Startup Journeys

Episode 4 features Jayesh Parekh, Managing Partner of Jungle Ventures Jayesh's career spans large corporations to pre-revenue stage startups in industries from technology to media. Jayesh began his career at IBM, then quit the cushy lifestyle to found 9 startups. He then became an equity co-founder in Sony Entertainment Television, and is now an impact and venture investor at Jungle Ventures. In this conversation, we talk about: 1) The qualities he looks for in founders of early stage startups 2) His experience hiring the wrong CEO and the right CEO 3) The weirdest pitch he's ever received 4) The biggest challenge of becoming an entrepreneur 5) Jungle Ventures' new $100 million fund, which is 10x their prior fund 6) The risk allocation in Jungle Ventures' portfolio 7) Impact investing 8) Meditation 9) Which venture firm Jayesh admires the most

Episode 3 features Adrian Li, Founding and Managing Director of Convergence Ventures, in Jakarta, Indonesia. In the past 10 years he has been involved in co-founding and operating 6 internet related start ups covering eCommerce, media, market place and product based businesses in emerging markets China and Indonesia. Adrian helped co-found Convergence two years ago, and just closed a new $30 million fund. In our conversation, we talk about applying business models of more mature markets to the emerging Indonesian market, the value of partners helping to build an ecosystem, the importance of timing when it comes to technology, and Convergence's four verticals of focus.

Episode 2 features Andy Hamilton, CEO of the Icehouse in New Zealand. We talk about the thesis behind the new Tahua Fund, the scrappy, No. 8 Wire mentality of Kiwis, New Zealand’s relationship with Silicon Valley, and the New Zealand IPO market. We also discuss two of the Tahua Fund’s investments, both of which I think you’ll find fascinating. The first is Avertana, a company that creates raw materials out of industrial waste. And the second is Sunfed Meats, which is creating synthetic meats from plant protein. If you are interested in learning more, check out the show notes – go to jessejourneys.com and click on the Startup Journeys tab.

In Episode 1 of Startup Journeys, I sat down with Niki Scevak, co-founder and Director at Blackbird Ventures, the largest venture capital fund in Australia, at Blackbird’s offices in Surry Hills, Sydney. In this conversation, we talk about Aussie’s great startup successes, what it means to be global day 1, not having an exit strategy, waves of technology innovation, and a whole lot more.