Podcasts about kobie fuller

DrinksWithAVC welcomes Kobie Fuller of Upfront Ventures, merging the worlds of athletic excellence and venture capital. Bree and producer Reyn delve into Kobie's history as a record-setting athlete and explore how the competitive spirit and discipline from sports translate into savvy investing. Stay tuned to learn about Kobie's current SaaS metric of choice and his anticipated guests at the Upfront Summit in LA.Links:www.upfront.comwww.twitter.com/upfrontvcThis year's Upfront summit is at capacity, but you can still stream from home!Join the Valence Community and help grow the black community inside of business:Support Kobie's wife and her kids clothing brand.

In August 2019, Kobie Fuller, General Partner at Upfront Ventures, joined High Alpha Partner Eric Tobias for our monthly Speaker Series. Kobie joined Upfront in 2016 after having previously been an investor at Accel. Prior to Accel, Kobie was the Chief Marketing Officer at LA-based REVOLVE, one of the largest players in the global fashion e-commerce ecosystem. He has deep knowledge of emerging sectors including VR and AR and was an early investor in Oculus and ExactTarget. Earlier in his career, Kobie helped found OpenView Venture Partners and was an investor at Insight Venture Partners.  In this episode, we revisit Kobie's Speaker Series where you'll learn: Kobie's journey into Venture Capital His experience being a part of the Los Angeles startup community The power of community and how you can use it to build a brand and serve today's hyper competitive landscape His take on the future of software and tech

Every pitch today involves community.  Upfront partner and former CMO Kobie Fuller tells us how the best brands are giving users the tools to be brand advocates and how those same brands are tapping into the community to get insights.   We also talk about being black in venture and what inspired Kobie to build Valence, a network for black professionals.

Kobie Fuller is a General Partner at Upfront Ventures – one of the largest Venture Capital companies in LA. After graduating from Harvard, he's invested, built, and scaled several multi-billion-dollar organizations (09:05). As 20-year VC veteran, he provides insight into everything from developing high-performance teams (14:44), how the metaverse will change marketing (25:10), and how he grew Valence, a networking site and cross-industry management training program to promote Black economic empowerment (33:23).

What is grit? Is it something that you're born with? Is it a skill you have to practice? Or is it a combination of the two?On today's episode, Angela Duckworth, a MacArthur Genius Grant winner, academic, and author, explores that question with Kobie Fuller, the Chairman and Co-Founder of Valance Community. Marie Rosencrans, an SVP of SMB Marketing at Salesforce, leads the wide-ranging conversation. They discuss what qualities are common in overachievers, how leaders use stress to fuel themselves, and what it takes to build a gritty team that will succeed in the short and long term, regardless of the obstacles thrown in their way.

Kobie Fuller is a seasoned Venture Capitalist who deeply believes in the power of community. Kobie is a General Partner at Upfront Ventures, the largest and longest serving venture fund in Southern California. He's led investments in companies including TheWaveVR, Cordial, Bevy, The Mighty and MetaCX. Over his career he's invested early in notable companies including Exact Target (sold to Salesforce for $2.5B) and Oculus (sold to Facebook for $2B). Outside of VC, Kobie was the CMO at REVOLVE, one of the largest global fashion e-commerce players, where he built a massive community of influencers. As a Black VC, Kobie wanted better visibility into his own community and couldn't believe that a centralized network of Black professionals didn't exist yet. So, he founded Valence, a community that's on a mission to unlock the global combined power of Black professionals to create massive economic and social progress. In this episode, Kobie shares what VC is really like, how brands can create movements, and how he's building Valence. Episode Notes: https://www.createcommunitypod.com/episodes/kobie-fuller

