The Syndicate

The Syndicate

By Matt WardBusinessNewsEducationTech News
Download on the App Store

The Syndicate episodes

  • Don’t Mine for Gold When You Can Sell Shovels
    Source: FanArt
    Originally posted on mattward.io
    Get rich or die trying — that’s a common mantra among entrepreneurs, gangsters and drug dealers.
    I know that was my mindset. How can I hustle my way to a million bucks?
    That was the question I asked myself every day, and night.
    Looking back, this was the wrong question to ask. But as Kanye says:
    “Money ain’t everything, not having it is” — Kanye West
    When you’re broke and need a quick buck fast, nothing else matters. Food, shelter, survival… these are all dependent on wealth. And the poor rarely plan in advance — it is all hand to fist.

    Short term cash vs. long term success
    After graduating college I moved to Southeast Asia to save money. In “digital nomad” hubs like Chiang Mai, Thailand and Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam, I easily get by on $1000/mo. That drastically increased my runway to figure out what I was doing.
    Living among hustlers, I quickly learned the world of internet marketing. I saw the fads, the trends, the ups and downs and the “success” of many lifestyle businesses.
    After building the #1 crowdfunding podcast (only to realize that people looking to raise money couldn’t pay), I subsequently sold the business to an agency. They monetized better, dealing with professional creators looking to raise $100k+. As for me, I’m not an agency guy (not a great manager and hate dealing with clients).
    The Amazon “pivot”
    It wasn’t exactly a pivot, but I followed the money. I saw folks preaching Amazon FBA (fulfilled by amazon) as the business of the future. Just source and manufacture products, sell on Amazon and you’re set — and here is XYZ course on how to make millions.
    Like many struggling for dough, I was intrigued. While in China designing a convertible laptop case/standing desk hybrid, I decided to give FBA a go. With weeks between finished prototypes, living on the couch with 3 Chinese roommates I’d met online (that didn’t speak any English), I had some free time. I researched the market, found a niche and got started on Amazon.
    Things went fast. Prior to launch I’d listened to every podcast and read every guide about selling on Amazon (this was spring of 2015).
    After launching my 1st product and pushing the limit on rules and algorithms, my sales started to take off. I was quickly overwhelmed and needed to scale up. What started as an $8k investment in product quickly became a thriving business, fueled by Amazon. I started the FBA ALLSTARS podcast, an avenue to share my story and strategies and get consulting clients. That quickly grew that to a top 3 show.
    And I needed a tagline, so I said “Step One to 7 Figures.” I set a crazy goal of a 7 figure exit after only a year…. And I somehow pulled it off.
    There was just one problem….
    The shortsighted gold rush
    I thought I had it all figured out.
    I’d built a successful, profitable business. I’d built a top podcast that more than covered my expenses (allowing me to re-invest 100% into the business). But I was so dumb…
    The big money isn’t in the business, it is in the tools.
    As a seller and a podcaster, I used tools to run my business and manage a large operation with a small staff. And I profited as an affiliate, recommending the tools I loved — the money was good.
    But the better business was the software (or scammy make money online courses which I’d never touch).
    Many of my “friends” in the business built very successful SaaS companies, practically overnight. I helped sellers with SaaS products go from beta to 1000s of monthly paying customers, shortsightedly missing the opportunity.
    And the Amazon opportunity was and is enormous. But I missed the jackpot, because I couldn’t see the big picture….
    $100, $200, $500k MRR — I know and helped at least a dozen startups hit these and higher milestones....
    13 min
  • Cryptocurrencies

    Michael Weiksner is the founder of Rostrum Capital, a VC fund focused next generation of platform companies that is also building out a crypto division to focus on disruptive blockchain opportunities.
    Previously he raised over $2.5mm for EndlessTV, an innovative mobile video app that was the first mobile app to provide swipeable shopping. Prior to that, Michael founded e-thePeople, a non for profit to help citizens participate in politics through technology which helped over 10mm voters.
    Listen and Learn:

    * Why technology didn’t solve politics problems
    * Why most ICOs are junk and blockchain will disrupt everything
    * What to think about before investing in cryptocurrencies
    * The problem conventional startups have with raising follow on funding
    * How ICOs are impacting startups and venture capital
    * Why the US political system could cause catastrophic failure
    * How hedge funds should view crypto
    * The big picture on cryptocurrencies and blockchain



