Podcasts about lerer hippeau

Episode 379 of The VentureFizz Podcast features Graham Brown, Managing Partner at Lerer Hippeau. It seems like just yesterday when I first interviewed Graham seven years ago back for Episode 32 (https://soundcloud.com/venturefizz/episode-32-graham-brown-partner-at-lerer-hippeau) when Lerer Hippeau was announcing its sixth fund. This puts Graham in elite company as one of the very few people who have made a repeat appearance on The VentureFizz Podcast – which I'm sure is an incredible honor for Graham to achieve… just kidding obviously. But in all seriousness… in that first interview, we discussed Graham's background (he's actually a fellow native of New Hampshire) and the early innings of his career, so in this interview, we were able to get much deeper into other topics around startups and fundraising. As you might know, Lerer Hippeau is one of the top early stage VC firms in the country and they recently announced another new fund, that one being LH Fund IX, a $200M fund which is exclusively focused on early stage companies. In this episode of our podcast, we cover: * How to land a job in venture capital. * How our original interview discussed AI seven years ago and what Graham is excited about in terms of this platform shift. * The renewed interest in energy startups and the innovation in this sector. * What he's looking for out of a first meeting with an entrepreneur & the process of getting funded. * PLG versus founder led sales and advice on avoiding entrepreneurial envy. * The latest on the NYC tech ecosystem. * And so much more Episode Sponsor: As a longtime champion of the local startup ecosystem, Silicon Valley Bank supports innovative companies with the solutions and financing they need through every stage of growth. With more than 1,500 bankers and relationship advisors, and $42B in loans as of Q2 2024 – SVB delivers the right people, service and resources to support your entire financial journey. Learn more at SVB.com.

Employ Inc., the market-leading intelligent hiring suite, announces today the release of the 2025 Job Seeker Nation report, providing a data-driven look into how job seekers perceive the market, candidates' perspectives on AI, what makes employees leave or stay. https://recruitingheadlines.com/2025-job-seeker-nation-report/ Survale the employee survey tool has made an acquisition. CEO Jason Moreau made the announcement on LinkedIn. https://hrtechfeed.com/survale-acquires-the-candes-program/ Recruitics, the recruitment marketing platform, just announced the official launch of ApplyAnywhere™, a new solution built to turn every online channel into a candidate conversion engine and drive higher-quality hiring results. https://hrtechfeed.com/recruitics-unveils-applyanywhere-to-reduce-cost-per-quality-applicant-by-33-2/ PALO ALTO, Calif. — Lumber, the leading construction workforce management platform, announced its acquisition of BuilderFax, a digital credential management platform for construction craft workers. This move integrates BuilderFax's specialized credential wallet with Lumber's AI-powered suite, creating a first-of-its-kind solution to address critical workforce challenges and empower skilled craft professionals in advancing their careers. https://hrtechfeed.com/construction-workforce-management-platform-makes-acquisition/ SAN FRANCISCO — TeamOhana, the headcount management and compensation planning software uniting Finance, HR, and Talent teams, has secured $7.5 million in seed funding. This round, led by Lerer Hippeau and Collide Capital with participation from Sierra Ventures and Recall Capital, combined with a previous $4 million pre-seed round in October 2022, brings TeamOhana's total funding raised above $11.5 million. https://hrtechfeed.com/workforce-planning-tool-gets-7-5m/  

With Jess and Sam taking the week off Brit and Dave are joined by two leading voices in venture and tech: Ben Lerer (Managing Partner, Lerer Hippeau) and Morgan Beller (General Partner, NFX; Co-creator of Libra). Together, they dive into the shifting tides of tech, venture, and AI:– OpenAI's next move: A social network?– Venture's broken math– The ‘AI' label inflation, and– Figma's IPO and what it signals for techPlus, Ben and Morgan weigh space travel risks—would you commit to a ticket to Mars?Let us know in the comments below!00:00 Trailer01:16 Guest Intro03:39 VC East Coast scene08:39 Offline from tech10:32 OpenAI social media leak? 15:08 Investing in AI22:59 Like AI companies28:49 Figma's Potentital IPO33:08 LPs and founders are pissed41:52 Pop culture corner: Katy Perry went to space45:02 Humans on Mars by 2040? 46:36 OutroFeaturing: Ben Lerer: https://x.com/benjlererMorgan Beller: https://x.com/bellerWe're also on ↓X: https://twitter.com/moreorlesspodInstagram: https://instagram.com/moreorlessSpotify: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/moreorlesspodConnect with us here:1) Sam Lessin: https://x.com/lessin2) Dave Morin: https://x.com/davemorin3) Jessica Lessin: https://x.com/Jessicalessin4) Brit Morin: https://x.com/brit

In this episode, Tanaz Mody shares insights on the hiring struggles founders face as they scale their companies. We explore how founders navigate the decision-making process, overcome hiring hesitations, and transition from being hands-on operators to strategic leaders. Key Topics:✅ The weight of hiring decisions on founders✅ How founders can avoid “decision paralysis” in hiring✅ The evolution from founder to CEO✅ The role of VC talent partners in scaling startups✅ When (and why) founders should consider executive coaching

1848 Ventures, a venture studio developing AI-powered solutions that drive growth for small and medium businesses, announced the launch of Propel People.  Propel People is an AI-powered recruiting platform purpose-built for the construction industry, designed to help HR teams hire skilled tradespeople faster and more efficiently. https://hrtechfeed.com/construction-focused-ats-platform-launches/ Paylocity announces new enhancements to its Recruiting platform that enable hiring teams to not only streamline and accelerate hiring processes but also improve the quality of candidate searches. https://hrtechfeed.com/paylocity-unveils-new-recruiting-innovations-to-meet-the-demands-of-high-volume-hiring-and-elevate-the-candidate-experience/ Teal, the AI-powered career platform, announced it raised $7.5 million in Series A funding, bringing the company's total capital to $19 million. The new financing, co-led by CityLight Capital and Flybridge, with participation from Rethink Capital Partners and Lerer Hippeau, will support product development to expand the Teal platform and its growing portfolio of advanced AI capabilities to help consumers navigate the increasingly complex job landscape. https://hrtechfeed.com/career-platform-teal-lands-huge-funding-round/ PALO ALTO, Calif. — Workera, the AI-powered skills intelligence platform, announced a strategic investment from Accenture marking a significant milestone in their strategic alliance. This multi-faceted alliance includes a strategic investment by Accenture, a reseller collaboration enabling Accenture to deliver Workera's solutions to clients globally, and a technology integration establishing Workera as the official skills intelligence layer within Accenture's LearnVantage platform https://hrtechfeed.com/workera-announces-strategic-investment-from-accenture/ DHI Group, Inc. (NYSE: DHX) has announced that its Board of Directors authorized a new stock repurchase program that permits the repurchase of up to $5 million of the Company's common stock. It is currently trading just above $2 per share. https://hrtechfeed.com/dhi-group-announces-5-million-stock-repurchase-program/  

