Podcasts about hyde park venture partners

Venture Capital: The Right Move for Your Startup? (Recorded Live on Clubhouse January 17, 2025)  We spoke with Ira Weiss of Hyde Park Venture Partners, discussing whether venture capital is the right funding option for startups. We break down the myths of VC, alternative funding sources, and the negotiation process. Plus, insights into the 2025 investment landscape. Tune in for expert advice on funding your startup the right way. Hosts: Colin C. Campbell, Michele Van Tilborg Guest: Ira Weiss  

In this insightful episode, Amir Bormand interviews Jim Conti, Talent Partner at Hyde Park Venture Partners, about redefining the value of people and talent functions. Jim shares strategies for evolving the role from being process-driven to a core strategic contributor, while highlighting the importance of aligning with business goals, automating admin tasks, and building impactful employee experiences. This episode is packed with practical advice for HR professionals, talent leaders, and anyone looking to amplify the value of their talent organization. Key Takeaways: Identify Your Org's People Function Priorities: The reporting structure and allocated budget reveal how much a company values its talent function. Evolve from Admin to Strategic: Focus on aligning talent initiatives with broader business goals and automate routine tasks to free up time for strategy. Build a Business Case for Talent Investments: Use data and ROI-driven arguments to gain leadership buy-in for new tools and initiatives. Set Boundaries Without People-Pleasing: Clarity and transparency in career development discussions create trust and empower employees without over-promising. Measure Talent Impact: Post-hiring surveys and bar-raiser metrics help show the business value of talent initiatives. Timestamped Highlights: [00:00:30] Introduction to the role of people and talent functions in organizations. [00:03:00] Key indicators of whether an organization views HR as strategic or process-driven. [00:05:14] Shifting the people function from admin-heavy to strategically aligned. [00:07:54] Building a business case for HR investments and gaining buy-in from leadership. [00:11:54] The importance of transparency and clarity in employee development conversations. [00:18:00] How talent leaders can demonstrate business value by engaging with stakeholders. [00:23:00] Questions to ask during the interview process to assess a company's strategic outlook on talent. [00:24:55] Matching organizational challenges to your personal career goals. If you're looking for actionable insights to elevate your talent organization, this episode is a must-listen.  Share it with your network to inspire more strategic thinking in the HR and talent space. Don't forget to like, comment, and subscribe to stay updated with the latest discussions in talent leadership! Jim Conti: https://www.linkedin.com/in/contijc/ Jim Conti is the Talent Partner at Hyde Park Venture Partners and has been with the firm since 2021. In this role, Jim provides strategic talent support and consulting to the firm's portfolio of companies. Prior to Hyde Park Venture Partners, Jim served as head of people at dscout and Sprout Social — both Chicago-based software startups. In these roles, Jim built, grew, and oversaw teams across recruitment, talent management, DEI, culture, HR, and benefits strategy. The impact of this work is seen in awards from Glassdoor, Chicago Tribune, Crain's Chicago, and Built in Chicago.

Hyde Park Venture Partners is known for having visibility into more than 90% of mid-continent startups and being early backers of companies like ShipBob, FourKites, G2, LogicGate and Dentologie. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Jim Conti is the Talent Partner at Hyde Park Venture Partners. In this role, Jim provides strategic talent support and consulting to the firm's portfolio of companies. In this conversation, we talk about how to build a people strategy in a lean, fast-paced environment and the lessons he's learned from working across a venture-backed portfolio of companies.  Mentioned in this Episode: Hyde Park Venture Partners https://www.hydeparkvp.com/Jim Conti on LinkedIn https://www.linkedin.com/in/contijcPeople Business episode with Mike Sarraille https://peoplebusinesspodcast.com/from-the-battlefield-to-the-boardroom-w-mike-sarraille/Time Codes:(2:19) - Introducing Jim Conti(2:35) - What is Hyde Park Ventures and what is your role there?(6:01) - What does the firm look for when making an investment?(16:44) - What are the common misconceptions leaders have that you have to help with right from the start?(22:19) - What advice do you have for leaders who are looking to build a team? What are the ways you should be evaluating the talent?(31:30) - How do you advise leadership teams to build trust with their people?(35:40) - Is it good to bring our ‘whole self' to work or not so much?(44:16) - How do you recruit good people when you don't have money or stability to offer?(47:57) - What do you say to someone who says we've just lost out on a great candidate? (50:04) - Is slowing down and making the workplace human-centered something HR does?(56:11) - How are you seeing companies evolve the funnels they're using to get different types of talent?(59:39) - What, in your mind, is the purpose of business?

