What’s up everyone! Today I am joined by Jeff Clavier, founder and managing partner of Uncork Capital (formerly SoftTech VC). He founded Uncork Capital in 2004 to serve an unmet need of startup founders: active support and capital for companies in their first 18 months of life. Some of his successful investments include Fitbit, Sendgrid, Eventbrite, and Vungle.

As a VC today, working hard/smart is not enough. You need to find that investor-market fit.

After first working as a CTO for a fintech startup in France, Jeff then founded Uncork. Since then, Uncork has been helping startups through their most critical early stages. Jeff has helped guide these companies through the many struggles that come with being an early stage startup.

Listen as Jeff shares his startup and VC journey, challenges encountered with founders, and how he built a successful venture capital firm. Enjoy!

Episode Quotes
"You can't just put a thesis together and say I'm going to work hard and succeed"
"Today working hard/smart is not enough. You need to find that investor-market fit"
"Get the valuation that the market gives you but don't go seeking the unicorn status"
"We should do fundraising not just for the sake of raising but to scale faster, better and higher"

Listen to Learn
01:04 How Jeff got into startups and venture capital?
04:53 Helping founders and challenges encountered
08:14 Jeff's core VC skill
14:13 Advice for new investors or startup founders
19:08 Insights from the recession, The $15 million VC fund
23:56 What does it take to start a successful fund?
32:41 Non-rapid Fire Questions
43:45 Jeff's social media links