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This $4.5B VC Helped Build Capital One. Meet Frank Rotman Co-Founder & CIO QED InvestorsGuestFrank Rotman is the Advisor for GME ETH and Founding Partner and Chief Investment Officer at QED Investors, a fintech VC firm managing $4.3 billion in assets. Frank is a seven-time Forbes Midas List honoree as “One of the World's Best VC Investors,” and played a key role in shaping Capital One's business model. https://x.com/fintechjunkiehttps://www.gmeethereum.com/https://www.qedinvestors.com/
Mike Maples Jr is a Co-Founding Partner at Floodgate. He was named a “Rising Star” by Fortune, and has been on the Forbes Midas List eight times in the last decade. Before becoming a full-time investor, Mike was a founder and operator at back-to-back startup IPOs. Now, Mike's own investments include companies like Twitter, Twitch, Lyft, Refinery29, and Clover Health. Mike is also the author of the National Bestselling book Pattern Breakers - sharing lessons from startup top performers. He is known as one of the world's most exceptional discoverers of talent. In this episode we talk about his giant idea - why we shouldn't focus on being better than the last company, we should focus on being completely different. We also talk about the aiming phase, when you should quit, and the art of the pivot. Welcome Mike!Building a purpose driven company? Read more about Giant Ventures at www.Giant.vc.Music credits: Bubble King written and produced by Cameron McLain and Stevan Cablayan aka Vector_XING. Please note: The content of this podcast is for informational and entertainment purposes only. It should not be considered financial, legal, or investment advice. Always consult a licensed professional before making any investment decisions.
In this episode of the Revenue Builders Podcast, hosts John McMahon and John Kaplan are joined by Sunil Dhaliwal, a seasoned venture capitalist and founding partner of Amplify Partners. The discussion dives deep into the challenges and skills required for startup sales leaders, emphasizing the importance of accuracy, adaptability, and honest communication. They explore the different growth stages of a company and how the role of a sales leader evolves with them. They also touch on recruiting, retaining talent, and preparing for board presentations. Dhaliwal shares his journey from Battery Ventures to founding Amplify Partners and provides insights into emerging trends and the impact of AI on various industries.ADDITIONAL RESOURCESConnect and learn more about Sunil Dhaliwal.https://www.linkedin.com/in/sunildhaliwal/Enjoying the podcast? Sign up to receive new episodes straight to your inbox: https://hubs.li/Q02R10xN0Check out John McMahon's book, The Qualified Sales Leader: https://www.amazon.com/Qualified-Sales-Leader-Proven-Lessons/dp/0578895064/HERE ARE SOME KEY SECTIONS TO CHECK OUT[00:01:52] The Challenges of Startup Sales Leadership[00:02:49] The Importance of Accuracy in Sales Leadership[00:04:03] Finding the Right Sales Leader for Startups[00:05:47] Navigating the Maze of Early-Stage Sales[00:08:23] Communicating with the Board: Honesty and Accuracy[00:11:29] Key Competencies for Startup Sales Leaders[00:19:14] Presenting to the Board: Best Practices[00:24:26] Establishing an Effective Operating Rhythm[00:30:43] Seeking Advice from Experienced Leaders[00:31:36] Key Metrics for Young Companies[00:32:07] Importance of New Logo Growth[00:33:58] Retention and Sales Productivity[00:34:32] Challenges in Scaling Sales Teams[00:42:51] Stages of Company Growth[00:46:32] The Role of a CRO[00:50:27] Energy Management in Leadership[00:56:33] Founding Amplify Partners[01:00:03] Identifying Emerging Trends[01:02:52] The Future of AI in BusinessHIGHLIGHT QUOTES[00:03:19] "Their job is accurately conveying what's happening out there. Where are we good? Where are we bad?"[00:12:03] "At different stage companies, if the product's not working, I can complain about it in a startup company. The product is not going to work the way everybody wants it to work."[00:13:32] "Early stage companies, the mission for a CRO is more about discovery and asking questions rather than simply closing deals."[00:17:39] "Your biggest problem is somewhere between your CEO and founder, your board, there is stuff that they believe that isn't true."
Go to www.LearningLeader.com for full show notes. The Learning Leader Show With Ryan Hawk This is brought to you by Insight Global. If you need to hire 1 person, hire a team of people, or transform your business through Talent or Technical Services, Insight Global's team of 30,000 people around the world have the hustle and grit to deliver. My Guest: Mike Maples Jr is a co-founding Partner at Floodgate. He has been on the Forbes Midas List eight times in the last decade and was recently profiled by Harvard Business School for his lifetime contributions to entrepreneurship. Some of his early investments include: Twitter, DemandForce, Twitch, and Applied Intuition. Mike is also the bestselling author of Pattern Breakers: Why Some Start-Ups Change the Future. Notes Chance favors the prepared mind. We are all visited by luck, but most of us don't answer the door. We need to become a professional noticer. That is Mike's favorite verb. Noticing. Most people don't have prepared minds. Be intentional about noticing the world around you and being prepared for when luck visits you. Mike's dad died 7 days before we recorded. “He was a mentor, a friend, and one of the greatest inspirations of my life.” His advice: Do your best. There's only one of you. Decide what to do with your gift of time, be intentional. Have gratitude for your time. Make the most of it. Don't waste it trying to be someone else. Focus - Fishing competition when Mike was 5 or 6. Let's find a good spot and stay there the entire time. While everyone else moved constantly, Mike and his dad stayed in their spot, caught a big carp, and won. Bill Gates begged Mike's dad to “be the adult in the room” at Microsoft. Mike Sr would say to the people he led at Microsoft, "I want to know that you're thinking about what you're doing." He used a Socratic method. He was not prescriptive. Be proactive. Have an intentional strategy. Be intentional. Jonathan Livingston Seagull - The biggest limits in the world are the limits of your mind, your imagination, and your actions– not the limits of the world itself. Have to get over that voice in your head that says, “You're not good enough.” We get told to be realistic or stay within the lines. Everybody is figuring it out as they go. Everyone is “winging it.” Only by being radically different can you make a radical difference. Great founders are like Patrick Mahomes and Steph Curry. You don't know how they're going to score, but you know they will. Practice Reckless Optimism – The world is built by Optimists. You need to be FOR something. Bet ON something, not against it. Mike sees himself as a co-conspirator more than an investor. There can't be a recipe for a breakthrough because by definition breakthroughs haven't happened yet. “Chance favors the prepared mind.” We are all visited by luck but most don't answer the door. Chris Rock - Forming unexpected connections. Sam Beskind (Stanford basketball player where he played for Rob Ehsan) - Time management strategy. Stanford coaches had a one-pager with 3 keys to winning. Not 20. 3. If you have 20 keys, you have none. Nobody can remember all that. Life/Career Advice: Internalize what it means to do your best. Gratitude for your time. Avoid the trap of mimetic desire. The “T” of knowledge. Charlie Munger. Try to know what the best ideas that have ever existed in a wide range of fields. Then choose one field to know about more than anyone else in the world. Have one area where you are fanatically obsessed. For Mike, that's startups.
Welcome to the What's Next! Podcast with Tiffani Bova. I have the wonderful pleasure of welcoming Mike Maples Jr. to the show this week. He is a co-founding partner at Floodgate. He has been on the Forbes Midas List eight times in the last decade and was also named a “Rising Star” by FORTUNE and profiled by Harvard Business School for his lifetime contributions to entrepreneurship. Before becoming a full-time investor, Mike was involved as a founder and operating executive at back-to-back startup IPOs, including Tivoli Systems, which was acquired by IBM, where his dad used to work, and Motive acquired by Alcatel-Lucent. Some of Mike's investments include Twitter, Clover Health, Okta, Outreach, Chegg, Demandforce, and Applied Intuition. And he has a new book out called Pattern Breakers with his co-author, Peter Zimmerman. THIS EPISODE IS PERFECT FOR…anyone curious to learn about the ingredients to start-up success. TODAY'S MAIN MESSAGE…why is it that 80% of start-ups fail? What factors sets the 20% apart? As a seasoned venture capitalist, Mike says it comes down to breaking patterns. In this episode, he shares how to break away from linear strategies and dare to think boldly and take a risk. KEY TAKEAWAYS... Great startups force choices, not comparisons. Early believers are essential for co-creating groundbreaking futures. Intrapreneurs succeed by innovating discreetly before scaling their ideas. Striking out on bold experiments is crucial - safe bets won't lead to grand slams. WHAT I LOVE MOST…Mike says that the best ideas often begin as unsettling or even disliked by many. It's a testament to the power of sticking to bold, authentic visions despite early skepticism. Running Time: 30:05 Subscribe on iTunes Find Tiffani Online: LinkedIn Facebook X Find Mike Online: Substack X Mike's Book: Pattern Breakers: Why Some Start-Ups Change the Future
The Twenty Minute VC: Venture Capital | Startup Funding | The Pitch
Mike Maples is one of the OG seed investors of the last two decades. As a co-founding Partner at Floodgate, Mike has been on the Forbes Midas List eight times in the last decade. Some of Mike's investments include Twitter, Twitch.tv, Clover Health, Okta, Outreach, Chegg, Demandforce, and Applied Intuition. In Today's Episode with Mike Maples We Discuss: 04:02 Does Seed Even Make Sense as an Asset Class? 05:16 Fund Size and Strategy: How to Do a 10x Fund? 08:12 Follow-On Investments: Are they BS? 16:41 Finding Inefficiencies in the Market 26:31 Exit Strategies and Liquidity Events: When to Sell? 35:14 How Floodgate Lost Billions Missing Airbnb and Pinterest 35:43 3 Frameworks for Evaluating Startups 36:23 Case Studies: Zoom and Okta 43:34 How to Truly Analyse Product-Market Fit 45:22 Challenges with Overfunding Startups 50:02 2024 in Review: Company and Fund of the Year 54:25 Predictions for 2025
Five-time Midas List investor Annie Lamont has seen every healthcare cycle since the genomics revolution. Now, as co-founder of Oak HC/FT and early investor in category-defining companies like One Medical, Athena Health, and Devoted Health, she believes 2025 could mark the return of animal spirits to healthcare investing. In this forward-looking conversation, Annie shares why AI might finally deliver on technology's promise to transform American healthcare, even as she warns entrepreneurs to watch out for the "revenge of the incumbents."We cover:
Mike Maples is the co-founding partner at Floodgate, a venture capital firm that focuses on early stage investments in technology companies. He has been featured on the Forbes Midas List eight times in the past decade, recognized as a “Rising Star” by FORTUNE, and profiled by Harvard Business School for his enduring contributions to entrepreneurship. As a founder and operating executive, Mike played pivotal roles in two successful IPOs: Tivoli Systems (later acquired by IBM) and Motive (acquired by Alcatel-Lucent). Mike's career as a seed investor has solidified his legendary status in Silicon Valley. Some of his notable investments include Twitter, Twitch.tv, Clover Health, Okta, Outreach, Chegg, Demandforce, and Applied Intuition. Together with Stanford Professor Peter Ziebelman, Mike developed insights on identifying "Pattern Breaking" concepts, referred to as "Inflections." These ideas form the foundation of his book, Pattern Breakers, which explores over 15 years of investment experience to reveal the sources of breakthrough potential in startups. The book is a National Bestseller and ranks as the #1 Venture Capital book on Amazon.On today's show, Alan and Mike dive into Mike's latest book, Pattern Breakers, exploring what pattern breakers are, their key components, and how they drive transformational change. They examine the concept of inflection points, pivotal moments that define the trajectory of a startup. Mike explains the importance of being radically different and the necessity of building a movement around your business and products to stand out in competitive markets. They also explore what truly makes a company radically different and how these elements come together to fuel extraordinary success.In this episode, you'll learn:Why being radically different is essential for startups and how to achieve itStrategies to identify and connect with your ideal customer base early Key startup principles that even large companies can adopt, plus actionable tips for collaborating with startupsKey Highlights:[02:17] Being a professional calligrapher [03:32] Career path to Floodgate[05:50] Why is now the right time for the book, Pattern Breakers[08:53] Why startups need to be radically different[14:00] Is getting competition good or bad[15:58] How to find the customer base early on[18:59] How the principles of a startup can apply to large companies[22:28] Tips for large companies working with startups[23:46] Risk profiles and mindsets [26:16] Inflections [30:05] Different categories of growth[32:05] Inflections, pattern breakers, creating movements relating to marking[34:04] Does radically different only matter if its a commercial success[37:50] An experience from your past that defines you[41:35] Advice to your younger self- personal monopoly [43:50] A topic that you and other marketers need to learn more about - AI [50:12] Trends or subcultures others should follow[50:51] Largest opportunity or threat to marketers todayLooking for more?Visit our website for the full show notes, links to resources mentioned in this episode, and ways to connect with the guest! Become a member today and listen ad-free, visit https://plus.acast.com/s/marketingtoday. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
Read the full transcript here. What mistakes do investors make when trying to predict which startups will succeed? Which matters more: a startup's team or its central idea? How do startup founders differ from other capitalists? What makes something a "pattern-breaking" idea or behavior? Are startup founders less sensitive to negative feedback than the average person? Is it possible to achieve startup success without challenging the status quo? Is it true that 90% of startups fail? What is founder-future match? At their core, what are movements? Can startup founders be too good at storytelling? Has the US become less innovative? What are Singapore and Israel doing right that enables them to have the highest number of "unicorn" startups per million people? What's the right amount of "shaking things up"?Mike Maples, Jr. is an entrepreneur, venture capitalist, podcaster, and the co-founder of FLOODGATE, a leading seed stage fund in Silicon Valley that invested in companies like Twitter, Twitch, Okta, and Outreach at the very beginning of their startup journeys. An eight-time member of the Forbes Midas List of Top Venture Capital investors, he was one of the pioneers of the seed investing movement, which started in the mid-2000s, and now is a mainstream part of startup funding. Follow him on Twitter at @m2jr.Further reading:Pattern Breakers: Why Some Start-Ups Change the Future, by Mike Maples StaffSpencer Greenberg — Host / DirectorJosh Castle — ProducerRyan Kessler — Audio EngineerUri Bram — FactotumWeAmplify — TranscriptionistsMusicBroke for FreeJosh WoodwardLee RosevereQuiet Music for Tiny Robotswowamusiczapsplat.comAffiliatesClearer ThinkingGuidedTrackMind EasePositlyUpLift[Read more]
