Venture Unlocked: The playbook for venture capital managers

Follow me @samirkaji for my thoughts on the venture market, with a focus on the continued evolution of the VC landscape.

Today we have another version of Venture Unlocked shorts, and this time it will be focused on topics within the GP/LP world.

Joining me again is Meghan Reynolds, who leads capital formation at Altimeter Capital. 

This time we discuss the significant liquidity challenges in the venture capital market, focusing on the concerns of LPs about funding future capital calls and the longer wait times for returns. With a decline in public offerings and exits, LPs and GPs are now turning to alternative strategies such as strip sales and GP-led secondaries. We highlight the need for GPs to establish clear liquidity management as the dynamics of the industry continue to change.

If you’re a VC investor, then I’m sure you already know about Sydecar, the go-to platform for emerging VCs to manage their SPVs and funds. Sydecar is on a mission to make private markets more accessible, transparent, and liquid by standardizing how investment vehicles are created and executed. Their powerful software allows VCs to launch SPVs and funds instantaneously, track funding in real time, and offer hassle-free opportunities for early liquidity.

Whether you’re syndicating your first or fiftieth deal, Sydecar acts as your silent operating partner, handling all back-office functions in a single place. Sydecar always has your back, so that you never have to worry about chasing subscription docs, lost wires, or late K-1s.

With all the recent ups and downs in the private markets, the last thing you want to worry about is whether your back office is operating smoothly. Sydecar's responsive and proactive customer support team is there to assist, helping you build trust with your investors and tackle the challenges of building your firm.

Visit sydecar.io/ventureunlocked to learn more.

About Meghan Reynolds:Meghan Reynolds is Partner and Head of VC Capital Formation and Fundraising for Altimeter, a lifecycle technology investment firm. Prior to joining Altimeter, Meghan was Managing Partner and Co-head of Fundraising at TPG. She began her career and spent nearly a decade in the Investment Management Division of Goldman Sachs.

Meghan graduated from the University of Notre Dame.

In this episode, we discuss:

(02:00) The current state of the venture capital market and LP perspectives on liquidity and the impact of market resets on traditional exit opportunities like IPOs and M&As

(04:00) Liquidity and the challenges for LPs in funding upcoming capital calls due to increased venture activity and the need to adjust liquidity timeline expectations

(09:00) The complexities of exit strategies and the necessity for alignment between GPs and LPs on exit timing

(12:57) Using “Strip sales” as a liquidity management strategy are detailed, where a portion of a fund’s assets are sold to secondary buyers, and practical examples of how this strategy has been effectively implemented

(21:56) The need for venture capital to adopt more institutional and LP-friendly practices akin to the private equity evolution post-2008, driven by current fundraising challenges that compel VC funds to innovate in liquidity management and LP relationships

I’d love to know what you took away from this conversation with Meghan. 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

Follow me @samirkaji for my thoughts on the venture market, with a focus on the continued evolution of the VC landscape.

This week we're doing another special roundtable discussion with a focus on the seed stage market. Joining us are Jenny Fielding of Everywhere Ventures, Kirby Winfield of Ascend, and Nate Williams of UNION Labs.

This whole conversation was focused on seed stage investing. We spent most of our time discussing how the market reset affects seed-stage decision-making, fund sizing, and reserve strategies. We also touched on what they are seeing and hearing from LPs that invest in seed funds.

If you’re a VC investor, then I’m sure you already know about Sydecar, the go-to platform for emerging VCs to manage their SPVs and funds. Sydecar is on a mission to make private markets more accessible, transparent, and liquid by standardizing how investment vehicles are created and executed. Their powerful software allows VCs to launch SPVs and funds instantaneously, track funding in real time, and offer hassle-free opportunities for early liquidity.

Whether you’re syndicating your first or fiftieth deal, Sydecar acts as your silent operating partner, handling all back-office functions in a single place. Sydecar always has your back, so that you never have to worry about chasing subscription docs, lost wires, or late K-1s.

With all the recent ups and downs in the private markets, the last thing you want to worry about is whether your back office is operating smoothly. Sydecar's responsive and proactive customer support team is there to assist, helping you build trust with your investors and tackle the challenges of building your firm.

