Podcasts about crosscut ventures

Episode Highlights:How Did Brett Brewer's Early Real Estate Ventures Shape His Entrepreneurial JourneyThe difficulty of raising pre-seed financing, the role of accelerators and incubators, and the process of raising $300,000 for the business.The impact of the dotcom crash on e-commerce businesses and the shift to casual game development.The launch of Myspace, and the initial user engagement strategy.Brett's role in scaling Ad Knowledge, its rapid growth, and eventual sale to TPG and other private equity firms.The founding of CrossCut Ventures, and the evolution of its investment focus.The challenges of recruiting talent to LA, the evolution of the LA tech ecosystem, and CrossCut's role in connecting and supporting the community.The difficulties and challenges faced by venture capitalists.The significance of technology in education and the need to bridge the gap between the haves and have-nots in accessing educational resources.Brett Brewer's investment philosophy and insights into private versus public markets, influenced by Annie Duke's book "Thinking in Bets.”Tweetable Quotes:“Be the straw that serves to drink.” — Kurt“So that starts to become a self-fulfilling prophecy when you have that many smart people controlling that much capital living in the actual market.” —Brett“Understanding the best use of your time and how to be productive is a real challenge and ends up being the downfall of some VCs.” —Brett“Politics and infighting is the death of a startup.”—Brett“If you're gonna have an environment where people don't trust each other- where they can't give each other candid feedback, they will fail.”—Brett“And I think there's something really magical about being honest.—”Kurt“Culture isn't just values, it's the actual way ideas get put into practice. It's the behavior.”—Kurt“So it's more important than ever that as a society, we realize that we do have a moral imperative to invest in and believe in and educate all kids and give them a chance.” —Brett“Every individual and every company has a certain set of advantages. You have to take full advantage of them to greatly increase your chances of being successful.” —Brett“It's comforting when you realize there are just lots of things out of your control and the less time you spend worrying about them, the better off you'll be.”—Brett“You have to do something extraordinary and the only way you're gonna do something extraordinary is by actually doing some action.”—BrettLinks Mentioned:Kurt's TwitterKurt's InstagramKurt's LinkedInBrett BrewerCrosscut VenturesAber WhitcombAdam GoldenbergBrian GarrettJosh BermanPeter TomasuloRoss LevinsohnScott NolanThomas AndersonAllianceAmazonEdVoiceFableticsFedexFoundersfundIGNLAtechMicrosoftMySpaceNews CorpNVIDIAReal World Asset GroupSoftBankSpaceXStealing MySpace: The Battle to Control the Most Popular Website in AmericaThe Wall Street JournalTPG

On this episode of Go Help Yourself, we cover a mammoth topic: The Enneagram. Joining us is Enneagram expert and Executive Coach Matt Auron.As a coach and thought-partner for founders and CEOs, Matt combines his 20-year career as an executive, facilitator and investor with a passion for supporting leaders of Evolutionary Businesses. Matt co-founded Evolution to partner with companies to fulfill their purpose as iconic, world-enriching entities, and currently serves as Managing Director. He has worked with Slack, Snapchat, Notion, Radiology Partners, Coursera, CrossCut Ventures, NVA, Glassdoor, Scopely, Density, Winc, and Kleiner Perkins, among many others.Matt has been trained and mentored by luminaries in the field of organization development such as Peter Block, Chris Worley and Edie and Charles Seashore and continually learns and integrates current thinking into his coaching practice such as neuro-leadership and mindfulness. As an author, Matt has published articles in both academic, peer-reviewed journals as well as trade magazines such as Training and Development. He holds a Master's degree in Organization Development from Pepperdine University where his thesis research was focused on building trust in teams.If you'd like to work with Matt or Evolution, you can contact them here or learn more at evolution.team. Mention Go Help Yourself for a 10% discount on all services. You can learn more about The Enneagram at The Enneagram Institute.If you like what you're hearing, send this episode to a friend or leave a review.xoAdvertising Inquiries: https://redcircle.com/brands

