Podcast appearances and mentions of August Capital

On this episode of Tank Talks, we welcome back Villi Iltchev, founder and managing partner of Category Ventures, for an unfiltered deep dive into the evolving venture capital landscape. From his early days at Salesforce Ventures to launching his solo $160M fund, Villi unpacks the seismic shifts happening in enterprise software, how AI is reshaping startup economics, and what today's founders need most from their investors.We get tactical about startup pricing models, founder-investor trust, and what it takes to build truly category-defining companies. Villi also shares what he learned from backing GitLab, why transparency builds long-term trust, and how he thinks about firm design as a solo GP.Whether you're an aspiring founder, current operator, or an emerging VC, this episode is a masterclass in strategic thinking and building with purpose.Inside the Mind of a Modern VC (00:01:00)* Villi's journey from tech banking to Salesforce Ventures* Why Salesforce's transformation into a platform company changed everything* The parallels between Salesforce and NVIDIA's ecosystem dominance* How being early at Salesforce shaped Villi's thesis around go-to-market and platform strategyScaling GitLab: Lessons from the Frontlines (00:15:00)* The inside story of GitLab's infamous database failure—and why live-streaming the crisis built trust* Why Villi pushed GitLab to sunset unscalable SKUs and simplify pricing* The power of bundling and setting an “aspirational” price point from day oneGoing Solo: Building Category Ventures (00:25:00)* Why Villi finally felt ready to start his own fund—and what changed* The biggest surprises (and reliefs) in raising as a solo GP* How LPs are getting more sophisticated and what they want from fund managers* Why venture needs a reset and what legacy firms are getting wrongThe New Rules of Early-Stage Investing (00:32:00)* Why founder/firm misalignment leads to orphaned startups* The real impact of mega-funds dabbling at seed and pre-seed* Why Category Ventures is built to be flexible—and fiercely focused on enterprise softwareAI, Startups & the Future of Enterprise (00:38:00)* Villi's hot take on AI-powered lean startups: “It's not the norm—and won't be.”* Why AI is a second-order unlock for vertical SaaS and back-office automation* The coming wave of software replacing the BPO industryLife, Adrenaline, and VC Energy (00:45:00)* What gets Villi's adrenaline pumping as a VC* Why endless internal meetings kill his vibe—and founder calls fuel him* How skiing and extreme adventure balance the chaos of ventureAs the venture landscape shifts under our feet, Villi Iltchev is proving that thoughtful investing, deep expertise, and founder-first empathy are more vital than ever. From GitLab board rooms to building Category VC, his journey is a blueprint for those looking to lead with clarity—and conviction.About Villi Iltchev:Villi Iltchev is the founder and managing partner of Category Ventures, a $160M early-stage venture firm focused exclusively on enterprise software. With a career spanning both operating and investing, Villi brings a rare blend of empathy and edge to the startups he backs—having sat on both sides of the table.He began his career in tech investment banking before transitioning into operating roles at companies like Hewlett-Packard, LifeLock, and Box. He later joined Salesforce Ventures at its inception, helping to build one of the most influential corporate venture arms in the world. During his time there, he led investments in category-defining companies like GitLab and HubSpot.Prior to launching Category Ventures, Villi was a partner at August Capital and Two Sigma Ventures, where he built a strong track record backing developer tools, infrastructure, and vertical SaaS startups. His investments are grounded in deep enterprise domain expertise, a keen sense for go-to-market strategy, and a relentless focus on founder empathy.A lifelong learner and backcountry skiing enthusiast, Villi draws creative energy from the outdoors and adrenaline-fueled adventures. He holds degrees in finance and philosophy and is driven by a singular belief: the best founders don't just build products—they redefine categories.Follow Villi Iltchev on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/villi04Visit the Category Ventures website: https://www.categoryvc.com/Follow Matt Cohen on LinkedIn: https://ca.linkedin.com/in/matt-cohen1Visit the Ripple Ventures website: https://www.rippleventures.com/ This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit tanktalks.substack.com

David Hornik, founding partner at Lobby Capital, shares insights from his 25-year journey in the industry. David discusses the evolution of venture capital, the growing importance of relationships over transactions, and his structured yet practical approach to investing. He highlights how liquidity challenges impact founders and early investors. David also shares his take on what makes a startup truly investable and why understanding a problem deeply is more valuable than chasing market trends.In this episode, you'll learn:[06:14] How venture capital has evolved from a simple early- vs. late-stage VC model to today's fragmented landscape with seed, pre-seed, and late-stage funds[09:57] Entrepreneurship was for misfits in the 90's; it's now a top career choice.[19:06] Networking is a key driver for startup connections and investment in venture capital.[26:23] How David evaluates startups[32:21] Common reasons for saying no to a startups[35:07] Why even great VCs miss billion-dollar opportunitiesThe non-profit organization that David is passionate about: Institute of Contemporary Art in San FranciscoAbout David HornikDavid Hornik is the founding partner of Lobby Capital, a Silicon Valley-based venture firm focused on Series A investments. With nearly 25 years in venture capital, he previously spent two decades at August Capital. A seasoned investor, he has backed companies like Fastly, Splunk, and MaintainX. David also created Lobby, a renowned invite-only conference fostering deep founder-investor relationships. In addition to investing, he teaches entrepreneurship at Stanford and Harvard. Known for his relationship-driven approach, he emphasizes market potential, customer validation, and founder expertise when evaluating startups. He and his wife support the Institute of Contemporary Art in San Francisco.About Lobby CapitalLobby Capital is a Silicon Valley-based venture firm founded on decades of experience and a powerful network of entrepreneurs, investors, and industry leaders. Emerging from the renowned Lobby Conference community, the firm takes a people-first, hands-on approach to Series A investing. By providing deep expertise, strategic connections, and dedicated support, Lobby Capital helps founders scale and build transformative companies. With a strong belief that great businesses are built by great people, the firm leverages relationships to drive venture success and long-term impact. Its portfolio companies include Vantage Discovery, Kolena, Apera AI, Ownify, Procyon.ai, Faros AI, The Easy Company, Sprout Labs, Better Trucks, ForeVR Games among others.Subscribe to our podcast and stay tuned for our next episode.

Collin Wallace is the Former Head of Techstars Silicon Valley (one of the top startup accelerators), co-teaches the Startup Garage accelerator class at the Stanford Graduate School of Business (GSB), and is a partner at Lobby Capital (formerly August Capital), a Silicon Valley venture capital firm. Previously, as a repeat founder, he also was a participant in Techstars and Y Combinator (YC is, of course, also a top startup accelerator). One of the startups that he founded (FanGo) was acquired by Grubhub pre-IPO, where he became Head of Innovation. In this interview, we talk about startup accelerators, how they've changed, and whether they are worth it for founders. We also talk about how much equity startup accelerators take, the amount of funding they provide, and some details regarding SAFEs and other startup accelerator financing terms, as well as differences between startup accelerators. We also talk about the types of problems startup accelerators are especially good at helping founders solve. In addition, we discuss the differences between accelerators: Y Combinator vs Techstars vs Pear VC, etc. Collin has invested in over 80 early-stage companies, including PayJoy, Landed, Mosaic Voice, Postscript, and Vellum. He has a BS from Georgia Tech, and an MBA from the Stanford Graduate School of Business. In addition, he speaks Mandarin Chinese.