Send us a Text Message.Miguel Armaza interviews Alex Konrad, Senior Editor at Forbes, where he covers venture capital and startups. Alex also edits and curates the famous Midas List and The Forbes 30 Under 30 VC category. He is a central figure in the world of Venture Capital, Tech, and Fintech and I suspect you'll enjoy hearing what he has to say.We discuss:A behind-the-scenes look of the Forbes Midas List and the growing influence of FinTech in itThe Impact and adoption of AI in the financial industryEvolution and future of the VC industryThe role of media in tech, curating the 30 Under 30… and a lot more!Want more podcast episodes? Join me and follow Fintech Leaders today on Apple, Spotify, or your favorite podcast app for weekly conversations with today's global leaders that will dominate the 21st century in fintech, business, and beyond.Do you prefer a written summary? Check out the Fintech Leaders newsletter and join ~70,000+ readers and listeners worldwide!Miguel Armaza is Co-Founder and General Partner of Gilgamesh Ventures, a seed-stage investment fund focused on fintech in the Americas. He also hosts and writes the Fintech Leaders podcast and newsletter.Miguel on LinkedIn: https://bit.ly/3nKha4ZMiguel on Twitter: https://bit.ly/2Jb5oBcFintech Leaders Newsletter: bit.ly/3jWIp
Case Interview Preparation & Management Consulting | Strategy | Critical Thinking
Welcome to an interview with the author of Pattern Breakers: Why Some Start-Ups Change the Future, Mike Maples, Jr. In this book, Maples and coauthor Peter Ziebelman set out to discover the hidden forces that drive extraordinary start-up success. Pattern-breaking success, they reveal, demands a different mindset and actions to harness developments others miss or that may, at first, seem crazy. Mike Maples, Jr is an entrepreneur, venture capitalist, podcaster, and the co-founder of FLOODGATE, a leading seed stage fund in Silicon Valley that invested in companies like Twitter, Twitch, Okta, and Outreach at the very beginning of their startup journeys. An eight-time member of the Forbes Midas List of Top Venture Capital investors, he was one of the pioneers of the seed investing movement, which started in the mid-2000s and now is a mainstream part of startup funding. Get Pattern Breakers here: https://rb.gy/z4l4i7 Here are some free gifts for you: Overall Approach Used in Well-Managed Strategy Studies free download: www.firmsconsulting.com/OverallApproach McKinsey & BCG winning resume free download: www.firmsconsulting.com/resumepdf Enjoying this episode? Get access to sample advanced training episodes here: www.firmsconsulting.com/promo
Pattern Breakers: Why Some Start-Ups Change the Future by Mike Maples Jr, Peter Ziebelman https://amzn.to/4bQrwrx Based on extensive research and real-world examples, this book upends accepted wisdom about how to achieve success when launching a startup or creating a new product. The breakthrough concepts of Pattern Breakers come from the observations of Mike Maples Jr., a seasoned venture capitalist, who noticed something strange. Start-ups like Twitter, Twitch, and Lyft had achieved extraordinary success despite their disregard for “best practices.” In contrast, other startups deemed highly promising often failed, even when they seemed to do everything right. Seeking answers, Maples and coauthor Peter Ziebelman set out to discover the hidden forces that drive extraordinary start-up success. Pattern-breaking success, they reveal, demands a different mindset and actions to harness developments others miss or that may, at first, seem crazy. Pattern Breakers is filled with firsthand storytelling about initial interactions with some of the most transformative start-ups of recent times. Maples and Ziebelman challenge us to rethink how to transcend the ordinary and achieve the extraordinary. About the author Mike Maples, Jr. is an entrepreneur, venture capitalist, and author. He is focused on backing the founders of startup companies at the very beginning of their startup journeys. As a co-founding partner at Floodgate, he's been on the Forbes Midas List eight times for his investments in companies such as Twitter, Twitch, Okta, Outreach, Rappi, Chegg, and Applied Intuition. Maples co-authored Pattern Breakers, which entrepreneurship thought leader Steve Blank calls “the most important book on startups in the last ten years.” He additionally hosts a podcast and newsletter, which explore the pivotal role of pattern-breaking founders in reshaping business and culture in the 21st Century.
Lenny's Podcast: Product | Growth | Career ✓ Claim Key Takeaways Check out the episode pageRead the full notes @ podcastnotes.orgMike Maples, Jr. is a legendary early-stage startup investor and a co-founder and partner at Floodgate. He's made early bets on transformative companies like Twitter, Lyft, Twitch, Okta, Rappi, and Applied Intuition and is one of the pioneers of seed-stage investing as a category. He's been on the Forbes Midas List eight times and enjoys sharing the lessons he's learned from his years studying iconic companies. In his new book, Pattern Breakers: Why Some Start-Ups Change the Future, co-authored with Peter Ziebelman, he discusses what he's found separates startups and founders that break through and change the world from those that don't. After spending years reviewing the notes and decks from the thousands of startups he's known over the past two decades, he's uncovered three ways that breakthrough founders think and act differently. In our conversation, Mike talks about:• The three elements of breakthrough startup ideas• Why you need to both think and act differently• How to avoid the “comparison trap” and “conformity trap”• The importance of movements, storytelling, and healthy disagreeableness in startup success• How to apply pattern-breaking principles within large companies• Mike's one piece of advice for founders• Much morePre-order Mike's book here and get a second signed copy for free. Limited copies are available, so order ASAP: patternbreakers.com/lenny.—Brought to you by:• Enterpret—Transform customer feedback into product growth• Anvil—The fastest way to build software for documents• Webflow—The web experience platform—Find the transcript at: https://www.lennysnewsletter.com/p/how-to-find-a-great-startup-idea-mike-maples-jr—Where to find Mike Maples, Jr.:• X: https://x.com/m2jr• LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/maples/• Substack: https://greatness.substack.com/• Website: https://www.floodgate.com/—Where to find Lenny:• Newsletter: https://www.lennysnewsletter.com• X: https://twitter.com/lennysan• LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/lennyrachitsky/—In this episode, we cover:(00:00) Mike's background(03:10) The inspiration behind Pattern Breakers(08:09) Uncovering startup insights(11:37) A quick summary of Pattern Breakers(13:52) Coming up with an idea(15:30) Inflections(17:09) Examples of inflections(28:10) Insights(36:58) The power of surprises(47:36) Founder-future fit(55:33) Advice for aspiring founders(56:41) Living in the future: valid opinions(55:34) Case study: Maddie Hall and Living Carbon(58:40) Identifying lighthouse customers(01:00:53) The importance of desperation in customer needs(01:03:57) Creating movements and storytelling(01:24:22) The role of disagreeableness in startups(01:34:42) Applying these principles within a company(01:40:43) Lightning round—Referenced:• Pattern Breakers: Why Some Start-Ups Change the Future: https://www.amazon.com/Pattern-Breakers-Start-Ups-Change-Future/dp/1541704355• Justin.tv: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Justin.tv• Airbnb's CEO says a $40 cereal box changed the course of the multibillion-dollar company: https://fortune.com/2023/04/19/airbnb-ceo-cereal-box-investors-changed-everything-billion-dollar-company/• Brian Chesky's new playbook: https://www.lennysnewsletter.com/p/brian-cheskys-contrarian-approach• The Unconventional Exit: How Justin Kan Sold His First Startup on eBay: https://medium.datadriveninvestor.com/the-unconventional-exit-how-justin-kan-sold-his-first-startup-on-ebay-4d705afe1354• Kyle Vogt on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/kylevogt/• The State of Telehealth Before and After the COVID-19 Pandemic: https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC9035352/• The Craigslist Killers: https://www.gq.com/story/craigslist-killers• The social radar: Y Combinator's secret weapon | Jessica Livingston (co-founder of Y Combinator, author, podcast host): https://www.lennysnewsletter.com/p/the-social-radar-jessica-livingston• Michael Seibel on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/mwseibel/• The Airbnb Story: How Three Ordinary Guys Disrupted an Industry, Made Billions ... and Created Plenty of Controversy: https://www.amazon.com/Airbnb-Story-Ordinary-Disrupted-Controversy/dp/0544952669• Scott Cook: https://www.forbes.com/profile/scott-cook/• Chegg: https://www.chegg.com/• Aayush Phumbhra on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/aayush/• Osman Rashid on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/osmanrashid/• Okta: https://www.okta.com/• The Man Who Makes the Future: Wired Icon Marc Andreessen: https://www.wired.com/2012/04/ff-andreessen/• Peter Ludwig on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/peterwludwig/• Qasar Younis on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/qasar/• Paul Allen's website: https://paulallen.com/• Louis Pasteur quote: https://www.forbes.com/quotes/6145/• What was Atrium and why did it fail? https://www.failory.com/cemetery/atrium• Patrick Collison on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/patrickcollison/• Drew Houston on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/drewhouston/• William Gibson's quote: https://www.goodreads.com/quotes/681-the-future-is-already-here-it-s-just-not-evenly• Maddie Hall on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/maddie-hall-76293135/• Living Carbon: https://www.livingcarbon.com• Zenefits (now Trinet): https://connect.trinet.com/• Sam Altman on X: https://x.com/sama• Steve Wozniak on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/wozniaksteve/• Horsley Bridge Partners: https://www.horsleybridge.com/• David Swensen: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/David_F._Swensen• Judith Elsea on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/judithelsea/• 7 Powers: The Foundations of Business Strategy: https://www.amazon.com/7-Powers-Foundations-Business-Strategy/dp/0998116319• Business strategy with Hamilton Helmer (author of 7 Powers): https://www.lennysnewsletter.com/p/business-strategy-with-hamilton-helmer• Lyft's Focus on Community and the Story Behind the Pink Mustache: https://techcrunch.com/2012/09/17/lyfts-focus-on-community-and-the-story-behind-the-pink-mustache/• Logan Green on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/logangreen/• John Zimmer on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/johnzimmer11/• Storytelling with Nancy Duarte: How to craft compelling presentations and tell a story that sticks: https://www.lennysnewsletter.com/p/storytelling-with-nancy-duarte-how• Steve Jobs Introducing the iPhone at MacWorld 2007: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=x7qPAY9JqE4• Jonathan Livingston Seagull: https://www.amazon.com/Jonathan-Livingston-Seagull-Richard-Bach/dp/0743278909• The paths to power: How to grow your influence and advance your career | Jeffrey Pfeffer (author of 7 Rules of Power, professor at Stanford GSB): https://www.lennysnewsletter.com/p/the-paths-to-power-jeffrey-pfeffer• Robin Roberts on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/robin-roberts-393a934b/• Skunkworks: https://www.lockheedmartin.com/en-us/who-we-are/business-areas/aeronautics/skunkworks.html• Vision, conviction, and hype: How to build 0 to 1 inside a company | Mihika Kapoor (Product at Figma): https://www.lennysnewsletter.com/p/vision-conviction-hype-mihika-kapoor• Hard-won lessons building 0 to 1 inside Atlassian | Tanguy Crusson (Head of Jira Product Discovery): https://www.lennysnewsletter.com/p/building-0-to-1-inside-atlassian-tanguy-crusson• Figma: https://www.figma.com/• Atlassian: https://www.atlassian.com/• Vinod Khosla: https://www.khoslaventures.com/team/vinod-khosla/• Top Five Regrets of the Dying: A Life Transformed by the Dearly Departing: https://www.amazon.com/Top-Five-Regrets-Dying-Transformed-ebook/dp/B07KNRLY1L• Chase, Chance, and Creativity: The Lucky Art of Novelty: https://www.amazon.com/Chase-Chance-Creativity-Lucky-Novelty/dp/0262511355• Clay Christensen's books: https://www.amazon.com/stores/Clayton-M.-Christensen/author/B000APPD3Y• Resonate: Present Visual Stories That Transform: https://www.amazon.com/Resonate-Present-Stories-Transform-Audiences/dp/0470632011• Ferrari on Prime: https://www.amazon.com/Ferrari-Adam-Driver/dp/B0CNDBN672• Montblanc fountain pens: https://www.montblanc.com/en-us—Production and marketing by https://penname.co/. For inquiries about sponsoring the podcast, email podcast@lennyrachitsky.com.—Lenny may be an investor in the companies discussed. Get full access to Lenny's Newsletter at www.lennysnewsletter.com/subscribe