Join us for this episode with Andrea Hippeau, a partner at Lerer Hippeau to hear about her story as a generalist investor at a leading early stage fund. In this episode we speak about why it is advantageous to be a generalist investor vs a specialist investor, sectors that she has recently been excited about, lessons from her board experience, and advice on finding good founders. Let us know what you think of the show in the comments!

In this insightful episode, host Amir speaks with Tanaz Mody, Head of People Operations and Talent at Lerer Hippeau, to explore the unique challenges founders face in hiring and leadership. The conversation highlights the complexities of transitioning from founder to CEO, building trust, and making strategic hiring decisions in early-stage startups. Tanaz provides practical advice on delegation, setting expectations, and the evolving role of People Operations in supporting business growth. Episode Highlights Founders and Hiring Challenges The emotional attachment founders have to their business often makes hiring decisions difficult. Common pitfalls in hiring due to lack of alignment on company needs. Delegation and Trust The importance of founders learning to delegate effectively and trust their teams. Building safe spaces for transparent communication and collaboration. Strategic Decision-Making Setting milestones and frameworks to align hiring with business goals. How People Operations can facilitate smoother transitions during early-stage growth. From Founder to CEO The mindset shift required to evolve from a hands-on founder to a strategic CEO. Overcoming the challenges of scaling leadership and adapting to new roles. VC Talent Partners' Role Unique insights from VC-backed talent advisors to help startups scale efficiently. Support for founders in aligning business strategy with leadership growth. Key Takeaways Trust and Delegation are Non-Negotiable Founders must embrace delegation and trust their team to scale the business effectively. Strategic Hiring Requires Milestones Establish clear benchmarks to ensure hires align with the company's current and future needs. Transitioning to CEO Requires a Mindset Shift Founders need to focus on big-picture strategy rather than micromanaging daily tasks. People Operations is Key to Scaling A well-defined People Ops strategy ensures smoother transitions and long-term growth. Listen now for actionable insights on building a stronger team, scaling leadership, and navigating the founder-to-CEO journey! Don't forget to like, share, and subscribe for more engaging conversations with industry leaders. Guest:  Tanaz Mody is the Head of People Operations and Talent at Lerer Hippeau, where she drives strategic hiring and fosters high-performing teams. With extensive experience across industries, she specializes in innovative recruitment strategies, inclusive work environments, and aligning talent with organizational goals. LinkedIn:  https://www.linkedin.com/in/tanazmody/ ---- Thank you so much for checking out this episode of The Talent Tango. We would appreciate it if you would take a minute to rate and review us on your favorite podcast player. Want to learn more about us? Head over at https://www.elevano.com Have questions or want to cover specific topics with our future guests? Please message me at https://www.linkedin.com/in/amirbormand (Amir Bormand)

Episode 352 of The VentureFizz Podcast features Mark Ghermezian and Manisha Shah, Founder of Tildei. Mark is the Founder and General Partner of m]x[v Capital and he's also the CEO of two companies that have spun out of his firm, that being Tildei and Gynger. Mark has been an entrepreneur pretty much his entire life and he shares lots of fun and interesting stories of these ventures, including the full story of Braze, a customer engagement platform that eventually went public in 2021. Manisha is a Co-Founder and Chief Revenue Officer of Tildei. In this interview, she shares her professional journey into the tech industry and ultimately running customer success at Rebel which was acquired by Salesforce. Tildei is changing how companies and customers communicate. The company's AI-powered platform, which is initially focused on WhatsApp, enables brands to build deep relationships with customers through conversation at scale. The company has raised $6M in funding led by Susa Ventures with participation from Ludlow Ventures, Gradient Ventures, Lerer Hippeau, Vine Ventures, MXV Capital, Marcelo Claure, Jason Lemkin, and other angel investors. In this episode of our podcast, we also cover: * The importance of persistence and grit when building a startup. * How Mark and Manisha came together to build Tildei and how it works. * Building and investing into companies from m]x[v including the details on Gynger. * Mark's contrarian point of view of PLG sales models and why he favors a traditional outbound sales operation. * Manisha's biggest lessons learned as a co-founder. * And so much more.

Our Social Media Pages, follow us and engage with the Pill-grim community!InstagramTwitter YouTubeTikTokLinkedIn And now for this week's prescription:(1:41) First up, you'll hear about Aerflo, which just secured over $10M in seed funding to revolutionize the sparkling water market with its innovative portable carbonation system. The round was led by Lerer Hippeau and Torch Capital.(9:05) Next up, we'll break down Turntable Labs, hot off an $8.2M seed round led by Founders Fund, Elizabeth Street Ventures, and others. The company is revamping their innovative music sharing platform to enhance the listening experience for music lovers.(16:18) And lastly, you'll hear a breakdown on micro nuclear power plant startup, Last Energy, which just announced a $40M Series B led by Gigafund and Autodesk Foundation.Sparkling water, Music sharing, and of course, micro nuclear power plants. Standard stuff for the Pill.Sources:https://www.alleywatch.com/2024/08/aerflo-sparkling-water-carbonation-reusable-bottle-device-system-portable-on-the-go-john-thorp-buzz-wiggins/https://aerflo.zendesk.com/hc/en-ushttps://turntablelive.com/ https://hangout.fm/ https://edm.com/gear-tech/turntablefm-creators-launch-social-listening-platform-hangout https://www.esgtoday.com/micro-nuclear-power-plant-startup-last-energy-raises-40-million-to-decarbonize-heavy-industry-and-data-centers/ https://www.lastenergy.com/about Music Credit: Chapter One by Cole Bauer and Dean Keetonhttps://www.colebauer.com/https://www.instagram.com/deankeeton/?hl=enDisclosure:The views, statements, and opinions,  expressed herein by the hosts and guests are their own, and their appearance on the podcast should not be construed as reflecting the views or implied endorsement of Independent Brokerage Solutions LLC or any of its officers, employees, or agents. The statements made herein should not be considered an investment opinion, advice, or a recommendation regarding securities of any company. This podcast is produced solely for informational purposes and is not to be construed as an offer to sell or the solicitation of an offer to buy a security.