Visit sydecar.io/ventureunlocked to learn more.

About Jenny Fielding:Jenny Fielding is the Co-Founder and Managing Partner of Everywhere Ventures. She is one of the most active global pre-seed investors, having invested in 300+ companies as the first money in. Jenny has built a thriving community of 500+ founders and operators who help source, diligence, and invest in the next generation of startups across 3 core verticals: money, health, and work.

Prior to Everywhere, Jenny spent 7.5 years as the Managing Director of Techstars where she invested in a portfolio of companies with a current market cap over $10B. Jenny is a 2x founder, a lawyer by training, and an adjunct professor at Columbia University and Cornell Tech.

About Kirby Winfield:Kirby Winfield is the Founding General Partner at Ascend.vc, the most prolific pre-seed stage venture fund in the Pacific Northwest.

Kirby has been operating and investing in Artificial Intelligence and Machine Learning since the 1990s. His first startup pioneered the use of semantic AI for web search. He advised the Allen Institute of Artificial Intelligence on the launch and growth of its highly regarded Ai2 Incubator program, and has backed 30+ AI startups as a VC.

Early in his career, Kirby was a founding team member and operating executive at back-to-back tech IPOs, with Go2Net and Marchex. He is also a two-time venture capital-backed CEO, with AdXpose (DFJ, Ignition) acquired by comScore, and Dwellable (Maveron, VersionOne) acquired by HomeAway.

About Nate Williams:Nate Williams is the co-Founder and Managing Partner of DeepTech seed fund UNION Labs Ventures and formerly an Entrepreneur-in-Residence (EIR) at Kleiner Perkins focused on opportunities in Climate, PropTech, and Mobility. Nate's track record includes senior leadership experiences executing through startup, growth and turnaround stage culminating in successful exits for 4Home (to Motorola '10), Motorola Mobility (to Google '12), Motorola Home (to ARRIS '13) and August Home (to Assa Abloy '17).

Prior to Kleiner Perkins, Nate was CRO & Head of Platform PM at August Home, Inc. a leader in Smart Home Access where he secured August commercial growth with market leaders and integration partners including Airbnb, Wal-Mart, Amazon, Honeywell, Comcast, and Google/Nest. Nate was also Senior Director of Marketing & Business Development at Google subsidiary Motorola Mobility (following their acquisition of 4Home where he was CMO & Head of Business). Earlier in his career, he was an Analyst in the Digital Home Group of Intel Corp.

Nate earned an MBA from The UCLA-Anderson School of Management and a Bachelors in Communication Science from The University of Connecticut. He is named in several Communications Infrastructure patents, entrepreneurial, and comfortable building cross-functional teams introducing products under significant market uncertainty.

In this episode, we discuss:

(03:09): The challenges first-time founders face, especially in fundraising and navigating the current economic climate

(04:17): Trends in pre-seed and seed round sizes including the reasons behind increases and their impact on startups

(06:52): The importance of a founder's ability to fundraise in the current economic environment is stressed as critical for startup success

(08:21): Venture Capitalists' adjusted expectations for startups progressing from seed to Series A

(11:59): The need for founders to adapt their strategies in response to market changes, moving towards building sustainable businesses

(16:21): The effects of significant valuation step-ups during seed rounds on the investment ecosystem

(20:39): Current trends in seed valuations and round sizes and implications for the startup and investment community

(25:52): How seed investors are adapting their reserve strategies to better support startups through to Series A rounds and beyond

(27:09): The impact of the funding environment on LPs investment decisions and strategies

(34:43): The challenges GPs face in fundraising efforts are explored, including navigating expectations and market conditions

I’d love to know what you took away from this conversation with Jenny, Kirby, and Nate. 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

Follow me @samirkaji for my thoughts on the venture market, with a focus on the continued evolution of the VC landscape.

We are thrilled to bring you a conversation with David Sacks, Founder and Partner of Craft Ventures. Based in San Francisco, Craft was founded in 2017 and currently has over 3 billion in assets under management.

Across the last three decades, David has been incredibly influential as an investor, entrepreneur, and public thought leader. When starting Craft, he was able to draw from his deep operating background, having worked as an early leader at PayPal, and then later founding Yammer, which he sold to Microsoft for $1.2 Billion.