    Michael’s Projects:
    Michael’s Angellist profile
    Rostrum Capital
    Michael’s blog
    Michael’s Twitter: @weiks
    Are you an accredited investor? Apply to join our angel syndicate if you’d like to access our deal flow.
    Michael Weiksner is the founder of Rostrum Capital, a VC fund focused next generation of platform companies that is also building out a crypto division to focus on disruptive blockchain opportunities.
    Previously he raised over $2.5mm for EndlessTV, an innovative mobile video app that was the first mobile app to provide swipeable shopping. Prior to that, Michael founded e-thePeople, a non for profit to help citizens participate in politics through technology which helped over 10mm voters.
    Listen and Learn:

    * Why technology didn’t solve politics problems
    * Why most ICOs are junk and blockchain will disrupt everything
    * What to think about before investing in cryptocurrencies
    * The problem conventional startups have with raising follow on funding
    * How ICOs are impacting startups and venture capital
    * Why the US political system could cause catastrophic failure
    * How hedge funds should view crypto
    * The big picture on cryptocurrencies and blockchain



    Michael’s Projects:
    Michael’s Angellist profile
    Rostrum Capital
    Michael’s blog
    Michael’s Twitter: @weiks
    Are you an accredited investor? Apply to join our angel syndicate if you’d like to access our deal flow.
    40 min
  • Consumer Hardware’s a Horrible Business Model, So Apple Slows Down Your iPhone

    Hardware is hard. Consumer hardware is even worse.
    As an ex ecommerce seller with years of experience manufacturing overseas, I can tell you dealing with suppliers, MOQs (minimum order quantities), quality control, cash flow and even LTV are tough.
    Unlike SaaS where you build it once and sell again and again with almost no added costs, hardware requires cash. Manufacturing 10s or 100s of thousands of products requires massive upfront investments that most startups cannot afford.
    And while every sale helps make up those margins, it is still nowhere near SaaS. Worst still is LTV (lifetime value of a customer). And like a one night stand, one and done isn’t efficient in the long run.

    Fishing vs farming
    Constantly acquiring new customers takes time and money. CAC (cost of acquisition) kills your margins. High unit costs make economics even worse.
    Most startups and brands fall into the fishing category. They launch product: let’s say a smart lock, an autonomous drone or a time machine… then they think about the business. “Well, obviously we Kickstart this, right?”
    As an ex-crowdfunding consultant, I saw this all the time. The “build it and they will come” mindset kills more businesses than Facebook. Without proper planning, founders often scale unsustainable business models
    Single purchase behavior is a like treadmill. Without repeat buyers or recurring revenue, businesses must constantly fight the same battle.
    Exceptions to this rule build strong organic acquisition channels (see this post).
    But even then, one and done loses every time.

    Farming is a 10–100x better business model. Rather than kill or be killed, startups that acquire recurring customers need a much lower hit rate to succeed. Why hunt rabbits when you can domesticate them?
    Source: Drawception
    The same is true of customers. Companies that effectively milk customers merit MUCH higher valuations and become more sustainable, long lasting brands.
    Repeat vs recurring
    There are two ways brands build success: repeat customers and monthly service fees. As a rule of thumb, these represent B2C and B2B businesses respectively.
    As an investor, I only invest in hardware/IoT companies with recurring revenue components, ie typically B2B plays.
    But today we are talking consumer. (For more on the B2B side of hardware/software plus IoT, see this interview below with Nick Moran, an accomplished VC in the space).
    Later in the article we will discussing B2C recurring revenue businesses and how hardware can be your businesses trojan horse.
    Repeat buying behavior
    There are several ways to prop up LTV here. Traditionally these include:

    New products — shoes, socks, shorts, shirts etc…
    Consumable products — toothpaste, contact lenses, lipstick etc…
    Replacements — new iPhone, new laptop, new fridge etc…
    Accessories — earbuds, Xbox games, HDMI adapter etc…

    Are you an Apple fanboy?
    You are on this article because of Apple, let’s start there.
    News broke recently that Apple was screwing customers, surprise surprise. The company that brought you the iPhone was conveniently slowing older ones down, right after new versions were released.
    In my opinion Apple is scumbag company. It didn’t use to be. But recently under leadership of Tim Cook, Apple has been only focused on numbers 3 and 4 above — the least innovative and most expensive...
    15 min
  • Esther Dyson on Angel Investing in Facebook and Square and Combatting America’s Healthcare Crisis
    Esther Dyson is a down to earth super angel that practically invented the category. Her incredible portfolio includes the likes of Facebook, Square, 23andme, Flickr, Evernote and many more.
    Esther now runs Way to Wellville, a non-profit focused on curing America health crisis with a focus on education and early, preventative care. She serves on the boards of Evernote, Meetup.com and 23andme and is also a trained cosmonaut!