In our latest episode, we dissect the highly relevant topic of toxic bosses and their ripple effect across organizations. Matt Auron, our expert guest, zeroes in on the pivotal role of leadership in shaping your workplace's culture. As a coach and thought-partner for founders and CEOs, Matt combines his 20-year career as an executive, facilitator and investor with a passion for supporting leaders of Evolutionary Businesses. Matt co-founded Evolution to partner with companies to fulfill their purpose as iconic, world-enriching entities, and currently serves as Managing Director. He has worked with Slack, Snapchat, Notion, Radiology Partners, Coursera, CrossCut Ventures, NVA, Glassdoor, Scopely, Density, Winc, and Kleiner Perkins, among many others. Connect with Matt here: Twitter: @mattauron Instagram: @auronmatt https://www.linkedin.com/in/matt-auron-9b65872/ https://evolution.team/ Connect with Traci here: https://linktr.ee/HRTraci This episode is sponsored by: DirectSuggest: ⁠https://www.directsuggest.com/subscribe.php?id=6992⁠ Use Promo Code: HumanHR Namely: ⁠namely.com/humanhr⁠ CultureBot:⁠ https://getculturebot.com/humanhr ⁠ Don't forget to rate this podcast 5 stars, leave a review, and subscribe!   Disclaimer: Thoughts, opinions, and statements made on this podcast are not a reflection of the thoughts, opinions, and statements of the Company Traci Chernoff is actively employed by. --- Send in a voice message: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/hrtraci/message Support this podcast: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/hrtraci/support

Sarah Moret is the founder & CEO of Curie, a natural deodorant and personal care brand as seen in Allure, InStyle, Shape Magazine and Well + Good. Sarah founded the brand while working in venture capital at CrossCut Ventures and scaled it as a bootstrapped solo female founder in the early days into a business that is now backed by top angel investors like Mark Cuban and is sold in retailers like Nordstrom, Bloomingdale's and Anthropologie. In this conversation we discuss: Sarah's crazy Shark Tank story Founder resilience Lifestyle businesses vs. VC-backed companies Dealing with rejection as a founder Going all in Getting over the fear of being "cringe" Creating from passion vs. creating for the algorithm The media double standard around female founders And more Find Sarah's Instagram here & Twitter here Check out Curie here

In this episode, we talk to Brittany about her passion for Tech through her roles in consulting, ops and VC. She also touches on her experience working for one of the longest running VC firms and how the tenure of her mentors have played a role in her own journey. Finally, we dive into the thought that “Talent is equally distributed, but opportunity isn't — yet." and what it will take to get to equal distribution of opportunity in the industry. 

Produced by Foundersuite (www.foundersuite.com), "How I Raised It" goes behind the scenes with startup founders and investors who have raised capital. This episode is with Biju Ashokan of Radius Agent (https://www.radiusagent.com/), a platform and tools for real estate agents. In this episode, Biju talks about the evolution of his business, how to position yourself as an industry expert (and why it will improve your odds of raising capital), how to use feedback to initiate relationships with investors, how many meetings it takes for pre-seed, seed and Series A, tips for recruiting a strong team, and more. Radius Agent most recently raised a $13 million Series A round led by NFX. Other investors include Crosscut Ventures, Sixty Degree Capital, Cota Capital, VTF Capital, AngelPad, InnoSpring Seed Fund and others. How I Raised It is produced by Foundersuite, makers of software to raise capital and manage investor relations. Foundersuite's customers have raised over $9 Billion since 2016. Create a free account at www.foundersuite.com.

Brett Brewer shares in detail his three golden rules of business and entrepreneurship.Guests - Brett BrewerWebsite - https://crosscut.vc/team/Follow Us!LinkedIn: www.linkedin.com/company/coefficient-labsInstagram: www.instagram.com/demodaypodcast/Facebook: www.facebook.com/coefficientlabs/Twitter: https://twitter.com/coefficientlabsContact Information:social@coefficientlabs.com

Brett Brewer reveals what made Myspace so successful in the first couple weeks of its launch and how the birth of Crosscut Ventures came to be. Guests - Brett BrewerWebsite - https://crosscut.vc/team/Follow Us!LinkedIn: www.linkedin.com/company/coefficient-labsInstagram: www.instagram.com/demodaypodcast/Facebook: www.facebook.com/coefficientlabs/Twitter: https://twitter.com/coefficientlabsContact Information:social@coefficientlabs.com

