Today’s episode is with Lan Xuezhao, founding partner of Basis Set Ventures which has raised $301M across two funds. Lan has extensively studied AI, data science, and human psychology, and with Basis Set, she has combined those elements to bring a very unique approach to investing.
Lan’s background in corporate development at Dropbox and management at McKinsey has contributed to her data driven approach to sourcing and investing. She has a PhD in Psychology from the University of Michigan.
We chat about Lan’s unique investment philosophy, how she found GP/LP fit for Fund 1 and then Fund 2, how her firm has many shared characteristics of a portfolio company, and what makes for a founder super power.
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In this episode we discuss:
02:18 Lan’s journey into venture capital
07:40 How did she go unconventional on fund size
10:06 Lan’s learning about GP/LP fit
13:57 Constructing a different LP base in Fund 2 vs. Fund 1
17:18 The structure of the fund’s tech and investment team
21:01 Eliminating bias
22:56 Founder psychology + super power thesis
26:00 Top two key traits of the best founders
28:31 How Lan sees BSV’s place in the market today
31:25 Future of firms in her size range
34:14 Her Anti-Portfolio
36:09 Inspirations from the investment world
Mentioned in this Episode
I’d love to know what you took away from this conversation with Lan. Follow me @SamirKaji and give me your insights and questions with the hashtag #ventureunlocked. If you’d like to be considered as a guest or have someone you’d like to hear from (GP or LP), drop me a direct message on Twitter.
Podcast Production support provided by Agent Bee Agency
Lan Xuezhao of Basis Set Ventures on using data science along with human psychology to assess deals, finding LP/GP fit, founder super powers measurement, and conviction based investing.