    Listen and Learn:

    * How Esther hit big wins investing in Russia
    * Esther’s no bullshit investment criteria
    * What is wrong with healthcare in America and how we can try to fix it
    * Why this super angel won’t start a syndicate
    * How weigh upside with long term potential
    * What traveling can teach VCs about investing
    * How investors can actively help portfolio companies
    * Why businesses Esther invests in must have a strong business model
    * The reason blockchain is overhyped


    Esther’s Projects:
    Esther’s Angellist profile
    Esther’s Site: EDVenture.com
    Way to Wellville
    Esther’s Twitter: @edyson
    Are you an accredited investor? Apply to join our angel syndicate if you’d like to access our deal flow.Esther Dyson is a down to earth super angel that practically invented the category. Her incredible portfolio includes the likes of Facebook, Square, 23andme, Flickr, Evernote and many more.
    Esther now runs Way to Wellville, a non-profit focused on curing America health crisis with a focus on education and early, preventative care. She serves on the boards of Evernote, Meetup.com and 23andme and is also a trained cosmonaut!

    Listen and Learn:

    * How Esther hit big wins investing in Russia
    * Esther’s no bullshit investment criteria
    * What is wrong with healthcare in America and how we can try to fix it
    * Why this super angel won’t start a syndicate
    * How weigh upside with long term potential
    * What traveling can teach VCs about investing
    * How investors can actively help portfolio companies
    * Why businesses Esther invests in must have a strong business model
    * The reason blockchain is overhyped


    Esther’s Projects:
    Esther’s Angellist profile
    Esther’s Site: EDVenture.com
    Way to Wellville
    Esther’s Twitter: @edyson
    Are you an accredited investor? Apply to join our angel syndicate if you’d like to access our deal flow.
    36 min
  • Why Your J Curve is Actually an S Curve and TAM is a Meaningless Metric
    Two days ago I had the privilege of moderating a roundtable with some of the smartest futurists and forward thinkers in the industry. Our panelists included Tim O’Reilly, James Allworth, Ben Gilbert and Jeff Morris Jr.
    [VIDEO REPLAY] The State of Consumer Tech Roundtable with Tim O’Reilly, James Allworth, Ben Gilbert…
    It was an interesting experience. They say you are the average of the 5 people in your life and these four certainly padded my total — and informed my perspective on the future.
    There was one point in particular that Tim on the nature of disruption and innovation. During the panel I pushed back some, with time however this truth becomes more and more apparent.
    Tim rightly pointed out, there is no such thing as a J curve. Sure short term graphs show up and to the right, but eventually everything levels out. There are only so many billions of potential consumers, pushing beyond that is impossible.


    And technology naturally plateaus. Moore’s Law is pushing its physical limitation already (at least in terms of economic feasibility), and many other technologies have displayed similar trends.
    But with every new plateau the new normal shifts further and further.
    “If I have seen far, it is because I stood on the shoulders of giants.” — Isaac Newton

    The interesting intersections
    Technological innovation is interesting. Ultimately however, each innovation can only go so far. The most intriguing areas are found on the fringes, where multiple innovations meet.
    Today genetic sequencing is hot. But scientists have been studying the human genome for years. The intersection with AI and machine learning is particularly interesting because DNA is so vast. No human could ever understand or analyze DNA.
    Instead geneticists employ basic ML (machine learning) to find and analyze relevant genome sequences. Using data, companies like 23andMe can then accurately pattern match to known research and provide personalized conclusions: “you may have a 15% higher risk of heart disease”
    And in genetics we are still in the early innings. But with advances in gene therapies, medicine delivery, 3D printing, artificial intelligence and robotics, is a future of cyborgs really so far off?
    I would argue no. And as innovation is generally additive/transformational, this implies our S curve actually continues upward — in a lumpy, stepwise manner.