He is also one of the hosts of the All In Podcast, one of the most listened podcasts in the world.

We had a wide-ranging dialogue that took us through the evolution of Craft Ventures from its initial days to today, the strategic decision-making behind scaling fund sizes and team growth, and his overall views on the current outlook of venture capital.

If you’re a VC investor, then I’m sure you already know about Sydecar, the go-to platform for emerging VCs to manage their SPVs and funds. Sydecar is on a mission to make private markets more accessible, transparent, and liquid by standardizing how investment vehicles are created and executed. Their powerful software allows VCs to launch SPVs and funds instantaneously, track funding in real time, and offer hassle-free opportunities for early liquidity.

Whether you’re syndicating your first or fiftieth deal, Sydecar acts as your silent operating partner, handling all back-office functions in a single place. Sydecar always has your back, so that you never have to worry about chasing subscription docs, lost wires, or late K-1s.

With all the recent ups and downs in the private markets, the last thing you want to worry about is whether your back office is operating smoothly. Sydecar's responsive and proactive customer support team is there to assist, helping you build trust with your investors and tackle the challenges of building your firm.

Visit sydecar.io/ventureunlocked to learn more.

About David Sacks:David Sacks is Co-Founder and Partner at Craft. He has been a successful founder and investor for over two decades, building and investing in some of the most iconic companies in tech. David has invested in over 20 unicorns, including Affirm, AirBnB, Bird, ClickUp, Eventbrite, Facebook, Houzz, Lyft, OpenDoor, Palantir, Postmates, Reddit, Slack, SpaceX, Twitter, Uber, and Wish.David first got involved in the technology industry in 1999 when he joined early-stage startup Confinity, later renamed PayPal. Serving as the company’s first product leader and then as COO, David built and ran many of the company’s key teams, including product management and design, sales and marketing, business development, international, customer service, fraud operations, and HR. He pivoted the product from beaming money on Palm Pilots to emailing money on the web, and introduced the business model. When the company IPO’d on the Nasdaq in 2002, David was 29 — the median age of the “PayPal Mafia” executives listed on the S-1. PayPal was later acquired by eBay and eventually spun back out into a publicly traded company (under ticker symbol PYPL).David is well-known in Silicon Valley for his product acumen. AngelList’s Naval Ravikant has called David “the world’s best product strategist.” And has received acclaim as one of the Besties on the All In Podcast.

In this episode, we discuss:

(02:56) David Sacks discusses transitioning from being an entrepreneur with experiences at PayPal and Yammer to founding Craft Ventures, emphasizing the focus on SaaS and leveraging operational expertise to support startups.

(04:56) The growth of Craft Ventures from its initial fund to managing $3.5 billion, focusing on SaaS and marketplaces, and how fund size affects strategy

(08:15) Portfolio construction and the strategic shift towards reserving more for follow-ons to maintain company ownership and align fund size with venture focus

(10:10) The VC market's evolution shifting towards sustainable investment strategies following the 2020-2021 bubble and its correction.

(13:39) Advice for entrepreneurs to focus on capital efficiency and realistic growth expectations due to the changing investment landscape

(17:33) Predicting a continued reset in valuations and funding availability in 2024, and how startups can adjust their strategies accordingly

(34:05) Parallels and distinctions between running a venture firm and a startup, emphasizing the importance of creating a stable, transparent environment at Craft Ventures

(36:10) The significance of firm culture and talent acquisition, focusing on collective success and providing transparent, valuable support to portfolio companies

I’d love to know what you took away from this conversation with David. 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

Follow me @samirkaji for my thoughts on the venture market, with a focus on the continued evolution of the VC landscape.

This week we are pleased to be joined by Adam Bain of 01 Advisors, a San Francisco-based firm with nearly $1 billion under management.

Adam and his partners, including Dick Costolo, have taken a very different approach to the venture model, drawing from their experiences as operators. While Adam was COO and Dick was CEO at Twitter, they helped the company scale from zero to in revenue as fast as any consumer tech company in history. During this time, they spent a significant amount of time with the late Bill Campbell, the legendary CEO coach who helped inspire the foundation for 01 Advisors.