Jim Conti is an experienced talent and people leader, and is currently a Talent Partner for Hyde Park Venture Partners, a Venture Capital Firm based in Chicago, Illinois. In his role as a Talent Partner at Hyde Park Venture Partners, Jim partners with emerging startups at the earliest stages to consult on various talent, people and hr strategies so these early stage companies can set the foundation for success and growth as they scale their organization.During the conversation, Jim spoke about his journey from working in house in talent and people roles to working across numerous companies within a venture firm as well some of the common talent and people related opportunities that early stage startups face. We also had an expansive discussion around current challenges with attracting and retaining talent in today's economic conditions, the opportunity to think more strategically and expansively around talent retention and mobility, and some of Jim's thoughts on the future of talent within the current economy. Jim ContiTalent Partner Hyde Park Venture Partnershttps://www.linkedin.com/in/contijc/https://www.hydeparkvp.com/

Ira Weiss is the General Partner at Hyde Park Venture Partners, an early-stage venture capital firm focused on high-growth, mid-continent technology startups. Ira is also a Clinical Professor of Entrepreneurship and Accounting at The University of Chicago, Booth School of Business.In this episode, we discussed the current market downturn and it's impact on  early-stage investing. 

Investing in organizations in the middle part of the USA has become popular recently, but Guy Turner was ahead of the trend. First with Hyde Park Angels and now with Hyde Park Venture Partners, he and his colleagues are backing companies right here in Medical Alley, including Medical Alley's own ClinicianNexus and Zipnosis. Listen back to our recent "Medical Alley Starts: Ask Me Anything" webinar, where Frank Jaskulke and Guy discuss the state of the market, challenges and opportunities, and most importantly — answer attendees' questions — in this great discussion.

Matt Spettel cofounded CoPilot while he was in undergrad at Carnegie Mellon. In this episode, we hear how it was balancing college and running a startup, how Matt met his cofounder Gabe, overcoming age bias, and building the company to what it is today.  We learn about his route to entrepreneurship as a kid who would make his own video games and sell them at school to pretending to be a personal trainer. Fresh off a 6M Series A Round led by Hyde Park Venture Partners with Maven Ventures and TenOneTen Ventures participating. Give CoPilot a try! --- This episode is sponsored by · Anchor: The easiest way to make a podcast. https://anchor.fm/app Support this podcast: https://anchor.fm/startupmindsets/support

Jim Conti, Talent Partner at Hyde Park Venture Partners, shares his knowledge and experience in building and growing people operations at two fast growing software startups at dScout and Sprout Social. In his role,  Jim provides strategic talent support and consulting to the firm and their portfolio companies. Jim talks about why it's important to make clarity an integral part of your company's culture and why taking a human-based approach to People Operations is a game changer.

Nothing lights me up more than a meaty conversation with a successful entrepreneur. I just bagged the elephant (You can thank me later.) Godard Abel is one of the most successful SaaS entrepreneurs you'll meet. And G2 is his Unicorn baby. After wrapping his studies at Stanford MBA and MIT Engineering, Godard was Co-Founder & CEO of BigMachines, a pioneer of the Configure, Price, Quote software category. He scaled the business from scratch to $50M revenues & 300 people, before its acquisition by Oracle. As CEO of SteelBrick, the leading Quote-to-Cash software platform, he built the team from 5 to 200 people, before its acquisition by Salesforce. And currently, Godard is Co-Founder & CEO of G2, which makes B2B tech buying easy by connecting buyers to vendors. It's “Yelp for Business Software & Services” with 1 million customer reviews & real-time ratings. 5 million tech buyers visit each month. And he's onto something big… G2 has raised over $200M from top investors: Accel, Chicago Ventures, Emergence, High Alpha, Hyde Park Venture Partners, IVP, Permira, Pritzker Group Venture Capital, Salesforce Ventures, HubSpot Ventures. I was curious to understand how Godard makes it look so easy (It's not.) He attributes not some… but ALL… of his success to “hiring & nurturing incredible people.” In this 20-minute conversation, he reveals step-by-step how to build your Unicorn team.  