    Hockey sticks can hurt though
    There is a potential problem with conventional venture analysis. As a rule, any graph with up and to the right growth gets investors excited.
    But this only paints a small portion of the picture. Yes, founders found product-market fit but that isn’t always enough. What about the market?
    Actual total addressable market (ATAM)
    Investors always ask about the TAM (total addressable market). In general this is helpful, but not as much as you would think.
    The best startups are reinventing the world and creating new markets. If Uber’s addressable market was just the market for taxis/black cars, Benchmark wouldn’t be suing them (for the real problem with Uber’s business model, see this post).
    Instead this innovative “taxi” company redefined transportation and is destroying car ownership globally.
    They MASSIVELY exceeded original expectations.
    But this is generally not the case. In businesses where startups look to take on incumbents, it is often about stealing market share. In these scenarios TAM is largely unchanged. Great businesses can still be built in this manner, but the upside is capped (as opposed to almost unlimited).
    So the question VCs NEED to ask is: is the ATAM greater than or less ...
    19 min
  • Angellist
    Parker Thompson’s a Partner at Angellist, an active investor and syndicate lead and likes to help startups in any way he can. Before AL, he was a mentor, partner and as an early employee at 500Startups, where he helped Dave McClure and co build 500 into a top tier accelerator., help His illustrious past includes Pivotal Labs, co-founding PlaceSite, preserving the interwebs at the Internet Archive, and working on digital copyright at UC Berkeley’s iSchool.

    Listen and Learn:

    * What is the Internet Archive and how they are preserving techs past
    * Whether optimistic or pessimistic investors have better returns
    * What to think about before investing in ecommerce
    * The thing to know about investing platforms like Angellist, FundersClub and OurCrowd
    * How VCs balance chaos and productivity
    * What 500 startups looked like in the early days and how accelerators and incubators transformed venture
    * How investors can actively help portfolio companies
    * The benefits of passive investors



    Parker’s Projects:
    Parker’s Angellist profile
    Parker’s Syndicate
    Parker’s blog
    Parker’s Twitter: @pt
    Are you an accredited investor? Apply to join our angel syndicate if you’d like to access our deal flow.Parker Thompson’s a Partner at Angellist, an active investor and syndicate lead and likes to help startups in any way he can. Before AL, he was a mentor, partner and as an early employee at 500Startups, where he helped Dave McClure and co build 500 into a top tier accelerator., help His illustrious past includes Pivotal Labs, co-founding PlaceSite, preserving the interwebs at the Internet Archive, and working on digital copyright at UC Berkeley’s iSchool.

    Listen and Learn:

    * What is the Internet Archive and how they are preserving techs past
    * Whether optimistic or pessimistic investors have better returns
    * What to think about before investing in ecommerce
    * The thing to know about investing platforms like Angellist, FundersClub and OurCrowd
    * How VCs balance chaos and productivity
    * What 500 startups looked like in the early days and how accelerators and incubators transformed venture
    * How investors can actively help portfolio companies
    * The benefits of passive investors



    Parker’s Projects:
    Parker’s Angellist profile
    Parker’s Syndicate
    Parker’s blog
    Parker’s Twitter: @pt
    Are you an accredited investor? Apply to join our angel syndicate if you’d like to access our deal flow.
    45 min
  • Facebook’s Mantra “Join us or we will copy you” – Platforms, Marketplaces and Playing with Fire




    The internet has changed.
    The world of the walled garden is here.
    This creates interesting dynamics, problems and opportunities for startups. It is exciting, and terrifying. Let me explain.
    My background is ecommerce and Amazon. In 2015 I invested ~$8k in product and managed to scale my “startup” to a 7 figure exit at the end of year one.
    If you are scratching your heads, you should be. Building and flipping a business in a year is dumb. But my goal was just to make some quick cash selling products online, primarily via Amazon.
    It worked. And through the process I built a top 3 Amazon podcast, met hundreds of FBAers (Amazon sellers), and helped 1000s build businesses on Amazon.
    As I grew, I started to wisen up. What started as a personal challenge suddenly become scary. Let me explain.
    Platforms are like distribution on steroids

    Platforms and marketplaces like Amazon, Android and the App Store are unparalleled acquisition engines. Never before in the history of mankind could companies, let alone startups access this scale and breadth of consumer.
    The world is literally there for taking.
    Starting a hardware startup? Kickstarter can help.
    Building an ecommerce app? Shopify’s add-on store speeds its up.
    Not a developer but got a great idea? There are even UI and chatbot based platforms for creating apps.
    The power and resources at founders’ fingertips are unprecedented.
    And so is the speed at which startups scale. Zynga.org was a rocketship, riding on Facebook’s coattails. The social network grew and viralized distribution, allowing Marc Pincus gaming company to ~10x in under two years. 260M+ MAUs (monthly active users). That is unheard of in gaming, at least it was.