Brett Brewer shares what life was like during the dot-com gold rush in ‘93 and the dot-com crash in the late ‘90s.Guests - Brett BrewerWebsite - https://crosscut.vc/team/Follow Us!LinkedIn: www.linkedin.com/company/coefficient-labsInstagram: www.instagram.com/demodaypodcast/Facebook: www.facebook.com/coefficientlabs/Twitter: https://twitter.com/coefficientlabsContact Information:social@coefficientlabs.com

Brett Brewer reminisces about the unexpected early success of Myspace and shares his three golden rules of business. Guests - Brett BrewerWebsite - https://crosscut.vc/team/Follow Us!LinkedIn: www.linkedin.com/company/coefficient-labsInstagram: www.instagram.com/demodaypodcast/Facebook: www.facebook.com/coefficientlabs/Twitter: https://twitter.com/coefficientlabsContact Information:social@coefficientlabs.com

In today's episode of the Dear BAMf podcast, Nick Kim Principal of Crosscut Ventures talks about proactively preventing crises.

Joining us on the show is the founder and CEO of The Inertia, Zach Weisberg. The Inertia is a new media platform that has emerged as the definitive digital voice of surfing and the outdoors.In this episode, Zach and I relived our experience in Kelly Slater's surf ranch in central California for an event called Making Waves- a premium event at Kelly Slater's Surf Ranch in Central California. It was an intimate retreat of investors, entrepreneurs, and service providers from the LA Tech Startup Community sponsored by Hunt Club, Crosscut Ventures, Fenwick & West, Artium, & Pacific Western Bank.We dove into how the Surf Ranch "created the conditions for the magic" and how the power of imagination combined with follow-through is the key for bringing new businesses into market, with the Surf Ranch being one of many examples.We also press rewind and survey Zach's early career, where he worked as a freelance journalist for The New York Times, Esquire, his time as online editor at Surfer Magazine - the seminal print publication- from 2007 through 2010, plus a fascinating story on why he left Surfer Magazine to found The Inertia in September 2010.Zach also completed the MBA Program at USC Marshall School of Business, and Zach shares an unexpected insight about an important lesson he learned at USC that was deeply insightful, and useful- that relationships are the key.This show has a lot to offer for anyone interested in surfing, story telling, online communities, the Los Angeles Tech Community, and moreKey Takeaways:Surf Ranch discussion around the whole experience from going to the venue to actually ride the wavesJack Dangermond - above the line (context vs. content) conceptEducation background in USCEarlier experience in Journalism at NY TimesImpact of surfing on Zach's careerWhat is "The Inertia" and the idea behind the voiceTransformation from idea to realityEpisode Quotes:"I'd like to create that sort of magic and opportunities like that for other people too, the fact that the surf ranch exists and it was built. Anyone who goes through there is leaving. Happier, they're leaving feeling better. They're leaving, feeling fulfilled. They're leaving thinking what the possibilities might be. How could they translate that into their own life? What plays to make that kind of impact. And it's so just kind of got me sitting, like how can I help create magic like that in this world? That's my biggest takeaway was. And strive for that. Try to, because that was not a possibility, not very long ago, but now it is." - Zach Weisberg"I feel that those are often the most exciting time when you're making a pretty big change. That also in my view is kind of a fun zone to live in, and maybe not constantly, but that's when you would learn a lot, you question a lot what's going on and you make some big decisions and you see how they shake out.""An insight that one of my mentors, duke stump, quotes frequently is that we can't create the magic but we can create the conditions for the magic. And that's definitely what the surf ranch has achieved, are the conditions for the magic." - Kurt Daradics"Jack Dangermond, my former boss, over at Esri had that idea of living above the line and above the line is having context and below the line is having content. And he would talk about that frequently and say that part of the reason for his success is he would always try to sort of step back and look at the big picture and not get so caught up in the automatic stimulus-response function, but try to have some space" - Kurt Daradics Links Mentioned:Kurt's TwitterKurt's InstagramKurt's LinkedInKurt's newsletterRate the podcastZach's LinkedInZach's InstagramZach's TwitterThe Inertia's InstagramThe Inertia's Website

Rick Smith is a founding manager partner of @CrosscutVC and one of the pillars of the LA tech community.   Crosscut is now investing out of Crosscut Fund V, but started as a $5M Fund I in 2008.  We talk about growing a fund, a scout program, a tech community and growing personally.