Gordon Bellamy and Kobie Fuller take the stage to discuss how they grew their inclusive, pride-focused communities. Gordon speaks about the queer industry unitedly coming out and removing the anonymity that previously existed. Within the Gay Gaming Community, Gordon created ‘Default Spaces' to create a place for people of different orientations, expressions, or identities to connect and be authentically themselves, without being identified by labels. The nonprofit community provides scholarships, resources, and employment for those marginalized or underrepresented. Gordon's final piece of advice was, “There's a difference between waiting for the world to act on you and waiting to act on the world.” Kobie Fuller, the Co-Founder of Valence, then dives into how he developed a solution to the underrepresented black individuals in the corporate setting. He created an interactive database of black talent to celebrate and showcase talented and admirable individuals who previously went unnoticed. Kobie invested $1 million into this product and watched the community grow from a mere 3,000 members to 11,000 and counting. The recent Black Lives Matter movement greatly impacted black community growth and brought black individuals together to unite in power and support. Gordon and Kobie end with reiterating the importance of self-realization and having pride in who you are and what you stand for. Who is this episode for?: Non Profit, In Person & Online, Starting 3 key takeaways: - Self-realization and having pride in who and what you are is key to community growth and establishing authenticity. - Gordon emphasized the importance of ‘default spaces' to ensure all members are recognized for who they truly are, rather than their label. - Kobie discusses the need to associate being black with positivity and not as a setback, and using that self-realization to unite in power with other black individuals.

Gordon Bellamy and Kobie Fuller take the stage to discuss how they grew their inclusive, pride-focused communities. Gordon speaks about the queer industry unitedly coming out and removing the anonymity that previously existed. Within the Gay Gaming Community, Gordon created ‘Default Spaces’ to create a place for people of different orientations, expressions, or identities to connect and be authentically themselves, without being identified by labels. The nonprofit community provides scholarships, resources, and employment for those marginalized or underrepresented. Gordon’s final piece of advice was, “There’s a difference between waiting for the world to act on you and waiting to act on the world.” Kobie Fuller, the Co-Founder of Valence, then dives into how he developed a solution to the underrepresented black individuals in the corporate setting. He created an interactive database of black talent to celebrate and showcase talented and admirable individuals who previously went unnoticed. Kobie invested $1 million into this product and watched the community grow from a mere 3,000 members to 11,000 and counting. The recent Black Lives Matter movement greatly impacted black community growth and brought black individuals together to unite in power and support. Gordon and Kobie end with reiterating the importance of self-realization and having pride in who you are and what you stand for. Who is this episode for?: Non Profit, In Person & Online, Starting 3 key takeaways: - Self-realization and having pride in who and what you are is key to community growth and establishing authenticity. - Gordon emphasized the importance of ‘default spaces’ to ensure all members are recognized for who they truly are, rather than their label. - Kobie discusses the need to associate being black with positivity and not as a setback, and using that self-realization to unite in power with other black individuals.

We live in a diverse world full of different cultures, new ideas, fresh perspectives, and uniquely-themselves people. But oftentimes those who are seated around boardroom tables or walking up and down corporate halls don't reflect this same level of diversity.  In Kobie Fuller's experience, this disconnect between what we see in our day-to-day lives versus what we witness in the antiquated world of business isn't necessarily due to a lack of desire to bridge the gap – it's more about the need for a more educated effort. “There is this prominent corporate VC that I met with who had the aspirations to fund more black founders. And he then would say, ‘I have no idea where to find them.' … Then I started rattling off names of people … that frankly, given someone whose mission [was to fund more black founders], he should've known. And he was like, ‘I have no idea who those people are.' Well, the problem is that you're not spending time interacting with the black community and the networks by which you actually tap into these people.” Kobie is the co-founder of Valence and a General Partner at Upfront Ventures. He's been involved in venture capital since college, and he regularly comes face-to-face with this problem of “I want to hire black talent, but I don't know where to look.” It's a multi-pronged issue that requires a multi-pronged solution, which is what Kobie is working toward at Valence, a network that he is helping build which connects, showcases, and empowers the global black professional community. Building this community is not a typical nine-to-five job, though. It's a massive undertaking that he's putting on his shoulders while still working as a full-time VC. So how does Kobie do it all –  balance all the work needed to achieve this big vision with his daily responsibilities all the while also prioritizing being a great husband and father?  As Kobie shares today, it's all about mindset and focus. ---  Learn more about The Journey at mission.org/thejourney. The Journey is sponsored by our friends at Salesforce Essentials. We use Salesforce Essentials every day and it's part of our own business journey. Essentials combines sales and service tools in a single app to help small businesses win customers and keep them happy. See how Salesforce Essentials can help you be your best business at salesforce.com/thejourney.