Lenny's Podcast: Product | Growth | Career ✓ Claim Key Takeaways Check out the episode pageRead the full notes @ podcastnotes.orgMike Maples, Jr. is a legendary early-stage startup investor and a co-founder and partner at Floodgate. He's made early bets on transformative companies like Twitter, Lyft, Twitch, Okta, Rappi, and Applied Intuition and is one of the pioneers of seed-stage investing as a category. He's been on the Forbes Midas List eight times and enjoys sharing the lessons he's learned from his years studying iconic companies. In his new book, Pattern Breakers: Why Some Start-Ups Change the Future, co-authored with Peter Ziebelman, he discusses what he's found separates startups and founders that break through and change the world from those that don't. After spending years reviewing the notes and decks from the thousands of startups he's known over the past two decades, he's uncovered three ways that breakthrough founders think and act differently. In our conversation, Mike talks about:• The three elements of breakthrough startup ideas• Why you need to both think and act differently• How to avoid the “comparison trap” and “conformity trap”• The importance of movements, storytelling, and healthy disagreeableness in startup success• How to apply pattern-breaking principles within large companies• Mike's one piece of advice for founders• Much morePre-order Mike's book here and get a second signed copy for free. Limited copies are available, so order ASAP: patternbreakers.com/lenny.—Brought to you by:• Enterpret—Transform customer feedback into product growth• Anvil—The fastest way to build software for documents• Webflow—The web experience platform—Find the transcript at: https://www.lennysnewsletter.com/p/how-to-find-a-great-startup-idea-mike-maples-jr—Where to find Mike Maples, Jr.:• X: https://x.com/m2jr• LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/maples/• Substack: https://greatness.substack.com/• Website: https://www.floodgate.com/—Where to find Lenny:• Newsletter: https://www.lennysnewsletter.com• X: https://twitter.com/lennysan• LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/lennyrachitsky/—In this episode, we cover:(00:00) Mike's background(03:10) The inspiration behind Pattern Breakers(08:09) Uncovering startup insights(11:37) A quick summary of Pattern Breakers(13:52) Coming up with an idea(15:30) Inflections(17:09) Examples of inflections(28:10) Insights(36:58) The power of surprises(47:36) Founder-future fit(55:33) Advice for aspiring founders(56:41) Living in the future: valid opinions(55:34) Case study: Maddie Hall and Living Carbon(58:40) Identifying lighthouse customers(01:00:53) The importance of desperation in customer needs(01:03:57) Creating movements and storytelling(01:24:22) The role of disagreeableness in startups(01:34:42) Applying these principles within a company(01:40:43) Lightning round—Referenced:• Pattern Breakers: Why Some Start-Ups Change the Future: https://www.amazon.com/Pattern-Breakers-Start-Ups-Change-Future/dp/1541704355• Justin.tv: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Justin.tv• Airbnb's CEO says a $40 cereal box changed the course of the multibillion-dollar company: https://fortune.com/2023/04/19/airbnb-ceo-cereal-box-investors-changed-everything-billion-dollar-company/• Brian Chesky's new playbook: https://www.lennysnewsletter.com/p/brian-cheskys-contrarian-approach• The Unconventional Exit: How Justin Kan Sold His First Startup on eBay: https://medium.datadriveninvestor.com/the-unconventional-exit-how-justin-kan-sold-his-first-startup-on-ebay-4d705afe1354• Kyle Vogt on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/kylevogt/• The State of Telehealth Before and After the COVID-19 Pandemic: https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC9035352/• The Craigslist Killers: https://www.gq.com/story/craigslist-killers• The social radar: Y Combinator's secret weapon | Jessica Livingston (co-founder of Y Combinator, author, podcast host): https://www.lennysnewsletter.com/p/the-social-radar-jessica-livingston• Michael Seibel on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/mwseibel/• The Airbnb Story: How Three Ordinary Guys Disrupted an Industry, Made Billions ... and Created Plenty of Controversy: https://www.amazon.com/Airbnb-Story-Ordinary-Disrupted-Controversy/dp/0544952669• Scott Cook: https://www.forbes.com/profile/scott-cook/• Chegg: https://www.chegg.com/• Aayush Phumbhra on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/aayush/• Osman Rashid on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/osmanrashid/• Okta: https://www.okta.com/• The Man Who Makes the Future: Wired Icon Marc Andreessen: https://www.wired.com/2012/04/ff-andreessen/• Peter Ludwig on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/peterwludwig/• Qasar Younis on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/qasar/• Paul Allen's website: https://paulallen.com/• Louis Pasteur quote: https://www.forbes.com/quotes/6145/• What was Atrium and why did it fail? https://www.failory.com/cemetery/atrium• Patrick Collison on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/patrickcollison/• Drew Houston on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/drewhouston/• William Gibson's quote: https://www.goodreads.com/quotes/681-the-future-is-already-here-it-s-just-not-evenly• Maddie Hall on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/maddie-hall-76293135/• Living Carbon: https://www.livingcarbon.com• Zenefits (now Trinet): https://connect.trinet.com/• Sam Altman on X: https://x.com/sama• Steve Wozniak on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/wozniaksteve/• Horsley Bridge Partners: https://www.horsleybridge.com/• David Swensen: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/David_F._Swensen• Judith Elsea on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/judithelsea/• 7 Powers: The Foundations of Business Strategy: https://www.amazon.com/7-Powers-Foundations-Business-Strategy/dp/0998116319• Business strategy with Hamilton Helmer (author of 7 Powers): https://www.lennysnewsletter.com/p/business-strategy-with-hamilton-helmer• Lyft's Focus on Community and the Story Behind the Pink Mustache: https://techcrunch.com/2012/09/17/lyfts-focus-on-community-and-the-story-behind-the-pink-mustache/• Logan Green on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/logangreen/• John Zimmer on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/johnzimmer11/• Storytelling with Nancy Duarte: How to craft compelling presentations and tell a story that sticks: https://www.lennysnewsletter.com/p/storytelling-with-nancy-duarte-how• Steve Jobs Introducing the iPhone at MacWorld 2007: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=x7qPAY9JqE4• Jonathan Livingston Seagull: https://www.amazon.com/Jonathan-Livingston-Seagull-Richard-Bach/dp/0743278909• The paths to power: How to grow your influence and advance your career | Jeffrey Pfeffer (author of 7 Rules of Power, professor at Stanford GSB): https://www.lennysnewsletter.com/p/the-paths-to-power-jeffrey-pfeffer• Robin Roberts on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/robin-roberts-393a934b/• Skunkworks: https://www.lockheedmartin.com/en-us/who-we-are/business-areas/aeronautics/skunkworks.html• Vision, conviction, and hype: How to build 0 to 1 inside a company | Mihika Kapoor (Product at Figma): https://www.lennysnewsletter.com/p/vision-conviction-hype-mihika-kapoor• Hard-won lessons building 0 to 1 inside Atlassian | Tanguy Crusson (Head of Jira Product Discovery): https://www.lennysnewsletter.com/p/building-0-to-1-inside-atlassian-tanguy-crusson• Figma: https://www.figma.com/• Atlassian: https://www.atlassian.com/• Vinod Khosla: https://www.khoslaventures.com/team/vinod-khosla/• Top Five Regrets of the Dying: A Life Transformed by the Dearly Departing: https://www.amazon.com/Top-Five-Regrets-Dying-Transformed-ebook/dp/B07KNRLY1L• Chase, Chance, and Creativity: The Lucky Art of Novelty: https://www.amazon.com/Chase-Chance-Creativity-Lucky-Novelty/dp/0262511355• Clay Christensen's books: https://www.amazon.com/stores/Clayton-M.-Christensen/author/B000APPD3Y• Resonate: Present Visual Stories That Transform: https://www.amazon.com/Resonate-Present-Stories-Transform-Audiences/dp/0470632011• Ferrari on Prime: https://www.amazon.com/Ferrari-Adam-Driver/dp/B0CNDBN672• Montblanc fountain pens: https://www.montblanc.com/en-us—Production and marketing by https://penname.co/. For inquiries about sponsoring the podcast, email podcast@lennyrachitsky.com.—Lenny may be an investor in the companies discussed. Get full access to Lenny's Newsletter at www.lennysnewsletter.com/subscribe
Lenny's Podcast: Product | Growth | Career ✓ Claim Key Takeaways Check out the episode pageRead the full notes @ podcastnotes.orgMike Maples, Jr. is a legendary early-stage startup investor and a co-founder and partner at Floodgate. He's made early bets on transformative companies like Twitter, Lyft, Twitch, Okta, Rappi, and Applied Intuition and is one of the pioneers of seed-stage investing as a category. He's been on the Forbes Midas List eight times and enjoys sharing the lessons he's learned from his years studying iconic companies. In his new book, Pattern Breakers: Why Some Start-Ups Change the Future, co-authored with Peter Ziebelman, he discusses what he's found separates startups and founders that break through and change the world from those that don't. After spending years reviewing the notes and decks from the thousands of startups he's known over the past two decades, he's uncovered three ways that breakthrough founders think and act differently. In our conversation, Mike talks about:• The three elements of breakthrough startup ideas• Why you need to both think and act differently• How to avoid the “comparison trap” and “conformity trap”• The importance of movements, storytelling, and healthy disagreeableness in startup success• How to apply pattern-breaking principles within large companies• Mike's one piece of advice for founders• Much morePre-order Mike's book here and get a second signed copy for free. Limited copies are available, so order ASAP: patternbreakers.com/lenny.—Brought to you by:• Enterpret—Transform customer feedback into product growth• Anvil—The fastest way to build software for documents• Webflow—The web experience platform—Find the transcript at: https://www.lennysnewsletter.com/p/how-to-find-a-great-startup-idea-mike-maples-jr—Where to find Mike Maples, Jr.:• X: https://x.com/m2jr• LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/maples/• Substack: https://greatness.substack.com/• Website: https://www.floodgate.com/—Where to find Lenny:• Newsletter: https://www.lennysnewsletter.com• X: https://twitter.com/lennysan• LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/lennyrachitsky/—In this episode, we cover:(00:00) Mike's background(03:10) The inspiration behind Pattern Breakers(08:09) Uncovering startup insights(11:37) A quick summary of Pattern Breakers(13:52) Coming up with an idea(15:30) Inflections(17:09) Examples of inflections(28:10) Insights(36:58) The power of surprises(47:36) Founder-future fit(55:33) Advice for aspiring founders(56:41) Living in the future: valid opinions(55:34) Case study: Maddie Hall and Living Carbon(58:40) Identifying lighthouse customers(01:00:53) The importance of desperation in customer needs(01:03:57) Creating movements and storytelling(01:24:22) The role of disagreeableness in startups(01:34:42) Applying these principles within a company(01:40:43) Lightning round—Referenced:• Pattern Breakers: Why Some Start-Ups Change the Future: https://www.amazon.com/Pattern-Breakers-Start-Ups-Change-Future/dp/1541704355• Justin.tv: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Justin.tv• Airbnb's CEO says a $40 cereal box changed the course of the multibillion-dollar company: https://fortune.com/2023/04/19/airbnb-ceo-cereal-box-investors-changed-everything-billion-dollar-company/• Brian Chesky's new playbook: https://www.lennysnewsletter.com/p/brian-cheskys-contrarian-approach• The Unconventional Exit: How Justin Kan Sold His First Startup on eBay: https://medium.datadriveninvestor.com/the-unconventional-exit-how-justin-kan-sold-his-first-startup-on-ebay-4d705afe1354• Kyle Vogt on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/kylevogt/• The State of Telehealth Before and After the COVID-19 Pandemic: https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC9035352/• The Craigslist Killers: https://www.gq.com/story/craigslist-killers• The social radar: Y Combinator's secret weapon | Jessica Livingston (co-founder of Y Combinator, author, podcast host): https://www.lennysnewsletter.com/p/the-social-radar-jessica-livingston• Michael Seibel on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/mwseibel/• The Airbnb Story: How Three Ordinary Guys Disrupted an Industry, Made Billions ... and Created Plenty of Controversy: https://www.amazon.com/Airbnb-Story-Ordinary-Disrupted-Controversy/dp/0544952669• Scott Cook: https://www.forbes.com/profile/scott-cook/• Chegg: https://www.chegg.com/• Aayush Phumbhra on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/aayush/• Osman Rashid on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/osmanrashid/• Okta: https://www.okta.com/• The Man Who Makes the Future: Wired Icon Marc Andreessen: https://www.wired.com/2012/04/ff-andreessen/• Peter Ludwig on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/peterwludwig/• Qasar Younis on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/qasar/• Paul Allen's website: https://paulallen.com/• Louis Pasteur quote: https://www.forbes.com/quotes/6145/• What was Atrium and why did it fail? https://www.failory.com/cemetery/atrium• Patrick Collison on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/patrickcollison/• Drew Houston on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/drewhouston/• William Gibson's quote: https://www.goodreads.com/quotes/681-the-future-is-already-here-it-s-just-not-evenly• Maddie Hall on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/maddie-hall-76293135/• Living Carbon: https://www.livingcarbon.com• Zenefits (now Trinet): https://connect.trinet.com/• Sam Altman on X: https://x.com/sama• Steve Wozniak on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/wozniaksteve/• Horsley Bridge Partners: https://www.horsleybridge.com/• David Swensen: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/David_F._Swensen• Judith Elsea on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/judithelsea/• 7 Powers: The Foundations of Business Strategy: https://www.amazon.com/7-Powers-Foundations-Business-Strategy/dp/0998116319• Business strategy with Hamilton Helmer (author of 7 Powers): https://www.lennysnewsletter.com/p/business-strategy-with-hamilton-helmer• Lyft's Focus on Community and the Story Behind the Pink Mustache: https://techcrunch.com/2012/09/17/lyfts-focus-on-community-and-the-story-behind-the-pink-mustache/• Logan Green on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/logangreen/• John Zimmer on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/johnzimmer11/• Storytelling with Nancy Duarte: How to craft compelling presentations and tell a story that sticks: https://www.lennysnewsletter.com/p/storytelling-with-nancy-duarte-how• Steve Jobs Introducing the iPhone at MacWorld 2007: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=x7qPAY9JqE4• Jonathan Livingston Seagull: https://www.amazon.com/Jonathan-Livingston-Seagull-Richard-Bach/dp/0743278909• The paths to power: How to grow your influence and advance your career | Jeffrey Pfeffer (author of 7 Rules of Power, professor at Stanford GSB): https://www.lennysnewsletter.com/p/the-paths-to-power-jeffrey-pfeffer• Robin Roberts on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/robin-roberts-393a934b/• Skunkworks: https://www.lockheedmartin.com/en-us/who-we-are/business-areas/aeronautics/skunkworks.html• Vision, conviction, and hype: How to build 0 to 1 inside a company | Mihika Kapoor (Product at Figma): https://www.lennysnewsletter.com/p/vision-conviction-hype-mihika-kapoor• Hard-won lessons building 0 to 1 inside Atlassian | Tanguy Crusson (Head of Jira Product Discovery): https://www.lennysnewsletter.com/p/building-0-to-1-inside-atlassian-tanguy-crusson• Figma: https://www.figma.com/• Atlassian: https://www.atlassian.com/• Vinod Khosla: https://www.khoslaventures.com/team/vinod-khosla/• Top Five Regrets of the Dying: A Life Transformed by the Dearly Departing: https://www.amazon.com/Top-Five-Regrets-Dying-Transformed-ebook/dp/B07KNRLY1L• Chase, Chance, and Creativity: The Lucky Art of Novelty: https://www.amazon.com/Chase-Chance-Creativity-Lucky-Novelty/dp/0262511355• Clay Christensen's books: https://www.amazon.com/stores/Clayton-M.-Christensen/author/B000APPD3Y• Resonate: Present Visual Stories That Transform: https://www.amazon.com/Resonate-Present-Stories-Transform-Audiences/dp/0470632011• Ferrari on Prime: https://www.amazon.com/Ferrari-Adam-Driver/dp/B0CNDBN672• Montblanc fountain pens: https://www.montblanc.com/en-us—Production and marketing by https://penname.co/. For inquiries about sponsoring the podcast, email podcast@lennyrachitsky.com.—Lenny may be an investor in the companies discussed. Get full access to Lenny's Newsletter at www.lennysnewsletter.com/subscribe
Venture Unlocked: The playbook for venture capital managers.