Ira Weiss is the General Partner at Hyde Park Venture Partners, an early-stage venture capital firm focused on high-growth, mid-continent technology startups. Ira is also a Clinical Professor of Entrepreneurship and Accounting at The University of Chicago, Booth School of Business.In this episode, we covered: From Shoe Salesman to VC Developing a Market View Advantage Metrics in Valuations Keys to Success for Unicorns Improving Chicago's Ecosystem And much more.... Please Enjoy!You can find Ira on his Linkedin & Twitter and Hyde Park Ventures on their website, Twitter, and Linkedin.Ira's Favorite Thought Leadership/Resources: The 20 Minute VC, a16z Podcast, Fred Wilson, Brad Feld, Mark Suster, & Ajay Agarwal's WritingManifold Group is a venture holding company based in Chicago with offices in Dallas, Los Angeles, and soon Atlantic Canada. Early stage private investments represent an extraordinary investment opportunity, but existing investment models in the space leave much to be desired.Manifold is a new model for growth in the new economy, designed to create and capture value at the early stage through synergies across its venture fund, incubation and acceleration studio, and advisory firm. Learn more about Manifold at https://www.manifold.group.

In this episode, we covered: Investing in Pre-Launch Startups Why Valuations Are Rising Surprising Trends from 2020 Today's Labor Market CARR vs. ARR HPVP's Due Diligence Process What Makes a Great Board Member Guy Turner is a Managing Director at Hyde Park Venture Partners, an early-stage venture capital firm focused on high-growth, mid-continent technology startups. He has been with HPVP since its beginning in 2011. Prior to HPVP, Guy worked for the Boston Consulting Group where he concentrated on business strategy through a range of industries. He previously worked for Hyde Park Angels as an associate and an investor, and spent his early career as a mechanical engineer for Raytheon and General Electric. Guy has managed HPVP's investments in Fixer, MarketWagon, Upfront Healthcare, and Zipnosis, among others, and has led investments in a variety of tech firms.You can find Guy on his Linkedin & Twitter and Hyde Park Ventures on their website and Linkedin.Guy's Blog & Personal Website: vcwithmeManifold Group is a venture holding company based in Chicago with offices in Dallas, Los Angeles, and soon Atlantic Canada. Early stage private investments represent an extraordinary investment opportunity, but existing investment models in the space leave much to be desired.Manifold is a new model for growth in the new economy, designed to create and capture value at the early stage through synergies across its venture fund, incubation and acceleration studio, and advisory firm. Learn more about Manifold at https://www.manifold.group.

Jackie DiMonte is a Partner at Chicago Ventures, an early-stage Venture Capital firm based in Chicago. She began her career at Accenture as a consultant. She then worked for an IoT startup named Silver Spring Networks while receiving her MBA at The University of Chicago Booth School of Business. Jackie entered Venture Capital at Hyde Park Venture Partners prior to becoming a Partner at Chicago Ventures.In this episode, we cover: The maturation of Venture Capital in Chicago  A recap of seed investing in 2020 Prognosis for seed investing in 2021  The impending Series A crunch NFT's You can find Jackie on LinkedIn & on Twitter and Chicago Ventures at their website.Resources discussed: Jackie's newsletter Day by Jay,  Seeding the Exception article  Her NFT  - Floating Houses. Manifold Group is a venture holding company based in Chicago with offices in Dallas, Los Angeles, and soon Atlantic Canada. Early stage private investments represent an extraordinary investment opportunity, but existing investment models in the space leave much to be desired.Manifold is a new model for growth in the new economy, designed to create and capture value at the early stage through synergies across its venture fund, incubation and acceleration studio, and advisory firm. Learn more about Manifold at https://www.manifold.group.zg1LRLBZYzJ5XvU2fuwJ