My guest this week is Brent Franson, an entrepreneur and founder and CEO of a company called Most Days. I met Brent a while back when he had me on his podcast. I really wanted to talk with him after I listened to an episode of his podcast where he described the things that led him to the work he does now, which is focused on helping people make positive changes in their lives. Brent talked about his history of addiction and what helped him overcome it. We talked about self-compassion, which is built into the Most Days approach, and the limits of self-improvement. Topics we got into included: The events that led to Brent's interest in and motivation for positive behavior change Brent's history of addiction The destructive dynamics of addiction My guest's experience in rehab Honest with oneself as an essential starting place for change The importance of self-compassion Balancing self-compassion with structure and discipline The important difference between self-criticism and self-critique The limits of self-improvement Allowing yourself to have some off-days The influence of meditation and mindfulness on my guest's life and work Learning about one's “inner talk track” Focusing on consistency before intensity when building new habits Check out the Most Days Show and the Most Days app, and contact Brent here. You can hear Brent tell his story on his podcast: Part 1: The Story of Most Days and Part 2: The Importance of Big Decisions. Brent Franson is the founder and CEO of Most Days. A serial entrepreneur, Brent's interest in entrepreneurial endeavors began in high school when he founded a full-service search technology marketing agency. After moving to Palo Alto in 2005, Brent was on the founding team of Reputation.com, the worldwide leader in online reputation management. Reputation.com was named a Technology Pioneer by the World Economic Forum and was backed by Kleiner Perkins, Bessemer Venture Partners, and August Capital. Most recently, Brent was the CEO of Euclid Analytics, a leader in retail data and analytics backed by Benchmark Capital, NEA, Harrison Metal, and Groupe Arnault. Under his leadership, Euclid was acquired by WeWork in 2019. Brent has been named a LinkedIn Top Voice, and has regularly contributed to Forbes, LinkedIn, Inc, Entrepreneur, and other publications. Brent is a father, and an athlete who enjoys his routine, reading, running, skiing, skydiving, and anything that involves pushing his own boundaries.

In this episode, Prashant Choubey talks to David Honik, Founding Partner of Lobby Capital & someone with over 23 years of investing experience in startups. They talk about: The Rebirth of August Capital as Lobby Capital:- - David shared insights into the evolution of August Capital and their decision to transition to Lobby Capital. - They discussed the importance of maintaining a smaller fund to stay focused on supporting and nurturing promising companies. - Lobby Capital raised a $225 million fund and plans to continue its approach with Lobby II. Managing Split Funds:- - David explained the concept of split funds and how August Capital managed its core fund and special opportunities fund. - They highlighted successful investments in companies like GitLab, Bill, Splunk, and Fastly. - The approach of managing split funds proved to be sensible and beneficial for both LPs and the organization. The Ideal Amount of Funds in Venture Capital:- - We delved into the debate surrounding the ideal amount of funds that should be managed to generate successful returns. - David shared their opinion and how Lobby Capital implements its seed investment strategy. Venture Capital as the Best Job in the World:- - David discussed why venture capital is considered the best job in the world. - They highlighted the thrill of witnessing companies grow from small teams to large, revenue-generating entities. Criteria for Evaluating Startups and Making Investments:- - We explored the criteria Lobby Capital considers when evaluating startups and making investments. - David emphasized the importance of finding amazing individuals who are making a positive impact on the world. Decision-Making Process within the Partnership:- - David explained the decision-making process within their partnership, focusing on reaching a consensus rather than relying on a voting mechanism. The Importance of Human Capital in Venture Capital:- - We discussed the importance of human capital in venture capital and how Lobby Capital actively supports their portfolio companies. - David highlighted the hardships entrepreneurs face and how Lobby Capital aims to be there for founders in both their professional and personal lives. Regrets and Lessons from Investing:- - David shared their regrets about passing on Uber and LinkedIn, emphasizing the importance of investing in amazing people. - They discussed the limitations of AI in venture capital and the value of identifying remarkable entrepreneurs. If you're interested in learning more about these topics and hearing David's insights firsthand, make sure to tune in to this episode on our podcast platform. Don't forget to follow David Hornick on social media: Twitter - https://twitter.com/davidhornik LinkedIn - https://www.linkedin.com/in/davidhornik/ Threads - @davidhornik Hosted by Prashant Choubey Twitter - https://twitter.com/ChoubeySahab Linkedin - https://www.linkedin.com/in/choubeysahab/ As always, we appreciate your support and feedback. If you have any questions or suggestions for future episodes, feel free to reach out to us.

We interview David Hornik on the intersection of venture capital and law. We discuss the role of the attorney in venture capital, the importance of early legal decision making, corporate governance and ESG, the power of giving, liberalizing the trading of private securities, and SPACs.A bit about David Hornik:David Hornik is an American venture capitalist, lawyer, educator, art collector, and philanthropist. David has an eclectic educational background. He received a BA from Stanford in Computer Music, an MPhil in Criminology from Cambridge University, and a JD from Harvard Law School.In his early career, David worked in public defense, at Cravath, and then at Perkins, as an attorney representing startups. David then transitioned into the venture capital world. For more than 25 years, David has helped technology entrepreneurs build transformative businesses. Prior to founding Lobby Capital, he was a General Partner at August Capital for 20 years. David has sat on the board of countless companies, including multiple which had gone public. In 2013, Deloitte named Hornik the “Silicon Valley Venture Capitalist Of The Year.”David served as the Tech Curator for the TED Conference in Vancouver and co-created and hosted TEDxStanford. His investing stories have been featured in American author Adam Grant's New York Times Bestseller, Give and Take: A Revolutionary Approach to Success. In addition to his investing career, David teaches entrepreneurship at Harvard Law School, and business management at Stanford Graduate School of Business.

Today our listeners are in for a real treat.  We have the opportunity to speak with and learn from David Hornik of Lobby Capital.  David has worked with technology startups in software for nearly two decades, enjoying exceptional success over the years investing in companies like Splunk, Fastly and GitLab.  David talks about the evolution of the venture capital industry, how he adds value to founders, and what he looks for when making startup investments.  Our listeners are sure to come away with some great insights! Key Points From This Episode:A quick look at David's long and varied career in and around the world of venture capital. How David navigates the competitive dynamics of funding successful startups.The value and resources David brings to help startup founders be successful outside of purely capital.Characteristics of founders that get David excited about an opportunity.Reflections on the good and bad deals in David's career and what separates them.  The frothy environment in venture capital valuations, and how early-stage investing can be somewhat insulated.His specialization in software and why he does not stray outside the vertical.A perspective on the blockchain, Web3, and crypto space.About David HornikDavid is a Founding Partner with Lobby Capital and the creator and Executive Producer of The Lobby Conference. He invests broadly in information technology companies, with a focus on consumer-facing software and services, enterprise applications, and infrastructure software. He is the author of the first Venture Capital blog, VentureBlog, and the first Venture Capital podcast, VentureCast. Prior to Lobby Capital, David was a General Partner at August Capital for 20 years. David teaches business and law at Harvard Law School and Stanford's Graduate School of Business.

