The Syndicate

The Syndicate

By Matt WardBusinessNewsEducationTech News
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The Syndicate episodes

  • Driverless Cars
    Shaun Abrahamson’s an angel investor and venture capitalist focused on the urbanization and transformation of cities. He’s an investor in Blue Bottle, Soma Water, Refinery29, Skycatch, Blokable and dozens of other early stage companies. Previously he worked at and with several Dotcom and made a bit of money with an exit, leading into his investing career.

    Listen and Learn:

    * What is the future of cities
    * The problem with traditional investment cycles
    * How startups are innovating on a local level
    * What cryptocurrencies means for government
    * How the tech bubble affects investors to this day
    * Why investors are rich on paper and poor in practice
    * What happens in M&A and when to sell
    * How investors should focus on creating the future



    Shaun’s Projects:
    Shaun’s Angellist profile
    Urban.us
    Urban.us Syndicate
    Shaun’s Twitter: @shaunabe
    Are you an accredited investor? Apply to join our angel syndicate if you’d like to access our deal flow.Shaun Abrahamson’s an angel investor and venture capitalist focused on the urbanization and transformation of cities. He’s an investor in Blue Bottle, Soma Water, Refinery29, Skycatch, Blokable and dozens of other early stage companies. Previously he worked at and with several Dotcom and made a bit of money with an exit, leading into his investing career.

    Listen and Learn:

    * What is the future of cities
    * The problem with traditional investment cycles
    * How startups are innovating on a local level
    * What cryptocurrencies means for government
    * How the tech bubble affects investors to this day
    * Why investors are rich on paper and poor in practice
    * What happens in M&A and when to sell
    * How investors should focus on creating the future



    Shaun’s Projects:
    Shaun’s Angellist profile
    Urban.us
    Urban.us Syndicate
    Shaun’s Twitter: @shaunabe
    Are you an accredited investor? Apply to join our angel syndicate if you’d like to access our deal flow.
    51 min
  • ICOs
    Stefano Bernardi’s sat at both ends of the table. A YC backed founder and startup hustler, Stefano got into venture and angel investing early and never looked back. Stefano enjoys long walks in the Alps, investing and blogging about crypto and blockchain and helping European founders find their groove and succeed.
    Listen and Learn:

    * What angels need to know about ICOs
    * The power of mentors in entrepreneurship
    * How YC prepares startups to succeed
    * Why Europe is seeing a startup revolution
    * How to source startup deals on Twitter
    * Why investors don’t need to live in startup hubs to succeed
    * What investors lack that operators know
    * The future of cryptocurrencies and fintech


    Stephano’s Projects:
    Stefano’s Angellist profile
    Mission and Market venture fund
    Stefano’s Syndicate
    tokeneconomy.co
    Stefano’s Twitter: @stefanobernardi
    Are you an accredited investor? Apply to join our angel syndicate if you’d like to access our deal flow.Stefano Bernardi’s sat at both ends of the table. A YC backed founder and startup hustler, Stefano got into venture and angel investing early and never looked back. Stefano enjoys long walks in the Alps, investing and blogging about crypto and blockchain and helping European founders find their groove and succeed.
    Listen and Learn:

    * What angels need to know about ICOs
    * The power of mentors in entrepreneurship
    * How YC prepares startups to succeed
    * Why Europe is seeing a startup revolution
    * How to source startup deals on Twitter
    * Why investors don’t need to live in startup hubs to succeed
    * What investors lack that operators know
    * The future of cryptocurrencies and fintech


    Stephano’s Projects:
    Stefano’s Angellist profile
    Mission and Market venture fund
    Stefano’s Syndicate
    tokeneconomy.co
    Stefano’s Twitter: @stefanobernardi
    Are you an accredited investor? Apply to join our angel syndicate if you’d like to access our deal flow.
    41 min
  • The Future of Cryptocurrencies and Blockchain Roundtable
    The Syndicate hosted The Future of Cryptocurrencies/Blockchain Live Streamed Round Table on 11/28/17
     