Episode 348 of The VentureFizz Podcast, sponsored by Silicon Valley Bank, features Jonathan Bensamoun, Founder & CEO of Fi. It's crazy to think that The VentureFizz Podcast has been around since 2018 and I believe that I've only had one repeat guest and that founder was talking about a new company. Thus, this is the first time I am doing a follow up episode and Jonathan was my guest for Episode 110 back in 2019. I ran into Jonathan at the Lerer Hippeau summer party in NYC and as we were chatting about his business, it seemed very obvious that we needed to do a new interview. What's cool about this episode is the format, as it is different from most of my interviews. Since we already discussed his background story in the original episode, we were able to go deeper into Fi's business and what has happened over the past 5 years. If you are not familiar with Fi, they are the creators of the Fi Smart Dog Collar which not only has real-time location tracking, but the device also includes activity, sleep, and behavior monitoring. In this episode of our podcast, we cover: * A brief overview of Jonathan's background story and what was the inspiration behind Fi. * The latest about the Series 3 product line, plus a demo and all the cool features. * The importance of sleep tracking for your dog and how the movement to health tracking is a key piece of Fi's strategy. * Lessons learned from retail and why a straight direct-to-consumer model is the right fit for them at this point in time. * Building out a company's leadership team and Board of Directors. * What the fundraising process has looked like through Fi's journey. * Creating a category and why more competition in the industry would be a good thing. * And so much more. More about our sponsor: As a longtime champion of the local startup ecosystem, Silicon Valley Bank supports innovative companies with the solutions and financing they need through every stage of growth. With more than 1,500 bankers and relationship advisors, and $42B in loans as of Q2 2024 – SVB delivers the right people, service and resources to support your entire financial journey. Learn more at SVB.com.

Follow me @samirkaji for my thoughts on the venture market, with a focus on the continued evolution of the VC landscape.We are back with another LP-focused episode with Michael Kim, Founder of Cendana Capital. Michael shares how he started Cendana around his thesis (at the time very early) of backing small, emerging managers. This led to early investments in firms such as IA ventures, Forerunner, and Lerer Hippeau. During our discussion, we chatted about what qualities he's seen in great emerging managers as well as his thoughts on portfolio construction. We also get into the challenges of raising funds today and why the secondary market will a critical component of venture moving forward.A word from our sponsor:As a founder, you understand the power of efficiency and growth. And with accelerator checking, earning up to 2.25 percent APY, your money works as hard as you do. For those aiming higher, you can unlock the full potential of your cash reserves with exclusive access to accelerator money market savings earning 4 percent APY on balances over $50,000.Say goodbye to unnecessary fees and hello to Grasshopper Bank, your next leap forward.Nationally chartered and headquartered in New York City, Grasshopper is a client-first digital bank built to serve the business and innovation economy, combining the best of banking technology and years of industry expertise to deliver best-in-class experiences with trusted security and unparalleled support.It's time to switch, and make Grasshopper your financial foundation and watch your cash reserves grow as much as your business.Grasshopper, the future of startup banking. About Michael Kim:Michael Kim is the Founder of Cendana Capital, a San Francisco-based firm that specializes in investing in very early-stage VC funds globally. Founded in 2010, Cendana Capital has over $2B in AUM.Prior to Cendana, Michael served as a General Partner at Rustic Canyon Partners where he contributed to the firm's growth and investment strategies. He also was a Board Member of the San Francisco Employees' Retirement System (SFERS), and an Investment Banker at Morgan Stanley focusing on Technology M&A.Michael holds an MBA in Finance from The Wharton School, an MSFS in International Economics from Georgetown University's Walsh School of Foreign Service, and an AB in International Relations from Cornell University. Michael is a founding board member of the Wikimedia endowment, which supports Wikipedia.In this episode, we discuss:(02:49) Michael's time at Morgan Stanley's tech M&A group in the 90s(04:11) Cendana's launch and how it took two years to raise the first fund(06:16) Seed stage investing has become like early stage venture.(07:07) The importance of fund managers getting large ownership early(09:50) Why grit, determination, and hustle are crucial and domain expertise and contrarian thinking are vital(12:00) Pre-seed is the new seed and rounds have gotten bigger(14:00) High integrity fund managers need 12-15% ownership(16:12) Pre-seed managers work with potential entrepreneurs before they start a company(18:00) Founders now raise more initially for a longer runway(20:00) How fund size affects ownership and return potential(23:00) Why smaller funds often outperform larger ones(25:17) What changes when making the leap from small to large checks(27:00) The importance of network strength for fund managers' success(33:00) Fund managers need to explain their investment decisions well(37:15) Fund managers need to be flexible but transparent(39:00) The importance of trust and transparency for long-term relationships.(42:00) Seed funds are best positioned for secondaries(45:21) The potential rise in secondary market deals(48:00) Tourist fund managers have mostly exited the market(50:00) The next few years should be great for venture investmentsI'd love to know what you took away from this conversation with Michael. 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

Episode 332 of The VentureFizz Podcast features Ben Lerer, Managing Partner of Lerer Hippeau. The tech scene in New York City has come a very, very long way over the past 14 or 15 years. A lot of that transformation and growth was due to access to early-stage capital which wasn't prevalent back then, but Lerer Hippeau was a key element to the foundation of its success as a seed stage investor. The firm was an early investor in many consumer brands that you recognize as they have all been very successful like Allbirds, Casper, Warby Parker, BuzzFeed, Mirror, Venmo, and many more. Its reputation was built on these consumer breakouts, but ultimately the firm is category agnostic investing equally across the enterprise and consumer landscapes. For example, take a look at two of their most recent investments, which are Boston companies, 10Beauty (consumer robotics for manicures) and Tollbit (content monetization in the era of AI), which we talk about in details for this podcast. Ben is now a fulltime VC after founding and running Thrillist that scaled and then added other digital media brands under its umbrella as Group Nine Media, which was acquired by Vox Media. In this episode of our podcast, we cover: * Ben's thoughts on the market and if now is the ideal time to start a company. * The inspiration behind Thrillist, plus lots of stories and lessons learned around the full lifecycle and evolution of the company to Group Nine Media and acquisition by Vox. * Advice for entrepreneurs on building a startup media company in today's world. * How Lerer Hippeau came to fruition and what they are targeting for investments, plus why he considers himself a talent driven investor versus a thesis driven investor. * And so much more.