Follow me @samirkaji for my thoughts on the venture market, with a focus on the continued evolution of the VC landscape.We're re-joined by Mike Maples, Jr. of Floodgate, this time to discuss his just released new book "Pattern Breakers."Mike was first on the pod in 2021 and it was great to catch up again, this time to discuss the importance of identifying founders who are true pattern breakers. We spoke about how his observations on the last 14 years at Floodgate inspired him to write the book. We went through concepts such as founder-future fit, the winning formula of inflections and insights, and his experience that 80% of their returns have been from companies with some major insight or pivot. You can find Mike's book "Pattern Breakers" and additional insights on his substack at patternbreakers.substack.com.About Mike Maples, Jr.:Mike Maples, Jr. is a co-founding Partner at Floodgate. He has been on the Forbes Midas List eight times in the last decade and was also named a “Rising Star” by FORTUNE and profiled by Harvard Business School for his lifetime contributions to entrepreneurship. Before becoming a full-time investor, Mike was involved as a founder and operating executive at back-to-back startup IPOs, including Tivoli Systems (IPO TIVS, acquired by IBM) and Motive (IPO MOTV, acquired by Alcatel-Lucent.)Some of Mike's investments include Twitter, Twitch.tv, Clover Health, Okta, Outreach, ngmoco, Chegg, Bazaarvoice, and Demandforce.Mike is known for coining the term “Thunder Lizards,” which is a metaphor derived from Godzilla that describes the tiny number of truly exceptional companies that are wildly disruptive capitalist mutations. Mike likes to think of himself as a hunter of the “atomic eggs” that beget these companies.Mike is the host of the Pattern Breakers podcast, which shares startup lessons from the super performers.In this episode, we discuss:(02:00) The story behind writing "Pattern Breakers" and the investment in Twitch and the importance of pivots(04:07) Insights from returns on pivots and major insider pivots(05:02) The concept of founder-future fit and initial skepticism(07:04) The inflection point of Twitch pivoting from Justin.tv(10:28) Authenticity and insights in startup founders(14:32) The role of pattern recognition in startup success(16:24) Creating movements and attracting early believers(21:12) Importance of inflection points in startup success(25:00) Non-obvious inflection points and backcasting(29:52) The formula of inflection plus insight(32:00) Non-consensus and right: key to venture success(34:52) Venture capital and risk-taking(38:00) Inflections and protecting unconventional ideas(41:00) Patience as a form of arbitrage in venture investing(45:00) Insights from Annie Duke on decision-making in venture capitalI'd love to know what you took away from this conversation with Mike. Follow me @SamirKaji and give me your insights and questions with the hashtag #ventureunlocked. If you'd like to be considered as a guest or have someone you'd like to hear from (GP or LP), drop me a direct message on Twitter.Podcast Production support provided by Agent Bee This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit ventureunlocked.substack.com
Welcome to Strategy Skills episode 464, featuring an interview with the author of Pattern Breakers: Why Some Start-Ups Change the Future, Mike Maples, Jr. In this book, Maples and coauthor Peter Ziebelman set out to discover the hidden forces that drive extraordinary start-up success. Pattern-breaking success, they reveal, demands a different mindset and actions to harness developments others miss or that may, at first, seem crazy. Mike Maples, Jr is an entrepreneur, venture capitalist, podcaster, and the co-founder of FLOODGATE, a leading seed stage fund in Silicon Valley that invested in companies like Twitter, Twitch, Okta, and Outreach at the very beginning of their startup journeys. An eight-time member of the Forbes Midas List of Top Venture Capital investors, he was one of the pioneers of the seed investing movement, which started in the mid-2000s and now is a mainstream part of startup funding. Get Pattern Breakers here: https://rb.gy/z4l4i7 Here are some free gifts for you: Overall Approach Used in Well-Managed Strategy Studies free download: www.firmsconsulting.com/OverallApproach McKinsey & BCG winning resume free download: www.firmsconsulting.com/resumepdf Enjoying this episode? Get access to sample advanced training episodes here: www.firmsconsulting.com/promo
Earlier this week, I visited the offices of Floodgate Partners in Menlo Park to talk with its co-founding partner Mike Maples. As an early investor in Twitter, Twitch.tv and many other successful start-ups, Maples is one of Silicon Valley's most respected venture capitalists. He is, to borrow the title of his new book, an investor in “Pattern Breakers” - entrepreneurs whose radical innovations challenge preexisting conventions and, quite literally, change the future. But, as he explained, while pattern breakers might sometimes have to be disagreeable, that doesn't justify what he calls the “jerks “who all-too-often do a disservice to the business of building the future. Mike Maples is a co-founding Partner at Floodgate. He has been on the Forbes Midas List eight times in the last decade and was also named a “Rising Star” by FORTUNE and profiled by Harvard Business School for his lifetime contributions to entrepreneurship. Before becoming a full-time investor, Mike was involved as a founder and operating executive at back-to-back startup IPOs, including Tivoli Systems (IPO TIVS, acquired by IBM) and Motive (IPO MOTV, acquired by Alcatel-Lucent.) Some of Mike's investments include Twitter, Twitch.tv, Clover Health, Okta, Outreach, ngmoco, Chegg, Bazaarvoice, and Demandforce. Mike is known for coining the term “Thunder Lizards,” which is a metaphor derived from Godzilla that describes the tiny number of truly exceptional companies that are wildly disruptive capitalist mutations. Mike likes to think of himself as a hunter of the “atomic eggs” that beget these companies. Mike is the host of the Starting Greatness podcast, which shares startup lessons from the super performers.Named as one of the "100 most connected men" by GQ magazine, Andrew Keen is amongst the world's best known broadcasters and commentators. In addition to presenting KEEN ON, he is the host of the long-running How To Fix Democracy show. He is also the author of four prescient books about digital technology: CULT OF THE AMATEUR, DIGITAL VERTIGO, THE INTERNET IS NOT THE ANSWER and HOW TO FIX THE FUTURE. Andrew lives in San Francisco, is married to Cassandra Knight, Google's VP of Litigation & Discovery, and has two grown children.Keen On is a reader-supported publication. To receive new posts and support my work, consider becoming a free or paid subscriber. This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit keenon.substack.com/subscribe
n this episode of the EUVC podcast, Andreas discusses with Carlos Eduardo Espinal , Managing Partner at Seedcamp.Carlos Eduardo Espinal is a Managing Partner at Seedcamp, arguably, Europe's leading seed fund, first launched in 2007 to support European entrepreneurs truly compete on a global scale. With investments in over 460 companies including publicly listed Romanian-founded, UiPath, Wise and unicorns Revolut, wefox and Pleo. Carlos is a published author, fellow podcaster and has been on the Forbes Midas List as one of the most influential VCs in Europe for more or less as long as yours truly has been alive.In today's discussion, we're talking about the third edition of the "Fundraising field guide" the latest startup founder's guide to all things fundraising launched by Carlos. This third edition captured a very interesting period in VC, marking the completion of VC market's full fundraising cycle.The first edition of the book was written during the linear growth curve of the post-2008 era. The second during the “bubble” in valuations formed post-COVID where we saw large injections of capital into private markets leading to an exponential growth period for startups. This third edition covers the collapse of that “bubble”, and highlights common pitfalls you should avoid as an early-stage founder (such as taking too much money).Go to eu.vc for our core learnings and the full video interview
Mike Maples, Jr. is a legendary early-stage startup investor and a co-founder and partner at Floodgate. He's made early bets on transformative companies like Twitter, Lyft, Twitch, Okta, Rappi, and Applied Intuition and is one of the pioneers of seed-stage investing as a category. He's been on the Forbes Midas List eight times and enjoys sharing the lessons he's learned from his years studying iconic companies. In his new book, Pattern Breakers: Why Some Start-Ups Change the Future, co-authored with Peter Ziebelman, he discusses what he's found separates startups and founders that break through and change the world from those that don't. After spending years reviewing the notes and decks from the thousands of startups he's known over the past two decades, he's uncovered three ways that breakthrough founders think and act differently. In our conversation, Mike talks about:• The three elements of breakthrough startup ideas• Why you need to both think and act differently• How to avoid the “comparison trap” and “conformity trap”• The importance of movements, storytelling, and healthy disagreeableness in startup success• How to apply pattern-breaking principles within large companies• Mike's one piece of advice for founders• Much morePre-order Mike's book here and get a second signed copy for free. Limited copies are available, so order ASAP: patternbreakers.com/lenny.—Brought to you by:• Enterpret—Transform customer feedback into product growth• Anvil—The fastest way to build software for documents• Webflow—The web experience platform—Find the transcript at: https://www.lennysnewsletter.com/p/how-to-find-a-great-startup-idea-mike-maples-jr—Where to find Mike Maples, Jr.:• X: https://x.com/m2jr• LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/maples/• Substack: https://greatness.substack.com/• Website: https://www.floodgate.com/—Where to find Lenny:• Newsletter: https://www.lennysnewsletter.com• X: https://twitter.com/lennysan• LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/lennyrachitsky/—In this episode, we cover:(00:00) Mike's background(03:10) The inspiration behind Pattern Breakers(08:09) Uncovering startup insights(11:37) A quick summary of Pattern Breakers(13:52) Coming up with an idea(15:30) Inflections(17:09) Examples of inflections(28:10) Insights(36:58) The power of surprises(47:36) Founder-future fit(55:33) Advice for aspiring founders(56:41) Living in the future: valid opinions(55:34) Case study: Maddie Hall and Living Carbon(58:40) Identifying lighthouse customers(01:00:53) The importance of desperation in customer needs(01:03:57) Creating movements and storytelling(01:24:22) The role of disagreeableness in startups(01:34:42) Applying these principles within a company(01:40:43) Lightning round—Referenced:• Pattern Breakers: Why Some Start-Ups Change the Future: https://www.amazon.com/Pattern-Breakers-Start-Ups-Change-Future/dp/1541704355• Justin.tv: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Justin.tv• Airbnb's CEO says a $40 cereal box changed the course of the multibillion-dollar company: https://fortune.com/2023/04/19/airbnb-ceo-cereal-box-investors-changed-everything-billion-dollar-company/• Brian Chesky's new playbook: https://www.lennysnewsletter.com/p/brian-cheskys-contrarian-approach• The Unconventional Exit: How Justin Kan Sold His First Startup on eBay: https://medium.datadriveninvestor.com/the-unconventional-exit-how-justin-kan-sold-his-first-startup-on-ebay-4d705afe1354• Kyle Vogt on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/kylevogt/• The State of Telehealth Before and After the COVID-19 Pandemic: https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC9035352/• The Craigslist Killers: https://www.gq.com/story/craigslist-killers• The social radar: Y Combinator's secret weapon | Jessica Livingston (co-founder of Y Combinator, author, podcast host): https://www.lennysnewsletter.com/p/the-social-radar-jessica-livingston• Michael Seibel on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/mwseibel/• The Airbnb Story: How Three Ordinary Guys Disrupted an Industry, Made Billions ... and Created Plenty of Controversy: https://www.amazon.com/Airbnb-Story-Ordinary-Disrupted-Controversy/dp/0544952669• Scott Cook: https://www.forbes.com/profile/scott-cook/• Chegg: https://www.chegg.com/• Aayush Phumbhra on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/aayush/• Osman Rashid on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/osmanrashid/• Okta: https://www.okta.com/• The Man Who Makes the Future: Wired Icon Marc Andreessen: https://www.wired.com/2012/04/ff-andreessen/• Peter Ludwig on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/peterwludwig/• Qasar Younis on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/qasar/• Paul Allen's website: https://paulallen.com/• Louis Pasteur quote: https://www.forbes.com/quotes/6145/• What was Atrium and why did it fail? https://www.failory.com/cemetery/atrium• Patrick Collison on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/patrickcollison/• Drew Houston on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/drewhouston/• William Gibson's quote: https://www.goodreads.com/quotes/681-the-future-is-already-here-it-s-just-not-evenly• Maddie Hall on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/maddie-hall-76293135/• Living Carbon: https://www.livingcarbon.com• Zenefits (now Trinet): https://connect.trinet.com/• Sam Altman on X: https://x.com/sama• Steve Wozniak on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/wozniaksteve/• Horsley Bridge Partners: https://www.horsleybridge.com/• David Swensen: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/David_F._Swensen• Judith Elsea on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/judithelsea/• 7 Powers: The Foundations of Business Strategy: https://www.amazon.com/7-Powers-Foundations-Business-Strategy/dp/0998116319• Business strategy with Hamilton Helmer (author of 7 Powers): https://www.lennysnewsletter.com/p/business-strategy-with-hamilton-helmer• Lyft's Focus on Community and the Story Behind the Pink Mustache: https://techcrunch.com/2012/09/17/lyfts-focus-on-community-and-the-story-behind-the-pink-mustache/• Logan Green on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/logangreen/• John Zimmer on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/johnzimmer11/• Storytelling with Nancy Duarte: How to craft compelling presentations and tell a story that sticks: https://www.lennysnewsletter.com/p/storytelling-with-nancy-duarte-how• Steve Jobs Introducing the iPhone at MacWorld 2007: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=x7qPAY9JqE4• Jonathan Livingston Seagull: https://www.amazon.com/Jonathan-Livingston-Seagull-Richard-Bach/dp/0743278909• The paths to power: How to grow your influence and advance your career | Jeffrey Pfeffer (author of 7 Rules of Power, professor at Stanford GSB): https://www.lennysnewsletter.com/p/the-paths-to-power-jeffrey-pfeffer• Robin Roberts on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/robin-roberts-393a934b/• Skunkworks: https://www.lockheedmartin.com/en-us/who-we-are/business-areas/aeronautics/skunkworks.html• Vision, conviction, and hype: How to build 0 to 1 inside a company | Mihika Kapoor (Product at Figma): https://www.lennysnewsletter.com/p/vision-conviction-hype-mihika-kapoor• Hard-won lessons building 0 to 1 inside Atlassian | Tanguy Crusson (Head of Jira Product Discovery): https://www.lennysnewsletter.com/p/building-0-to-1-inside-atlassian-tanguy-crusson• Figma: https://www.figma.com/• Atlassian: https://www.atlassian.com/• Vinod Khosla: https://www.khoslaventures.com/team/vinod-khosla/• Top Five Regrets of the Dying: A Life Transformed by the Dearly Departing: https://www.amazon.com/Top-Five-Regrets-Dying-Transformed-ebook/dp/B07KNRLY1L• Chase, Chance, and Creativity: The Lucky Art of Novelty: https://www.amazon.com/Chase-Chance-Creativity-Lucky-Novelty/dp/0262511355• Clay Christensen's books: https://www.amazon.com/stores/Clayton-M.-Christensen/author/B000APPD3Y• Resonate: Present Visual Stories That Transform: https://www.amazon.com/Resonate-Present-Stories-Transform-Audiences/dp/0470632011• Ferrari on Prime: https://www.amazon.com/Ferrari-Adam-Driver/dp/B0CNDBN672• Montblanc fountain pens: https://www.montblanc.com/en-us—Production and marketing by https://penname.co/. For inquiries about sponsoring the podcast, email podcast@lennyrachitsky.com.—Lenny may be an investor in the companies discussed. Get full access to Lenny's Newsletter at www.lennysnewsletter.com/subscribe