David Hornik is an investor and General Partner at venture capital firm, August Capital.  Since joining August Capital in 2000, David has invested in some of the biggest names in enterprise software and SaaS, including Splunk, Fastly, GitLab, WePay, and Bill.com.David is the creator of August Capital's annual gathering of industry thought-leaders, The Lobby, and Lobby: Enterprise. Building on those initiatives Lobby Capital was born, founded by David in February 2021, to invest in inspiring entrepreneurs from across the Software space.David sits on the board and is actively involved in multiple publicly listed companies, three of which we discuss during the interview; I finish by asking David for his 2022 outlook - Enjoy!Thanks to Cofruition for consulting on and producing the podcast. Want further Opto insights? Check out our daily newsletter: https://www.cmcmarkets.com/en-gb/opto/newsletter------------------Past performance is not a reliable indicator of future results.CMC Markets is an execution-only service provider. The material (whether or not it states any opinions) is for general information purposes only and does not take into account your personal circumstances or objectives. Nothing in this material is (or should be considered to be) financial, investment, or other advice on which reliance should be placed. No opinion given in the material constitutes a recommendation by CMC Markets or the author that any particular investment, security, transaction, or investment strategy is suitable for any specific person.The material has not been prepared in accordance with legal requirements designed to promote the independence of investment research. Although we are not specifically prevented from dealing before providing this material, we do not seek to take advantage of the material prior to its dissemination.CMC Markets does not endorse or offer opinions on the trading strategies used by the author. Their trading strategies do not guarantee any return and CMC Markets shall not be held responsible for any loss that you may incur, either directly or indirectly, arising from any investment based on any information contained herein for any loss that you may incur, either directly or indirectly, arising from any investment based on any information contained herein.

Few VC investors have seen more than David Hornik. He's Founding Partner at Lobby Capital, which he co-founded after 20 years as General Partner of the legendary VC firm August Capital. Based on The Lobby Conference, David admits that Lobby Capital is about one simple understanding: “it's all about the people.” He's invested in 40 companies, 5 of which grew into multi-billion-dollar businesses. His success stories include Splunk, Bill.com, Fastly, GitLab, MaintainX, Vowel, PayNearMe. Along with his colleagues at August Capital, David started the first venture capital blog, VentureBlog, and the first venture capital podcast, VentureCast. He's received Deloitte's Venture Capitalist of the Year award and has been honored by Forbes Magazine as a member of its Midas List of top Venture Capitalists. When not investing, David teaches entrepreneurship & VC at Stanford Business School and Harvard Law School. In this 20-minute conversation, David reveals what 20+ years as a VC have taught him about the people part of growth-stage companies.  

Episode fourteen of DrinksWithAVC welcomes the prophetic insights of David Hornik from Lobby Capital, dubbed the 'Nostradamus of Numbers' and 'soothsayer of SPACs.' Vik and Bree delve into David's evolution from a dedicated lawyer to a venture capital virtuoso, his ardor for the fine arts, his advocacy within the LGBTQIA+ community, and his reputed knack for forecasting market trends. Tune in for a glimpse into the journey and genius of a VC maestro. Plus, Tuvan throat singing!Links:www.lobby.vcwww.twitter.com/davidhornik

➡️ If you liked the show, please subscribe & leave a podcast review on iTunes! https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/success-story/id1484783544 ➡️ For More Episodes Visit: www.podcast.scottdclary.com In this week's episode we sit down with Steve Hoffman, Chairman & CEO of Founders Space. Founders Space is one of the world’s leading incubators and accelerators. He’s also an angel investor, limited partner at August Capital, serial entrepreneur, and author of several award-winning books. These include Make Elephants Fly and Surviving a Startup. Hoffman is a serial entrepreneur, founding and exiting two venture-backed startups, in the areas of games and entertainment. Hoffman went on to launch Founders Space after his own successes, with the mission to educate and accelerate entrepreneurs. Founders Space has become one of the top startup accelerators in the world. Hoffman has trained hundreds of startup founders and corporate executives in the art of innovation and provided consulting to many of the world’s largest corporations, including Qualcomm, Huawei, Bosch, Intel, Disney, Warner Brothers, NBC, Gulf Oil, Siemens, and Viacom. ➡️ Show Links https://Twitter.com/CaptainHoff/ https://FoundersSpace.com ➡️ Books (Aff Link) The Five Forces That Change Everything - https://amzn.to/341F1V3 Make Elephants Fly: The Process of Radical Innovation - https://amzn.to/3ypCnpZ Surviving a Startup - https://amzn.to/33W2Xcv ➡️ Show Sponsor BKA Content https://www.bkacontent.com/success/ (1 Month of FREE Blogs) BKA Content provides high-quality SEO content at affordable prices. No matter what type of on-page or off-page content you’re looking for, we can help. ➡️ Talking Points 00:00 - Steve Hoffman, Chairman of Founders Space 08:34 - Lessons learned from working from entrepreneurs around the world. 14:43 - How to start a business, with just an idea. 19:45 - How to hire your first employees. 25:38 - What do you do with bad hires? 29:42 - How to bootstrap a company. 34:14 - What to think about when looking for investors. 42:37 - What is growth leadership? ➡️ SUCCESS STORY PODCAST Stories worth telling. Welcome to the Success Story Podcast, hosted by entrepreneur, business executive, author, educator & speaker, Scott D. Clary. On this podcast, you'll find interviews, Q&A, keynote presentations & conversations on sales, marketing, business, startups and entrepreneurship. Scott will discuss some of the lessons he's learned over his own career, as well as have candid interviews with execs, celebrities, notable figures and politicians. All who have achieved success through both wins and losses, to learn more about their life, their ideas and insights. He sits down with leaders and mentors and unpacks their story to help pass those lessons onto others through both experiences and tactical strategy for business professionals, entrepreneurs and everyone in between. Website: https://www.scottdclary.com Podcast: https://www.successstorypodcast.com YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/scottdclary Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/scottdclary Twitter: https://twitter.com/scottdclary Facebook: https://facebook.com/scottdclarypage LinkedIn: https://linkedin.com/in/scottdclary

In this episode, Hall welcomes David Hornik, Founder and General Partner at Lobby Capital. Lobby Capital is a venture capital firm headquartered in San Francisco, California. They join forces to collectively fund, advise, support, and mentor the next great innovators. Seven colleagues, confidants and friends have been building, advising, and funding startups for a collective 175 years and counting. Over those years their paths have crossed, at times converging and others diverging. But today they lock arms to bring you Lobby Capital — a venture capital firm that is all about the people. For the last 25 years, David has worked closely with technology entrepreneurs to help them build transformative businesses. Prior to founding Lobby Capital, David was a partner at August Capital for 20 years. David invests in a broad range of software companies, including enterprise application, infrastructure, and SaaS businesses (e.g, Splunk, Fastly, GitLab), financial technology companies (e.g., Bill.com, WePay, PayNearMe), and consumer services (e.g., Evite, Ebates, TopHatter). David has an eclectic educational background. He received a BA from Stanford in Computer Music, an M.Phil in Criminology from Cambridge University, and a JD from Harvard Law School. He teaches courses in entrepreneurship and venture capital at Stanford Business School and Harvard Law School and serves as a VC Partner at the Harvard Business School. David started the first venture capital blog, VentureBlog, and the first venture capital podcast, VentureCast, and is the host of LobbyTV. He has served as the Tech Curator for the TED Conference in Vancouver and was the co-creator and host of TEDxStanford. David has received Deloitte’s Venture Capitalist of the Year award and has been honored by Forbes Magazine as a member of its Midas List of top Venture Capitalists. David lives in Palo Alto with his wife Pamela, their four children, and their puppy Teddy. David serves on the board of GLAAD, a leading LGBTQ rights organization, and is a member of the board of the Stanford Alumni Association. David advises investors and entrepreneurs, discusses where he sees the industry going, and shares what excites him in the space. You can visit Lobby Capital at . David can be contacted via email at , and via LinkedIn at .  Music courtesy of .