Since founding the firm in 2018, they have a uniquely focused approach to venture coaching and unlike other Series B and later VCs, they do not take board seats. We went through the why of this model. Along with topics such as the transition from operating to investing. And the future of potentially using models to determine founder archetypes.

If you’re a VC investor, then I’m sure you already know about Sydecar, the go-to platform for emerging VCs to manage their SPVs and funds. Sydecar is on a mission to make private markets more accessible, transparent, and liquid by standardizing how investment vehicles are created and executed. Their powerful software allows VCs to launch SPVs and funds instantaneously, track funding in real time, and offer hassle-free opportunities for early liquidity.

Whether you’re syndicating your first or fiftieth deal, Sydecar acts as your silent operating partner, handling all back-office functions in a single place. Sydecar always has your back, so that you never have to worry about chasing subscription docs, lost wires, or late K-1s.

With all the recent ups and downs in the private markets, the last thing you want to worry about is whether your back office is operating smoothly. Sydecar's responsive and proactive customer support team is there to assist, helping you build trust with your investors and tackle the challenges of building your firm.

Visit sydecar.io/ventureunlocked to learn more.

About Adam BainAdam is a Co-Founder and Managing Partner for 01 Advisors, a venture & advisory firm that helps founders go from building a product to building a company with operational expertise.He was previously the COO for Twitter and a Board Director for Opendoor.

In this episode, we discuss:

(03:01) Adam shares his journey from Twitter to founding 01 Advisors, focusing on the transition from advertising and social media to a venture model that combines investing and advising

(05:00) The unique backgrounds of 01 Advisors' partners in scaling companies from zero to significant revenues, showcasing a rare collective experience in tech leadership

(08:01) The venture coaching approach at 01 Advisors that was inspired by Bill Campbell

(14:35) Why 01 Advisors chooses not to take board seats, aiming to offer more effective and unrestricted guidance to CEOs

(18:14) Helping CEOs appoint seasoned operators to board positions, ensuring comprehensive support without direct board involvement

(22:08) 01 Advisors' focus on Series B investments, aligning their operational expertise with companies at a pivotal growth stage

(24:16) 01's strategy of a concentrated portfolio to deeply engage and support their investments, contrary to the broader trend towards more extensive portfolios.

(27:25) Diligence process for revenue streams and operational dynamics, aiming to identify areas where 01 can significantly impact growth.

(29:00) The use of cognitive psychology for deeper CEO assessments post-investment, aiming to tailor support strategies to each leader's unique strengths and challenges

(31:16) The early successes of this cognitive approach

(34:42) The transition from high level operator to investor

(39:58) Why he’s excited continuous intellectual growth and the diverse learning experiences venture capital offers

(43:14) The market in 2024 is the Super Bowl moment for 01

I’d love to know what you took away from this conversation with Adam. 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

Follow me @samirkaji for my thoughts on the venture market, with a focus on the continued evolution of the VC landscape.

We have a conversation with Mitchell Green, Founder and Managing Partner at Lead Edge Capital. 

With offices in New York and Santa Barbara, the firm has over $5B in Assets under management and specializes in helping growth-stage companies scale.

The firm has an interesting model that combines elements of PE, growth, and an active network of over 700 LPs to build a very powerful moat.

I was really interested in several business components, especially the LP base's strategic nature and the programmatic way they evaluate companies. 

A word from our sponsor:

Invest in innovation. Allocate allows investors to access top-tier private funds and co-investment opportunities within the technology sector.

Despite the enormous growth of the private markets and the rapid increase of retail demand for private alternatives, investing in the highest quality private assets within the innovation sector still remains limited to institutions and ultra-connected high net worth individuals.

With Allocate, wealth advisors, banks, family offices, and other qualified investors can have a streamlined way to responsibly invest with confidence.

Go to allocate.co to find out more and please sign up to the waitlist to learn more and get early access to the platform.