Kobie Fuller is the perfect venn diagram of the Athlete CEO – he was a track star at Harvard, used his background in tech to invest early in some of the top winners of emerging technologies including Oculus and Exact Target, and now works as a partner for Upfront Ventures where he continues to help discover and fund innovative tech companies.He has seen startups rise and fall and knows what it takes to be successful in founding a company, and shares with us what he’s seen over the years. He also is uniquely familiar with how the worlds of sports and business intersect in their values and daily practices, which he has used to help advise new business owners as well as find his own success as a co-founder through Valence Community, a social network for Black professionals started in November 2019.Prior to Upfront, Kobie was the CMO at REVOLVE in Los Angeles, one of the world’s largest fashion e-commerce sites. Earlier in his career he was an investor at Insight Venture Partners and a founding member of Openview Venture Partners. He was the captain of the Harvard track team when he attended and ran the 200m, and the 400m events.Topics discussed include:Why Kobie got kicked off the basketball team growing upAccomplishing big things by taking on the mentality of “It takes what it takes”Putting in the work needed to achieve your goalsThe similarities between athletes and venture capitalistsHow to surround yourself with elite performers instead of bozosThe founding of Valence Community in 2019How start up founders can be successful by leaning in to what they’re uniquely equipped to doHow to find a mentorTips on balancing your life and being a good example to your kidsInvesting in yourself by being selfless and selfish at the same timeThe importance of investing in your health and wellness

Kobie Fuller is a General Partner at Upfront Ventures in Los Angeles. He also started Valence Community - a Los Angeles-based online professional network for Black talent. Kobie might have the *actual* answers as to how to fix tech's long standing diversity problem. Kobie talks about his journey into Venture Capital and his perspectives and feelings on San Francisco. We get into a good discussion about LA vs. San Francisco as a tech hub, and whether Los Angeles is long-term viable as a tech community (and the differences between LA and San Francisco startups). We talk to Kobie about his perspective - as one of the few black GPs in venture capital - on how to fix tech's long standing diversity problem. Beyond just talking about it, Kobie built Valence Community, which is creating a pipeline of Black talent and founders for tech companies to hire and fund. You don't want to miss today's episode of This is Your Life in Silicon Valley - everyone in business who cares at all about increasing diversity at their companies will want to listen. 

John Legend and his mentor James Lowry talk with Upfront Ventures partner Kobie Fuller about the importance of mentorship and the mutual benefit in a mentor-mentee relationship; John Legend's work in criminal justice reform and local political reform; James Lowry's roadmap for building black economic power and a more positive future for everyone; and John's experience as a BCG consultant building PowerPoint slides by day and creating music by night.