    Our expert panelists include: Gil Penchina, Andy Bromberg, Lou Kerner and Joey Krug
    Gil Penchina’s one of the top super angels of all time, with investments in Ripple, Brave, Polychain, Paypal, Filecoin, Civic, Linkedin, Cruise Automation, Dollar Shave Club, Wealthfront, Discord, Fastly and a name as good as gold. Prior to that he worked at Ebay through the IPO process and now he runs 20+ syndicates on Angellist with millions in backing. And today he’s venturing to the other side of the table with Pryze, a decentralized sweepstakes system working on an ICO pre-sale. For more on Gil, check out his interview on The Syndicate podcast where we discuss How Gil Tried to Lose Money and Hit 5 Unicorns and the Future of Cryptocurrencies

    Joey Krug got involved in Bitcoin mining in 2011 before building Bitcoin point of sale system in 2013. In 2014, he dropped out of Pomona College to cofound one of the first projects on ethereum called Augur, and in 2015 they did the first crowdsale on Ethereum. Then this year he joined Pantera Capitalas Co-Chief Investment Officer managing their digital asset funds… oh, and he also run one of the top 10 (by backing) AngelList syndicates. To learn more about Joey, listen to our interview (the 1st of the podcast), on Cryptocurrencies, ICOs and the Future of Public Markets.
    Andy Bromberg is the CEO of CoinList, an innovative ICO launch platform and compliance company responsible for the Filecoin’s $205M ICO success. Spun out of Angellist, Coinlist is already a leader in the token space and has built the trust and success to fuel legitimate, world changing ICOs. Prior to Coinlist, Andy co-founded Sidewire, a startup which raised ~ $5M to connect experts for thought provoking conversations on politics on more.
    Lou Kerner is the founder and managing partner of Flight.vc’s Israeli Founder fund and the Social Internet fund. Before that, Lou pioneered social media with Bolt, the largest social media company of its time before being conquered by Myspace. Since then Lou has invested in the likes of Palantir, Facebook, Meetup, Klout, Plated and more. And if you missed Lou’s conversation on the podcast, it is a must. Offered 1/4 of Facebook for $5M – Plus Israel, Social Media, Cryptocurrencies and Future of Monopolies
    We will cover a wide range of topics from ICOs, the future of cryptocurrencies, the implications and disruptions of blockchain and much much more. Plus there will be a live Q&A session at the end with all our esteemed guests.
    Want more great round tables and investor interviews. Subscribe today to never miss a thing!
    Are you an accredited investor? Apply to join our angel syndicate if you’d like to access our deal flow.
    The Syndicate hosted The Future of Cryptocurrencies/Blockchain Live Streamed Round Table on 11/28/17
     

    Our expert panelists include: Gil Penchina, Andy Bromberg, Lou Kerner and Joey Krug
    Gil Penchina’s one of the top super angels of all time, with investments in Ripple, Brave, Polychain, Paypal, Filecoin, Civic, Linkedin, Cruise Automation, Dollar Shave Club, Wealthfront, Discord, Fastly and a name as good as gold. Prior to that he worked at Ebay through the IPO process and now he runs 20+ syndicates on Angellist with millions in backing. And today he’s venturing to the other side of the table with Pryze,
    1 hr 6 min
  • Angel Networks
    Michael Girdley is an angel investor, venture capitalist, former founder and operator and sits on numerous boards. He founded the San Antonio Angel Network, building it into the fastest growing angel network in the US and is focused on driving returns while also reinvigorating Texas and flyover states with smart money and startup growth.
    Listen and Learn:

    * The future of franchise businesses
    * Why San Antonio’s startup scene is growing rapidly
    * How to build an effective angel network
    * Why blockchain is in the dotcom era
    * How to avoid fear of missing out
    * Why angel investors and VCs should have similar investment strategies
    * How to avoid getting stuck as a CEO
    * Strategies to increase deal flow


    Michael’s Projects:
    Michael’s Angellist profile
    girdley.com
    Geekdom’s Angel page
    San Antonio Angel Network
    Are you an accredited investor? Apply to join our angel syndicate if you’d like to access our deal flow.Michael Girdley is an angel investor, venture capitalist, former founder and operator and sits on numerous boards. He founded the San Antonio Angel Network, building it into the fastest growing angel network in the US and is focused on driving returns while also reinvigorating Texas and flyover states with smart money and startup growth.
    Listen and Learn:

    * The future of franchise businesses
    * Why San Antonio’s startup scene is growing rapidly
    * How to build an effective angel network
    * Why blockchain is in the dotcom era
    * How to avoid fear of missing out
    * Why angel investors and VCs should have similar investment strategies
    * How to avoid getting stuck as a CEO
    * Strategies to increase deal flow


    Michael’s Projects:
    Michael’s Angellist profile
    girdley.com
    Geekdom’s Angel page
    San Antonio Angel Network
    Are you an accredited investor? Apply to join our angel syndicate if you’d like to access our deal flow.
    54 min
  • How Gil Penchina Tried to Lose Money and Hit 5 Unicorns and the Future of Cryptocurrencies
    Gil Penchina’s one of the top super angels of all time, with investments in Ripple, Brave, Polychain, Paypal, Filecoin, Civic, Linkedin, Cruise, Dollar Shave Club Wealthfront, Discord, Fastly and a name as good as gold. Prior to that he worked at Ebay through the IPO process and now he runs 20+ syndicates on Angellist with millions in backing. And today he’s venturing to the other side of the table with Pryze, a decentralized raffle system working on an ICO pre-sale.
    Listen and Learn:

    * How Gil invested early in Paypal
    * What he looks for in founders and markets
    * Why Gil is bullish on cryptocurrencies
    * His exact asset allocation strategy
    * How he built a massive network of Angellist syndicates
    * What blockchain means for society as a whole
    * How ICOs are affecting all of us
    * What all angel investors need to know about getting started


    Gil’s Main Projects:
    Gil’s Angellist Profile
    Flight.vc Angellist Syndicate
    Flight.vc
    Pryze
    Twitter: @gilpenchina
    Gil’s ICO Insiders Mailing List
    Are you an accredited investor? Apply to join our angel syndicate if you’d like to access our deal flow.Gil Penchina’s one of the top super angels of all time, with investments in Ripple, Brave, Polychain, Paypal, Filecoin, Civic, Linkedin, Cruise, Dollar Shave Club Wealthfront, Discord, Fastly and a name as good as gold. Prior to that he worked at Ebay through the IPO process and now he runs 20+ syndicates on Angellist with millions in backing. And today he’s venturing to the other side of the table with Pryze, a decentralized raffle system working on an ICO pre-sale.
    Listen and Learn:

    * How Gil invested early in Paypal
    * What he looks for in founders and markets
    * Why Gil is bullish on cryptocurrencies
    * His exact asset allocation strategy
    * How he built a massive network of Angellist syndicates
    * What blockchain means for society as a whole
    * How ICOs are affecting all of us
    * What all angel investors need to know about getting started


    Gil’s Main Projects:
    Gil’s Angellist Profile
    Flight.vc Angellist Syndicate
    Flight.vc
    Pryze
    Twitter: @gilpenchina
    Gil’s ICO Insiders Mailing List
    Are you an accredited investor? Apply to join our angel syndicate if you’d like to access our deal flow.
    44 min
  • Marketplace Monopolies and the Cult-Like Religion of ICOs

    As an angel investor, I am always looking for transformational businesses. And marketplaces are arguably one of the strongest and most time-tested business models of all time. From early Rome and milenia earlier, merchants conducted commerce in markets. Thanks to efficiency gains for both buyers and sellers, the market thrived. Sellers could set up shop and instantly access customers. And buyers found everything under the sun, all in one place.



    While initially these merchants operated caravans to cover more ground, reach more consumers and acquire more valued commodities, the model has changed. Today more and more commerce happens online. You buy an iPad, book a room, grab an Uber and get Ticketmaster tickets to the last game — all online, all in 10 minutes.
    Everything is conducted online and marketplaces are the means that make this happen. They are the backbone of the modern economy and are constantly changing and evolving, adding efficiencies while stripping out waste.
    (For more on the dangers of marketplaces and Amazon, be sure to read how Amazon is killing ecommerce.)
    Why marketplaces make so much money