The 2024 Midas List features 13 women investors, matching 2021's record number. They include No. 99 Annabelle Yu Long, a China-based newcomer at BAI Capital, and No. 86 Annie Lamont, Connecticut's First Lady and cofounder of Oak HC/FT, appearing for the fifth time, but her first in nine years.A data-driven ranking, the Midas List is produced annually from a combination of public data sources and the submissions of hundreds of investment partners across dozens of firms. To qualify, investors are ranked by portfolio companies that have gone public or been acquired for at least $200 million in the past five years, or that have at least doubled their private valuation to $400 million or more over the same period. Forbes and TrueBridge allow firms to share credit for a deal between up to two investors, and put a premium on liquid exits over unrealized returns. Early stage investors who deliver large multiples on money invested, and later-stage investors who return large sums of cash, can both make the list. Top Midas investors typically achieve both, across a dozen or more eligible investments.See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.
Today, we have Natasha Lytton with us.Natasha is the Director of Brand at Seedcamp, where she runs all things brand, network strategy, and post-investment activities. She creates the infrastructure and runs the team to support the portfolio of the fund that stands for over +460 companies. She loves discovering and helping to build startups that have the potential to radically change the future and who are shaping the world we want to be part of.Seedcamp first launched in 2007 to support European entrepreneurs in truly competing on a global scale. With investments in over 460 companies including publicly listed Romanian-founded, UiPath, Wise, and unicorns Revolut, wefox, and Pleo. Carlos is a published author, fellow podcaster and has been on the Forbes Midas List as one of the most influential VCs in Europe for more or less as long as yours truly has been alive.Go to eu.vc for our core learnings and the full video interview
Miguel Armaza interviews Rebecca Lynn, Co-Founder & General Partner at Canvas Ventures, an early-stage VC with almost $900 million AUM, focused on Series A & B in fintech, digital health, marketplaces, and logistics.Rebecca has been operating or investing in fintech for over 25 years and has also been ranked on the Forbes Midas List 5 years in a row.In this episode, we discuss:Marketing and go-to-market strategies from her experience at Next CardHow companies should think about preparing for M&A opportunitiesThe areas of fintech where AI is making an actual differenceChallenges of building a VC fund from scratch … and a lot more!Want more podcast episodes? Join me and follow Fintech Leaders today on Apple, Spotify, or your favorite podcast app for weekly conversations with today's global leaders that will dominate the 21st century in fintech, business, and beyond.Do you prefer a written summary? Check out the Fintech Leaders newsletter and join 65,000+ readers and listeners worldwide!Miguel Armaza is Co-Founder and General Partner of Gilgamesh Ventures, a seed-stage investment fund focused on fintech in the Americas. He also hosts and writes the Fintech Leaders podcast and newsletter.Miguel on LinkedIn: https://bit.ly/3nKha4ZMiguel on Twitter: https://bit.ly/2Jb5oBcFintech Leaders Newsletter: bit.ly/3jWIp
We continue our discussion on Fundraising during and after the tech reset, as part of our little hype parade ahead of the launch of the State of European VC Fundraising Report. Today, we have with us two close friends of the pod: Carlos Eduardo Espinal from Seedcamp and Bogdan Iordache from Underline Ventures.Carlos Eduardo Espinal is a Managing Partner at Seedcamp, arguably, Europe's leading seed fund, first launched in 2007 to support European entrepreneurs truly compete on a global scale. With investments in over 460 companies including publicly listed Romanian-founded, UiPath, Wise and unicorns Revolut, wefox and Pleo. Carlos is a published author, fellow podcaster and has been on the Forbes Midas List as one of the most influential VCs in Europe for more or less as long as yours truly has been alive.Bogdan Iordache is the Founding GP of Underline Ventures, a $20M seed fund in Romania and the first solo GP in the region. Bogdan and his team are focusing on backing Eastern European founders with global ambitions, and though I just said vertical-agnostic, Underline does pay extra attention to enterprise automation, AI, cybersecurity, industrial tech, defense, and climate-related startups
Chris Dixon is a General Partner at a16z where he leads Crypto investing, overseeing the largest pool in the space at $7 billion across four dedicated venture funds and a team of eighty professionals. Chris is one of the leading voices in the crypto ecosystem and topped the Forbes ‘Midas List' as the most successful venture capitalist in the world in 2021. He was a guest on the show last year, and that replay is available in the feed. Our conversation covers Chris' framework for web3, network effects, venture economics, and institutional adoption. We turn to some of the areas he is most excited about deploying capital, including the creator economy, infrastructure, DeFi, gaming, and decentralized content creation. We close with how a16z supports portfolio companies in crypto, and Chris' thoughts on the current market downturn. A full list of a16z investments can be found here - https://a16z.com/investments/. Learn More Follow Ted on Twitter at @tseides or LinkedIn Subscribe to the mailing list Access Transcript with Premium Membership
The Twenty Minute VC: Venture Capital | Startup Funding | The Pitch
Chris Dixon is a General Partner at Andreessen Horowitz, one of the leading venture firms of the last decade with investments in Oculus (acquired by Facebook), Coinbase, and many more. Chris also founded and leads a16z crypto, a division of the firm that he has grown from $300 million in 2018 to more than $7 billion of committed capital. Due to his many successes, Chris was named #1 on the Forbes Midas List in 2022. In Today's Episode with Chris Dixon We Discuss: From Founder to Leading GP in Venture: How did Chris make his way into the world of venture and startups? When did he realize investing was his calling? How did Chris Dixon come to co-found Founder Collective with Dave Frankel and Eric Paley? Lessons from 12 years Investing: What are Chris' biggest lessons from working with Marc Andreesen and Ben Horowitz? Does Chris agree with Doug Leone, “venture has transitioned from a boutique high margin business to a low margin commoditised industry”? What are the two ways to win in venture? Does Chris agree the best founders don't need their VCs? What is Chris' biggest investing miss? How did it impact his mindset? Are Incumbents Too Big To Be Replaced: What is the biggest problem with open-source internet today? Does Chris think incumbents can be replaced? Why does Chris think AI will strengthen incumbents? Does Chris think OpenAI should be open-sourced? Biggest Challenges in Crypto: What is the biggest misconception of crypto today? Does Chris think speculation is bad for crypto? What would Chris most like to change in the world of crypto? How does Chris think Trump will affect crypto?
Eddy Chan is a founding partner of Intudo Ventures, an independent venture capital firm exclusively focused on investing in Indonesia. With approximately US$300 million in committed capital, Intudo Ventures serves as the "Indonesia-beachhead" strategy provider for top-tier institutions, Forbes Midas List investors, family offices worldwide, and a network of over 35 hyperlocal Indonesian conglomerates and families. Eddy's extensive background includes venture investments in startups like PayPal and Palantir, founding and operating venture-backed technology companies, practicing corporate law, and working as an investment banker. He holds a J.D. from Georgetown University Law Center and a B.S. in Business Administration from UC Berkeley's Haas School of Business. Intudo Ventures stands out as the largest early-stage investment team in Indonesia, supporting companies like Xendit, Pintu, Pinhome, and more. Eddy has been a featured speaker at prominent events, including SuperReturn Asia and Harvard Asia Business Conference, and actively engages with Indonesian talent through professional and student associations. With his expertise and connections, Eddy Chan plays a pivotal role in shaping Indonesia's venture capital landscape and driving Intudo Ventures' success in the market. LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/eddychan/ --- Support this podcast: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/geeksofthevalley/support
NOTE| This episode is longer than usual→ ‘Top Of The Game (in) Overtime' shows are released occasionally BRAD'S BIO Brad Gerstner is a serial entrepreneur, venture capitalist and hedge fund manager. He is founder, chairman and CEO of Altimeter Capital, a leading technology investment firm he started during the 2008 financial crisis. Brad and his team are known for fundamental analysis and deep expertise in consumer internet, software and artificial intelligence across the capital formation cycle, a style colloquially known as crossover investing. The efficient and productive use of capital “knows no buckets”, and Brad is at the forefront of these crossover opportunities across the private, quasi-public and public markets. He has been involved in over 100 IPOs and some of his notable investments include Snowflake, Bytedance (TikTok) Zillow, Uber, Meta (Facebook), Plaid, Okta, Gusto and Zillow among many others. Brad was born and raised in Indiana and his father's failed business taught him many lessons early in life. “In life you are either running towards something or away from something” as he puts it. His investing career started while day trading to pay for law school at Indiana University, followed by being appointed to be Deputy Secretary of State of Indiana, the youngest in history. His true calling was in business and attended Harvard to obtain an MBA. Right after graduation he was a founding principal of General Catalyst and worked / co-founded / sold several travel and consumer internet related startups, followed by serving as a portfolio manager at PAR Capital and eventually launching Altimeter. In 2016, Altimeter was the largest shareholder of United and helped usher changes at the company, including its board. In 2022, Gerstner wrote a now seminal open letter to Mark Zuckerberg stating Meta was losing focus, had too many employees and was losing investor confidence recommending that the company cut expenses by 20%, focus on AI and limit Metaverse spending to $5 billion a year. A few weeks later, Meta effected many of his recommendations and the company's stock has increased ~4X since. He has been a regular guest on the All In Podcast and has a podcast (BG2) with co-host and former Benchmark GP Bill Gurley. Brad recently unveiled Invest America, a plan to create a broad and passive basket of stocks representing the American economy for every child in America rooted in the power of capitalism, compound interest and returns. Brad is at the top of his game and his influence is hard to overstate, underpinned by his intellect, vision, capital allocation savvy, curiosity and belief in opportunity for all – no matter where one starts. I've known Brad for 25 years, is a great friend and every time we speak I learn a few things, including this episode - enjoy this remarkable human being. BRAD RELATED LINKS Brad's Twitter CNBC Report Meta Board & Mark Zuckerberg Time to Get Fit Letter On CNBC Squawk Box discussing Invest America On Delivering Alpha re: AI BG2's First Episode on YouTube + Twitter Profile on Forbes (Midas List 2022) GENERAL INFO| TOP OF THE GAME: Official website: https://topofthegame-thepod.com/ RSS Feed: https://feed.podbean.com/topofthegame-thepod/feed.xml Hosting service show website: https://topofthegame-thepod.podbean.com/ Javier's LinkTree: https://linktr.ee/javiersaade & Bio: https://tinyurl.com/36ufz6cs SUPPORT & CONNECT: LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/showcase/96934564 Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=61551086203755 Twitter: https://twitter.com/TOPOFGAMEpod Subscribe on Podbean: https://www.podbean.com/site/podcatcher/index/blog/vLKLE1SKjf6G Email us: info@topofthegame-thepod.com THANK YOU FOR LISTENING – AVAILABLE ON ALL MAJOR PLATFORMS
Venture Unlocked: The playbook for venture capital managers.