Listen now (41 min) | Today, we’re seeing major startup hubs emerge across the US (and globally). Up until fairly recently, LA was not considered a major US technology and venture hub. My guest on this week’s episode, Brian Garrett, has been in the LA venture ecosystem for two decades now. He also co-founded Get on the email list at ventureunlocked.substack.com

Produced by Foundersuite.com, "How I Raised It" goes behind the scenes with startup founders who have raised capital. This episode is with Keith Richman of Boosted Commerce (https://boostedcommerce.com) a company that is acquiring successful businesses that run on Amazon and Shopify. In this episode, Keith talks about what they look for when acquiring a startup, how they add value to these companies after acquiring them, how he raised over $100M in capital for the business from a roster of high-profile industry veterans, and tips for pitching angel investors. The Company has raised over $112 Million from Torch Capital; Crosscut Ventures; Spencer Rascoff, entrepreneur and co-founder of Zillow and Hotwire; Elie Seidman, former CEO of Tinder; Tucker Kain, President of Los Angeles Dodgers; Ken Ramberg, founder of Goodpods; Scott Hendrickson, co-founder and partner, Permian Investment Partners; Thomas O. Staggs, former Chief Operating Officer of The Walt Disney Company; Marc Mezvinksy, managing director TPG; and David Farahi, Chief Operating Officer of Monarch Casino & Resort Inc. How I Raised It is produced by Foundersuite, makers of software to raise capital and manage investor relations. Foundersuite's customers have raised over $2.5 Billion since 2016. Create a free account at www.foundersuite.com

In the sixth episode of DrinksWithAVC, Vik and Bree are joined by Rick Smith of Crosscut Ventures, a trailblazer in the Los Angeles venture capital scene. Over a celebratory toast marking his 7-year cameo anniversary on 'Silicon Valley,' Rick opens up about a poignant pandemic discovery through a DNA test that led him to his birth father. The episode isn't just emotionally stirring—it's also intellectually rich, with discussions ranging from the exodus of VCs from Silicon Valley to the dynamic shifts in the LA startup landscape. Don't miss our new segment 'SPAC Smackdown' and the delightful debut of Hank, the golden retriever puppy. Tune in for tales of personal discovery, industry insight, and puppy love!Links:www.crosscut.vcwww.twitter.com/smithrick​

Brian Garrett, co-founder of Crosscut Ventures, talks with Jim about the strategies he employed while building one of Southern California's preeminent venture capital firms and what he learned as co-founder of one of the earliest funds to base itself in LA. They touch on the talent migration, the kind of founders he likes to back, and the ways COVID has impacted every aspect of life, from meeting entrepreneurs remotely, to conducing diligence, to how we consume media and entertainment.

Keith Richman is a serial entrepreneur and currently the cofounder of Boosted Commerce. The company has raised $87 million from investors such as Crosscut Ventures, Spencer Rascoff, Torch Capital, and Elie Seidman to name a few. Prior to this he has also cofounded VOI Technology, Break Media, and OnePage.

Keith Richman is a serial entrepreneur and currently the cofounder of Boosted Commerce. The company has raised $87 million from investors such as Crosscut Ventures, Spencer Rascoff, Torch Capital, and Elie Seidman to name a few. Prior to this he has also cofounded VOI Technology, Break Media, and OnePage.