About Mitchell Green:Mitchell Green is the Founder and Managing Partner at Lead Edge Capital, a $5B growth equity firm investing in software, internet, and tech-enabled services businesses globally. Mitchell oversees the fund’s global activities and has led several of the fund's largest investments, including Alibaba Group, Asana, Bumble, FIGS, Grafana, SignalSciences, Spotify, Toast, Uber, and Wise. His career began with roles on the investment teams at Bessemer Venture Partners and Eastern Advisors. Mitchell is a former nationally ranked alpine ski racer and currently serves on the boards of the U.S. Ski & Snowboard Foundation and the Laguna Blanca School in Santa Barbara, CA.Mitchell holds a B.A. in Economics from Williams College and an M.B.A. in Marketing from the Wharton School at the University of Pennsylvania.

In this episode, we discuss:

(01:38) Shares the origin story of Lead Edge Capital, reflecting on the early experiences before 2009, and the influence of Bessemer's deal-sourcing approach of cold calling and direct outreach.

(09:57) The value of being his own boss and learning from failures

(12:35) Building a team for outbound cold calling to find unique investment opportunities.

(15:27) Leveraging LPs in the due diligence process for valuable insights and validation of potential investments

(17:21) Creating a community among LPs where engagement and assistance are core expectations

(20:55) The resilience and opportunistic nature of high-net-worth individuals during market downturns

(21:59) The "moneyball" approach to investment criteria, prioritizing revenue, growth, gross margins, and capital efficiency

(26:00) A success story of investing in a rapidly growing, COVID-enabled electronic signatures company

(30:32) Many companies raising venture capital should not exist

(36:09) The need for persistence to get into the best companies

(38:57) Trusting your instincts and the strategic advantage of being contrarian in investment

I’d love to know what you took away from this conversation with Mitchell. 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

Follow me @samirkaji for my thoughts on the venture market, with a focus on the continued evolution of the VC landscape.

Today we have another version of Venture Unlocked shorts, and this time it will be focused on topics within the GP/LP world.

Joining me for this around-the-water-cooler recurring series is Meghan Reynolds, who leads capital formation at Altimeter Capital. 

Meghan recently attended iConnections in Miami, one of the biggest global capital intro summits in the world, which served as inspiration for this episode. We discussed what she observed during the summit, including how LPs are thinking about early-stage and late VC, and the place for venture overall in private portfolios.

Hope you enjoy our episode!

A word from our sponsor:

Invest in innovation. Allocate allows investors to access top-tier private funds and co-investment opportunities within the technology sector.

Despite the enormous growth of the private markets and the rapid increase of retail demand for private alternatives, investing in the highest quality private assets within the innovation sector still remains limited to institutions and ultra-connected high net worth individuals.

With Allocate, wealth advisors, banks, family offices, and other qualified investors can have a streamlined way to responsibly invest with confidence.

Go to allocate.co to find out more and please sign up to the waitlist to learn more and get early access to the platform.

About Meghan Reynolds:Meghan Reynolds is Partner and Head of VC Capital Formation and Fundraising for Altimeter, a lifecycle technology investment firm. Prior to joining Altimeter, Meghan was Managing Partner and Co-head of Fundraising at TPG. She began her career and spent nearly a decade in the Investment Management Division of Goldman Sachs.

Meghan graduated from the University of Notre Dame.

In this episode, we discuss:

(02:11) Report from the iConnections summit in Miami and what it means for the VC industry

(06:38) The complex dynamics of fundraising in the current venture capital landscape

(09:49) The recalibrated expectations among LPs with a strategic emphasis on seed and Series A investments as a method to hedge against portfolio volatility

(17:01) Forecast for a tough adjustment period for Unicorns and the venture capital ecosystem, with some hope on the horizon

(19:00) Challenges posed by multiple compression rounds and the reality for companies looking for exits

(21:11) The long journey for VC-backed companies in navigating valuation adjustments and exit strategies, with an increased reliance on the secondary market for liquidity

(23:12) The extended impact of the substantial funding raised in 2021, adding complexity to the venture capital environment

I’d love to know what you took away from this conversation with Meghan. 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

Follow me @samirkaji for my thoughts on the venture market, with a focus on the continued evolution of the VC landscape.

We have a conversation with Samir Kaul from Khosla Ventures. 

Founded in 2004, Khosla is one of the largest and most well-known venture capital firms in the world and led by legendary investor and entrepreneur Vinod Khosla. The firm is known for investing in companies that are solving very large and complex problems. The firm currently has over $15B in AUM investing in companies such as Square, Doordash, Stripe, OpenAI, and Impossible Foods.