The serial entrepreneur, angel investor, LP in August Capital, and CEO of Founders Space shares how he was able to turn his hobbies into a cash-flow positive money-making empire.

In this episode, Hall welcomes back Steven Hoffman, Chairman and CEO of Founders Space, and author of several award-winning books to include “Surviving a Startup”. Located in the San Francisco Bay Area, Founders Space has created an international network of incubators, entrepreneurs, and investors, with over 50 partners in 22 countries. They offer corporate innovation programs, an online startup incubator, tours, and seminars. Steve is an angel investor, a limited partner at August Capital, and a serial entrepreneur. He was the Founder and Chairman of the Producers Guild Silicon Valley Chapter, Board of Governors of the New Media Council, and founding member of the Academy of Television's Interactive Media Group. While in Hollywood, Steve worked as a TV development executive and went on to pioneer interactive television with his venture-funded startup Spiderdance, which produced interactive TV shows with NBC, MTV, Turner, Warner Brothers, History Channel, Game Show Network, and others. In Silicon Valley, Steve founded two more venture-backed startups, in the areas of games and entertainment, and worked as Mobile Studio Head for Infospace. Steve has a BS from the University of California in Computer Engineering and an MFA from the University of Southern California in Cinema Television. He currently resides in San Francisco but spends most of his time in the air, visiting startups, investors, and innovators all over the world.  You can purchase Steven’s books at .  You can visit Founders Space at , and via Twitter at .   Steven can be contacted via email at or , and via LinkedIn at .  Music courtesy of .

Waikit Lau has founded 2 machine learning-based companies that were acquired and he helped take one public. He has been on both VC and founding/operating side.    Tim Alison is an entrepreneur who has started and scaled four businesses. At the age of 31 Tim walked away from one of the highest paying sales jobs in the country, moved to a tiny fishing village in Nova Scotia Canada, and started an educational software company. The naysayers laughed. They stopped laughing when his sales topped $10 million.   Rich Razgaitis has been passionate about building brands and teams. Since 2002, he has served in CEO/president-level roles in several venture capital backed start-ups, privately held turnaround and growth companies, and he brings insight from those experiences to his work today at FloWater. Raz was the CEO of several consumer-tech companies, including DealOn, an e-commerce company that developed the Web's first deal-commerce exchange, and another, MyTownPerks, which built the first PCI-complaint, cloud-based loyalty program for B2B. (Both companies were subsequently acquired.)    Steve Hoffman. Steve, or Captain Hoff as he's called in Silicon Valley, is the CEO of Founders Space, one of the world's leading incubators and accelerators. He's also an angel investor, limited partner at August Capital, serial entrepreneur, and author of Make Elephants Fly, the award-winning book on radical innovation. Always innovating on his life, Captain Hoff has tried more professions than cats have lives, including serial entrepreneur, venture capitalist, angel investor, studio head, computer engineer, filmmaker, Hollywood TV exec, published author, coder, game designer, manga rewriter, animator and voice actor. Hoffman was the Founder and Chairman of the Producers Guild Silicon Valley Chapter, Board of Governors of the New Media Council, and founding member of the Academy of Television's Interactive Media Group.

After spending time at Facebook and Dropbox, Russ Heddleston saw the need for a secure document sharing platform. So he created the SaaS platform DocSend, where he’s now CEO. Based in Silicon Valley, DocSend now has 15,000 customers & 60 employees. Plus, talented investors like DCM Ventures, August Capital, Cowboy Ventures, Lerer Hippeau, Uncork Capital (You may never send an attachment again.) Russ says “A Rockstar at one place might not be a Rockstar someplace else” I couldn’t have said it better myself. In this 20-minute conversation, Russ reveals how he’s scaled a team of Rockstars.

Roger King Roger King founded BayAngels which is dedicated to promoting the entrepreneurial spirit by assisting early-stage technology companies with capital, connections, and board-level advice. Examples of our portfolio companies include Pree Media, CashBet, Trpz, Sea of Change Trading Co., CEO of Chiefpeople 20 years' experience in recruiting at both the executive level and the individual contributor level. Interested in companies with hiring needs. Offering extremely cost-effective solutions. Clients include SoftBank Robotics, Jiff, Gracenote, OpenTable, Manage, Grid Dynamics, and Navera.   Max Shapiro Max Shapiro Founded PeopleConnect in 2000 to help early-stage high-tech companies find the talent they need to succeed. Their clients are in technology, biotech, cleantech, apps, services, medical devices, and consumer products. He is also involved in areas that also support the startup community: ● Angel Investor and member of Keiretsu Forum since 2001 ● Co-founder of Runway Innovation Hub ● Creator & Producer of PitchForce PitchForce is a weekly pitch event for early stage companies with a panel of establish angel investors and CEO's   Steve Hoffman Steve Hoffman, or Captain Hoff as he's called in Silicon Valley. Steve is the CEO of Founders Space, one of the world's leading incubators and accelerators. He's also an angel investor, limited partner at August Capital, serial entrepreneur, and author of Make Elephants Fly, the award-winning book on radical innovation. Always innovating on his life, Captain Hoff has tried more professions than cats have lives, including serial entrepreneur, venture capitalist, angel investor, studio head, computer engineer, filmmaker, Hollywood TV exec, published author, coder, game designer, manga rewriter, animator and voice actor. Steve was the Founder and Chairman of the Producers Guild Silicon Valley Chapter, Board of Governors of the New Media Council, and founding member of the Academy of Television's Interactive Media Group.     CONNECT WITH SHAWN https://linktr.ee/ShawnflynnSV Shawn Flynn's LinkedInAccount Silicon Valley LinkedInGroup Account Shawn Flynn's FacebookAccount Email Shawn@thesiliconvalleypodcast.com    

Miguel Armaza sits down with James Paris, CEO of Avant, one of the pioneer in online lending dedicated to providing banking solutions for the US middle. Since 2012, Avant has served over 1.5 million customers with over $6.5 billion in loans and 400,000 credit cards. The company has also raised over $600 million of equity capital from General Atlantic, JP Morgan, Peter Thiel, Ribbit Capital, DFJ, Tiger Global, QED, August Capital, and many more! We talked about: - James’ background as a traditional investment banker - The story behind Avant - Their decision to spin out Amount, a SaaS business - His thoughts on the evolution of the fintech lending and underwriting space - Talent and company culture - Why you should always be nice to your interns and junior employees - And a whole lot more! About Avant Avant is dedicated to building premier digital banking solutions for the middle class through a combination of technology, analytics and superior customer service. Since 2012, Avant has connected over 1.5 million customers to $6.5 billion in loans and to 400,000 credit cards. A high growth financial technology company, Avant has been featured in The Wall Street Journal, The New York Times, TechCrunch, Fortune, Bloomberg, and has raised over $600 million of equity capital. Visit www.avant.com for more information.