Don't miss out on the next WeAreLATech podcast episode, get notified by signing up here http://wearelatech.com/podcastWelcome to WeAreLATech's Los Angeles Tech Community Spotlight!  “Chloë Drimal, Founder And CEO Of Yoni Circle”WeAreLATech Podcast is a WeAreTech.fm production.To support our podcast go to http://wearelatech.com/believe To be featured on the podcast go to http://wearelatech.com/feature-your-la-startup/Want to be featured in the WeAreLATech Community? Create your profile here http://wearelatech.com/communityHost,Espree Devorahttps://twitter.com/espreedevorahttps://www.linkedin.com/in/espreeGuest,Chloë Drimal of Yoni Circlechloe@yonicircle.comhttps://www.linkedin.com/in/chloedrimal/https://www.instagram.com/chaoticklowy/Listener Spotlight,Brian Bogart https://www.linkedin.com/in/brian-bogart/For a calendar of all LA Startup events go to, http://WeAreLATech.comTo further immerse yourself into the LA Tech community go to http://wearelatech.com/vipLinks Mentioned:Yoni Circle, https://www.yonicircle.comSnapchat, https://www.snapchat.comTTYL, https://www.linkedin.com/company/ttyl/Crosscut Ventures, https://crosscut.vcBox Group, https://boxgroup.com/Outsite, https://www.outsite.co/eventsPeople Mentioned:Delfina Soria, https://www.instagram.com/holadelf/Akiva Bamberger, https://www.linkedin.com/in/akivab/Credits:Produced and Hosted by Espree Devora, http://espreedevora.comStory Produced, Edited and Mastered by Cory Jennings, https://www.coryjennings.com/Production and Voiceover by Adam Carroll, http://www.ariacreative.ca/Team support by Janice GeronimoMusic by Jay Huffman, https://soundcloud.com/jayhuffmanShort Title: Chloë Drimal

Really fun talking with Clinton Foy about the gaming industry, founding Immortals, living in the metaverse, and who his favorite Crosscut partner is.

Rick Smith is a Co-Founder and Managing Director of CrossCut Ventures. CrossCut is an early-stage venture capital with over $200 million under management. Prior to co-founding CrossCut, Rick was a managing director at an early-stage venture capital firm based in Santa Monica, California, with over $500 million under management. Prior to that, he was a managing director at SunAmerica, Inc., where co-founded SunAmerica Ventures, a $750 million fund focused on both direct investments and investments in other venture funds. Rick began his career as a corporate attorney, working five years at the Los Angeles office of Milbank, Tweed, Hadley and McCloy, a New York-based firm. He graduated from the University of Illinois, Urbana- Champaign, with a degree in finance. He also graduated from Harvard Law School. Join us each week as we give you access to the top Venture Capitalists and investors in the country, while taking deep dives with highly successful entrepreneurs that will help you think through some of the most difficult challenges startups face. Big thank you to our sponsor Brex without whom we wouldn't be able to do this show. As a special offering anyone that joins the Sparkxyz community will receive all waived card fees in perpetuity. Card fees are typically $60/card/yr. https://brex.com/sparkxyz/

Brian Garrett, Co-Founder and Managing Director at Crosscut Ventures, talks about Crosscut's bet on the Los Angeles ecosystem, what he looks for in entrepreneurs, and the importance of wellness. Watch the videohttp://bit.ly/demoday_18_pcCheck out our website!http://bit.ly/coefficientlabs_18_pcGuest - Brian GarrettLinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/briangarrett1/Website: https://www.crosscut.vc/Follow Us!LinkedIn: www.linkedin.com/company/coefficient-labsInstagram: www.instagram.com/demodaypodcast/Facebook: www.facebook.com/coefficientlabs/Twitter: https://twitter.com/coefficientlabsContact Information:social@coefficientlabs.com

Brian is one of the founders of Crosscut.  Crosscut has been doing seed investing in LA since 2007.  Brian explains their portfolio construction ($1.5-3M is "typical" but they stretch in both directions), the personalities of the Crosscut team and how they think about their reputation and the ecosystem they have been a part of growing for the past decade.    From the episode: Nick Kim's post on Platform as a Product.   Evolution coaching: https://www.evolution.team/