    Marketplaces are like matchmakers. They hook you up with a product or service and take a small commission (sometimes from buyers, sometimes from sellers — occasionally both). Marketplaces are middlemen in the truest sense of the word. Yet marketplaces have replaced many of the middlemen of old. Wholesalers and distributors? Most marketplaces don’t need them. The reason markets have evolved as they have is the reduction of waste. Time, energy and cost are continuously optimized, making the experience better for buyers and sellers.
    The network effect of marketplaces are known as the flywheel. The more travellers on Airbnb, the more homeowners want to list their properties. And of course more choices and destinations means consumers are more likely to join or refer friends… and so on and so forth.
    The law of diminishing risk
    The bigger they are, the harder they fall, normally. The problem with this statement is that it almost never applies to marketplaces. The reason: the larger the market, the more valuable it is for everyone involved. Everyone is winning.
    This makes displacement and disruption incredibly hard. Up-and-comers must 10x the value to convert the faithful. How can you 10x a system that is ever increasing in value for its users?
    So unlike most conventional business models where rewards diminish as efforts increase, marketplaces buck this trend. While direct profits are more challenging to impact at scale and individual users add less and less to the overall, every user adds buffer to the business model. Markets become exponentially more defensible — the risk goes down. Hence why venture valuations explode as marketplace companies start to reach scale. VCs recognize that much of the battle is already won in the hearts and minds (and most importantly wallets) of users.
    NOTE: An important distinction — Almost all two sided networks are considered marketplaces for the purposes of this article and analysis. For example: Uber is a marketplace, and a service.
    ICOs upset this balance
    Blockchain business models have blown up the world of traditional VC lately. Startups, many with little more than an idea, a white paper and a vision are raising 10s if not 100s of millions of dollars. The froth is crazy. (To read about the boom, bust and re-birth of ICOs, check out this post.)
    13 min
  • Women in Tech
    Angela Lee is the founder and CEO of 37Angels, a angel network of over 60 female investors and the Chief Innovation Officer of Columbia University’s Business School – where she is also a full time professor. Oh, she’s also a board advisor for several education focused venture funds and successful startups.
    Listen and Learn:

    * The future of higher education
    * Why investors need to deal with their pipeline problem
    * Gender dynamics at play and how to avoid them
    * Why informed opinions are better that bets
    * How to help angel investors be more successful
    * Why society influences girls to avoid math
    * How to reduce gender bias in investing


    Angela’s Projects:
    37Angels Angellist profile
    37angels.com
    Twitter: @37angelsny
    Angela’s LinkedIn
    37Angels Online Investing Bootcamp – Learn how to vet early stage startups, calculate valuation and dilution, and best practices for building a portfolio strategy to optimize your investments – on your own schedule.
    Are you an accredited investor? Apply to join our angel syndicate if you’d like to access our deal flow.Angela Lee is the founder and CEO of 37Angels, a angel network of over 60 female investors and the Chief Innovation Officer of Columbia University’s Business School – where she is also a full time professor. Oh, she’s also a board advisor for several education focused venture funds and successful startups.
    Listen and Learn:

    * The future of higher education
    * Why investors need to deal with their pipeline problem
    * Gender dynamics at play and how to avoid them
    * Why informed opinions are better that bets
    * How to help angel investors be more successful
    * Why society influences girls to avoid math
    * How to reduce gender bias in investing


    Angela’s Projects:
    37Angels Angellist profile
    37angels.com
    Twitter: @37angelsny
    Angela’s LinkedIn
    37Angels Online Investing Bootcamp – Learn how to vet early stage startups, calculate valuation and dilution, and best practices for building a portfolio strategy to optimize your investments – on your own schedule.
    Are you an accredited investor? Apply to join our angel syndicate if you’d like to access our deal flow.
    44 min
  • How Pascal Levy-Garboua Runs a $1.4M Angellist Syndicate, a Top Tech Startup and an AL Venture Fund All At Once
    Pascal has 10+ years experience in Enterprise software and Consumer Internet and is passionate about marketplaces and local commerce since working at eBay. He built and scale VirtuOz (VC backed) from 4 to 80+ employees before ultimately being acquired. 
    Pascal also runs one of the top Angellist syndicates, having invested in Realty Shares, Checkr, Wag, Shyp, Caviar, Sprig and Payjoy. He also runs one of the first AL venture funds and is a is a mentor and judge at Stanford in the Technology Venture Formation class (MS&E 273).
    Listen and Learn:

    * How to run a top syndicate while working a day job
    * Why local commerce is the future
    * The way Angellist funds work
    * What most angel investors do wrong initially
    * How Angellist has evolved in the past three years
    * Why liquidity is hard to come by
    * How the on demand economy is changing commerce as we know it
    * Why cryptocurrency is overrated in the short term and underrated in the long term


    Pascal’s Projects:
    Pascal’s AngelList profile
    Pascal’s Syndicate
    Pascal’s LinkedIn
    Pascal’s on Twitter: @2pasc
    Are you an accredited investor? Apply to join our angel syndicate if you’d like to access our deal flow.Pascal has 10+ years experience in Enterprise software and Consumer Internet and is passionate about marketplaces and local commerce since working at eBay. He built and scale VirtuOz (VC backed) from 4 to 80+ employees before ultimately being acquired. 
    Pascal also runs one of the top Angellist syndicates, having invested in Realty Shares, Checkr, Wag, Shyp, Caviar, Sprig and Payjoy. He also runs one of the first AL venture funds and is a is a mentor and judge at Stanford in the Technology Venture Formation class (MS&E 273).
    Listen and Learn:

    * How to run a top syndicate while working a day job
    * Why local commerce is the future
    * The way Angellist funds work
    * What most angel investors do wrong initially
    * How Angellist has evolved in the past three years
    * Why liquidity is hard to come by
    * How the on demand economy is changing commerce as we know it
    * Why cryptocurrency is overrated in the short term and underrated in the long term


    Pascal’s Projects:
    Pascal’s AngelList profile
    Pascal’s Syndicate
    Pascal’s LinkedIn
    Pascal’s on Twitter: @2pasc
    Are you an accredited investor? Apply to join our angel syndicate if you’d like to access our deal flow.
    0 min
  • Amazon’s Acquisition of Whole Foods, Gameover Groceries…

    Amazon’s is the most monopolistic and well positioned marketplace the Western world has ever seen. Last year they did $136B in revenue with double digit growth every year.
    Yet they haven’t even scratched the surface.
    The US food retail and food services industry represents a $5.35T market (with $800B+ in grocery alone). That is 40x Amazon’s total global sales – everybody’s got to eat. The food space is the future frontier, and Amazon is betting big.
    On August 28th, 2017, Amazon decided to buy Whole Foods. Consider this D-Day. The world of groceries will never be the same. Here is why.
    Amazon’s been salivating over food delivery for years. But, try as they might, their efforts have fallen flat every time. Amazon Fresh had $10M in revenue in Q1 of 2016. That is chump change for Bezos.
    (NOTE: For more on Amazon, my experience with the company and how they will kill ecommerce, see this post.)
    The network problem
    Amazon is a market. Amazon is a network effect. The reason why the company runs so well is so highly valued is its network of 3rd party sellers and massive customer base.
    Jeff Bezos founded Amazon on July 5th, 1994. Since then the company scraped and fought its way to market leader status, constantly growing areas of the business.
    They started with books. Books seemed easy enough to sell online and customers like options (just look at libraries). Bezos committed to crushing it with books. “Books, books, books. That is all we are ever going to sell.”

    That was the mantra early on. Amazon committed and as they grew a larger and more diverse customer base, other options presented themselves. They branched out into media and digital and quickly Amazon started morphing into a full fledged Everything Store.
    But the base was crucial. They attracted customers and used the demand to pull sellers to the site. With that the flywheel was born.
    Imagine if Amazon had started selling everything from day one. There would be no message for customers, confusion for sellers and chaos all around.
    Systematic Network Expansion
    Today Amazon is doing the same with Whole Foods. Amazon’s existing supply and demand structure was lacking. Despite the most advanced logistics network in the world, Amazon couldn’t quite get grocery.
    The reason lies in the nature of the product. Selling widgets is easy. 1,2, 2000… it doesn’t matter how much inventory and what type of products you stock. As long as you wait long enough, eventually you will sell them. It isn’t ideal but with enough money, turn time (speed of sales) is not critical.
    This isn’t true with food. Milk spoils. Eggs break or go bad and bananas are blobs after a few days. Groceries have to go fast or the business collapses. This is part of the reason food service businesses are so hard. You need choices so customers can choose but with too much stock, waste and spoilage will wreck your profits.