    In the world of platforms, this is starting to become normalized. But there is a huge problem.
    Platforms are great, until they aren’t
    Zynga, more than any other company, took advantage and built an incredible gaming business directly through the Facebook Graph API. Over time, Facebook began making changes to how developers could interact with specific data and just as quickly as Zynga grew, they fell — and fell far. There are many companies, big and small, that have suffered a similar demise. — Ben Schippers: TechCrunch


    And I knew of sellers who shutdown overnight, with no warning. Amazon’s a double-edged sword. All platforms and marketplaces are. When it is good, it is great. But playing on some else’s playground often ends in tears.
    There are two ways this happens:

    rules/algorithm changes
    copy/paste competitors

    Both kill startups.
    The age of the algorithm
    The first and most obvious example would be Google. Google indexed the world’s information and built the leading search browser, with 77–80% of worldwide searches. That makes Google powerful. SEO and organic search make and break businesses. And throughout their history, Google has done just that.
    The infamous Panda updates broke the backs of many businesses. Imagine adding a wall around a local mall. The number of visitors drops drastically. Businesses collapse and the mall defaults on the mortgage.
    Those are the metaphorical examples of a small algorithm change.
    And they happen, even with the best of intentions. Google wanted to clean up search. They saw marketers manipulating results, creating backlinks and gaming the system to get more visitors.
    So Google fights back, adding penalties for overly specific and frequent backlinks. These hurt many sites, not just the grey and black hat players. And entrepreneurs (and mom and pop sites) had NO warning and NO recourse.
    Even Ebay lost 80% of it is organic search thanks to Google’s Panda 4.0 updates. This was 2014. This can happen to anyone.
    But blacklisting is even worse
    16 min
  • Hardware Investing, The Future of IoT and Why Boring Businesses Bring The Best Investor Returns with Avidan Ross of Root VC
    Avidan is the Founding Partner of Root Ventures. Before Root, he designed industrial robotics for Food Network’s kitchens. Prior to that, Avidan was CTO of CIM Group, where he focused on industrial internet investing, and worked as an embedded application developer at Excite@Home.

    Listen and Learn:

    * Why Avidan focuses exclusively on hardware based startups
    * Avidan’s incredibly unique investment philosophy
    * The reason no having recurring revenue is typically a deal breaker
    * How hardware investors can contribute to startup success
    * Why Avidan filmed a reality tv show with the FoodNetwork on robotic kitchens
    * What the smartphone wars did to tech
    * The future of connected devices
    * Why boring businesses bring the best returns



    Avidan’s Projects:
    Avidan’s Angellist profile
    Root.vc
    Avidan’s Twitter: @avidanross
    Avidan’s Recommending Reading:
    Start with Why by Simon Sinek

    The Innovator’s Dilemma by Clayton Christensen
    The Power of Habit by Charles Duhigg
    Are you an accredited investor? Apply to join our angel syndicate if you’d like to access our deal flow.Avidan is the Founding Partner of Root Ventures. Before Root, he designed industrial robotics for Food Network’s kitchens. Prior to that, Avidan was CTO of CIM Group, where he focused on industrial internet investing, and worked as an embedded application developer at Excite@Home.

    Listen and Learn:

    * Why Avidan focuses exclusively on hardware based startups
    * Avidan’s incredibly unique investment philosophy
    * The reason no having recurring revenue is typically a deal breaker
    * How hardware investors can contribute to startup success
    * Why Avidan filmed a reality tv show with the FoodNetwork on robotic kitchens
    * What the smartphone wars did to tech
    * The future of connected devices
    * Why boring businesses bring the best returns



    Avidan’s Projects:
    Avidan’s Angellist profile
    Root.vc
    Avidan’s Twitter: @avidanross
    Avidan’s Recommending Reading:
    Start with Why by Simon Sinek

    The Innovator’s Dilemma by Clayton Christensen
    40 min
  • Why I Quit Startups to Be “Lazy” and Invest in or Advise Companies Instead
    Yes, that headline and image is meant to be provocative. Startups need to sell. Attention is critical. But not clickbait. So grab your coffee and let’s go (btw that definitely isn’t me!).
    First, a quick backstory
    My background is ecommerce and Amazon. In 2015 I invested $8k in product and managed to scale my “startup” to a 7 figure exit at the end of year one (all while traveling the world).
    If you are scratching your heads, you should be. Building and flipping a business in a year is stupid. But my goal was learn and make some quick cash so I could focus on things that actually mattered.
    Somehow it worked. And through the process I built a top 3 Amazon podcast, met hundreds of Amazon sellers and helped 1000s build businesses on Amazon.
    But startups NEED 100%