Frank Gruber catches up with John Guidos and the two discuss Frank’s recent trip to Chicago where he was the keynote speaker at the NASA iTech event and his reconnecting with Jonathan Ozeran at Tempus. There’s a lot to celebrate this time around, so they discuss some of those latest happenings. The discussion was loosely based on the latest newsletter which is shared below.  I was in sweet home Chicago last week to speak at the NASA iTech event. It was great to be back in my hometown to share and debunk “Startup Myths” with this keynote talk. While in town I also caught up with Jonathan Ozeran at Tempus. We reconnected over my last email update and he invited me over to show me around. Tempus is a technology company that has built the world’s largest library of clinical and molecular data and an operating system to make that information accessible and useful for patients, physicians, and researchers. I got a tour of the Tempus office which is in the old Montgomery Wards building which is also home to Groupon and others. It’s pretty impressive to see the labs and medical work being done by a startup in a corporate environment. While the facilities were impressive, it was a simple sign in the men’s restroom that explained the importance of “daily gratitude” that left the most lasting impression of this company in my mind. Gratitude can change everything. What are you thankful for?   Lots of exciting news and articles this time so get ready… here. we. go!!!  Celebrating (People in My Network) —Gavin Purcell is taking over as showrunner at ‘Tonight’ show for John Bell who is leaving NBC.  —Meredith Fineman on the pre-order of her new book titled, Brag Better: Master the Art of Fearless Self-Promotion coming out in May 2020. Learn how to talk about your accomplishments and champion yourself – because no one is going to tell your story for you. —Aubrie Pagano the co-founder of Bow & Drape on her company being acquired by Win Brands Group.  —Max Crowley on cofounding the new beverage bar and app called Bandit which is currently serving customers in midtown Manhattan.  —Arlan Hamilton of Backstage Capital also has a book coming out in May 2020 titled, It’s About Damn Time: How To Turn Being Underestimated Into Your Greatest Advantage. —Emily Slade and her co-founders Kobie Fuller and Lamer Walker on the launch of Valence, a new tech platform and community focused on connecting Black professionals globally with mentorship, job opportunities, and capital.  —Leslie Jump on her company Different Funds with support from Schmidt Futures announces a new effort to increase capital for scientific entrepreneurs. —Erik Hersman launches BRCK, free Wi-Fi, in South Africa. —Maya Baratz is helping to bring Founders Factory to the US with NYC version.  —Steve Jang and Kanyi Maqubela launch a new firm, Kindred Ventures, to form and fund startups.  —Eric Lunt is joining VSCO the photography app and community as Director of Engineering in Chicago.  —Jamie Amaral on the launch of the children’s clothing brand, The Simple Folk, offering organic and high quality play clothes for the wild-hearted minimalist.  Listening My personal podcast, Somewhat Frank, is back! Special thanks to my old friend and colleague Johnny “Goodtimes” Guidos for his help in the refreshed new podcast format and co-hosting the show with me. If you haven’t heard it before take a listen on Apple or Google or wherever you listen to Podcasts. We’ll be talking more depth about some of the things I’m highlighting in these updates. Reading Has time changed? —The 2010s Have Broken Our Sense Of Time Another way to fast. —‘Dopamine fasting’ is a new Silicon Valley trend, but some people are already taking it too far Alone time is important. —Why You Should Find Time to Be Alone With Yourself Grabbing drinks may be a thing of the past. —Alcohol consumption will soon follow smoking and meat-eating in becoming a social evil Great insights on how Dick’s Sporting Goods turned from mom and pop shop to larger retailer. —Why Ed Stack of Dick’s Sporting Goods stood up to the gun lobby Automated home systems are not uncompromisable. —Siri, Google Assistant, and Amazon Alexa can be hijacked with a $14 laser pointer to open garage doors, start cars, and shop online Katie Couric talks with Dr. Hyman who equated Impossible Burgers to Twinkies. —Are Impossible Burgers healthy? This is not to be ignored. —More than 11,000 scientists declare a “climate emergency” 4 Day work week anyone? —Microsoft experimented with a 4-day workweek, and productivity jumped by 40% Unlimited means unlimited!!! —AT&T Fined $60M for Throttling Unlimited Data Plans Congrats to our 2019 Startup of the Year! —This Military Captain Is Changing The World With 3D Printing Technology Robot delivery is invading college campuses. —Burrito Delivered by Bot, as Long as Students Don’t Trap Don’t drink the water on airplanes! —Water on most US airlines is unsafe says study And so it begins. —Japan approved experiments that would allow for animal-human hybrids to be born for the first time ever Breast cancer drug could be on it way —How A Trial Vaccine Helped Wipe Out A Woman’s Breast Cancer In 7 Months Scary stuff. —China is exporting killer drone robots to Mideast This is motivating for anyone who’s younger than 82 years old and hasn’t gotten their plunkers going to pedal one million miles yet – there is still time! —He’s done it! 82-year-old cyclist ‘overwhelmed’ as he hits one million miles Eureka! —Blind Man Sees Birthday Candles Again Thanks To Bionic Eye Watching With the launch of Disney+ this past week coupled with a bunch of travel without Wi-Fi, I had a chance to catch up on Mandalorian, the new original Star Wars series. It is well done and I highly recommend it. I don’t want to spoil it so I’ll leave it at that. And of course, we’re going to see Frozen 2 today with our little one because it has been a long-awaited return to the big screen for this epic Disney tale of mystery and adventure.  Traveling In the last three weeks, I’ve been in DC, Chicago, Shreveport, Atlanta, and Philly. The next couple of weeks I’ll be in warmer weather in southwest Florida, before retreating to southern Maine to take in the annual Christmas Prelude – so if you’re going to be in the area too, please let me know. Thank you for listening and remember, as Frank always says, “Sharing is caring. Positive vibes only. Bring happiness to life. I’m thankful for you.” Get updates like this right in your inbox before they hit the web by subscribing to the newsletter here.  