Follow me @samirkaji for my thoughts on the venture market, with a focus on the continued evolution of the VC landscape.This is our second episode of Venture Unlocked Shorts where we highlight a specific point of view of our guest. These points of view may come through a tweet, an article, or an offline conversation, and our goal is to unpack these interesting views in a short conversation. In this week's Venture Unlocked Shorts, we're joined by Aileen Lee of Cowboy Ventures. Aileen wrote a now famous article in 2013 where she coined the term Unicorn to describe technology companies that reach a billion-dollar valuation within 10 years of founding.Recently she and her team published a successor article looking at the last 10 years of these Unicorns, and what they believe will happen in the future.It was fun to unpack the articles through this discussion, and I think you'll enjoy hearing her findings and thoughts on what we may see in the future. About Aileen Lee:Aileen is the Founder and Managing Partner of Cowboy Ventures, a firm that invests in early-stage enterprise and consumer startups. With over two decades of experience in venture capital, she has a history of involvement from seed stage to beyond, including her time at Kleiner Perkins Caufield & Byers.Before her venture capital career, Aileen held roles at Gap Inc. and started at Morgan Stanley. She holds degrees from MIT and HBS. Additionally, she co-founded All Raise and sits on the board of Castilleja School.Aileen is known for introducing the term “unicorn” in the context of business. She has been recognized in Time 100's most influential people and has appeared on the Forbes Midas List.In this episode, we discuss:(02:30) Marking a decade of the term Unicorn and how many Unicorns have been created in the last ten years(05:46) The impact of macroeconomic factors like zero interest rate policies on the venture capital industry(06:37) Aileen describes the situation as a 'perfect storm' of factors leading to a surge of capital in the industry(08:18) The future of unicorns in the venture capital landscape(15:46) What happened in 2021?(17:13) The importance of founders understanding the business model of the funds they are engaging with (19:00): Aileen predicts a mix of outcomes for startups and whats aheadI'd love to know what you took away from this conversation with Aileen. Follow me @SamirKaji and give me your insights and questions with the hashtag #ventureunlocked. If you'd like to be considered as a guest or have someone you'd like to hear from (GP or LP), drop me a direct message on Twitter.Podcast Production support provided by Agent Bee This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit ventureunlocked.substack.com
Venture Unlocked: The playbook for venture capital managers.
Follow me @samirkaji for my thoughts on the venture market, with a focus on the continued evolution of the VC landscape.This week we are thrilled to be joined by Pejman Nozad, Co-Founder and GP of Pear VC. Founded in 2013, Pear has scaled to over $800MM in AUM with a powerful engine to help early-stage companies. As many regular listeners of the show know, we often like to highlight managers who have different backgrounds and stories leading to their careers in VC. I think of all of our guests, Pejman epitomizes how someone can overcome many obstacles to be successful in the industry as he not only immigrated from Iran with little to his name, but the catalyst that got him into VC was working at a rug store. We explore Pejman's incredible journey, Pear VC's emphasis on early-stage investments, and the need for innovation in venture capital.This is an inspiring story for anyone considering venture capital as a career path, and stresses the importance of resilience and overcoming challenges, as well as, the value of continuous learning.About Pejman Nozad:Pejman Nozad is the Co-Founder of Pear VC and he has made a substantial impact in the tech sector with strategic investments in companies like DoorDash, Dropbox, and many others. His success is recognized through his consistent inclusion in the Forbes Midas List since 2021 and leading the Forbes Midas Seed List in 2023.Pejman's path into venture capital was unconventional, starting from humble beginnings as an Iranian immigrant working in a Palo Alto rug store. He was awarded the Ellis Island Medal of Honor in 2014.In this episode, we discuss:(2:55) Pejman shares his start in the US(15:06) The importance of believing in entrepreneurs with diverse backgrounds(20:37) Why the best seed funds consistently deliver high returns(22:17) How PearVC has evolved and why it has been so long-lasting(30:10) No job is beneath anyone at PearVC with its team-based approach(33:46) Qualities of successful people that go beyond the obvious(37:18) His transition from angel investor to venture capitalist and the challenges of portfolio construction(41:09) PearVC's focus on finding talent and reaching product-market fit regardless of the fund's size or stage-focus(44:59) His advice to new investors at PearVCI'd love to know what you took away from this conversation with Pejman. Follow me @SamirKaji and give me your insights and questions with the hashtag #ventureunlocked. If you'd like to be considered as a guest or have someone you'd like to hear from (GP or LP), drop me a direct message on Twitter.Podcast Production support provided by Agent Bee This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit ventureunlocked.substack.com
Brought to you by Nordic Naturals Ultimate Omega fish oil, GiveWell.org charity research and effective giving, and Wealthfront high-yield savings account. Steve Jang (@stevejang) is the founder and managing partner at Kindred Ventures, an early-stage venture capital fund based in San Francisco. He is also a longtime friend and one of the founder-now-investor generation of VCs that arose out of the last technology cycle. Steve is one of the top 100 venture capital investors in the world, according to Forbes Midas List of top venture capital investors, and was ranked #45 in 2023. He is also a Korean-American, a gyopo, who is deeply invested and involved in both the technological and cultural worlds in the US and Asia. Previously, Steve was an early advisor to, and angel investor in, Uber, and then an early-stage investor in Coinbase, Postmates, Poshmark, Tonal, Blue Bottle Coffee, and Humane, the AI device platform. He helped Uber, Coinbase, and Blue Bottle Coffee, among others, to expand into Korea and Japan. As an entrepreneur, Steve co-founded companies in the consumer internet, mobile, and crypto space.In the film and music world, he is an executive producer, and his most recent film is Nam June Paik: Moon Is the Oldest TV, which tells the story of the greatest Korean artist, and father of digital video art, and which premiered at the Sundance Film Festival in 2023. His next film is a documentary about Vitalik Buterin, the creator of Ethereum.Please enjoy!This episode is brought to you by Wealthfront! Wealthfront is an app that helps you save and invest your money. Right now, you can earn 5% APY—that's the Annual Percentage Yield—with the Wealthfront Cash Account. That's more than ten times more interest than if you left your money in a savings account at the average bank, according to FDIC.gov. It takes just a few minutes to sign up, and then you'll immediately start earning 5% interest on your savings. And when you open an account today, you'll get an extra fifty-dollar bonus with a deposit of five hundred dollars or more. Visit Wealthfront.com/Tim to get started.*This episode is also brought to you by Nordic Naturals, the #1-selling fish-oil brand in the US! More than 80% of Americans don't get enough omega-3 fats from their diet. That is a problem because the body can't produce omega-3s, an important nutrient for cell structure and function. Nordic Naturals solves that problem with their doctor-recommended Ultimate Omega fish-oil formula for heart health, brain function, immune support, and more. Ultimate Omega is made exclusively from 100% wild-caught sardines and anchovies. It's incredibly pure and fresh with no fishy aftertaste. All Nordic Naturals' fish-oil products are offered in the triglyceride molecular form—the form naturally found in fish, and the form your body most easily absorbs.Go to Nordic.com and discover why Nordic Naturals is the #1-selling omega-3 brand in the U.S. Use promo code TIM for 20% off your order.*This episode is also brought to you by GiveWell.org! For over ten years, GiveWell.org has helped donors find the charities and projects that save and improve lives most per dollar. GiveWell spends over 30,000 hours each year researching charitable organizations and only recommends a few of the highest-impact, evidence-backed charities they've found. In total, more than 100,000 people have used GiveWell to donate as effectively as possible.This year, support the charities that save and improve lives most, with GiveWell. Any of my listeners who become new GiveWell donors will have their first donation matched up to $100 when you go to GiveWell.org and select “PODCAST” and “Tim Ferriss” at checkout.*For show notes and past guests on The Tim Ferriss Show, please visit tim.blog/podcast.For deals from sponsors of The Tim Ferriss Show, please visit tim.blog/podcast-sponsorsSign up for Tim's email newsletter (5-Bullet Friday) at tim.blog/friday.For transcripts of episodes, go to tim.blog/transcripts.Discover Tim's books: tim.blog/books.Follow Tim:Twitter: twitter.com/tferriss Instagram: instagram.com/timferrissYouTube: youtube.com/timferrissFacebook: facebook.com/timferriss LinkedIn: linkedin.com/in/timferrissPast guests on The Tim Ferriss Show include Jerry Seinfeld, Hugh Jackman, Dr. Jane Goodall, LeBron James, Kevin Hart, Doris Kearns Goodwin, Jamie Foxx, Matthew McConaughey, Esther Perel, Elizabeth Gilbert, Terry Crews, Sia, Yuval Noah Harari, Malcolm Gladwell, Madeleine Albright, Cheryl Strayed, Jim Collins, Mary Karr, Maria Popova, Sam Harris, Michael Phelps, Bob Iger, Edward Norton, Arnold Schwarzenegger, Neil Strauss, Ken Burns, Maria Sharapova, Marc Andreessen, Neil Gaiman, Neil de Grasse Tyson, Jocko Willink, Daniel Ek, Kelly Slater, Dr. Peter Attia, Seth Godin, Howard Marks, Dr. Brené Brown, Eric Schmidt, Michael Lewis, Joe Gebbia, Michael Pollan, Dr. Jordan Peterson, Vince Vaughn, Brian Koppelman, Ramit Sethi, Dax Shepard, Tony Robbins, Jim Dethmer, Dan Harris, Ray Dalio, Naval Ravikant, Vitalik Buterin, Elizabeth Lesser, Amanda Palmer, Katie Haun, Sir Richard Branson, Chuck Palahniuk, Arianna Huffington, Reid Hoffman, Bill Burr, Whitney Cummings, Rick Rubin, Dr. Vivek Murthy, Darren Aronofsky, Margaret Atwood, Mark Zuckerberg, Peter Thiel, Dr. Gabor Maté, Anne Lamott, Sarah Silverman, Dr. Andrew Huberman, and many more.See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.
Rebecca is a Co-Founder and General Partner at Canvas Ventures where she leads early-stage investments in Fintech, Healthtech, and AI. Rebecca has been named to the Forbes Midas List five years running, a Woman to Watch: Senior Deal Maker by the Wall Street Journal, and a Top Woman VC by the New York Times. Some of her notable investments include Luminar (NASDAQ: LAZR), Lending Club (NYSE: LC), Practice Fusion (acq Allscripts), Gabi (acq Experian), Check (acq Intuit), RelateIQ (acq Salesforce), CrowdFlower (acq by Appen), Viewics (acq Roche), FutureAdvisor (acq Blackrock), and Figure8 (acq Appen). Before founding Canvas, Rebecca served as a General Partner at Morgenthaler Ventures. During her time at Morgenthaler, one of her early investments, Doximity (NYSE: DOCS), went public in 2021 and was one of the year's largest IPOs. Before that, she was the VP of NextCard. At NextCard, the first online credit card company, Rebecca helped scale the company from 30 people to 1300 and an IPO. You can learn more about: How to invest in the world's changing entrepreneurs Founding and managing a leading VC firm How to be a value-adding board member ===================== YouTube: @GraceGongCEO Newsletter: @SmartVenture LinkedIn: @GraceGong TikTok: @GraceGongCEO IG: @GraceGongCEO Twitter: @GraceGongGG ===================== Join the SVP fam with your host Grace Gong. In each episode, we are going to have conversations with some of the top investors, superstar founders, as well as well-known tech executives in silicon valley. We will have a coffee chat with them to learn their ways of thinking and actionable tips on how to build or invest in a successful company.
