditional Games - 30:06
11. Women in Gaming - 32:00
12. Ending Questions - 33:35

As always, feel free to contact us at [email protected]. We would love to hear ideas for content, guests, and overall feedback.

Today, we welcome Nevin Raj, Co-Founder and COO of Grata. Grata is revolutionizing VC & PE deal sourcing by providing a platform for users to find, research, and engage with middle market companies. Grata raised a $25 Million Series A round led by Craft Ventures in February 2022. Nevin shares his journey of founding Grata, insights on the future of sourcing, establishing product/market fit, handling customer feedback, and building strong leadership.

Episode Chapters:

1. Grata's Founding Story - 1:00
2. Achieving Product Market Fit - 4:25
3. Sourcing Strategies - 7:10
4. Partnering with Craft Ventures - 14:45
5. Reviewing and Implementing Customer Feedback - 16:35
6. Grata's Competitive Advantage - 19:11 
7. Learning Across Different Divisions - 24:25
8. What Would You Change? - 26:40
9. Leadership Qualities - 27:45
10. What Motivates Nevin? - 30:35 

As always, feel free to contact us at [email protected]. We would love to hear ideas for content, guests, and overall feedback.

Today, we welcome Matt Lu from Cowboy Ventures, based in NYC. Cowboy Ventures is a Pre Seed and Seed stage-focused fund. Cowboy has made over 100 early-stage investments, with 70% being pre-product. Before joining Cowboy in late 2022, Matt was an investor at Bullpen Capital in San Francisco.

Episode Chapters:

1. Breaking into Venture and Cowboy Ventures - 1:00
2. East Coast Versus West Coast Investing - 10:30
3. Sourcing Best Practices - 18:20
4. Generative AI and Focus Areas - 25:20
5. Overall Market Thoughts - 32:20
6. What Motives Matt? - 36:00

As always, feel free to contact us at [email protected]. We would love to hear ideas for content, guests, and overall feedback.