During the episode, we covered investing across cycles, the market insanity we saw pre-2022, and how they approach both building a firm and investing.

Note: We recorded this prior to the news that Keith Rabois was rejoining the firm, hence no mention of it during the discussion.

About Samir Kaul:Samir Kaul is a Founding Partner and Managing Director at Khosla Ventures, and he specializes in investments across health, sustainability, food, and advanced technology sectors. His notable investments leading to successful exits through IPOs or acquisitions include companies like Vicarious Surgical, View, Guardant Health, Nutanix, Oscar, Quantumscape, Granular, SLD, NanoH2O, Iora Health, and Raxium. Additionally, he has played a pivotal role in investments in transformative startups such as Impossible Foods, Mojo Vision, Primer, and many others, demonstrating a keen eye for identifying and nurturing groundbreaking technologies and business models.

Before joining Khosla Ventures, Samir's career was marked by significant achievements in biotechnology and venture capital at Flagship Ventures and the Institute for Genomic Research, where he contributed to pioneering efforts in genomics and biotech startups like Helicos BioSciences and Codon Devices. His work in sequencing the Arabidopsis genome set new standards for efficiency and impact in the field of genomics. Beyond his professional endeavors, Samir is deeply committed to philanthropy, serving on the boards of the Tipping Point Community, UCSF Benioff Children’s Hospital, and the US Ski and Snowboard Association, showcasing his dedication to societal betterment and healthcare.

In this episode, we discuss:

(01:45) Samir’s career path to venture

(05:15) Traits of Successful Entrepreneurs

(06:04) Building Long-term Companies

(08:49) Venture Capital's Role Beyond Funding

(12:13) Evolution of Venture Capital

(16:15) AI and Tech Super Cycles

(22:24) Learning from Past Mistakes

(28:03) Investing in High Conviction Trends

(32:33) Firm Culture and Decision Making

(37:17) Hiring and Building a VC Team

(39:12) Advice to Younger Self

I’d love to know what you took away from this conversation with Samir. 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 

Follow me @samirkaji for my thoughts on the venture market, with a focus on the continued evolution of the VC landscape.

This is our second episode of Venture Unlocked Shorts where we highlight a specific point of view of our guest. These points of view may come through a tweet, an article, or an offline conversation, and our goal is to unpack these interesting views in a short conversation. 

In this week’s Venture Unlocked Shorts, we’re joined by Aileen Lee of Cowboy Ventures. Aileen wrote a now famous article in 2013 where she coined the term Unicorn to describe technology companies that reach a billion-dollar valuation within 10 years of founding.

Recently she and her team published a successor article looking at the last 10 years of these Unicorns, and what they believe will happen in the future.

It was fun to unpack the articles through this discussion, and I think you’ll enjoy hearing her findings and thoughts on what we may see in the future. 

About Aileen Lee:Aileen is the Founder and Managing Partner of Cowboy Ventures, a firm that invests in early-stage enterprise and consumer startups. With over two decades of experience in venture capital, she has a history of involvement from seed stage to beyond, including her time at Kleiner Perkins Caufield & Byers.

Before her venture capital career, Aileen held roles at Gap Inc. and started at Morgan Stanley. She holds degrees from MIT and HBS. Additionally, she co-founded All Raise and sits on the board of Castilleja School.

Aileen is known for introducing the term “unicorn” in the context of business. She has been recognized in Time 100's most influential people and has appeared on the Forbes Midas List.

In this episode, we discuss:

(02:30) Marking a decade of the term Unicorn and how many Unicorns have been created in the last ten years

(05:46) The impact of macroeconomic factors like zero interest rate policies on the venture capital industry

(06:37) Aileen describes the situation as a 'perfect storm' of factors leading to a surge of capital in the industry

(08:18) The future of unicorns in the venture capital landscape

(15:46) What happened in 2021?

(17:13) The importance of founders understanding the business model of the funds they are engaging with

(19:00): Aileen predicts a mix of outcomes for startups and whats ahead

I’d love to know what you took away from this conversation with Aileen. 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 

Follow me @samirkaji for my thoughts on the venture market, with a focus on the continued evolution of the VC landscape.