Steve Jang is the Founder and Managing Partner at Kindred Ventures. An early-stage VC firm raised $312 million across two new funds in 2022. Over the past 14 years, Steve has backed over 100 companies across different theme areas, including Uber, Coinbase, Postmates, Tonal, Color Health, Humane, DYDX, Zora, and Blue Bottle Coffee. Since 2009 and up until IPO, Steve has also served as an Advisor to Uber since the founding of the company, up through initial product launch, global expansion, and then IPO. Steve currently serves as a Board Member of Humane, Tonal, Color, and Zora, to name a few. In 2023, Forbes' Midas List named Steve as #45 among the world's 100 top venture capital investors. You can learn more about: How to invest in the next generation of Uber and Coinbase? How to build an amazing track record as an angel investor? How do you transition from a successful angel investor to a Managing Partner at a VC fund? ===================== YouTube: @GraceGongCEO Newsletter: @SmartVenture LinkedIn: @GraceGong TikTok: @GraceGongCEO IG: @GraceGongCEO Twitter: @GraceGongGG ===================== Join the SVP fam with your host Grace Gong. In each episode, we are going to have conversations with some of the top investors, superstar founders, as well as well-known tech executives in silicon valley. We will have a coffee chat with them to learn their ways of thinking and actionable tips on how to build or invest in a successful company.
Peter Wagner is a Founding Partner of Wing Venture Capital, where he focuses on the Modern Enterprise, an agile workplace built on data and powered by AI. Peter has led investments in dozens of early-stage companies, including Snowflake, Gong, and many others, which have gone on to complete IPOs or successful acquisitions. Recently Wing has announced Wing Four, a new $600 million pool of capital dedicated to early-stage investing and long-term company building in B2B technology. Peter was also featured on the Forbes Midas List as one of the top tech investors. You can learn more about: 1. How to build a successful fund? 2. How to invest in the AI companies that truly matter? 3. How does AI transform businesses? ===================== YouTube: @GraceGongCEO Newsletter: @SmartVenture LinkedIn: @GraceGong TikTok: @GraceGongCEO IG: @GraceGongCEO Twitter: @GraceGongGG =====================
“My whole business isn't about how often I lose but it's about the magnitude of the rightness when I win” Mike Maples is a co-founding Partner at Floodgate. He has been on the Forbes Midas List eight times in the last decade and was also named a “Rising Star” by FORTUNE and profiled by Harvard Business School for his lifetime contributions to entrepreneurship. Before becoming a full-time investor, Mike was involved as a founder and operating executive at back-to-back startup IPOs, including Tivoli Systems (IPO TIVS, acquired by IBM) and Motive (IPO MOTV, acquired by Alcatel-Lucent.) Some of Mike's investments include Twitter, Twitch.tv, Clover Health, Okta, Outreach, ngmoco, Chegg, Bazaarvoice, and Demandforce. Mike is the host of the Starting Greatness podcast, which shares startup lessons from the super performers. On this episode Mike shares the mindset that has had the greatest impact on his life, what is true about the greatest startup founders and the key to unlocking greatness in investments. Interested in having Sean DeLaney be your executive coach? CLICK HERE Caldera Lab– Get 20% off high performance men's skincare! – Click HERE Marketer Hire– Get $500 off your first hire! – Click HERE https://youunleashedcourse.com/ You Unleashed is an online personal development course created by Sean DeLaney after spending years working with and interviewing high achievers.The online course that helps you ‘Unleash your potential'! You Unleashed teaches you the MINDSETS, ROUTINES and BEHAVIORS you need to unleash your potential and discover what you're capable of. You know you're capable of more and want to bring out that untapped potential inside of you. We teach you how. Enroll Today!- Click Here Subscribe to my Momentum Monday Newsletter Connect with us! Whatgotyouthere TikTok YouTube Twitter Instagram
In a collaboration with GGV Capital's "Evolving for the Next Billion" podcast, Joshua Benadiva hosts a fascinating conversation with Hans Tung, widely recognized as one of the best venture investors in the world. Hans is the managing partner of GGV Capital, and has been named to the Forbes Midas List of the world's top venture capital investors for 11 consecutive years. Throughout our conversation, we explore the unique decision-making strategies that have fueled Hans' successful investments. We delve into his distinct perspective on human and technological transformation and discuss how he uses these as data points in his broader investment strategy. Hans Tung is a Managing Partner at GGV Capital, focusing on early-stage investments across the global digital economy ecosystem. He is consistently recognized among the top venture capital investors in the world, having been named to the Forbes Midas list 11 consecutive years from 2013-2023, and has been in the top 10 for the last 5 years. He has also been recognized among the Top 100 Asian Americans by Gold House in 2018-2020. In 2023, Hans and his team launched the Embedded Fintech 50, a list highlighting the rising stars in fintech innovation. Hans oversees the GGV's DE&I initiatives, and he is also the co-host of the popular podcast, “Evolving for the Next Billion” on entrepreneurship around the globe.
Today's guest is Bob Ackerman, Founder & Managing Director of AllegisCyber Capital. In today's episode, Bob discusses AllegisCyber Capital and his role there, how he got his start, the three things they look for in founders, the market of VC Capital in cybersecurity and the future for IPOs, his thoughts on the the national cybersecurity strategy, the liability shift in critical infrastructure from asset owners to product manufacturers, his thoughts on the future of the United States' cyber resilience, and as always, his toughest lesson learned. Robert R. Ackerman Jr. founded AllegisCyber Capital—the world's first dedicated cyber venture firm—to be “for cyber entrepreneurs by cyber entrepreneurs.”Bobis also the Co-founder of cybersecurity and data science foundry DataTribe, Co-founder of CyberGRX, and Chairman of the annual Global Cyber Innovation Summit—the “Davos of Cybersecurity”—for leading Global 2000 CISOs, cyber innovators, and policy leaders. With a 20+ history in early-stage cybersecurity investing,Bobis titled as one of “Cyber's Money Men'' by major business publications for his experience and leadership in cybersecurity VC investing, named one of “Technology's Top 100 Investors” by Forbes and featured on Forbes Midas List, and recognized as one of two leading cyber investors in the world by Cyber Defense magazine.
Mar Hershenson is Pear VC's Founding Managing Partner. Pear VC's portfolio includes DoorDash, Gusto, Affinity, among others. After earning a Ph.D. in Electrical Engineering from Stanford University, Mar co-founded three startups in mobile/e-commerce, enterprise software, and semiconductor industries and has registered 14 separate patents. She is currently a Lecturer at Stanford Univeristy, teaching Lean Launchpad, one of the premier entrepreneurship classes at Stanford. Mar serves on the board of trustees of Harvey Mudd College and the Advisory Board of the Electrical and Computer Engineering department at Carnegie Mellon University. She is a founder of Equity Summit, the premier conference for connecting URM Venture Capital GPs to LPs, and was an initial founding member of All Raise. She has been recognized by MIT Technology Review as a Top Innovator Under 35, named a Champion of Innovation by Fast Company, awarded the Digital Automation Conference's Marie R. Pistil Achievement Award, and recognized on the Forbes Midas List in 2021, 2022, and 2023. You can learn more about: How to start and run a successful VC fund How to pitch top investors/ invest in the next generation of unicorn startups How to keep pursuing your startup idea even when people tell you "no" ===================== YouTube: @GraceGongCEO Newsletter: @SmartVenture LinkedIn: @GraceGong TikTok: @GraceGongCEO IG: @GraceGongCEO Twitter: @GraceGongGG =====================
(0:00) Intro(1:24) Welcome Satish and Scott(7:27) Venture firm structures(19:02) Partner dynamics(27:31) Operating with imperfect information(32:52) How do you think about pricing?(37:10) Great managers vs great leaders(40:16) Getting into venture(48:32) Thoughts on AI(54:04) VC Industry dynamics and trends Show Notes:https://www.redpoint.com/our-people/satish-dharmaraj/https://www.forbes.com/profile/satish-dharmaraj/?sh=5567bf761409https://www.redpoint.com/our-people/scott-raney/https://www.forbes.com/profile/scott-raney/?sh=6f67cc227fbb Satish Dharmaraj is an American entrepreneur, speaker, angel investor and venture capitalist, who currently serves as a general partner with Redpoint Ventures. In 2021, he was placed #6 on the Forbes Midas List of top 100 Venture Capital investors. Prior to Redpoint Ventures, Satish Dharmaraj founded Zimbra, which he then sold to Yahoo! for $350 million, in 2007. Scott Raney is a Partner with Redpoint Ventures focusing on information and consumer technology with a particular emphasis on cloud computing, on-demand software, enterprise infrastructure, and mobile apps and platforms. In 2022, he was placed #39 on the Forbes Midas List of top 100 Venture Capital investors. Prior to venture capital, Raney worked at two startups that ultimately went out of business. Mixed and edited: Justin HrabovskyProduced: Rashad AssirExecutive Producer: Josh MachizMusic: Griff Lawson
The Twenty Minute VC: Venture Capital | Startup Funding | The Pitch
Mike Maples is one of the OGs of seed investing. As the Co-Founder of Floodgate, he has backed the likes of Twitch, Okta, Lyft, Twitter and more. Mike has been on the Forbes Midas List eight times in the last decade and was also named a “Rising Star” by FORTUNE and profiled by Harvard Business School for his lifetime contributions to entrepreneurship. In Today's Episode with Mike Maples We Discuss 1.) Lesson from SVB #1: The Importance of Scenario Planning: What is the right way to do scenario planning in startups? What is the difference between good vs bad scenario planning? What do the best scenario plans include and involve? What is the right way to communicate these scenario plans to your stakeholders? 2.) Lesson from SVB #2: The Importance of Financial Agility: What does it mean for a startup to be "financially agile"? From a banking relationships perspective, what can startups do to be financially agile? How many accounts should a startup have? How much runway should be in each? Should startups bank with startup banks as well as traditional banks? Should startups have their money in sweep accounts and money market accounts? 3.) Lesson from SVB #3: How to Master Crisis Communications: Why is it so important for founder to over-communicate in tough times? How transparent should they be in these communications? What does Mike mean when he says "be radically human"? If Mike were to face a crisis, what would he do differently in the way he communicates to his LPs? 4.) Lessons from SVB: The Wider World: Why does Mike believe the level of quantitative easing that occurred in COVID was scandalous? Does Mike believe the USD will continue to be the reserve currency of the world? Will we be in a better or worse macro situation by the end of the year? Has Mike ever had a company that achieved true PMF and failed?
My guest is Tim Chang. He has over two decades of broad early-stage technology investment experience in Silicon Valley at Mayfield Fund, Norwest Venture Partners, and Gabriel Venture Partners and has been named to the Forbes Midas List and the AlwaysOn Power Players of top investors. Tim has led early-stage investments in Iridigm, Playdom, ngmoco, Basis, AdChina, Moat, Classpass, Tonal Fitness, TRIPP, and Grove Collaborative creating more than $4B in total exit value. Beyond just making successful investments, Tim is deeply committed to supporting startups and organizations that bring about greater consciousness, connection, and healing in the world. Tim serves on the non-profit boards of several organizations, including California Institute of Integral Studies, Reimagine Death, and Gray Area Arts. With his unique background and expertise, Tim will share his insights on how to create a world that's more conscious, connected, and healing through technology.We talked about:(0:41) Are you going through a midlife crisis? Find out how to turn it into a midlife chrysalis.(8:41) Are you struggling to find your own story? Discover the power of storytelling and how to find yours.(13:12) Do you want to unlock the power of your social network? Learn how to find your superpowers through play.(25:13) Want to understand the underlying forces of companies and individuals? Hear Tim's mental model.(27:46) Are you looking for transformation? Learn about the power of cohort-based learning.(30:47) Do you want to surround yourself with a peer group that will help you achieve your goals? Discover Tim's criteria for choosing his peer group.(37:16) Do you need help clarifying who you are? Find out Tim's counterintuitive approach.(42:20) Are you interested in the intersection of AI and humanity? Hear Tim's perspective on the ultimate child of humanity.(50:15) Are you interested in conscious business? Learn about the necessity of the Conscious MBA program.
The Twenty Minute VC: Venture Capital | Startup Funding | The Pitch
Tom Loverro is a Partner @ IVP where he has led or was actively involved in investments in Amplitude, Coinbase, Hashicorp and Datadog to name a few. As a result of his investing success, Tom was named to Forbes Midas List in 2021. Prior to joining IVP, Tom was a Principal at RRE Ventures. In Today's Episode with Tom Loverro We Discuss: 1.) The Entry into Venture: How did Tom make his way into venture first with RRE? How did the role with IVP come about? Does Tom believe we will see many venture investors move firms with much of their existing expected carry cut in half with the changing landscape? What is Tom's biggest advice to someone looking to make their way into the venture world? 2.) The Calm Before the Storm: Why does Tom believe now is the calm before the storm? Why does Tom urge founders to go out and raise now before the storm hits? Is Tom already seeing pricing coming down for both early and late-stage companies? 3.) When The Storm Hits: When does Tom believe the storm will hit? Why does Tom believe when it does hit, it will be worse than The Great Financial Crisis? How will VCs respond when the storm hits? How will it impact their investing cadence? How will LPs respond when the storm hits? Will they cut back their manager commitments? Does Tom have hope that their will be a new class of LPs in this new economic cycle? 4.) The Rounds That Happen When The Storm Hits: Does Tom believe we will see a wave of down rounds when the storm hits? Why are they less common than people think? In the eye of the storm, will we see further layoffs? Will we see firesales? Will we see a tidal wave of shutdowns? Will large multi-stage funds with huge amounts of dry powder change their deployment pace? The Survival Guide for the Storm: 1.) Raise Now: Why does Tom believe that startups should raise now, not later? What amount of runway should they raise for in this environment? 2.) Cut, Cut and Cut Some More: What amount of runway should startups be cutting to get to? How will this impact marketing spend? Why are your marketing dollars more powerful now than ever before? 3.) Focus on Survival Not Valuation: What does Tom mean by this? How can founders gain leverage with VCs when raising today? How can founders instil a sense of urgency in their raise with investors? 4.) Bring on Operators with Experience: Why would operators with experience join a struggling startup? Will operators with experience not have a flight to safety and stay at their well-paid FANNG role? Does this potential operator not shorten runway even further as they are often expensive? 5.) Unit Economics over Growth: How can founders show investors a superior profile of unit economics moving forward? Do investors not want both unit econ and growth today? 6.) Play Your Cards Right and Then Go on Offense: How does Tom advise founders on the right time to go on offense? 7.) Be Decisive, Half Measures Rarely Succeed: How does Tom define a half-measure? What is so wrong with half-measures?
