Venture Unlocked: The playbook for venture capital managers

Marlon Nichols of MaC Ventures on VC firm mergers, funding diversity, and his relationship with LP's - Venture Unlocked 015


Listen Later

As we wrap up what’s been perhaps the most interesting and difficult year in modern history, the holidays still remain a time to to spend with family and reflect on the things we all still do have. I’m incredibly grateful for what I do have, and am looking forward to brighter days ahead for all of us as we move to 2021.

On our final episode of the year, I’m thrilled to share my conversation with Marlon Nichols, Managing General Partner at MaC Ventures. After graduating from Northeastern University, Marlon spend several years in various consultant and operational roles before joining Intel Capital in 2011.

After five years at Intel, Marlon co-founded Cross Culture Ventures along with Troy Carter, a successful media manager that managed the careers of artists such as Lady Gaga and John Legend, and made investments in startups such as Uber and Spotify.  Given the shared vision of Marlon and Troy, Cross Culture Ventures made a name for themselves with their cultural investing thesis that focused on companies centered in the convergence of global popular culture and technology.

In 2019, Cross Culture merged with M Ventures to create MaC Ventures, one of the few venture partnership “mergers” we’ve seen, where he and the team invest in “ technology companies that create infectious products that benefit from shifts in cultural trends and behaviors in an increasingly diverse global marketplace”.

In this episode, Marlon and I discuss the following topics:

00:54 - Marlon’s winding journey into venture

05:23 - The opportunity he saw to invest in diversity

07:40 - How he prepared to launch Cross Culture

8:07 - His unique point of view and value proposition in the venture industry

10:12 - What led to Marlon’s decision to merge Cross Culture with M Ventures

16:29 - How did his LPs react to the merger of the firms?

17:52 - What are the primary things he sees LPs care about the most?

23:02 - The MaC view toward adding values to portfolio founders.

28:11 - How to drive value to LP’s outside of just returns.

30:05 - Why firms struggle to invest in diversity

37:20- Marlon’s biggest career mistake in venture

Mentioned in this episode:

* Mac Ventures

* The tangible benefits of diversity in venture

* Study on women in leadership roles

I’d love to know what you took away from my conversations with Marlon Nichols. 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
...more
View all episodesView all episodes
Download on the App Store

Venture Unlocked: The playbook for venture capital managersBy Samir Kaji

  • 4.9
  • 4.9
  • 4.9
  • 4.9
  • 4.9

4.9

80 ratings


More shows like Venture Unlocked: The playbook for venture capital managers

View all
This Week in Startups by Jason Calacanis

This Week in Startups

1,273 Listeners

a16z Podcast by Andreessen Horowitz

a16z Podcast

1,036 Listeners

We Study Billionaires - The Investor’s Podcast Network by The Investor's Podcast Network

We Study Billionaires - The Investor’s Podcast Network

3,368 Listeners

The Twenty Minute VC (20VC): Venture Capital | Startup Funding | The Pitch by Harry Stebbings

The Twenty Minute VC (20VC): Venture Capital | Startup Funding | The Pitch

519 Listeners

Acquired by Ben Gilbert and David Rosenthal

Acquired

4,014 Listeners

Founders by David Senra

Founders

1,906 Listeners

Invest Like the Best with Patrick O'Shaughnessy by Colossus | Investing & Business Podcasts

Invest Like the Best with Patrick O'Shaughnessy

2,317 Listeners

Equity by TechCrunch, Rebecca Bellan, Kirsten Korosec, Anthony Ha, Max Zeff, Theresa Loconsolo

Equity

338 Listeners

Capital Allocators – Inside the Institutional Investment Industry by Ted Seides – Allocator and Asset Management Expert

Capital Allocators – Inside the Institutional Investment Industry

804 Listeners

Eye On The Market by Michael Cembalest

Eye On The Market

284 Listeners

All-In with Chamath, Jason, Sacks & Friedberg by All-In Podcast, LLC

All-In with Chamath, Jason, Sacks & Friedberg

9,207 Listeners

The Memo by Howard Marks by Oaktree Capital Management

The Memo by Howard Marks

416 Listeners

Joe Lonsdale: American Optimist by Joe Lonsdale

Joe Lonsdale: American Optimist

164 Listeners

The Ben & Marc Show by Marc Andreessen, Ben Horowitz

The Ben & Marc Show

135 Listeners

BG2Pod with Brad Gerstner and Bill Gurley by BG2Pod

BG2Pod with Brad Gerstner and Bill Gurley

461 Listeners