    Amazon suffered this problem for years. Amazon COULD NOT offer perishable products online. What would they do if they didn’t sell? Eat the lost?
    And there is no way they could get brands and 3rd party sellers on board without the demand.
    Whole Foods solves this.
    Whole Foods is one of the most well known and respected grocery brands. Their fans love them, their health conscious options and the incredible customer service/experience. Plus Whole Foods has locations in all the major urban hubs.
    Take a look at your average Whole Foods shopper. They are young, have money to spend and are culture and health conscience. This was not Amazon’s demographic initially – meaning Whole Foods opens up a whole new segment of the market to Amazon.
    But it is much more important than that. Whole Foods is a functioning, balanced, profitable network.
    13 min
  • Network Effects and The Unbreakable, Unregulatable Monopolies of Today
    With great power comes great profit, and then even the innovative get fat and lazy. This was the paradigm pre 2000s. Rome rose and fell. Microsoft’s monopoly was cracked. Kodak created the digital camera and kept it from customers.
    The bigger they are, the harder they fall and the harder they fight. But historically failure was inevitable — no man, country or company ever reigned supreme in perpetuity. Chaos and innovation simply would not allow it.
    Fast forward to today. We are entering a world where this may no longer be the case. The companies of today are infinitely more powerful and resourceful than the empires and industry moguls of old.
    Established, valuable networks are nearly impossible to create, replicate or overcome. A 10% upgrade isn’t enough, you need 10x.
    Historically this was hard but inevitable. New changes and technologies propelled era after era out of existence at rapidly increasing rates (recently much in relation to Moore’s Law).
    Today is different
    Unlike even 10–15 years ago, tech giants are creating the bulk of the wealth and innovation in the economy. Companies like Facebook, Google and Amazon have more money than most small nations and more control than any one government, should they so choose.
    These giants don’t just fight competition, they destroy it. The leaders of today have learned the lessons of old and acquire promising startups often and early to protect their own ass. They have the most talent, the most money, the most data and no moral quandries with flat out copying competitors.

    Copy and paste
    In an era where user experience is everything and data is king, how can startups compete? US Anti Trust laws are dated. They define monopolies not by their power and control, but by negative impacts (specifically price gouging) experienced by customers.
    When you search for dinner and Google shows you your favorite restaurants, knows your preferences, suggests a great vegan cafe and books you a table, how can consumers complain. It is seamless, “Google just gets me.”
    But Google scraped Yelp’s database, showed reviews, cloned an OpenTable and booked a place, all without leaving your search browser. And guess what, the government does not care.
    Let’s not even start on Snapchat and Instagram. Snap’s growth has flatlined and Instagram appears unstoppable.
    Source: Recode
    Try it before you buy it
    Almost all giants have all been accused of Microsoft like monopolistic tendencies. They lure startups in with talks of acquisition, pick apart the tech, pass on the deal and build it in-house. Then thanks to network effects and enormous, engaged user bases, Facebook, Amazon and Google can deploy and dominate the market — just ask Dave Morin.
    And when Google and Facebook control the channels where startups acquire customers, a small tweak to the algorithm ensures their competitors drift in obscurity.
    Sounds like anti-trust is in order. But…
    More powerful than govt
    And this is why we find ourselves attending congressional hearings on the alarming power of tech and its ability to influence elections (on a sidenote, America has aggressively influenced dozens if not 100s of elections worldwide so it is hard to really whine about being on the receiving side).


    But these hearings and debates are a joke. The regulators assigned do not understand the underlying issue — network effects and user experience.
    Amazon’s a great example of this. Amazon aims to kill all 3rd party sellers, yet brands CANNOT afford not to sell on Amazon (more on this here). The rewards are too great. Like eating fastfood, it is great in the short term and deadly in the long run.
    11 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…