Sitemap - 2021 - Venture Unlocked

Harbinger Ventures Megan Bent on their concentrated portfolio approach, specific traits they look for in founding teams, and consumer behavior post-pandemic

Boldstart ventures Ed Sim on starting his career during the dot-com bubble, the opportunity as being a true day one investor, and views on today's VC market compared to past eras

Lux Capital's co-founder Peter Hebert on the firm's 20 year journey, creating multi-generational success, and the changing dynamics in VC (including their use of SPAC's)

Initialized Capital's Alda Leu Dennis on building the proper culture for decision making, finding ways to win in today's market, and her concerns with the drop in diverse founder funding.

Kindred Ventures Kanyi Maqubela on large firms entering seed, the challenges of rising valuations, and the nuances of portfolio construction

Base10's TJ Nahigian on using automation and research within the firm as a competitive advantage, ways to optimize outcomes in the current investing climate, and thoughts on crossover investing.

Glasswing Ventures Rudina Seseri on frontier tech, the KPI's Glasswing uses to measure their value-add to founders, and why diversity is central to their investing ethos

Eniac Ventures Hadley Harris on portfolio construction fundamentals, partnership durability, and views on the shifting seed market

LP Roundtable with Chris Douvos (Ahoy Capital), Beezer Clarkson (Sapphire Partners), Guy Perelmuter (GRIDS Capital) on opportunity funds, red flags they watch for, and the state of the market.

We are hiring on the investment team at Allocate!

Human Ventures' Heather Hartnett on studio models, developing their business creation platform to add value to founders, and their fundraising learnings from raising their first significant fund

Global Founders Capital’s Don Stalter on their belief in larger portfolios, managing a global investment firm, and building systems and processes to deliver value at scale

Founders Fund Delian Asparouhov on Miami as a major tech hub, what he thinks as the drivers for innovation now, and the pros of incubating companies like Varda within firms

Banana Capital's Turner Novak on his unconventional path in breaking into VC, being a successful stage agnostic investor, and leveraging social platforms to build advantages

Primary Venture Partners Jason Shuman on integrating partners into an established partnership, KPI's on measuring value to founders, and views on portfolio construction.

The power of QSBS and federal tax exemptions in early stage fund investing

Broadhaven Ventures' Michael Sidgmore on democratization of venture capital, why Alts are the future of private portfolios, and the role of wealth management firms.

Act One Ventures Silton and Guerrero on the Diversity Rider initiative, building meaningful partnerships, and operating experience has been key to their model

From Norwest to starting Roble Ventures, Sergio Monsalve on equity and diversity in tech, adapting from large VC to a small, solo-GP, and investing in heated markets.

Haystack's Semil Shah on building the firm from the ground up, portfolio models, and the state of VC today

137 Ventures Justin Fishner-Wolfson on why ownership is an overvalued heuristic, building lasting teams, and the current state of secondary markets.

Assessing the world of opportunity funds

Jeff Morris, Jr. on finding your own fund/market fit, having like Lightspeed and Sequoia as LPs, and the ever-changing dynamic between entrepreneurs and VCs

Miriam Rivera on going from angel to running a firm, driving real change in diversity in tech, and how traditional heuristics should be challenged in VC.

Announcing our $5MM round and progress!

Ben Casnocha on his learnings from working with Reid Hoffman, building network incentives, and the art of portfolio construction.

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.

Meet the Expert: Braughm Ricke of Aduro Advisors on working with over 300 Emerging Firms, his time as the first CFO at True Ventures, traits of successful managers

Monique Woodard of Cake Ventures on the 3 layers of the Cake that comprise her thesis, what she learned at Lightspeed and 500 startups, fundraising during a pandemic, and diversity in the seed.

Shauntel Garvey of Reach Capital on EdTech, raising a sector focused fund, and the importance of being an active seed investor beyond the A round

An update on Allocate!

Mark Suster of Upfront Ventures on Generational Firm Evolution, Why Fundraising is Like Enterprise Sales, & The State of Venture today

Satya Patel of Homebrew on how they were able to raise their first fund in 100 days, creating enduring partnerships, and the art of fund sizing.

Jeff Clavier of Uncork Capital on being one of the earliest seed stage VC's, lessons in fundraising during a downturn, and building a multi-generational firm

Nnamdi Okike of 645 Ventures on thoughtfully growing funds, data driven sourcing in venture to reduce bias, and building one of the largest BIPOC led venture firms.

We are hiring a Venture Associate!

Stephen DeBerry of Bronze VC on social impact investing, GP commits, & the next-gen of underrepresented managers

Sunil Dhaliwal from Amplify Partners on finding overlooked investment opportunities, deal competition, and the future of venture capital

Pete Flint from NFX on network effects, VC as a platform, and how they think about fund sizes.

Jamie Rhode of Family Office Verdis Investment Management on using decision science to drive fund allocation strategy, their view on large portfolio sizes, and biggest trends they see in VC.

Paul Martino from Bullpen Capital on being an early pioneer in post-seed, conviction to back non-consensus startups + another way to think about the SPAC movement

Ashmeet Sidana on moving from a partnership with Foundation Capital to being a Solo GP, investing in technical teams, and the upside and downside of data.

Katie Jacobs Stanton on moving from angel investing to starting Moxxie, experiences with LP's "ghosting", and why she went the solo GP route

Daniel Leff of Waverley Capital on media tech, how he's crafted a successful VC career by being contrarian, and the role of strategic LPs as differentiators

Brian Garrett of Crosscut Ventures on building a regionally based seed firm outside of SV, the rise of LA, raising during a recession, and how Crosscut has evolved over the last 13 years.

Introducing our new company, Allocate

Kelsey Chase of Aumni on using data to become institutional quicker, and what LPs now expect from emerging managers - Venture Unlocked 027

Clara Brenner of Urban Innovation Fund - Venture Unlocked 026

Lindsay Lee of Authentic Ventures on operationalizing networks & creating an edge through diversity rich networks- Venture Unlocked 025

Ryan Hoover of Weekend Fund on collaborative based investing, building founder NPS, and considerations around scaling funds - Venture Unlocked Ep. 24

Renata Quintini & Roseanne Wincek of Renegade Partners on the Supercritical Stage and running a fund like a startup; Venture Unlocked #023

Welly Sculley & Winter Mead of Oper8r on building the “YC for fund managers” and tips for launching a firm - Venture Unlocked 022

Beezer Clarkson of Sapphire Partners on the #OpenLP effort, How to Pitch LP’s, & what she sees in the venture ecosystem - Venture Unlocked 021

New beginnings

Mac Conwell of RareBreed Ventures & Roy Bahat of Bloomberg Beta on the state of Emerging VC - Venture Unlocked 020

Mike Maples of Floodgate on investing models, how he thinks about exceptional companies, and building a lasting firm - Venture Unlocked Episode 019

Apurva Mehta of Summit Peak Investments on discovering the next-gen of top venture investors, Venture Unlocked Episode 018

Jaclyn Freeman Hester of Foundry Group on investing in emerging manager funds, venture trends, and mistakes fund managers can avoid when raising - Venture Unlocked Episode 017

Avidan Ross of Root VC on investing in deep tech, taking an heavy approach on reserves, and building LP relationships - Venture Unlocked 016