This episode sponsored by Hiretual.com BOSTON FirmPlay (firmplay.com) is launching a new employee referrals solution that instantly sources top talent from 100% of your employees’ networks, instead of the 3% that your employees can remember when making a referral. As a result, cut time-to-hire in half and grow referrals to over 50% of hires, all while boosting diversity and retention. How does it work? In just a few minutes, your employees upload their contacts to FirmPlay, which then does the heavy lifting of sourcing referrals by matching those contacts to your open jobs. FirmPlay even gets your recruiters a warm intro to matches from the employees who know them the best. FirmPlay is currently in beta and working with forward-thinking TA teams – to inquire about joining their beta, send a note to jason.rivas@firmplay.com SAN FRAN Jyve, the leading platform for in-store flexible and skilled labor, today announces it has raised $35 million in aggregate funding from SignalFire, Crosscut Ventures, Ridge Ventures, and New Enterprise Associates. By offering a Skills-as-a-Service platform, Jyve intelligently matches the needs of enterprises with the right skilled labor at scale, at the right time. After three years in stealth, the company has reached $400 million in bookings from top grocers, brands and retailers; to meet growing demand the company is welcoming Anu Gupta, formerly Target’s Senior Vice President of Strategy Execution and Operational Excellence, as Chief Operating Officer and Ralph Leung, a former Morgan Stanley senior investment banker, as Chief Financial Officer. Jyve’s proprietary Skills-as-a-Service platform uses machine learning to source and identify certified, skilled talent (Jyvers) based on the merchandising and digital shopping needs of retailers and brands. By offering enterprises quality talent, Jyvers accomplish a variety of in-store jobs (Jyves) including merchandising, stocking, ordering, display building, e-commerce fulfillment, brand ambassadorship, shelf auditing, and more. As Jyves are completed, companies, for the first time, gain real-time insight into on-the-ground demand and performance. HOUSTON GoCo the easiest to use all-in-one HR and benefits platform, announced a $7 million Series A funding round led by ATX Seed Ventures alongside the investment arm of UpCurve, Inc. (“UpCurve”), the small and medium-sized business (SMB) solutions provider, among other strategic investors. The new capital will be allocated to hiring across all departments, further platform development to extend the breadth of offerings and to broadly expand the company’s customer base. Over the past two years, GoCo has grown its customer base of employers into the thousands, increasing the number of individual GoCo users by 10x. Customers of all sizes and verticals have adopted the platform, including retail and gym franchises, school districts, technology companies, real estate brokerages, healthcare hospitality organizations and more. To support this rapid growth, GoCo plans to quadruple its number of employees in 2019. This Series A round brings GoCo’s total funding to $12.5 million. GoCo is backed by additional investments from Salesforce Ventures, Corp Strategics, GIS Strategic Ventures, the venture arm of Guardian Life Insurance, and Digital Insurance, the largest employee benefits-only company in the US. ATX Seed Ventures is investing for the second time. PENNSYLVANNIA AMBLER, Pa., Jan. 30, 2019 — Phenom People, the global leader in Talent Relationship Marketing (TRM), today announced Phenom Bot and Phenom Bot Plus, enabling real-time candidate messaging to engage with active and passive job seekers. Powered by conversational AI and available on Phenom Career Sites, talent acquisition teams can now use bot technology to provide increased personalization, while automating the qualification process, interview scheduling and answering candidates’ most frequently asked questions. This automation enables TA teams to spend quality time with candidates and less time in the crux of administrative tasks. Phenom Bot and Phenom Bot Plus are available now. “Conversational bots are leaving their mark on all aspects of life — talent acquisition and talent management are no exceptions,” said Mahe Bayireddi, CEO and co-founder of Phenom People. “For our industry, conversational bots are having the highest impact by enabling recruiters to automate the most time-consuming tasks. This allows for more meaningful, personal connections that candidates desire. The byproduct is stronger candidate experiences with personalization and immediate job search and apply functionality.” Phhenom Bot includes: Sourcing to fuel the talent funnel with quality candidates. Phenom Bot greets candidates on the career site with automated messages, asks candidate questions to learn more about their needs and personalizes the entire conversation based on the responses. Also included screening, scheduling and candidate FAQ   https://recruitingheadlines.com/firmplay-seeking-beta-testers-for-new-employee-referral-platform/ https://recruitingheadlines.com/jyve-raises-35m-to-offer-grocers-and-retailers-a-better-way-to-staff-up/   https://recruitingheadlines.com/hr-benefits-platform-goco-raises-7-million-in-funding/   https://recruitingheadlines.com/phenom-people-launches-bot-for-automating-the-recruitment-process/   https://recruitingheadlines.com/mya-automates-recruitment-for-60-retailers-during-2018-holiday-season/  

Today, I'm talking with Dylan Kindler and Nick Kim. Dylan is an entrepreneurial operator and investor with specializing in a financial and strategic approach.  He is the Senior Associate at Parkstone Growth Partners, based out of New York. Parkstone Growth Partners is a private investment firm dedicated to building entrepreneurial businesses and creating long-term value in the Healthcare, Insurance and Consumer markets. Nick Kim is the Head of Platform at Crosscut Ventures, a startup seeder founded in LA, the firm has been working with entrepreneurs in southern California since 2008. Nick is an entrepreneur, investor, and general manager with an aim to help companies grow.