Andrea Hippeau is a Partner at Lerer Hippeau - an early stage sector-agnostic venture capital firm based in New York City. In this episode we talk about - - Andrea's story of how she started working in venture capital - How has Lerer Hippeau evolved over the past 10 years she's been at the firm? - How has the New York startup ecosystem matured over the years? - Why sales is one of the most important skills for startup founders? - Breaking the stigma around bridge rounds - How to build (& back) successful consumer brands? - Why it is a good idea to have a board in place from the early stages of a startup? - Patterns she's seeing in the startup & vc landscape & lots more Links: Sponsor: https://podcast10x.com Lerer Hippeau website - https://www.lererhippeau.com/ Follow Andrea on X - https://x.com/AndreaHippeau Hosted by Prashant Choubey Linkedin - ⁠https://www.linkedin.com/in/choubeysahab/⁠ X - ⁠https://twitter.com/ChoubeySahab⁠ Subscribe to VC10X on Youtube - ⁠https://youtube.com/@vc10x⁠ VC10X is available on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, Google Podcasts.

Episode 325 of The VentureFizz Podcast features Alex Shashou, Co-Founder & Co-CEO of 10Beauty. About 10 years ago, Peter Thiel is credited for saying “We wanted flying cars, instead we got 140 characters.” True, Twitter or X certainly was not in the same frame of mind as to what we saw on The Jetsons, but are we finally starting to get there? The Roomba was a step in the right direction in terms of a consumer robot success story. But… the future just might be closer than you think in terms of the possibilities of robotics and automation? Behold… I share with you 10Beauty! The world's first and only autonomous manicure machine. I might not be the target market for this robotics company, but my wife and two daughters are definitely in the strike zone and when I told them about it… their immediate response was "WHEN AND WHERE CAN I GET ONE!" 10Beauty is not going to be available for consumers to purchase (at least not initially), as they are taking a B2B approach in terms of their go-to-market strategy. For me, it's less about the tasks that this robot is performing and more about a team that is thinking bigger and ultimately delivering on something that is incredibly difficult. 10Beauty has raised $38M in funding from Shine Capital, Lerer Hippeau, Imaginary Ventures, and Red Sea Ventures. And, they already have serious traction as they already sold out of their entire first run of machines which means they have over $13M in annual manicure subscription revenue ahead. In this episode of our podcast, we cover: * A deep dive into the challenges and the complexity of building a robotics startup. * Alex's background story and how Alex met his co-founder, Justin Effron, the first day of school at the University of Pennsylvania. * The story of their first company, Alice, a task management platform for the hospitality industry that was acquired by Expedia, plus how they connected with their technical co-founder, Dmitry Koltunov. * The definition of a good partnership between co-founders and how they divvy up roles & responsibilities. * All the details on 10Beauty… from meeting Chris Casey (one of the original Roomba engineers) to building out the initial prototype to raising funding to the company's business model and projected launch. * And so much more.

Episode #324 of The VentureFizz Podcast features Sameer Gulati, Founder & CEO of Ordway. Sameer loves SaaS and it's for good reason… it is expected that the size of the SaaS market may hit almost $1 trillion by 2030! Yes, the tech industry is having some challenges, but did you know that… even though the evolution to SaaS started 20 something years ago… the adoption of SaaS still only sits at a 36% adoption rate versus traditional on-premise software. There is still such a massive opportunity for growth. Ordway is a billing and revenue automation platform that is specifically designed for today's innovative, technology-centric business models. With Ordway you can automate billing, revenue recognition, and investor KPIs for recurring revenue from subscriptions or usage-based pricing models. The company is venture backed by leading VC firms like CRV, Clocktower Ventures, Lerer Hippeau, and others. In this episode of our podcast, we cover: * A deep conversation around the current state of the SaaS industry and the evolution of pricing models. * Sameer's background story and how he joined one of the first SaaS companies called Intacct which exited for a billion dollars. * Working as part of the early stage team at Workday, Zuora, Zynga, GrubBeat, and Spree Commerce. * How he leveraged his experience in finance and billing software to disrupt the industry and build Ordway, plus all the details on the company. * Why it is a bad idea to over-capitalize your startup. * The importance of being a mission critical application versus a nice-to-have solution. * And so much more.

We sit down with Graham Brown, Managing Partner at Lerer Hippeau Ventures. Brown brings his venture capital expertise to the table, focusing on climate tech innovation. Lerer Hippeau has been the earliest investor in some of the most iconic consumer brands of the last decade, including Casper, Oscar, Buzzfeed, Mirror, Axios, and more. In late 2022, they announced $230M across two new funds. More recently, the fund has been an active investor in the kinds of climate and industrial automation companies we love to discuss on CLIMB. Our conversation covers the detrimental impact of large fund sizes on the early-stage founders they back, the evolving venture scene in New York over the past decade, and what makes climate tech startups succeed in 2024. Brown is now at the helm of one of the most iconic seed funds in our business and this interview had key insights for entrepreneurs and investors navigating the venture market in 2024. About VSC Ventures: VSC Ventures is an early-stage venture capital fund led by Jay Kapoor and Vijay Chattha where we invest in industrial automation and climate adaptation startups and support our founders with hands-on PR, storytelling, and go-to-market work with help from our award-winning PR agency VSC Our fund has invested alongside Lowercarbon, NEA, Uncork Capital, Left Lane, Alley Corp, Obvious Ventures, Third Sphere, and other leading early-stage funds. Through our weekly conversations on our show CLIMB by VSC, we're excited to share our work with innovative companies like Paintjet, Glacier, Concrete.AI, Presso, ⁠⁠Ample⁠⁠, ⁠⁠Actual⁠⁠, ⁠⁠Sesame Solar⁠⁠, ⁠⁠Synop⁠⁠, ⁠and Vibrant Planet⁠⁠ in addition to highlighting companies and leading voices across the early stage ecosystem