    Forget the “give me 110%. soldier” Sure, it sounds cool to say but 100% is it. There is not higher gear — and this stress kills entrepreneurs.
    Starting a business is really freaking hard. I spent a year of 80–100 hour weeks, grinding, hustling and trying every trick in the book to make things happen.
    Some worked. Many didn’t. It didn’t matter though. I was 100%, I was all in.
    That takes its toll.
    You can only give 100% for so long, especially when you heart isn’t really in it. And I was doing it just for the money — that isn’t enough. Founders NEED to be obsessed with what they are building.
    How else can you handle the stress, rejections and sleepless nights…?
    The importance of obsession
    People tell you to follow your passion, that isn’t enough. Passion is a good start, but I’m passionate about peanut butter.
    A banana with peanut butter is heaven on earth, nothing beats it.
    But I sure as hell don’t want to start a peanut butter company. That small snacky passion isn’t a driving force for me. It won’t keep me going day in and day out.
    And the market is competitive. There are plenty of peanut butter brands and almost no differentiation or innovation.
    Instead, the best founders are obsessed with an idea. They set out to radically change the world and follow their obsessions to its logical conclusion — success, or failure. But as an investor, I’ll bet on intelligence plus obsession any day.
    When Zuckerberg first described Facebook or Elon explained Tesla’s mission, it was clear these cats were hooked. They were incredibly smart, driven and drinking the kool-aid.






    Whether you are building a venture scale startup or bootstrapping a business, commitment is everything. There will be huge highs and horrible lows — it is a roller coaster.
    Between the stress of running out money, the pressure to push product and the problems hiring and managing great talent, starting a startup is arguably the most grueling (and rewarding) work.
    Only the obsessed survive, everyone else quits or sells out early…
    Managing is hard
    The best founders build great teams, using their obsession and charisma to attracts followers. They know they cannot possibly do alone, so they surround themselves with complementary talent.
    This is something I have always struggled with. Most of my career has been a one man show with a large outsourced team. I’m a builder, not a manager. When it comes to managing people and optimizing existing success, it gets dull for me.
    I have never been “obsessed enough” with the mission to push through. And most founders are not natural leaders. Instead they grow into the role, not out of desire but out of necessity.
    When you are obsessed with a goal, you sacrifice yourself for the mission.
    The shiny object A.D.D. issue
    Yes, I have attention deficit disorder — never diagnosed (but spend enough time with me and it is easy to see). This makes shiny object syndrome challenging.
    In the past I got distracted easily. A new PPC strategy, Instagram ads,
    13 min
  • Adam Draper on Why Crypto and ICOs are actually Underhyped and What the Future May Bring
    Adam Draper’s the founder of Boost.vc, an accelerator and fund focused creating a sci-fi future. They work with and invest in blockchain and VR companies with exceptions made for breakthrough businesses. Adam comes from a venture background and is working to continue the Draper tradition of excellence and advancing the future.

    Listen and Learn:

    * Why VCs should focus more on crypto
    * How venture capital can effectively incorporate ICOs in portfolio companies
    * What is the future of VR?
    * How growing up in a venture family affects outlook
    * Why VCs must be constantly learning
    * Why AR is overrated and ICOs are underhyped
    * The benefits of founder bonding



    Adam’s Projects:
    Adam’s Angellist profile
    Boost.vc
    Adam’s Twitter: @adamdraper
    Are you an accredited investor? Apply to join our angel syndicate if you’d like to access our deal flow.Adam Draper’s the founder of Boost.vc, an accelerator and fund focused creating a sci-fi future. They work with and invest in blockchain and VR companies with exceptions made for breakthrough businesses. Adam comes from a venture background and is working to continue the Draper tradition of excellence and advancing the future.

    Listen and Learn:

    * Why VCs should focus more on crypto
    * How venture capital can effectively incorporate ICOs in portfolio companies
    * What is the future of VR?
    * How growing up in a venture family affects outlook
    * Why VCs must be constantly learning
    * Why AR is overrated and ICOs are underhyped
    * The benefits of founder bonding



    Adam’s Projects:
    Adam’s Angellist profile
    Boost.vc
    Adam’s Twitter: @adamdraper
    Are you an accredited investor? Apply to join our angel syndicate if you’d like to access our deal flow.
    47 min

About The Syndicate

From the publisher's feed

Welcome to The Syndicate, the place where investors and startups combine to create crazy businesses and even crazier returns. The Syndicate podcast is a deep dive on the angel investors and VCs…