CEOs in the deep tech space are deeply passionate about what they are building. But these brilliant technical minds tend to be less passionate about sales and marketing. So, how can a VC with a background in branding inspire his founders to invest in marketing material that reflects the power and beauty of what they're building technically? Greg Castle is the Founder and Managing Director of Anorak Ventures, a fund dedicated to early-stage, disruptive technologies like virtual reality, robotics, augmented reality, artificial intelligence, computer vision and internet of things. Greg believes that the next decade will be defined by the emerging technology of today, and he is passionate about investing in teams with the right mix of intellect, experience and integrity to succeed. Prior to Anorak, Greg worked in corporate marketing and served as the cofounder of Pure Food, a UK startup of fast casual restaurants. Today, Greg joins us to share his experience as a seed investor in Oculus, explaining how the experience inspired him to become a VC. He describes his value-add for the companies he works with in the realm of sales and marketing and discusses the importance branding that reflects the work you've put in on the technical side. Listen in to find out how Anorak has evolved since its inception in 2016 and learn why Greg is looking for founders who understand the ‘illogical' nature of running a venture-backed business. Topics Covered Greg's path to Anorak Ventures Sales and marketing at Bloomberg out of college Moved to UK to become restaurant entrepreneur Returned to States to work in video game tech Seed capital to Oculus, interest in investing Greg's value-add for the companies he works with Background in gaming tech + Oculus experience Inspire CEOs to invest in marketing and sales The evolution of Anorak in the last 2½ years Opportunities outside Bay (capital efficiency + focus) More valuation sensitive, comfortable saying no What Greg looks for in a founder Repeat founders/early employees in venture-backed co. ‘Unsexy businesses' causing disruption (e.g.: Orderful) Connect with Greg Anorak Ventures https://www.anorak.vc/ Anorak Ventures on LinkedIn https://www.linkedin.com/company/anorak-ventures/ Greg on LinkedIn https://www.linkedin.com/in/gregorycastle/ Greg on Twitter https://twitter.com/gpcastle12 Resources Greg on Boost VCC EP001 https://simplecast.com/s/3a5f6c48 Oculus https://www.oculus.com/ Flexport https://www.flexport.com/ Autodesk https://www.autodesk.com/ Mass Effect https://www.masseffect.com/ ‘AR Will Spark the Next Big Tech Platform—Call it Mirrorworld' in Wired https://www.wired.com/story/mirrorworld-ar-next-big-tech-platform/ Oculus Kickstarter Campaign https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/1523379957/oculus-rift-step-into-the-game CB Insights https://www.cbinsights.com/ Kobie Fuller https://www.linkedin.com/in/kobiefuller/ Y Combinator https://www.ycombinator.com/ Alchemist Accelerator https://alchemistaccelerator.com/ Orderful EDI Solution https://www.orderful.com/ Tekken https://tk7.tekken.com/ Connect with Boost VC Boost VC Website https://www.boost.vc/ Boost VC on Facebook https://www.facebook.com/boostvc/ Boost VC on Twitter https://twitter.com/BoostVC