A reminder for new readers. That Was The Week collects the best writing on critical issues in tech, startups, and venture capital. I selected the articles because they are of interest. The selections often include things I entirely disagree with. But they express common opinions, or they provoke me to think. The articles are only snippets. Click on the headline to go to the original. I express my point of view in the editorial and the weekly video below.Thanks To This Week's Contributors: @TEDchris, @LilyWhitsitt, @RocketToLulu, @saeedtaji, @geneteare, @EricNewcomer, @jeffbeckervc, @jasonlk, @elonmusk, @benshapiro, @StevenLevy, @apple, @bheater, @bmw, @Growcoot, @illscience, @venturetwins, @omooretweets, @conniechanContents* Editorial: Civility and Civilization* Essays of the Week* US Seed Investment Actually Held Up Pretty Well For The Past 2 Years. Here's What That Means For 2024* Lower Valuations, Higher Bar: What It's Like To Raise A Seed Round In 2024 * Unicorns & Inevitabilities* Sequoia, Founders Fund, USV, Elad Gil & Benchmark Top Venture Manager Survey* Why 2024 May Be Tougher on Venture Capital Than 2023* Video of the Week* The Mac at 40* AI of the Week* BMW will deploy Figure's humanoid robot at South Carolina plant* Google's New AI Video Generator Looks Incredible* OpenAI's Sam Altman seeks funds for AI chip factories as demands surge* The Future of Prosumer: The Rise of “AI Native” Workflows* Andreessen Horowitz's Connie Chan to Leave as Consumer Focus Shifts to AI* OpenAI Is a (Relative) Steal* News Of the Week* Ted fellows resign from organisation after Bill Ackman named as speaker* Tesla's Slowdown Disqualifies It From ‘Magnificent Seven' Group* TikTok's Testing 30 Minute Uploads as It Looks To Expand Its Content Options* Instagram to scan under-18s' messages to protect against ‘inappropriate images'* Tiger Global Investor Relations Staff Depart After Fundraising Challenges* Worldcoin hints at new Orb for a friendlier iris-scanning experience* Startup of the Week* Loyalty Startup Bilt Rewards Hits $3.1B Valuation After $200M Round* X of the Week* Elon Musk visits Auschwitz with Ben ShapiroEditorialThere is a lot to digest in this week's newsletter. Gené Teare's two essays on Seed investing head up the Essays of the Week, along with Jeff Becker talking about unicorns and inevitabilities, Eric Newcomer on who are the top investors and Jason Lemkin on the reasons 2024 might be harder for Venture Capital than 2023.But my attention was distracted from venture capital by a Guardian article announcing (triumphantly, I might add) that several TED fellows had resigned from the organization due to an invite to Bill Ackman to speak at this year's TED event in Vancouver.“Lucianne Walkowicz and Saeed Taji Farouky accuse Ted of taking anti-Palestinian stand over controversial billionaire's inclusion”It seems Ackman is not alone. They also object to Bari Weiss being invited. The leavers are also not alone; up to 30 others have signed a “solidarity” letter.The accusations echo much of the discussion around the medieval assassination of Jews on 7 October and Israel's efforts to defeat Hamas in the aftermath. Because these speakers are against anti-Semitism and so supportive of Israel's war against Hamas, they are accused of the ridiculous claim of supporting “Genocide” against Palestinians.“We refuse for our work and identities to be exploited to promote the Ted brand while the organisation and its speakers generate income and advance their careers through dehumanising Palestinians and justifying their genocide,” the pair said.It probably will not surprise readers of this newsletter that I applaud TED curators Chris Anderson and Lily James Olds for not backing down on the invitations. Whatever one believes about the current conflict in Israel, it is clear that banning opponents of anti-Semitism because of their stance is not a solution to anything. I believe the cause of fighting anti-Semitism should be close to the heart of any progressive person. It is not anti-Palestinian to support Jews against being slaughtered in the street, to oppose anti-Semitism, or to condemn Hamas as anti-Jewish murderers. Supporting Jews against slaughter by Hamas is not incompatible with supporting Palestinians. The Guardian reported that Ackman responded to the resignations with a statement:“I stand unapologetically with Israel and against antisemitism and terrorism, while strongly supporting the Palestinian people. Attempts to cancel speech and eliminate the free and respectful exchange of ideas among people with differing views are driving much of the divisiveness that plagues our nation. Truth, wisdom and ultimately peace are the result of the free exchange of ideas and debate, precisely what Ted is all about. It is sad that this is not more widely understood,”Unsurprisingly, one of the resigners, Farouky, told the Guardian he did not regard the issue as freedom of speech. It clearly IS about freedom of speech. Speech only needs protecting when opinions are wide apart and strongly held.For example, here are my views on the actual issues:These are trying times. Over 25,000 deaths in Gaza are hard to comprehend. And I certainly cannot. But I can understand that Jews have to defend themselves. And I can understand that progressive thinkers MUST stand up to anti-Semitism, whatever form it takes.In case there is doubt about my support for Muslim victims of racism, my book Under Seige is about the attacks on Muslims in the UK between 1961 and 1981. It starts with recognizing that racism targets differences and that Jews and Muslims are both targets. Indeed, the very ghettoes that Pakistani and Bengali immigrants were being attacked in had earlier, in the 1930s, been inhabited by Jewish settlers fleeing pogroms. I am not Jewish, and I am not Muslim. But I will always be on both of their sides when they are attacked for their ethnic and racial origin.In Israel, Jews were killed for being Jews. Palestinians are being killed because Hamas is hiding in their cities and buildings. I do not consider Israel's response to be racist against Palestinians. I consider it reasonable in the context of 7 October. I consider that Hamas has done this to Palestinians and probably wanted that outcome. I am sad that Hamas has done this for the Palestinian victims. But I do not doubt that Hamas is to blame.My views may anger you. But do you want me banned or silenced?My title this week is Civility and Civilization. The TED events bring both to the fore. Like those I write here, opinions are there to be disagreed with, debated, and interrogated. Civilized behavior requires dialogue and civility within the dialogue. I certainly understand opinions I disagree with, and far from banning them or walking away so that I do not have to hear them, I want to hear them. We all should.This is a different editorial than usual. I hope the humanity of refusing to forget 7 October and the determination to preserve the view that fighting anti-Semitism is a non-negotiable minimum requirement of civilization are grasped. By the same token, Islamaphobia must be fought. But in Israel, there is no Islamophobia at work. Jews are simply reacting to an atrocity. They are right to blame