For this episode I interviewed Steven S Hoffman, where we discuss all things about startup ideas, building an MVP, validation, growth, funding, scaling and much much more.Steve Hoffman, or Captain Hoff as he’s called in Silicon Valley, is the Chairman & CEO of Founders Space, one of the world’s leading incubators and accelerators. He’s also an angel investor, limited partner at August Capital, serial entrepreneur, and author of several award-winning books. These include Make Elephants Fly, Surviving a Startup and The Five Forces that Change Everything.Hoffman has founded multiple venture backed companies and trained hundreds of founders and corporate executives. This episode is must listen for all tech startup foundersSome other things that we discuss on the podcast.Wishful thinkingFiguring out the direction is really importantHidden insightsKickstarterIndigogoB2B vs B2Book recommendationNever Split the differenceLittle Big ManPodcast recommendations:-FreakonomicsThe hidden BrainConnect with Steve Hoffman:-https://www.foundersspace.com/https://www.facebook.com/groups/foundersspace/https://www.instagram.com/foundersspace/https://www.linkedin.com/in/captainhoff/https://twitter.com/foundersspacehttps://www.youtube.com/c/FoundersspaceGroupIf you enjoyed this episode then please subscribe, I will be interviewing other successful founders and investors to provide you a shortcut to success.Follow instagram:- https://www.instagram.com/wantmoneygotmoney/

The fourth episode of the Founders Counsel podcast, “How can VCs best help founders?,” is out now. This episode examines what it means to be considered a “founder-friendly” venture capitalist and how VCs can best help founders. Host Doug Mandell is joined by two successful Silicon Valley VCs, David Hornik of August Capital and Jim Scheinman of Maven Ventures, who are both known for building strong relationships with founders and helping their companies scale. Jim and David share their advice to founders of early-stage companies, their unexpected career paths into venture capital, what characteristics and qualities they look for in new founders, and much more.Hear examples of entrepreneurs that our guests worked with from the early stages as their company successfully scaled up. What made these founders stand out? What led to their eventual success?We hope you enjoy and learn from episode 4 of the Founders Counsel. Let us know what you think by leaving a comment or rating the podcast!GuestsDavid Hornik – General Partner at August Capital. For the last 20 years, David has worked closely with technology companies to help them grow and prosper. Since then, has invested in dozens of companies across the software spectrum, including a number of enterprise software and SaaS (Splunk, Fastly, GitLab), consumer services (Evite, Ebates, Drop), and financial technology companies (WePay, Bill.com, PayNearMe). David has also served as the Tech Curator for the TED Conference in Vancouver and is the co-creator and host of TEDxStanford. He received Deloitte’s 2013 Venture Capitalist of the Year award and has been honored by Forbes Magazine as a member of its Midas List of top Venture Capitalists.Jim Scheinman – Founding Managing Partner at Maven Ventures, a leading seed stage venture firm for emerging consumer software and autonomous technology startups. Jim has been fortunate to have achieved five unicorn exits ($1B+ exits/valuations) in his career in roles ranging from founder, executive, and investor. His top performers include Zoom, Cruise and Bebo. Jim is one of the leading growth experts in Silicon Valley and has a TED talk. He’s now most well-known for naming Zoom.

Meet Tech Investor David Hornik; we had a delightful conversation exploring how all business is personal, the things that inspire him, where he got his self-confidence and how equity requires intentionality. Our conversation explored American politics a week after the election, the value of leaning into equity and cultivating diversity in the technology industry. David is a General Partner at August Capital, where he invests in consumer and enterprise software and services. He has worked closely with startups for the last 20 years. He is the founder and producer of The Lobby conferences, a series of events that gather the thought leaders in consumer and enterprise technology. Our conversation explored American politics a week after the American election, the value of leaning into equity and cultivating diversity in the technology industry. Connect with Che at https://www.coachchemarville.com/ --- Send in a voice message: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/chemarvilleletstalk/message

On today’s Tank Talk! We welcome our guest Villi Iltchev, Partner @ Two Sigma Ventures.On today's Talk, we ask Villi about his journey into technology investing after starting his career at HP on the corporate development side and then moving over to Salesforce during the last crisis. We ask Villis' about his time as Vice President of Corp Dev at Salesforce Ventures and about some of the amazing startups he invested in like BOX, Hubspot, Zapier and countless others.We dig into Villi’s experience moving from corporate venture into traditional venture roles as a Partner at August Capital where he made his investment into unicorn startup Gitlab as the Series B lead and his reasons behind that investment even after 100 Venture firms already passed on them. Next, we ask Villi to explain why Two Sigma Ventures was the best fit for him for his next journey in venture and how their quantitative approach to investing on the public side has shaped their investment strategy on the venture side. Finally, we ask Villi what he looks for when investing in emerging areas and how he manages timing risk and avoids being too early into an emerging market. This tank talk really helps you think about the ways in which venture investors are forced to think outside the box and into the future sometimes decades ahead in order to place bets on startups at the early stage today and how founders should approach these kinds of investors.Now please welcome today's guest to the Tank, Villi Iltchev.Books Mentioned In The Show:-The Brothers Karamazov- The Death of Ivan IlychVilli’s words of inspiration - “Have a truthful life, do things that are meaningful and do things that matter.” This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit tanktalks.substack.com

On today’s Tank Talk! We welcome our guest Villi Iltchev, Partner @ Two Sigma Ventures.On today's Talk, we ask Villi about his journey into technology investing after starting his career at HP on the corporate development side and then moving over to Salesforce during the last crisis. We ask Villis' about his time as Vice President of Corp Dev at Salesforce Ventures and about some of the amazing startups he invested in like BOX, Hubspot, Zapier and countless others.We dig into Villi’s experience moving from corporate venture into traditional venture roles as a Partner at August Capital where he made his investment into unicorn startup Gitlab as the Series B lead and his reasons behind that investment even after 100 Venture firms already passed on them. Next, we ask Villi to explain why Two Sigma Ventures was the best fit for him for his next journey in venture and how their quantitative approach to investing on the public side has shaped their investment strategy on the venture side. Finally, we ask Villi what he looks for when investing in emerging areas and how he manages timing risk and avoids being too early into an emerging market. This tank talk really helps you think about the ways in which venture investors are forced to think outside the box and into the future sometimes decades ahead in order to place bets on startups at the early stage today and how founders should approach these kinds of investors.Now please welcome today's guest to the Tank, Villi Iltchev.Books Mentioned In The Show:- The Brothers Karamazov- The Death of Ivan IlychVilli’s words of inspiration - “Have a truthful life, do things that are meaningful and do things that matter.”