Jenny Lefcourt, General Partner at Freestyle Capital joins Nick to discuss Founder to Forbes Midas List, Behind the Scenes of an Intro Call, Why B2B2C is Best and Avoiding the Leaky Funnel Trap. In this episode we cover: Making the Switch from Angel to VC Tips For Founders Pitching Jenny and Freestyle How to Reach Conviction without Consensus Burn and Learn Investing B2B2C and Avoiding the Leaky Funnel And More! Missed a recent episode? Go to The Full Ratchet blog and catch up! The hosts of The Full Ratchet are Nick Moran and Nate Pierotti of New Stack Ventures, a venture capital firm committed to investing in founders outside of the Bay Area. You can follow us on LinkedIn and Twitter! Founders, are you frustrated by trying to find the ideal VC's for your stage, sector, and geography? Answer five questions with VC Rank and generate your customized list now.
PETER THIEL INTERVIEW ON THE ECONOMY PETER THIEL LECTURE Peter Andreas Thiel is an American entrepreneur, venture capitalist, philanthropist, political activist, and author. He was ranked No. 4 on the Forbes Midas List of 2014, with a net worth of $2.2 billion, and No. 315 on the Forbes 400 in 2017, with a net worth of $2.6 billion. THE INTELLECTUAL DARK WEB PODCAST We Search the Web for the Best Intellectual Dark Web Podcasts, Lectures and Videos that can be understood by merely listening to save YOUR time. Then we make those Intellectual Dark Web Episodes available on Spotify and downloadable. IMPORTANT! GET THE MAIN WORKS OF HOBBES, LOCKE, ROUSSEAU / MACHIAVELLI AND THE US CONSTITUTION BOUND TOGETHER IN JUST ONE PRACTICAL BOOK: ||| MACHIAVELLI https://www.lulu.com/en/us/shop/niccolo-machiavelli-and-john-locke-and-thomas-hobbes-and-peter-kanzler/the-leviathan-1651-the-two-treatises-of-government-1689-and-the-constitution-of-pennsylvania-1776/paperback/product-69m6we.html XXX https://www.bookfinder.com/search/?author=peter%2Bkanzler&title=pennsylvania%2Bconstitution%2Bleviathan&lang=en&isbn=9781716844508&new_used=N&destination=us¤cy=USD&mode=basic&st=sr&ac=qr || ROUSSEAU https://www.lulu.com/en/us/shop/jean-jacques-rousseau-and-thomas-hobbes-and-john-locke-and-peter-kanzler/the-leviathan-1651-the-two-treatises-of-government-1689-the-social-contract-1762-the-constitution-of-pennsylvania-1776/paperback/product-782nvr.html XXX https://www.bookfinder.com/search/?author=peter%2Bkanzler&title=pennsylvania%2Bconstitution%2Bleviathan&lang=en&isbn=9781716893407&new_used=N&destination=us¤cy=USD&mode=basic&st=sr&ac=qr | Thank You Dearly For ANY Support! And God Bless You.
Annie Lamont is Co-Founder and Managing Partner of Oak HC/FT, where she focuses on growth equity and early-stage venture opportunities in Healthcare and FinTech. One of the most successful women in venture history, Annie has been featured on the Forbes Midas List, and was named one of the top 10 most influential people in healthcare in 2021 by Modern Healthcare. Annie and I have known each other for a long time, and have had the opportunity to partner on several exciting companies. I have so much admiration for her vision and insightful approach to building impactful healthcare organizations. You'll want to hear her thoughts on today's market and how entrepreneurs and investors should be approaching it, as well as her advice for those looking to build a career in venture.
Venture Unlocked: The playbook for venture capital managers.
Follow me @samirkaji for my thoughts on the venture market, with a focus on the continued evolution of the VC landscape.This week we are excited to have Aydin Senkut of Felicis Ventures, which since its founding in 2005 has become of the most successful early-stage funds in the world, having invested in companies such as Shopify, Canva, Opendoor, Guild, Flexport, Notion, and Plaid, The Felicis portfolio has 45 Unicorns since it started in 2006 and Aydin is a 9-time Forbes Midas list investor. Outside of the outstanding track record, Aydin brings such an interesting point of view on venture investing. We went deep on the history of Felicis, his investment philosophy, and his overall perspectives on running a venture firm.A word from our sponsor:Aumni is an investment analytics company dedicated to improving private capital markets. Aumni's technology digitizes hard to track unstructured data from private transaction agreements and organizes it in a structured database through an intuitive dashboard. For investors across the board, the insights provided by this data improve the managers ability to build strategy and make better decisions. Today, Aumni tracks data from over 250 thousand private market transactions to provide anonymous, aggregated market benchmarks.As someone that works deeply in the private fund space, I'm incredibly excited that Aumni's solution helps fund managers provide more insightful accurate reporting to their investors. Check them out at Aumni.fund.Subscribers of Venture Unlocked can sign up for 20% off when you mention Venture Unlocked.About Aydin Senkut:Aydin Senkut is the Founder and Managing Partner of Felicis. An original super angel turned multi-stage investor, he has been named on the Forbes Midas List for the past nine years (2014-2022) as well as the New York Times Top 20 Venture Capitalists list for four consecutive years (2016-2019). His recent focus areas include infrastructure, security, and future of health.He is well-known as an early backer of a number of iconic companies including Adyen, Credit Karma (Acquired by Intuit), Fitbit, Guardant Health, Guideline, Notion, Opendoor, Pluralsight, Rovio, Shopify, and Soundhound.Prior to starting Felicis, Aydin joined Google in 1999 as its first Product Manager to launch Google's first 10 international sites, its first online search licensing products, and its first Safe Search. He then became the first International Sales Manager at Google, responsible for worldwide licensing deals. Before joining Google, Aydin was the Product Manager for Data Visualization and Data Mining software MineSet at SGI.He received a bachelor's degree in Business Administration with Honors from Boston University. He also earned an MBA in Marketing from the Wharton School and a master's degree in International Studies from the University of Pennsylvania.In this episode we discuss:02:12 What led to starting Felicis05:52 Why he decided to start something new instead of staying with Google08:40 Moving from angel to “super angel”12:19 The first fund raise16:10 Takeaways from early rejections and how he kept refining his pitch20:09 What was Aydin's initial vision and how it has evolved over the years24:59 Teambuilding and early hires at Felicis29:02 How Felicis wins competitive deals through strategy35:11 When to bend a rule when it comes to unorthodox investments39:13 Commonalities of founders who create outlier opportunities42:24 How to be anti-fragile as an investor46:40 Trends in today's market that gets Aydin excited50:16 The advice he would have given himself in 2005I'd love to know what you took away from this conversation with Aydin. Follow me @SamirKaji and give me your insights and questions with the hashtag #ventureunlocked. If you'd like to be considered as a guest or have someone you'd like to hear from (GP or LP), drop me a direct message on Twitter.Podcast Production support provided by Agent Bee Agency This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit ventureunlocked.substack.com
Chris Dixon is a General Partner at a16z where he leads Crypto investing, overseeing the largest pool in the space at $7 billion across four dedicated venture funds and a team of eighty professionals. Chris is one of the leading voices in the crypto ecosystem and topped the Forbes ‘Midas List' as the most successful venture capitalist in the world in 2021. He was a guest on the show last year, and that replay is available in the feed. Our conversation covers Chris' framework for web3, network effects, venture economics, and institutional adoption. We turn to some of the areas he is most excited about deploying capital, including the creator economy, infrastructure, DeFi, gaming, and decentralized content creation. We close with how a16z supports portfolio companies in crypto, and Chris' thoughts on the current market downturn. A full list of a16z investments can be found here - https://a16z.com/investments/. Learn More Follow Ted on Twitter at @tseides or LinkedIn Subscribe to the mailing list Access Transcript with Premium Membership
Description:19 Keys presents High Level Conversations to bring you into the high frequency of talk to elevate your mindset and value. S1E7 Ft. Ian Dunlap the Master InvestorFeatured Guest Bio:Ian Dunlap is a well-known investor who is well known for his investments and wisdom.Ian Dunlap is the only investor in history to be ranked on the Forbes Midas List for over 30 consecutive years.He has been at the top of his game for decades and continues to come up with innovative ideas to create sustainable wealth.Ian is recognized as being one of the most collaborative investors out there with his colleagues from different companies who are working on different investments together to help each other's business succeed.This Episode:This episode goes high level into the conversation of history of truth, what entertainers and millionaires in the black community should be investing in to, the future of money, and much more.Featured Guest Contact:Website https://linktr.ee/themasterinvestor Instagram https://www.instagram.com/themasterinvestor/ 19 KEYS:Top thought leader of the culture and leader in the health , financial Liberation , blockchain , crypto , NFT , High level mindset etc. An Oakland,ca truth speaker.. Book link https://crownz19.com/products/paradigm-keys-solution-based-mind-reprogramming-e-book?variant=17962889904179Course link https://thewealthstandard.podia.com/infinite-wealth-strategies-course?coupon=333**************Special EYL Viewer Promotion********** Text “HLC“ to 3235776692 Tap in on all platforms: Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/c/19keys Twitter: https://twitter.com/Instagram: www.instagram.com/19_keys/ TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@19keys? Send in a voice message: https://anchor.fm/19keys/messageAdvertising Inquiries: https://redcircle.com/brandsPrivacy & Opt-Out: https://redcircle.com/privacy
19 Keys presents High Level Conversations to bring you into the high frequency of talk to elevate your mindset and value. Featured Guest Bio:Ian Dunlap is a well-known investor who is well known for his investments and wisdom.Ian Dunlap is the only investor in history to be ranked on the Forbes Midas List for over 30 consecutive years.He has been at the top of his game for decades and continues to come up with innovative ideas to create sustainable wealth.Ian is recognized as being one of the most collaborative investors out there with his colleagues from different companies who are working on different investments together to help each other's business succeed.This Episode:This episode goes high level into the conversation of history of truth, what entertainers and millionaires in the black community should be investing in to, the future of money, and much more.Featured Guest Contact:Website https://linktr.ee/themasterinvestor Instagram https://www.instagram.com/themasterinvestor/ 19 KEYS:Top thought leader of the culture and leader in the health , financial Liberation , blockchain , crypto , NFT , High level mindset etc. An Oakland,ca truth speaker.. Book link https://crownz19.com/products/paradigm-keys-solution-based-mind-reprogramming-e-book?variant=17962889904179Course link https://thewealthstandard.podia.com/infinite-wealth-strategies-course?coupon=333**************Special EYL Viewer Promotion********** Text “HLC“ to 3235776692 Tap in on all platforms: Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/c/19keys Twitter: https://twitter.com/Instagram: www.instagram.com/19_keys/ TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@19keys? Send in a voice message: https://anchor.fm/19keys/messageAdvertising Inquiries: https://redcircle.com/brandsPrivacy & Opt-Out: https://redcircle.com/privacy
Description:19 Keys presents High Level Conversations to bring you into the high frequency of talk to elevate your mindset and value. S1E7 Ft. Ian Dunlap the Master InvestorFeatured Guest Bio:Ian Dunlap is a well-known investor who is well known for his investments and wisdom.Ian Dunlap is the only investor in history to be ranked on the Forbes Midas List for over 30 consecutive years.He has been at the top of his game for decades and continues to come up with innovative ideas to create sustainable wealth.Ian is recognized as being one of the most collaborative investors out there with his colleagues from different companies who are working on different investments together to help each other's business succeed.This Episode:This episode goes high level into the conversation of history of truth, what entertainers and millionaires in the black community should be investing in to, the future of money, and much more.Featured Guest Contact:Website https://linktr.ee/themasterinvestor Instagram https://www.instagram.com/themasterinvestor/ 19 KEYS:Top thought leader of the culture and leader in the health , financial Liberation , blockchain , crypto , NFT , High level mindset etc. An Oakland,ca truth speaker.. Book link https://crownz19.com/products/paradigm-keys-solution-based-mind-reprogramming-e-book?variant=17962889904179Course link https://thewealthstandard.podia.com/infinite-wealth-strategies-course?coupon=333**************Special EYL Viewer Promotion********** Text “HLC“ to 3235776692 Tap in on all platforms: Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/c/19keys Twitter: https://twitter.com/Instagram: www.instagram.com/19_keys/ TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@19keys? Send in a voice message: https://anchor.fm/19keys/messageAdvertising Inquiries: https://redcircle.com/brandsPrivacy & Opt-Out: https://redcircle.com/privacy