Follow me @samirkaji for my thoughts on the venture market, with a focus on the continued evolution of the VC landscape.
This week I’m happy to bring you my conversation with Drew Oetting, founding partner of 8VC, an Austin/SF/NY-based firm that he co-founded in 2015. Today the firm has >$3B in AUM, and has invested in companies such as Blend Labs, Addepar, Flexport, Oscar, and Hims.
About Drew Oetting:
Drew is a founding partner of 8VC. He focuses on investments across various stages and sectors including vertical software, health delivery, and biomanufacturing.
He is also a founding Board Director of Affinity Technologies, an early-stage enterprise software company. Previously he was a partner at Formation 8. Drew also served as chief of staff to Joe Lonsdale prior to starting his investing career.
Drew serves on the Competitiveness Council for Cerberus Capital Management. He is also a Trustee to LivingOnOne, a non-profit impact production studio; WeAreThorn, an NGO which leverages technology to eliminate child trafficking; and the Claremont McKenna College Center for Innovation and Entrepreneurship.
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In this episode we discuss:
03:06 Drew’s journey to becoming an investor and joining 8VC
07:49 Early days at Formation 8 Partners
11:13 Why 8VC split off to focus on early-stage investing
17:23 Creating a true partnership where everyone has an authentic voice
21:54 How 8VC builds a team first culture
28:11 Acquiring and retaining talent - What firms need do.
33:05 The difficulty of competing today
39:04 Ingredients necessary for firms to have to consistently win deals in 2022
43:51 The most impactful piece of investing advice he’s received
I’d love to know what you took away from this conversation with Drew. 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.
8VC's Drew Oetting on their decision-making culture, building talent at firms, and his most critical learnings as an investor