Interview begins: 7:15Debrief: 55:14Jackie DiMonte is a partner at Chicago Ventures.Prior to joining Chicago Ventures, Jackie was a principal at Hyde Park Venture Partners, working with portfolio companies such as RoadSync, Podchaser, Fixer, FactoryFix, and PartySlate. Before that, she worked at Silver Spring Networks (now Itron), an IoT company for critical infrastructure, driving development and pilot projects for emerging smart city technology. She is also a member of the Board of Directors for Starting Block Madison and Chicago:Blend and a Venture Partner at Republic.We discuss: Feedback Loop 13:54 Evolution in a Venture Firm 17:14 What Level is a Deal Flow Done? 21:46 Get a Deal Through 24:17 Programmatic Venture 26:35 Working Virtually from Austin 31:13 Partner at Chicago Ventures 35:27 Inbound Pitches 42:43 Fragmenting Markets 48:53 Personal Goals for the role 50:26 Chicago Ventures was founded in 2012.Learn more about Chicago VenturesFollow Jackie on TwitterThis episode is sponsored by SavvyCal. SavvyCal is the most intuitive and powerful scheduling tool on the market. In fact, we just started SavvyCal to book interviews with our guests! You can create personalized links in seconds and even allow recipients to overlay their calendar on top of yours. You really gotta see how this works, and you'll wonder why it wasn't always this easy.Sign up to create a free account at savvycal.com/upside and when you're ready to test out a paid plan, use the code UPSIDE to get your first month free.Follow upside on TwitterAdvertise with an upside classified--This episode of upside is also sponsored by Ethos Wealth Management. Managing wealth with an eye toward the future demands vigilance and skill in today's global economy. Over the years, Ethos Wealth Management has worked with clients and their other professional advisors – including attorneys and accountants – to create comprehensive wealth management plans designed to make the best use of their wealth today and help ensure its endurance for future generations.They can do the same for you. Visit upside.fm/ethos to learn more

Our hosts sit down with Guy Turner, Co-founder and Managing Director at Hyde Park Venture Partners. With offices in Chicago and Indianapolis, HPVP is an early-stage venture capital firm focused on high-growth mid-continent companies with exceptional teams.

Allison Weil, Senior Associate at Hyde Park Venture Partners, talks with Brian Ardinger, Inside Outside Innovation Founder, about the latest trends in venture capital in places outside the Valley. They also dig into some of the tips and insights for new founders. For more innovation resources, check out insideoutside.io.

Allison Weil, Senior Associate at Hyde Park Venture Partners, talks with Brian Ardinger, Inside Outside Innovation Founder, about the latest trends in venture capital in places outside the Valley. They also dig into some of the tips and insights for new founders. For more innovation resources, check out insideoutside.io.

Great tech startup ideas can come from anywhere. This one came from the waiting room of a high-end car wash. Following a successful career in sales with med device maker Medtronic, Brent Oakley started Prime Car Wash, now with 5 locations. In the process, he discovered how setting the right mood creates an exceptional customer experience that keeps customers coming back. So, he co-founded Vibenomics, the marketing tech software company that provides location-based businesses with an easy & effective way to create whatever vibe they want to convey within their space. It’s an audio out-of-home advertising & experience platform. Vibenomics promotes products in-store, educates shoppers, and drives them to websites or apps for coupons. His investors include BIP Capital, High Alpha, Elevate Ventures, Allos Ventures, Hyde Park Venture Partners. In this 20-minute conversation, Brent reveals how he’s scaled his team comprised of 40 Rockstars.

You probably know about Silicon Valley startups. And Manhattan’s tech chops. But have you seen the new companies that are cooking up in the Midwest? Or, as Ira Weiss, Partner of Hyde Park Venture Partners, calls it: “Mid-Continent.” And he should know. HPVP invests exclusively in early-stage tech companies in the (previously-considered) flyover states. If you’re raising a first or second round of capital, this fund is likely on your radar. Ira has been investing in private companies for 15 years, with over 125 VC & angel investments. He sits on many boards as a director or observer of FourKites, Parkwhiz, ShipBob, and others. And, somehow, he finds time to teach entrepreneurship as Professor at University of Chicago’s Booth School of Business. In this 20-minute conversation, Ira shares his many insights about how to successfully scale a team as your business ramps. (Even if you’re not Mid-Continent, it’s filled with practical advice.)