On today's episode, we hear from Kobie Fuller, who is a general partner at Upfront Ventures, the largest venture fund in Los Angeles that focuses on investing in software and consumer product companies. Previously, Kobie worked at Accel Ventures and was CMO at REVOLVE, one of the largest fashion e­commerce companies in Los Angeles.

On today's episode, we hear from Kobie Fuller, who is a general partner at Upfront Ventures, the largest venture fund in Los Angeles that focuses on investing in software and consumer product companies. Previously, Kobie worked at Accel Ventures and was CMO at REVOLVE, one of the largest fashion e­commerce companies in Los Angeles.

Kobie Fuller joined the Upfront Ventures in June 2016 after having previously worked at Silicon Valley-based Accel, where he was involved in investments including Campaign Monitor, UserTesting, AdRoll, Emergent VR and Invoca. Prior to Accel, Kobie was the Chief Marketing Officer at REVOLVE, one of the largest global fashion e-commerce players based in Los Angeles. Series: "Innovator Stories: Creating Something from Nothing" [Business] [Show ID: 31748]

Kobie Fuller joined the Upfront Ventures in June 2016 after having previously worked at Silicon Valley-based Accel, where he was involved in investments including Campaign Monitor, UserTesting, AdRoll, Emergent VR and Invoca. Prior to Accel, Kobie was the Chief Marketing Officer at REVOLVE, one of the largest global fashion e-commerce players based in Los Angeles. Series: "Innovator Stories: Creating Something from Nothing" [Business] [Show ID: 31748]

Kobie Fuller joined the Upfront Ventures in June 2016 after having previously worked at Silicon Valley-based Accel, where he was involved in investments including Campaign Monitor, UserTesting, AdRoll, Emergent VR and Invoca. Prior to Accel, Kobie was the Chief Marketing Officer at REVOLVE, one of the largest global fashion e-commerce players based in Los Angeles. Series: "Innovator Stories: Creating Something from Nothing" [Business] [Show ID: 31748]

Kobie Fuller joined the Upfront Ventures in June 2016 after having previously worked at Silicon Valley-based Accel, where he was involved in investments including Campaign Monitor, UserTesting, AdRoll, Emergent VR and Invoca. Prior to Accel, Kobie was the Chief Marketing Officer at REVOLVE, one of the largest global fashion e-commerce players based in Los Angeles. Series: "Innovator Stories: Creating Something from Nothing" [Business] [Show ID: 31748]

Kobie Fuller joined the Upfront Ventures in June 2016 after having previously worked at Silicon Valley-based Accel, where he was involved in investments including Campaign Monitor, UserTesting, AdRoll, Emergent VR and Invoca. Prior to Accel, Kobie was the Chief Marketing Officer at REVOLVE, one of the largest global fashion e-commerce players based in Los Angeles. Series: "Innovator Stories: Creating Something from Nothing" [Business] [Show ID: 31748]

Kobie Fuller joined the Upfront Ventures in June 2016 after having previously worked at Silicon Valley-based Accel, where he was involved in investments including Campaign Monitor, UserTesting, AdRoll, Emergent VR and Invoca. Prior to Accel, Kobie was the Chief Marketing Officer at REVOLVE, one of the largest global fashion e-commerce players based in Los Angeles. Series: "Innovator Stories: Creating Something from Nothing" [Business] [Show ID: 31748]