Steven Hoffman is the Chairman & CEO of Founders Space, one of the world's leading incubators and accelerators, with over 50 partners in 22 countries. Founders Space has helped hundreds of start-ups scale their businesses, raise capital, and go global. Before launching Founders Space in 2010, Steven was the Founder & Chairman of the Silicon Valley Chapter of the Producers Guild of America. He has served on the Board of Governors of the New Media Council, and he is a founding member of the Academy of Television's Interactive Media Group. He was previously based in Hollywood, where he worked as a TV development executive at Fries Entertainment, and he eventually went on to pioneer interactive television with his venture-funded start-up, Spiderdance. Now based in Silicon Valley, Steven has founded several venture-backed start-ups, specifically in the area of games and entertainment, and he has worked as a Mobile Studio Head for the mobile games division of Infospace. In the course of his career, he has trained hundreds of start-up founders and corporate executives in the art of innovation, and provided consulting to many of the world's largest corporations, including Qualcomm, Huawei, Bosch, Intel, Disney, Warner Brothers, NBC, Gulf Oil, Siemens, and Viacom. Besides his work at Founders Space, Steven is an angel investor, a limited partner at August Capital, a serial entrepreneur, and the author of several award-winning books, including “Make Elephants Fly” and “Surviving a Startup”.    Links: Founders Space website Founders Space on Facebook Founders Space on YouTube Founders Space on Instagram Founders Space on Twitter Steven's books Steven on LinkedIn   This episode was sponsored by Vistatec.

Avi Freedman is the co-founder and CEO at Kentik which is a network intelligence platform that provides visibility, performance, and security services to digital enterprises. The company has raised over $50 million from top tier investors such as First Round Capital, Data Collective DCVC, August Capital, Webb Investment Network, Glynn Capital Management, Third Point Ventures, Engineering Capital, and Tahoma Ventures to name a few. 

Avi Freedman is the co-founder and CEO at Kentik which is a network intelligence platform that provides visibility, performance, and security services to digital enterprises. The company has raised over $50 million from top tier investors such as First Round Capital, Data Collective DCVC, August Capital, Webb Investment Network, Glynn Capital Management, Third Point Ventures, Engineering Capital, and Tahoma Ventures to name a few. 

On this episode, a Broadway Stage Manager and a Venture Capitalist talk about adapting when things go wrong. You'll hear Holly Coombs, Production Stage Manager for Mean Girls,l speak with Venture Capital Partner, David Hornik. When something goes wrong during a live show, a stage manager has to think and act quickly. When things go wrong in business, entrepreneurs have to do the same, and investors like David can offer perspective. Listen to Holly and David discuss thinking on their feet and rolling with the punches.Guests:Holly Coombs, Production Stage Manager, Mean Girls, BroadwayDavid Hornik, General Partner, August Capital

In this episode, Hall welcomes Steve Hoffman, Chairman, Founder & CEO of Founders Space. Located in the San Francisco Bay Area, Founders Space has created an international network of incubators, entrepreneurs, and investors, with over 50 partners in 22 countries. They offer corporate innovation programs, an online startup incubator, tours, and seminars. Steve is an angel investor, limited partner at August Capital, serial entrepreneur, and author of several award-winning books. He was the Founder and Chairman of the Producers Guild Silicon Valley Chapter, Board of Governors of the New Media Council, and founding member of the Academy of Television’s Interactive Media Group. While in Hollywood, Hoffman worked as a TV development executive and went on to pioneer interactive television with his venture-funded startup Spiderdance, which produced interactive TV shows with NBC, MTV, Turner, Warner Brothers, History Channel, Game Show Network, and others. In Silicon Valley, Steve founded two more venture-backed startups, in the areas of games and entertainment, and worked as Mobile Studio Head for Infospace. Steve has a BS from the University of California in Computer Engineering and an MFA from the University of Southern California in Cinema Television. He currently resides in San Francisco but spends most of his time in the air, visiting startups, investors, and innovators all over the world.  Steve explains his investment theses, tells Hall what business model excites him, and gives advice to entrepreneurs and investors. Visit Founders Space at .  Steve can be reached via LinkedIn at , on Twitter at , and via email at vc@foundersspace.com.

Steve Hoffman, or Captain Hoff as he's called in Silicon Valley, is the Chairman and CEO of Founders Space, one of the world's leading incubators and accelerators. He's also an angel investor, limited partner at August Capital, serial entrepreneur, and author of several award-winning books including Make Elephants Fly and Surviving a Startup. Hoffman was the Founder and Chairman of the Producers Guild Silicon Valley Chapter, Board of Governors of the New Media Council, and founding member of the Academy of Television's Interactive Media Group. While in Hollywood, Hoffman worked as a TV development executive at Fries Entertainment, known for producing over 100 TV shows, acquired by MGM. He went on to pioneer interactive television with his venture-funded startup Spiderdance, which produced interactive TV shows with NBC, MTV, Turner, Warner Brothers, History Channel, Game Show Network, and others. In Silicon Valley, Hoffman founded two more venture-backed startups, in the areas of games and entertainment, and worked as Mobile Studio Head for Infospace, with such hit mobile games as Tetris, Wheel of Fortune, Tomb Raider, Thief, Hitman, Skee-Ball, and X-Files. Hoffman went on to launch Founders Space with the mission to educate and accelerate entrepreneurs. Founders Space has become one of the top startup accelerators in the world. Hoffman has trained hundreds of startup founders and corporate executives in the art of innovation and provided consulting to many of the world's largest corporations, including Qualcomm, Huawei, Bosch, Intel, Disney, Warner Brothers, NBC, Gulf Oil, Siemens, and Viacom. Hoffman has a bachelor's degree from the University of California in computer engineering and an master's of fine arts degree from the University of Southern California in cinema television. He currently resides in San Francisco but spends most of his time in the air, visiting startups, investors, and innovators all over the world. Show Highlights: To grow, you have to find a new, big need that no one else has found. That's the challenge for entrepreneurs. —Steve HoffmanThere are a lot of smart people out there, but they're not all designed to be entrepreneurs. You need three qualities to be a CEO: curiosity, leadership, and stamina. —Steve HoffmanThe biggest challenge in founding a startup is when the market turns against you. —Steve HoffmanThe key is not to dwell on your failures or ignore your failures. Look at what you learned and then move on. —Steve HoffmanWhen a crisis hits, you have to figure out how much cash you have before you run out and you have to figure out a plan to get to the other side. —Steve HoffmanUse your downtime to innovate. —Steve HoffmanYou don't have to have a billion-dollar idea to innovate. Many of the best innovations start small. —Steve HoffmanInnovating is about trying something and seeing if you can do it better to generate more demand. —Steve Hoffman Steve's final thoughts: It doesn't matter what type of business you're in, you can always innovate. The Action Catalyst is a weekly podcast hosted by Dan Moore, President of Southwestern Advantage, the oldest direct-sales company in America, and Partner with Southwestern Consulting. With more than 45 years in sales leadership and marketing management, Dan has a wealth of knowledge to share on how to make better use of time to achieve life, sales, and other business goals. Each week, he interviews some of the nation's top thought leaders and experts, sharing meaningful tips and advice. Subscribe on iTunes and please leave a rating and review!