Dozens of spots have cropped up around the city the past few months, including the city's first place dedicated to Japanese okonomiyaki and a massive, three-story food hall with big-name chefs attached. Crain's Jan Parr gives us a rundown. Plus: The FAA won't clear 737 Max fixes until 2020, Hyde Park Venture Partners raises a $100 million fund, Walgreens and Kroger deepen their partnership, and Dem presidential candidate Pete Buttigieg names his old clients from his days working for McKinsey in Chicago. Find #CrainsDailyGist on Twitter and let's continue the conversation.

Did you know that most kitchens are unprofitable? Nick Anastasiades is out to change that. He’s Co-Founder & CEO of 2ndKitchen. Based in Chicago, the company links any business to restaurants in their area so they can use their kitchen to serve food. As an on-demand service, 2ndKitchen pools the demand in a local neighborhood. And it’s catching on. Big time. Since completing the Techstars program, the business has been doubling every 3 months. Not to mention, attracting big-time VC’s including Hyde Park Venture Partners, MATH Venture Partners, Great North Labs, Bragiel Brothers, and M25. Now, bars, taprooms, hotels, and any business without a kitchen can offer a custom menu to its patrons, leveraging a hyper-local restaurant to cook and deliver the food. 2ndKitchen facilitates the partnership, including payment, fulfillment, and customer support. But how is Nick building the team that’s building 2ndKitchen? In this 20-minute conversation, he reveals the process he uses to find & assess talent. And how he learned to cook up a winning culture.

It can be intimidating to go before a board. Especially as a new CMO. But this doesn't have to be the case. There are strategies and facts that you should be prepared with as you enter a board meeting. Tim Kopp, venture investor at Hyde Park Venture Partners and a start-up advisor, knows these strategies inside and out. He encourages CMO's to remember that the board is filled with allies who want you to succeed. On a recent episode of #FlipMyFunnel, we caught up with Tim to hear his invaluable advice on speaking in front of a board as a CMO, what to be prepared with, and how to approach the CMO job with the greatest chance for success.

Positioning your brand. People love to overcomplicate this. Or ignore it altogether because they have no idea how to tackle it. So Sangram talked to Tim Kopp, General Partner with Hyde Park Venture Partners, about how to break it down into manageable chunks so you don't have to have an existential crisis every time you try to describe your job.

Your org is growing. Time to hire the perfect CMO. But that person doesn't exist. At least not the way you think. You're probably thinking of a CMO who can ... Build company culture Strategize Create rapid, explosive growth Speak tech, and translate it Market your product(s) to consumers Develop your brand … Sure. But you're looking for a unicorn, said our latest interview guest Tim Kopp, managing partner at Hyde Park Venture Partners.

Is the problem that your company is looking to solve big enough? Many companies spend too much time thinking about whether or not they have product/market fit and not enough time on whether or not they have a problem/market fit.  If you are going to be a category leader in an industry you need to be singularly focused on solving a problem, not just building a product. Another requirement for category leadership is a rock solid culture. At Terminus, the fuel to our fire is in our two company values: One Team Mindset Keys to the Ferrari These are two sides of the same coin.  One Team means we are all focused around a singular goal and our employees feel comfortable with the crew around them.  Keys to the Ferrari means our employees also feel empowered to change the world with one idea. There is a healthy tension between these two poles, allowing us to be unified and ambitious at the same time. Tim Kopp, a Venture Investor at Hyde Park Venture Partners, sat down with Sangram in Indianapolis to talk about life as a industry leader.  Solving problems and building culture are a lot easier discussed than executed, but they are two keys to winning in the long run!