Hamas.Essays of the WeekUS Seed Investment Actually Held Up Pretty Well For The Past 2 Years. Here's What That Means For 2024Gené Teare, January 24, 2024, @geneteareEditor's note: This is the first in a two-part series on the state of seed startup investing at the start of 2024. Check back tomorrow for Part 2.Despite a broad pullback in global startup investment over the past two years, investors say the U.S. seed funding environment was the most vibrant compared to other funding stages during the downturn.In fact, U.S. seed funding in 2022 grew by close to 10% in terms of dollars invested, in contrast to a downturn at all other funding stages. In 2023, U.S. seed funding fell 31% — a significant proportion — but still less than other funding stages year over year, an analysis of Crunchbase data shows. (It's also worth noting that those other stages had already experienced year-over-year declines in 2022.)In the current startup funding market, “we're seeing a lot more great talent excited about starting things,” said Renata Quintini, co-founder of Renegade Partners, a Bay Area-based investment firm that focuses on Series A companies and is therefore close to the seed ecosystem.Other investors share that enthusiasm. “Valuations are coming down, more talent is available in the market,” said Michael Cardamone of New York-based seed investor Forum Ventures. “A lot of these companies at seed and Series A are going to scale into what will likely be the next bull market.”Seed trends over the decadeSeed as an asset class, not surprisingly, has grown in the U.S. over the past decade. In 2014 less than $5 billion was invested at seed. At the market peak in 2022, seed investment was more than $16 billion, although it fell to $11.5 billion in 2023.Despite the downturn, seed funding in 2023 was still $2 billion to $3 billion higher in the U.S. than in the pre-pandemic years of 2019 and 2020.Higher bar, pricier rounds, better valuedBut in a tougher market, seed investors are being more selective about which companies they fund.“We're being far more disciplined and patient knowing how hard it is for these companies to get to Series A and beyond,” said Jenny Lefcourt, a general partner at Bay Area-based seed investor Freestyle Capital. “Our bar for conviction is higher than it had been in the heyday where everything was getting funded.”In the slower funding environment, the firm has been investing later at the seed stage, “gravitating toward ‘seed plus' or ‘A minus' — pick your favorite term for it — because I feel like I get to see more risk mitigated. I get to see more data,” she said.Freestyle seeks to have ownership of around 12% to 15% in the companies it backs. “The reason is because of our model,” Lefcourt said. “We are low-volume, high-conviction investors.”And because the firm invests in companies that are pre-Series A, “our reality has been that our valuations have actually been higher in this market, which is not what we would have predicted.“But the data we've seen is, we're not alone in that,” she said.…MoreLower Valuations, Higher Bar: What It's Like To Raise A Seed Round In 2024 Gené Teare, January 25, 2024, @geneteareEditor's note: This is the second in a two-part series on the state of seed startup investing at the start of 2024. Read Part 1, which looked at seed funding trends over the past decade and the median time period between seed and Series A funding, here.Seed funding to startups has grown into its own asset class over the past decade, with round sizes trending larger, and a bigger pool of investors backing these nascent startups. But in the aftermath of 2021's venture funding heyday and subsequent pullback, investors say that while seed funding has held up better than other startup investment stages, these very young startups will see lower valuations and must now clear a much higher bar to get backing.More companies raised seed funding above $1 million in 2021. Those companies — which raised during a record-smashing year for venture funding — are saddled with valuations that could be too high for this current market — even at seed. Many of those startups have been forced to cut costs to extend their runways, and face a tougher sales environment.“You could then be sacrificing growth, which is one of the main levers that Series A investors are looking for,” said Michael Cardamone of New York-based seed investor Forum Ventures.2021 after effectsIn 2021 it was “grow, grow, grow, grow,” said Jenny Lefcourt, a general partner at Bay Area-based seed investor Freestyle Capital. “It's embarrassing to look back on, but that was the game being played.”Investors got sloppy during the boom times, she said. “I think a lot of VCs were thrilled to back you, and then say, ‘we'll figure it out.' ”“The reality is that almost anything that was done then — call it 2021 — was the wrong price,” she said.This led to down rounds, even at seed, though those are generally not viewed negatively like they were in the past, she said.In fact, “when our companies get their down rounds done, it's a sign of it's a good business. It just had the wrong price on it,” she said.While the bar is higher to raise funding these days, “I think it's so much better for a company who gets to start in this environment,” Lefcourt said.Down rounds can actually be a sign of conviction, she said. “None of us would do all the heavy lifting to not only give the company more capital, but recap it, which takes a lot. It's a heavy lift — none of us would do that if we weren't super jazzed about the company. The lazier approach, the easier approach, is to just put it on the note, keep it flat, and be done,” she said.Renata Quintini, co-founder of Renegade Partners, a Bay Area-based investment firm that focuses on Series A companies, is hearing of “more ‘pay-to-play' these days and it's starting to get ugly.” This happens when new investors wipe out the prior investors, and anyone seeking equity needs to pony up into the new funding round.Median and averages climbNonetheless, “seed round valuations haven't dropped a ton from even the peak,” according to Forum Ventures' Cardamone. But, “the bar to raise a seed [round] is a lot higher.”“Most first-time founders especially, and the vast majority of founders generally — they have to get significant traction to be able to raise that same round they used to be able to raise. And a lot fewer of those rounds are happening,” he said.