As we continue to grow Venture Unlocked, we are now going to release short conversations highlighting a specific point of view of our guest. These points of views may come through a tweet, an article, or conversation, and our goal is to unpack these interesting views in short form. 

Our first guest in this format is Ed Suh Founder and Managing Partner of Alpine VC.

Ed recently penned a tweet that I thought was interesting around the evolution of venture and the parallels to the industry to other asset classes such as private equity and hedge. I wanted to go deeper into his tweet, which we did during our short conversation. Hope you enjoy!

About Ed Suh:Ed Suh is the Founder and Managing Partner of Alpine Ventures, a San Francisco based technology venture capital firm. Ed previously led seed, early stage, and growth stage investments in Silicon Valley for nearly a decade across two prominent multi-stage venture firms: Goodwater Capital, a spin-out of Kleiner Perkins and Maverick Capital with over $5B of AUM, and Redpoint Ventures, a leading Silicon Valley venture firm with a 20+ year track record of leading consumer and enterprise software investments. Ed has backed multiple unicorn startups including Monzo, Everlywell, Jasper, Greenlight, and Stash. Previously, Ed was Head of Business Operations at Stitcher, the leading independent podcasting app, acquired by SiriusXM for $325 million and backed by Benchmark, NEA, and New Atlantic Ventures, as well as an investment banker at Merrill Lynch focused on technology M&A. Ed was also a member of the original growth team at Facebook, and a software engineer at Plaxo and Citadel Investment Group.Ed earned MS and BS degrees in Computer Science from Stanford University, with a specialization in Artificial Intelligence.

In this episode, we discuss:

(01:26) Discussion on venture capital becoming mainstream and its comparison to other asset categories.

(03:01) Evolution of venture capital, industry scaling, and differentiation challenges.

(04:42) Venture capital's evolution in comparison to private equity and future implications.

(06:44) Fragmentation in venture capital and its impact on alpha and risk profiles.

(09:37) Dynamics between large venture capital funds and emerging managers.

(11:51) Further insights into venture capital evolution, manager selection, and fund roles.

(13:57) Venture capital's current stage in its evolutionary cycle and future themes.

I’d love to know what you took away from this conversation with Ed. 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 

Follow me @samirkaji for my thoughts on the venture market, with a focus on the continued evolution of the VC landscape.

We are excited to bring on Brendan Wales and Kellan Carter, Co-Founders and GPs of FUSE. 

Founded in 2020 with a thesis centered around the growth of the Pacific Northwest ecosystem, a geography both of our guests know well. With its just-announced close of a $250MM Fund 2, FUSE has a total AUM of just over $420MM. 

During our conversation, we covered the strategic nature of LP composition and how venture funds should think about their servicing model to founders. It was a great conversation and I hope you enjoy it. 

About Brendan Wales:Brendan Wales is a Founding Partner at FUSE. Prior to FUSE, Brendan served as a Partner at e.ventures (now Headline) for nine years, where he collaborated with founders of high-impact startups like Shipt (acquired by Target), Fetch Rewards, and Shopmonkey. His earlier career also includes being an early employee at zozi, showcasing his hands-on experience in startup growth.

Brendan studied finance at the University of Georgia.

About Kellan Carter:Kellan Carter is a Founding Partner at FUSE. Previously, as a Partner at IGNITION PARTNERS, he focused on enterprise software investments, contributing significantly to the firm's strategy and growth. His earlier career includes roles in technology sector mergers and acquisitions at Mooreland Partners and structured finance at KPMG Advisory.

Kellan holds a Bachelor of Science in Business Administration with a Finance focus from The University of Montana.

In this episode, we discuss:

(01:22) Start of Fuse and Pacific Northwest Ecosystem

(03:00) Raising Fund During COVID and LP Composition

(06:34) Activating LPs for Strategic Advantage

(09:40) Learning from Raising Funds in Challenging Times

(17:00) Building a Cohesive Team and Operating Partners

(24:33) Defining the Product Offered to Founders

(26:10) Importance of Sourcing and Winning in Venture Capital

(31:42) Seattle's Unique Position in Technology and Startups

(38:25) Personal Advice for Venture Capital Careers

I’d love to know what you took away from this conversation with Brendan and Kellan. 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