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

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

After working at Procter and Gamble and Coca-Cola, Tim Kopp made a huge mark on the B2B world. How? The color orange. Tim is the former CMO of ExactTarget. Now, he’s in the venture capital space at Hyde Park Venture Partners. At the time he made the leap into B2B, there were very few CMOs. But he thankfully did it anyway. In this episode, Tim talks about how tapping into the brand colors at ExactTarget was one of the most important things he did. He also talked about how B2B companies can use the best practices from consumer marketing, where marketing is headed in 3-6 years, and the seven different personas of a CMO.

Tom Smith is the Co-Founder of Truss, a commercial real estate platform that helps small businesses find office space. You can think of them as Airbnb for commercial real estate. The company's marketplace allows one to find, explore, compare, lease and tour office, industrial and retail space, immediately receive feedback on tours and spaces, manage all documents in one place, among others, providing small and medium businesses with a cost-effective way to lease space for their business. Truss has raised about $23 million since it was founded in 2016 with it’s most recent round led by Boston-based General Catalyst, who was also an early investor in Airbnb. Other backers include Navitas Capital, Hyde Park Angels and Hyde Park Venture Partners, along with Jeff Boyd, the former CEO of Priceline, and Robert Mylod, a former Priceline executive and the chairman of Redfin. Sponsored by: Starting Line VC: A new Chicago-based venture capital firm, founded by Ezra Galston, one of our top early podcast guests and trusted partner of many of Chicago’s hottest startups. Check out what they’re up to at StartingLine.vc.  

Tim Kopp is a General Partner with Midwest-based Hyde Park Venture Partners investing primarily in tech companies. Prior to this, he was the CMO of ExactTarget, and Indianapolis-based SaaS company that had a tremendously successful IPO and was ultimately acquired in a $2.5B transaction by Salesforce. Over the years, I've been fortunate to learn a great deal from countless members of the ExactTarget team, and Tim is no exception. He's a phenomenal leader that shares some wonderful perspectives and lessons in this episode. To learn more about Tim, visit his site CMO to VC. Email: chris@leadingbythebook.comWeb: https://www.leadingbythebook.comTwitter: https://www.twitter.com/ChrisBookLinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/ChrisBook

Precision targeting… Imagine if you had a map that showed you where your target customers actually made their decisions to buy.  Christopher “Toph” Day is Co-Founder & CEO of DemandJump. Based in Indianapolis, Toph’s team helps marketers outmaneuver their competition & double their marketing performance using the Traffic Cloud Customer Acquisition Platform.  With $6M in venture capital from Revolution, Flyover Fund, and Hyde Park Venture Partners, DemandJump is out to make customer referrals far smarter. What’s not to like about that? In this 20-minute conversation, Toph reveals how he’s building the organization that’s building one of Indy’s fastest-growing companies.

Ira Weiss, General Partner at Hyde Park Venture Partners based in Chicago, talks about venture activity in the MidWest.

Guy Turner of Hyde Park Venture Partners joins Nick to cover founder profiles and the characteristics that lead to the strongest startups. We address questions including: You've observed over 50 startups, across your portfolio, and have written extensively about founder profiles. What are the two high-level categories of characteristics that you've observed? Within the inspection characteristics category... what are the three dimensions that matter most? The first two modes seem to differ primarily on the experience dimension... what are the two modes and what are their strengths and weaknesses? Mode 3 you call the exec turned founder.... and mode 4 seems to have the ingredients for big outcomes or big flameouts. Walk us through each of these and their defining characteristics. We've discussed four modes, but based on your framework there should be eight. What about the other four modes? Do you think modes 1 and 2 work better for all investors or just HPVP? Dealflow filtering and evaluation... can you use the inspection characteristics? So we've discussed the inspection characteristics... let's transition to the the second major category, the experience characteristics. Talk more about what they are and how you assess them. What are the five actions that matter most in startup teams? How do you handle a situation where the deal comes late and there's already a term sheet and you don't have time to observe these characteristics over time? What are the five styles that matter most? Self-reflection, do you and Ira and Tim look in the mirror w/ Hyde Park and consider these expectations How about for building the team at HPVP... do you apply founder assessment criteria in your hiring? Are there any soft skills or overlooked founder characteristics that you haven't written about but you look for? What's your take on the issues w/ ethics, not only amongst founders but at the investor level?   Guest Links: Hyde Park Venture Partners Guy on Twitter People part 1: Successful Startup Team Modes People part 2: The Characteristics that Matter in Startup Teams   To listen more, please visit http://fullratchet.net/podcast-episodes/ for all of our other episodes. Also, follow us on twitter @TheFullRatchet for updates and more information.