“A priced seed round of $3 million at $15 million [pre-money] is still happening, but you might have to be at $500,000 ARR, to raise that round now. Whereas in 2021, it was the norm to raise that round pre-revenue,” he said.Series A fundings have gotten harder as “companies are going out and raising three seed rounds,” said Cardamone.Based on an analysis of Crunchbase data, median and average seed round sizes in the U.S. have climbed through the past decade.In 2023, median and average raises are not far from the peak of 2022, Crunchbase data shows, and were well above pre-pandemic levels. (However, this will shift downward somewhat as the long tail of seed fundings are retroactively added to the Crunchbase database.)Seed rounds got larger“If I have conviction, we may need them to have more money, cause we know it's going to take them longer to reach the milestones that are now higher,” said Lefcourt.Per an analysis of Crunchbase data, larger seed rounds — those $1 million and above — have increased through the decade.The amount of funding to seed-stage companies below $1 million hasn't budged much, and is a fraction of what it was earlier in the decade.Seed below $1 million in 2014 represented around 25% of all seed funding.That has come down as a proportion every year since then.And as of 2021 that proportion has dipped below 10% for the first time, ranging from 5% to 7% of all seed dollars invested in the U.S. since then.Earlier in the past decade, the number of seed deals in rounds below $1 million outpaced those rounds at $1 million and above significantly.But 2021 was once again a pivotal year. That's when $1 million and above seed rounds outpaced smaller seed for the first time.In 2023, they are neck and neck in count. (That might shift as the long tail of seed rounds are added to the Crunchbase database long after they close.)What this all shows is that seed has become an increasingly significant and elongated phase in a company's early life cycle, where companies are raising multiple million-dollar seed rounds. And as of late, more companies than ever before are wading in the seed pool.What does this mean for the seed funding market in 2024?…MoreUnicorns & InevitabilitiesUp and to the right, or not so much?JEFF BECKER, JAN 22, 2024TLDR: Go read Aileen Lee's update to the Unicorn Club… and a few inevitabilities.Did anyone catch Aileen Lee & Allegra Simon's Welcome Back to the Unicorn Club, 10 Years Later?If not, go read it. That's your MMM.If you did read it, you can't help but wonder if the tech sector isn't going to resemble the public markets over time. Ups and downs, but consistently up and to the right over a long enough period.After all, we are creating leverage in ways we've never seen before.And for unicorns, that meant 14X growth over a 10-year period.Could you imagine another 14 or even 10X from here? That would be stratospheric, from ~500 to ~5,000 unicorns? What if the exit sizes did too? $5B, $10B, $50B?Crazy to think, but hardly impossible. After all, we've already seen near-centicorns like Uber's IPO at $75B in 2019.The interesting part about that thought exercise though is not the crazy zero interest rate IPO's, but the fact that entry valuations didn't and don't move nearly as fast as top end outcomes because of the time horizon to realizing them.For example, Airbnb raised $20K from Y Combinator for 6%, then they took another $600K for 20% in their seed.That was 2009. The idea of an IPO for $47B just 11 years later in 2020 probably wasn't even a consideration. Paul Graham and the YC team would've had to believe Airbnb's IPO could compete with AT&T, General Motors, and Visa.Insane.Fast forward, that $333,333 valuation at YC has moved to $1.78m (125K for 7%), and they'll stack another 2.6% ownership on average from their $375K MFN with the average YC company raising seed at a $14.4m cap instead of Airbnb's $3m.That's a ~5X increase in valuation at pre-seed & seed for a 47X increase in IPO size if you were modeling $1B outcomes into your VC fund model in 2009.I'm not saying that will continue. There are counterforces of course.* Margins are way too high. The fact that software margins have persisted at 80% or more is just craziness. Companies will start to use price more aggressively to compete for market share as cheap AI tools enter the market and try to unseat them. This compression will change the value of discounted cash flow models.* Pricing models need to change. One way to reduce sticker price and maintain some semblance of healthy long-term margins is to pay a smaller implementation fee, but incur ongoing services & upgrade costs. This is a more traditional pricing model, and creative economics that leverage this kind of thinking run rampant in the titans of tech. It's a game of deeper roots, higher switching costs, and long-term contracts. With API calls and data usage more prevalent, we'll also see more pay-per-use models, the same way we buy copiers. We'll also see more pay-for-performance models with attributable ROI, akin to Amazon's ACoS model or Rakuten's affiliate marketing model. Customers will prefer it too, placing a higher emphasis customer value. This will also drive margins to condense.* AI, AI, AI. AI will cut OpEx costs dramatically. SDR teams, gone. Copywriters at agencies, you don't need as many. Data scientists? Just run a query against your data lakes. The list goes on. Costs of running these companies is going to get shellacked. Good for margins for sure, but also a compelling opportunity for newcomers to undercut and unseat incumbents too.* More hardware. With software margins condensing, hardware margins will start to feel more attractive too, the maintenance and upgrade fees will resemble what we see in SaaS, and the software that powers these machines will be incredible. Skynet for autonomous off-road vehicles, absolutely.* Less dilution, earlier exits, and stratification. We already see it in the S&P 500 with the top end accounting for an outsized share of total value. With that kind of cash on balance sheets, bigger companies will just buy the smaller ones. Think about how Broadcom rolls up companies. If you've built the business more efficiently, you've also raised less, incurred less dilution, and that $100m exit when you still own 50% is looking pretty prett-ty good compared to the same outcome 5-10 grueling years later to own 5% of $1B.* Massive founder salaries, less emphasis on growth. If you've built a company that's profitable from day one, and you have complete control of your board, what's your incentive to keep the pedal down on growth, or stay on the VC treadmill? World domination? Why not pay yourself 10X, stop fundraising, and continue to tighten the core business until someone acquires you? It's better for the founding team and employees for sure, and it's probably better for customers in most instances too.These are just some of things I think we'll see over the next five years until we approach ZIRPy-dirpy times again and massive growth becomes irresistible.But there are also a whole slew of things I think are inevitabilities that will benefit from these dynamics because we will not only have new technologies, with more attractive pricing, but we will be tackling new opportunities that were created by the prior evolutions across adjacent industries.For example…* Cost of energy is going to zero with nuclear fusion* Longevity is starting to work; check out Loyal for Dogs* Batteries & cameras continue to improve; medical devices, for one, will be more personal & affordable* Disintermediation of big ad networks with new global distribution channels; check out Benjamin* Massive cost reductions driven by AI* Software will be built by software* An aging population is retiring (10,000 per day); wealth transfer & SMB's with no exit paths* Climate change* …and so on and so on and so onThe list is long. Much longer than this. If you want the rest, just reply or comment so that I know, and I'll go deeper next week.Net of all of it, I think we're going to