Welcome to the fourth episode of the Stairway to CEO podcast! In this episode, I interviewed Brian Garrett, the Co-Founder and Managing Director of Crosscut Ventures, a top VC fund in LA where he's been investing in startups for over 10 years. Brian shares his story—from a family tragedy that happened at age 13 to a recent healing experience that helped him break through the barriers that have been holding him back.

Produced by Foundersuite.com, "How I Raised It" goes behind the scenes with startup founders who have raised capital. This episode is with David Fink and Jonathan Neddenriep of Postie.com. Postie makes a direct mail platform that behaves like a digital channel. The Company recently raised a seed round from Bonfire Ventures, Crosscut Ventures, and Rincon Venture Partners. In this episode, Jonathan and David talk about direct mail as a marketing channel, pitching their KPIs and metrics, understanding the operational background of the investors you're meeting, using fundraising as a learning process, controlling the narrative, and much more.

Produced by Foundersuite.com, "How I Raised It" goes behind the scenes with startup founders who have raised capital. This episode is with Andrew Hoag, CEO of Teampay.com. Teampay recently raised a $4M seed round led by Crosscut Ventures with participation from Rising Tide Fund, KEC Ventures, Precursor Ventures, CoVenture and others. In this episode, Andrew talks about using a SAFE for his pre-seed round, running a process, smart money vs. "dumb money" and signaling, fundraising cadences, and more. He also goes deep and shares *really* valuable tips on how to structure your slide deck and improve your pitch.

Learn from LA VC veteran, Rick Smith, as he reminisces about the trials and tribulations of starting a fund in the midst of the great recession, and the passion that kept him and his team going to build one of the leading funds in Los Angeles today

Brian Garrett is the Founding Partner @ Crosscut Ventures, one of LA's leading venture funds today with a portfolio including Super Evil Mega Corp, The Black Tux and Mobcrush just to name a few. Incredibly during the early days of Crosscut, Brian went back into a full-time operating role with a Public-company turnaround at Quepasa.com before co-founding vertical eCommerce brand StyleSaint.com. After surviving with the equivalent of two full-time jobs for roughly 6 years, Brian the attention of institutional capital, which enabled CrossCut to scale into a fund with $75M raised for CrossCut 3 in 2015. This has snowballed to their latest fund raised in December being $125m. In Today’s Episode You Will Learn: 1.) How Brian made his way into the world of VC and came to found one of LA's leading funds in the form of Crosscut? 2.) What does Brian believe are the 3 core components that make for a successful VC? How important is the presence of humility for VCs today? How does Brian look to balance between arrogance and confidence? How is this shown in the entrepreneurial class? 3.) Why does Brian believe that vulnerability is actually a strength today? How can entrepreneurs be honest and vulnerable without ruining market perceptions and future fundraising aspirations? 4.) How does Brian look to place his relationship with the entrepreneur at the very core of every investment he makes? What does this relationship onboarding process look like? Is this possible in the fast-moving world of US deals today? 5.) What was the most challenging fundraise for Brian? Why was this case? How has he seen the evolution of Californian tech over the last few years since Fund III? What was the most memorable LP meeting for Brian? Items Mentioned In Today’s Show: Brian's Fave Book: The Alchemist Brian’s Most Recent Investment: Fuzzy Pet Health As always you can follow Harry and The Twenty Minute VC on Twitter here! Likewise, you can follow Harry on Snapchat here for mojito madness and all things 20VC. Cooley are the global law firm built around startups and venture capital.  Since forming the first venture fund in Silicon Valley, Cooley has formed more venture capital funds than any other law firm in the world, with 50+ years working with VCs. They help VCs form and manage funds, make investments and handle the myriad issues that arise through a fund’s lifetime. So to learn more about the #1 most active law firm representing VC-backed companies going public. Head over to cooley.com and also at cooleygo.com. Zoom, fastest growing video and web conferencing service, providing one consistent enterprise experience that allows you to engage in an array of activities including video meetings and webinars, collaboration-enabled conference rooms, and persistent chat all in one easy platform. Plus, it is the easiest solution to manage, scale, and use, and has the most straightforward, affordable pricing. Don’t take our word for it. Zoom is the top rated conferencing app across various user review sites including G2Crowd and Trust Radius. And you can sign up for a free account (not a trial!). Just visit Zoom.us.