  There are many people who are curious how a person actually establishes themselves in a venture capital career. It's kind of mysterious: How do you become experienced and adept at assessing companies for the purpose of investing other people's money in them, to the tune of millions of dollars? Guy Turner's story is one of great success so far in the VC world - he's only in his 30s - but it's demonstrative of the path that is required to get into and be successful in venture capital. The story he shares on this episode - of his childhood, dreams of being a meteorologist, business education, and finally a career in venture capital that he loves - will give you a peek through the keyhole of what it takes to become successful in VC. What's the best way to establish a venture capital career? Work for free for 3 years. Guy Turner says that the path he had to take to get started in venture capital is pretty typical. He and his partners built their VC business for 3 years before any of them got financially reimbursed - salary or otherwise. He says that's what it takes both to learn the role and gain the experience it takes to be a successful venture capitalist and to build a resume that investors can trust. Guy tells a number of stories about what it was like to slog it out in those early years and also turns the corner to explain how it has led to numerous rewards in the end, on this episode of The Critical Shift. The vital nature of learning to build professional relationships with people older than you. One of the experiences from Guy Turner's childhood that he believes set him up to have greater success in business was that he started working at an early age, and the environment he worked in (chauffeuring owners out to their boats that were anchored on the river) required him to learn how to interact with people older than he was. He says that sort of interaction has served him well in that it's enabled him to see issues through eyes more experienced than his own and has taught him how to relate to the investors he now serves regularly in his venture capital career. Work ethic + horsepower = power for your career. When Guy Turner was growing up there was something in him that enjoyed the work environment. He started working at age 11 and he says that early work experience enabled him to develop a strong work ethic - but that work ethic alone wasn't enough to get him where he's at today. He says when you first start working, a good work ethic can be a differentiator, but it has to be combined with what he calls “horsepower” - Do you “get it” and can you apply what you are learning? Those two in combination are the power behind successful careers like he's been able to build in the venture capital world. Guy has so much great insight to share, so be sure you listen. Why 10 years is the earliest you can know if you're making it as a Venture Capitalist. Though many would view Guy Turner as a marked success as a venture capitalist he says that he's barely at the point he feels comfortable with those kinds of statements. That's because he says in VC you can't know for certain if you've been successful in the investment decisions you've made for a minimum of 10 years. It simply takes that long to have any kind of track record to assess. In this conversation, Guy talks about how his growing up years and family life have impacted his venture capital career, how he deals with the emotional roller coaster of working in VC, and the big lessons he's learned thus far. If you would enjoy an inside look into the world of venture capital, this conversation is for you. Outline of This Episode [0:22] Guy Turner: Managing Partner of Hyde Park Venture Partners. [4:10] How do you get into venture? Work for free for 3 years. [7:19] Why school is extremely self-serving and the challenge it presents. [16:10] Transitioning from furniture school to studies at Cornell. [21:48] The biggest challenge Guy has faced in his VC career thus far. [25:24] Dealing with the emotional toll of the boom and bust nature of venture capital. [28:41] The most meaningful things to Guy on a personal level about his VC work so far. Resources & People Mentioned Hyde Park Venture Partners - Guy's Venture Capital firm Hyde Park Angels mHUB Cornell University University of Michigan University of Chicago Business School Ira Weiss Connect With Tom and Launchpad Lab https://launchpadlab.com/ On Instagram On Twitter On Facebook On LinkedIn