About This Episode: Steve Hoffman, or Captain Hoff as he's called in Silicon Valley, is the Chairman & CEO of Founders Space, one of the world's leading incubators and accelerators. He's also an angel investor, limited partner at August Capital, serial entrepreneur, and author of several award-winning books. These include Make Elephants Fly published by Hachette and Surviving a Startup published by HarperCollins. Hoffman was the Founder and Chairman of the Producers Guild Silicon Valley Chapter, Board of Governors of the New Media Council, and founding member of the Academy of Television's Interactive Media Group. In Silicon Valley, Hoffman founded two more venture-backed startups, in the areas of games and entertainment, and worked as Mobile Studio Head for Infospace, with such hit mobile games as Tetris, Wheel of Fortune, Tomb Raider, Thief, Hitman, Skee-Ball, and X-Files. Hoffman went on to launch Founders Space, with the mission to educate and accelerate entrepreneurs. Founders Space has become one of the top startup accelerators in the world. Hoffman has trained hundreds of startup founders and corporate executives in the art of innovation and provided consulting to many of the world's largest corporations, including Qualcomm, Huawei, Bosch, Intel, Disney, Warner Brothers, NBC, Gulf Oil, Siemens, and Viacom. Find out more about Steve at:Founders Space's Facebook group Steve Hoffman, or Captain Hoff's Instagram LinkedIn Make Elephants Fly: The Process of Radical Innovation Surviving a Startup: How Entrepreneurs Struggle, Fail & Fight Their Way to the Top Founders Space See the Show Notes: www.jeremyryanslate.com/719 Sponsors: Gusto: This episode is sponsored by Gusto. Run your payroll the easy way, the same way we do at Command Your Brand. You'll get a. $100 Amazon Gift Card just for running your first payroll! www.jeremyryanslate.com/gusto Audible: Get a free 30 day free trial and 1 free audiobook from thousands of available books. Right now I'm reading "The Science of Getting Rich,"by Wallace D. Wattles, about building real wealth. www.jeremyryanslate.com/book  

On today's show, we are happy to chat with Steve Hoffman. Steve, or Captain Hoff as he's called in Silicon Valley, is the CEO of Founders Space, one of the world's leading incubators and accelerators. He's also an angel investor, limited partner at August Capital, serial entrepreneur, and author of Make Elephants Fly, the award-winning book on radical innovation. Always innovating on his life, Captain Hoff has tried more professions than cats have lives, including serial entrepreneur, venture capitalist, angel investor, studio head, computer engineer, filmmaker, Hollywood TV exec, published author, coder, game designer, manga rewriter, animator and voice actor. Hoffman was the Founder and Chairman of the Producers Guild Silicon Valley Chapter, Board of Governors of the New Media Council, and founding member of the Academy of Television's Interactive Media Group. In this episode, you'll learn: What is the future of technology? Where are we headed in 20 years? Personal lessons shared from failing and succeeding in business? The reasons corporations have trouble innovating. One key piece of learning from your book: Make Elephants Fly? Help us out! Help us reach new listeners by leaving us a review! It takes less than 30 seconds and really helps our show grow, which allows us to bring on even better guests for you all! Thank you – we really appreciate it!   BOOKS AND RESOURCES Steve Hoffman on Linkedin Twitter  Steve Hoffman on Instagram  Steve Hoffman's Book Make Elephants Fly Founders Space   CONNECT WITH SHAWN: https://linktr.ee/ShawnflynnSV   Shawn Flynn's Twitter Account Shawn Flynn's LinkedIn Account Silicon Valley LinkedIn Group Account Shawn Flynn's Facebook Account Change to Shawn@thesiliconvalleypodcast.com  

On today's show, we are happy to have Steve Hoffman, or Captain Hoff as he's called in Silicon Valley. Steve is the CEO of Founders Space, one of the world's leading incubators and accelerators. He's also an angel investor, limited partner at August Capital, serial entrepreneur, and author of Make Elephants Fly, the award-winning book on radical innovation. Always innovating on his life, Captain Hoff has tried more professions than cats have lives, including serial entrepreneur, venture capitalist, angel investor, studio head, computer engineer, filmmaker, Hollywood TV exec, published author, coder, game designer, manga rewriter, animator and voice actor. Steve was the Founder and Chairman of the Producers Guild Silicon Valley Chapter, Board of Governors of the New Media Council, and founding member of the Academy of Television's Interactive Media Group. In this episode, you'll learn: How important is having cutting technology and having a successful startup? What are the different roles the founding members of a startup should have? What traits do successful entrepreneurs have? Is it always a good thing for a startup to have raised a lot of money?   Help us out! Help us reach new listeners by leaving us a rating and review! It takes less than 30 seconds and really helps our show grow, which allows us to bring on even better guests for you all! Thank you – we really appreciate it!   Guest: Steve Hoffman's LinkedIn Steve Hoffman's Twitter @captainhoff Steve Hoffman's Instagram  Steve Hoffman's Book: Make Elephants Fly Founders Space   CONNECT WITH SHAWN: https://linktr.ee/ShawnflynnSV   Shawn Flynn's Twitter Account Shawn Flynn's LinkedIn Account Silicon Valley LinkedIn Group Account Shawn Flynn's Facebook Account Change to Shawn@thesiliconvalleypodcast.com  

Bill Clerico is the co-founder and CEO of WePay which is a leading provider of integrated payments for software platforms. The company raised $75 million from SV Angel, Highland Capital Partners, Ignition Partners, August Capital, and founders of YouTube and PayPal. Ultimately the company was acquired by JPMorgan for a reported $400 million.

Sid Sijbrandij is the co-founder and CEO of GitLab which is a web-based open source Git repository manager with wiki and issue tracking features and built-in CI/CD. The company has raised over $158 million from Khosla Ventures, Google Ventures, August Capital, ICONIQ Capital, 500 Startups, and Sound Ventures. The valuation of Gitlab is over $1 billion. 

Al is the co-founder and CEO of Avant which is an online lending platform that offers alternatives to its clients with safer, faster, better financial products. The company has raised over $600 million from top tier investors such as RRE, QED, DFJ, KKR, Tiger Global, August Capital, General Atlantic, Hyde Park Venture Partners, and Origin Ventures to name a few. Prior to Avant, Al co-founded Pangea Properties and Enova International which he sold for $250 million.

Alexei Agratchev is the cofounder and CEO at RetailNext which enables retailers and manufacturers to collect, analyze, and visualize data about in-store customer engagement. The company has raised to date $200 million from investors such as Qualcomm Ventures, August Capital, American Express Ventures, or NGP Capital.

SendBird, a San Francisco area startup, helps developers add messaging to their apps with a couple of lines of code. It's an idea similar to Stripe for payments or Twilio for communications. Today, the company announced a $52 million Series B investment. The round was led by Iconiq Capital. Existing investors Shasta Ventures, August Capital, Y Combinator, and Funders Club also participated. Today's investment brings the total raised to over $70 million, according to Crunchbase.