Today, Brian Garrett is revered as the Managing Director and Co-Founder of Los Angeles’ most mature and successful Technology-based Seed-Fund, Crosscut Ventures, which mentors and partners with Entrepreneurs from small businesses and helps them grow to be giants.  But life wasn’t always so easy.  Witnessing his father’s fatal heart attack, at the impressionable age of 13, Brian was faced with a choice:  Be a victim.  Or choose to make the most out of the time he has on this earth.  He chose the latter.  And still, it hasn’t been easy.  Conversation includes… ## Why everyone thinks people “in Finance” are jerks. ## How Brian COMPLETELY bombed and miscalculated on one of his first assignments. ## Turning tragedy into an opportunity to make more of your life. ## How tough coaches can teach discipline that carries you to great achievement. ## Why Brian’s wife is the REAL hero of their family’s story. ## How many years of hell it takes before you come out the other side. ## How, even after you’ve “come out the other side”, your body can break down on you if you've pushed too hard. ## Why Brian wrote a 13 page “Book” to his 13 year old son for his Birthday. ## Why Crosscut Ventures is so good at what they do and how they’re more akin to Creative Mentors in the Arts than Gordon Gekko from ‘Wall Street’.  

Joel Milne - COO, CTO & CoFounder of ScoreBigKathy Fettke - Co-CEO of Real Wealth NetworkBRIAN GARRETT - CoFounder of Crosscut Ventures

Joel Milne - COO, CTO & CoFounder of ScoreBigKathy Fettke - Co-CEO of Real Wealth NetworkBRIAN GARRETT - CoFounder of Crosscut Ventures

Clinton Foy is General Partner @ Crosscut Ventures, one of LA's leading VC funds. Prior to Crosscut, Clinton was COO, @ Square Enix, a $2 billion video game publisher, he recruited a top-tier team and built the mobile, social, and online business in North and South America. He managed licensing and strategic partnerships for SPACE INVADERS, FINAL FANTASY, and TOMB RAIDER franchises. In seven years he oversaw more than 100 product launches across a dozen platforms and grew annual revenues to more than $300 million. Before Square Enix, Clinton practiced law representing clients including Microsoft, Sony, and Yahoo.    In Today’s Episode You Will Learn: 1.) How did Clinton make the transition from COO at $Bn games company to being a VC in LA? 2.) Question from Crosscut LP: Judith Elsea: What were the biggest takeaways from operating that make Clinton a better VC? What are the biggest surprises about being a VC? What are the biggest adjustments Clinton have had to make to be a VC? 3.) How important does Clinton feel network building and relationships are to being a good investor? Is this a market of predators? Can the 'nice guys' sometimes win? How does Clinton look to relationship build in a natural and organic way? 4.) On the operations side, Clinton helped Esports company, The Immortals raise a seed round. How was that experience for Clinton? What were the challenges? Is investing in an e-sports team a venture investment with potential $Bn outcome? 5.) What is the reason for the mass rise in Esports and Esports investing? How does the rise of mobile affect this? What is the future of Esports vs traditional sports? Items Mentioned In Today’s Episode:  Clinton’s Fave Blog: Dean Takahashi: Venture Beat Clinton’s Most Recent Investment: The Immortals As always you can follow The Twenty Minute VC, Harry and Clinton on Twitter here! Likewise, you can follow Harry on Snapchat here for mojito madness and all things 20VC. The Twenty Minute VC is proudly sponsored by Luma, Luma is the world’s first ever Surround WiFi system that brings speed, security and control to the home network. And Unlike traditional routers, Luma comes in a pack of two or three sleek devices to place in different rooms in your home. Luma then creates a mesh network that work together to create an outrageously-fast, ultra-secure Surround WiFi network.  Lastly, Luma’s app lets you easily see and control which devices, users and content are on your network. To buy your Luma, simply dead to getluma.com or amazon.com.