Julie Novack is the CEO and a Co-Founder of PartySlate, a startup building a two-sided platform that allows event professionals to share their work and party hosts to gain inspiration from it.  PartySlate has raised $2.6 million from investors including Hyde Park Venture Partners, Hyde Park Angels and InvestHER Ventures. In This Episode You Will Learn: Julie's motivation for starting PartySlate The importance of throwing a great party for fundraisers The wildest party someone has thrown using PartySlate How to use content marketing and promotional events to drive traffic Why you have to "super-please" one side of the market to start a two-sided marketplace How PartySlate decides where to focus their content marketing efforts The biggest benefits of going through Techstars What Julie would like to see Chicago tech improve on How we get more women involved in tech The importance of role models for women in tech The hardest thing about selling The 3 most critical elements to being a high performing salesperson What made her leave a large company for the startup world The value of dreaming outloud about your idea The fallacy of being protective about your idea How Julie decided to expand geographically before proving out the business model in one geography What their process looks for expanding in to new geographies The importance of owning and managing technology Advice for planning a great wedding Selected Links From The Episode: WiSTEM Favorite Books: Born to Run by Bruce Springsteen Bossypants by Tina Fey Tune In: The Beatles: All These Years by Mark Lewisohn Elon Musk: Tesla, SpaceX, and the Quest for a Fantastic Future by Ashlee Vance Shoe Dog: A Memoir by the Creator of Nike by Phil Knight

Tim Kopp, Tim is a Managing Partner with Hyde Park Venture Partners one of the leading early stage VCs in the Midwest. Prior to joining Hyde Park Venture Partners, Tim was the CMO of ExactTarget for 6+ years, leading a global team of nearly 300 amazing marketing leaders. Tim helped grow ExactTarget from $47M to $400M in revenue, through IPO, and ultimately to a $2.7B sale to Salesforce. He previously spent 10+ years in consumer marketing with P&G and Coca-Cola. You can follow his advice for startup executives and marketing leaders at his newly launched website:www.cmovc.com. In Today’s Episode You Will Learn: How Tim made his way into the world of B2B marketing and then made the transition into the world of venture? Why does Tim believe marketing in B2B is unbuilt and uninspired? What would Tim like to see change? What are SaaS CEO’s doing wrong with regards to organisation and scaling of their marketing team? What questions should they be asking? Why does the best B2B marketers come from the world of B2C? What makes them more effective than current B2B marketers? Why is ABM the most revolutionary thing to happen to marketing for the last decade? How can startups and CEOs integrate ABM into their current marketing forecasts? If you would like to find out more about the show and the guests presented, you can follow us on Twitter here: Jason Lemkin Harry Stebbings SaaStr Tim Kopp

Zipnosis doesn’t just bring the doctor to your phone. The company’s app also includes a set of questions geared toward diagnosing your problems and determining if a doctor’s visit is necessary. If an office visit is required, the app can even speed registration. Zipnosis recently raised a $17 million Series A round from Ascension Ventures, Fairview Health Services, Hyde Park Venture Partners, Arthur Ventures, Waterline Ventures, and Omphalos Ventures.

Quote of the Day: 'Invest in people who do what they say they are going to do and have done what they said they would do'. Guy Turner, 20VC Guy Turner is a Partner at Hyde Park Venture Partners where he focuses on fast growing companies run by ambitious entrepreneurs with disruptive ideas. All of his incredible findings can be found through his blog at vcwithme.co. Guy joined Hyde Park Venture Partners in 2011 from Boston Consulting Group where he focused on corporate strategy across a variety of industries; he started his investing career as an Associate and then actively investing Member of Hyde Park Angels in 2009. Guy has led investments in numerous B2B software companies and is a Director at Geofeedia, InContext Solutions and Iris Mobile. Guy is also a Siebel Scholar, Kauffman Fellow and a co-inventor on two US Patents. In Today's Episode You Will Learn: How Guy made his move into the investing industry? How did Guy find the transition from academia to venture? Why is it crucial for startups to innovate, test and sell quickly? How can a startup determine whether their project is successful or if they should pivot? What are the three steps to the 18 month runway, all startups need? Do investors mind providing more financially to increase the runway? What can startups do to maximise the hype surrounding their business? Can hype ever be detrimental to a startup? What are Guy's preferences in terms of founders? How can a startup know when VCs are subtly rejecting them? Items Mentioned in Today's Show: Guy's Fave Book: Thinking in Time Guys Most Recent Investment: 250ok FarmLogs