Follow me @samirkaji for my thoughts on the venture market, with a focus on the continued evolution of the VC landscape.
This week, we have friend-of-the-pod Guy Perelmuter, founder of GRIDS Capital, a firm based in Sao Paulo, Brazil that invests in deep tech focused venture funds and startups.
GRIDS, whose tagline is “Science is our Business. Business is our Science” has invested in funds such as Lux Capital and Root Ventures as well as directs into Desktop Metal, Recursion Pharmaceuticals, Instrumental, Matterport, Esper, and Momentus Space.
About Guy Perelmuter:
Guy began his career in Banking as Chief Risk Officer at Banco Pactual (acquired by UBS), one of the largest banks in Latin America. He went to Vinci Partners, an investing platform for alternative investments in 2009 as Chief Risk Officer. He and his partner, Isabelle, Co-Founded GRIDS Capital in 2016.
Guy made a memorable appearance on Venture Unlocked with the LP round table discussion and he is the author of the acclaimed book "Present Future: Business, Science and the Deep Tech Revolution.” Guy got a BS in Computer Engineering and an MS in AI from Pontifícia Universidade Católica do Rio de Janeiro.
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In this episode we discuss:
02:25 Guy’s path into investing in Deep Tech
08:39 What is Deep Tech and why other investors have historically avoided investing in it
12:12 Risk mitigation strategies Guy uses to help decide to invest into early Deep Tech startups
17:53 What makes a fund manager a good Deep Tech investor?
20:30 How GRIDS thinks about competitive moats and winning deals
24:46 What’s more important in a fund manager, track record or technical chops?
30:00 How Guy is focusing on growing as an LP and how he adds value to his GPs
36:56 Why today’s market is “extraordinary” and his case for both a bull and bear view
44:10 How new investors in the venture capital market can mitigate risk and capture upside in today’s market
50:37 The best career advice he’s ever received
I’d love to know what you took away from this conversation with Guy. 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.
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