David Klein is the CEO and CoFounder of CommonBond, a leading marketplace lender that lowers the cost of student loans for borrowers and provides financial returns to investors. The company has raised $4 billion to date. That is $130 million in equity and the rest in debt capital or lending capital. Investors include Social Capital, August Capital, Tribeca Venture Partners, Nyca Partners, etc. and also Vikram Pandit, the former CEO of Citigroup.

Sam Yagan is currently the CEO of ShopRunner which has raised over $100M from the likes of Alibaba Group or August Capital. Previously, he served as CEO of The Match Group and led it through a period of growth culminating in its initial $400M public offering. Yagan cofounded OkCupid in 2003 and it was acquired by Match Inc. for $90 million in 2011. Earlier, he founded SparkNotes, which he sold to Barnes & Noble Inc. SparkNotes transaction was reported to be $30M. Yagan cofounded Excelerate Labs (now TechStars Chicago), a startup accelerator, and founded Corazon Capital, an early stage fund.

We've got a double dose of exciting news for you, startup fans. First, we're thrilled to announce that investment firms August Capital, SV Angel and Uncork Capital have partnered with us for the 2nd Annual TechCrunch Winter Party at Galvanize on February 8. And second, today we released into the wild another fresh, though limited, batch of tickets. If you haven't snagged a ticket to this Silicon Valley shindig, take heed.

Tickets to theTechCrunch Summer Party at August Capitalare on the verge of selling out. If you want to attend our 13th annual summer fete on July 27, there's no time to waste. Reserve your ticket right now. This event draws an incredible mix of Silicon Valley's startup community — a who's who of founders, investors, tech makers, movers and shakers.

TheTechCrunch Summer Party at August Capitalis the stuff of Silicon Valley legend. We're celebrating 13 years of libations and convivial conversation while toasting the entrepreneurial spirit on the deck at August Capital in Menlo Park on July 27. And we want you to join us. If you have not yet secured your ticket to this summer soiree, heed our call. We've just released the last round of tickets. Once they go — and go quickly they will — that's it.

Our 13th annual TechCrunch Summer Party at August Capital takes place on July 27, and we're happy to announce we've just released a fourth batch of tickets to this fun Silicon Valley tradition. These tickets have been moving at a brisk pace, so if you'd like to join us in Menlo Park, be sure to buy your ticket today. Come and spend a relaxing evening of cocktails and conversation with your peers.

We're sentimental softies when it comes to tradition, and one of our favorites is the TechCrunch Summer Party at August Capital. This marks the thirteenthyear of this Silicon Valley soiree, and we'd love to see you there. Tickets are released in batches, and the first round is available now on a first-come, first-served basis. They always sell out quickly, so buy your ticket today.

Steve Hoffmann AKA “Captain Hoff” is a serial entrepreneur, angel investor, partner at Founders Fund, An LP in August Capital, and author of the book "Make Elephants Fly". Steve is also the Captain & CEO of Founders Space, one of the world's leading incubators and accelerators, with over 50 partners in 22 countries. Steve's trained hundreds of startup founders and corporate executives in the art of innovation. Steve discusses: His long and winding road into the world of technology accelerators and incubators The traits he believes, even in really early stage businesses, signpost a likely unicorn The toolkit of processes he's developed to ensure startups can effectively differentiate and innovate Head over to https://www.foundersspace.com for more details on Founders Space and check out www.alpinasearch.com for more advice on globally scaling your enterprise software venture  

In this episode, Mark is joined by Villi Iltchev of August Capital They discuss: Villi's background in the fintech space What is August Capital? What are the barriers to entry in the fintech space? Success breeds success The market data albatross The life of the venture capitalist And more

Stocktoberfest is the year's premiere gathering of active traders, investors, Fintech entrepreneurs, venture capitalists, and financial media.The event featured top names in trading and investing, fintech, and financial media as both presenters and attendees. This year's theme of the show was "Why it's never been a better time to be an active investor." Up next, a fireside chat with Villi Itchev of August Capital and Michael Porat of Cicso.

Neil Strauss author of the New York Times bestsellers The Game, Rules of the Game, and Emergency. His latest book, Everyone Loves You When You're Dead, collects the 228 best, craziest, and most soul-baring moments from his adventures with musicians, celebrities, and icons while writing cover stories for Rolling Stone and the New York Times David Hornik venture capitalist at August Capital, investing broadly in information technology companies. He focuses on enterprise application and infrastructure software, as well as consumer facing software and services. He sits on the board of such companies as StumbleUpon, Splunk, and SAY Media, and previously served on the Board of such companies as Evite and PayCycle   Joel Erik Thompson Supervising Attorney for the Martinet law firm in Phoenix, AZ. Mr. Thompson has been a law school instructor, an Arizona Superior Court Judge, and for many years an Arizona Board Certified Specialist in Criminal Law Dr. Marc Kossmann psychologist and entrepreneur specializing in online video marketing. His business partner, Charlie Seymour Jr video-crazed Wharton MBA marketer with a passion for story telling that calls people to action. Together they are The Video Marketing Guys and they have produced hundreds and hundreds of online videos promoting themselves and their clients

Neil Strauss author of the New York Times bestsellers The Game, Rules of the Game, and Emergency. His latest book, Everyone Loves You When You're Dead, collects the 228 best, craziest, and most soul-baring moments from his adventures with musicians, celebrities, and icons while writing cover stories for Rolling Stone and the New York Times David Hornik venture capitalist at August Capital, investing broadly in information technology companies. He focuses on enterprise application and infrastructure software, as well as consumer facing software and services. He sits on the board of such companies as StumbleUpon, Splunk, and SAY Media, and previously served on the Board of such companies as Evite and PayCycle   Joel Erik Thompson Supervising Attorney for the Martinet law firm in Phoenix, AZ. Mr. Thompson has been a law school instructor, an Arizona Superior Court Judge, and for many years an Arizona Board Certified Specialist in Criminal Law Dr. Marc Kossmann psychologist and entrepreneur specializing in online video marketing. His business partner, Charlie Seymour Jr video-crazed Wharton MBA marketer with a passion for story telling that calls people to action. Together they are The Video Marketing Guys and they have produced hundreds and hundreds of online videos promoting themselves and their clients

Neil Strauss author of the New York Times bestsellers The Game, Rules of the Game, and Emergency. His latest book, Everyone Loves You When You're Dead, collects the 228 best, craziest, and most soul-baring moments from his adventures with musicians, celebrities, and icons while writing cover stories for Rolling Stone and the New York Times  David Hornik venture capitalist at August Capital, investing broadly in information technology companies. He focuses on enterprise application and infrastructure software, as well as consumer facing software and services. He sits on the board of such companies as StumbleUpon, Splunk, and SAY Media, and previously served on the Board of such companies as Evite and PayCycle    Joel Erik Thompson Supervising Attorney for the Martinet law firm in Phoenix, AZ. Mr. Thompson has been a law school instructor, an Arizona Superior Court Judge, and for many years an Arizona Board Certified Specialist in Criminal Law.  Dr. Marc Kossmann psychologist and entrepreneur specializing in online video marketing. His business partner, Charlie Seymour Jr video-crazed Wharton MBA marketer with a passion for story telling that calls people to action. Together they are The Video Marketing Guys and they have produced hundreds and hundreds of online videos promoting themselves and their clients.