see a tale of two cities. Stronger, more profitable businesses, with smaller, but better founder founder exits in the near term, and a continued growth both in number of total unicorns, and what that top-end outcomes look like in the longer-term.And like I said, go read Aileen's post.Sequoia, Founders Fund, USV, Elad Gil & Benchmark Top Venture Manager SurveyI got my hands on a VC scorecard circulating among top founders & VCsERIC NEWCOMERJAN 25, 2024Before we get started, I want to be clear — this isn't the end-all, be-all list of the top venture capital firms or the most promising startups.But I got my hands on a survey of 91 people at 69 different venture capital firms conducted by a well-respected investor in venture capital firms.The survey results are spreading hand-to-hand in Silicon Valley. The results of the survey rank the most desirable venture capital firms and companies, according to VCs themselves. When I was out in San Francisco last week for The Information's 10th anniversary gala, sources kept bringing it up.My sources tell me that the survey was conducted by Ed Hutchinson, managing partner at Golden Bell Partners. Hutchinson is ignoring my emails.Which firms and companies would top VCs themselves put their money into? It's a question everyone wants to know the answer to.I've got my hands on their list of favorites:Firms* (1) Sequoia* (2) Founders Fund* (3) Union Square* (4) Elad Gil* (5) Benchmark…Much More (but only for subscribers)Why 2024 May Be Tougher on Venture Capital Than 2023by Jason Lemkin | Blog Posts, Fundraising, ScaleSo I thought the toughest times for venture would be behind us now.  In 2022, we were in free fall, with public market caps falling like a knife, and the IPO markets frozen.  And 2023 was the year of the Work Out in venture.  Bridge rounds slowed down, and VCs acknowledged a lot of portfolio companies just weren't going to make it.  It got real in 2023, and that realness got normalized.  The drama mostly was behind us.  And public SaaS stocks in many cases did really, really well in 2023.  So shouldn't 2024 at least be better for venture?So I thought.But the reality is I'm a bit more worried the venture drama in 2024 will be bigger than 2023.  Why?  Four core reasons:#1:  Now We Have to Deal With the Reality of the Stumbling Unicorns.The ones that are doing $100m+ ARR, still growing, but there just isn't going to be any more money coming.  This is going to burn up a ton of energy in VC funds.  Even tougher, the reality is while many VC funds marked down their unicorns to lower valuations in 2023, they often didn't mark them down enough.#2.  The Chase for AI Unicorns and Decacorns is All-consuming.  It's Still 2021 There.The one place where paper money seems easy to come by is Hot AI Startups.   And that's probably not you.  It's just consuming all the oxygen in venture, trying to get into the next Imaging AI startup worth $1B in 10 months.  In AI, 2021 never went away.  In AI, it's still 2021.#3.  A Lot of Seasoned VCs are Discouraged. This Doesn't Help Founders.A lot of VCs who have been around for a while are quietly discouraged.  They just don't see a great path to making a ton of money in venture these days.  We're in Year 3 of a venture downturn, and that weighs of most of us.  At a practical level, for founders, it makes it harder to lean it.#4.  More Valuation Markdowns Are Still to ComeRelated to the first point, but more markdowns are like mutliple rounds of layoffs.  They're just tough.  LPs lose confidence.  Coworkers lose confidence.  We should have gotten through a lot of this in 2023, but we didn't.  Personally, I've got several investments for example that I marked down. 70%-80% or more — that my co-investors didn't mark down at all.#5.  VCs Have Run out of ReservesVCs used what extra “reserve” capital they had for bridge rounds in 2022 and 2023.  Now it's gone.  That's adds to the stress as companies struggle.  You don't have a play anymore.The bottom line is there likely is at least another full year of working through the excesses of 2021.  That will weigh across venture.  No matter what some AI headlines suggest.Video of the WeekThe Mac at 40Apple Shares the Secret of Why the 40-Year-Old Mac Still RulesThe pioneering PC revolutionized how people interact with computers. As the Mac enters its fifth decade, Apple says it will continue to evolve.STEVEN LEVY, Jan 19, 2024 10:00 AMON JANUARY 24, Apple's Macintosh computer turns 40. Normally that number is an inexorable milestone of middle age. Indeed, in the last reported sales year, Macintosh sales dipped below $30 billion, more than a 25 percent drop from the previous year's $40 billion. But unlike an aging person, Macs now are slimmer, faster, and last much longer before having to recharge.My own relationship with the computer dates back to its beginnings, when I got a prelaunch peek some weeks before its January 1984 launch. I even wrote a book about the Mac—Insanely Great—in which I described it as “the computer that changed everything.” Unlike every other nonfiction subtitle, the hyperbole was justified. The Mac introduced the way all computers would one day work, and the break from controlling a machine with typed commands ushered us into an era that extends to our mobile interactions. It also heralded a focus on design that transformed our devices.That legacy has been long-lasting. For the first half of its existence, the Mac occupied only a slice of the market, even as it inspired so many rivals; now it's a substantial chunk of PC sales. Even within the Apple juggernaut, $30 billion isn't chicken feed! What's more, when people think of PCs these days, many will envision a Macintosh. More often than not, the open laptops populating coffee shops and tech company workstations beam out glowing Apples from their covers. Apple claims that its Macbook Air is the world's best-selling computer model. One 2019 survey reported that more than two-thirds of all college students prefer a Mac. And Apple has relentlessly improved the product, whether with the increasingly slim profile of the iMac or the 22-hour battery life of the Macbook Pro. Moreover, the Mac is still a thing. Chromebooks and Surface PCs come and go, but Apple's creation remains the pinnacle of PC-dom. “It's not a story of nostalgia, or history passing us by,” says Greg “Joz” Joswiak, Apple's senior vice president of worldwide marketing, in a rare on-the-record interview with five Apple executives involved in its Macintosh operation. “The fact we did this for 40 years is unbelievable.”…Much MoreAI of the WeekBMW will deploy Figure's humanoid robot at South Carolina plantBrian Heater @bheater / 3:00 AM PST•January 18, 2024Image Credits: FigureFigure today announced a “commercial agreement” that will bring its first humanoid robot to a BMW manufacturing facility in South Carolina. The Spartanburg plant is BMW's only in the United States. As of 2019, the 8 million-square-foot campus boasted the highest yield among the German manufacturer's factories anywhere in the world.BMW has not disclosed how many Figure 01 models it will deploy initially. Nor do we know precisely what jobs the robot will be tasked with when it starts work. Figure did, however, confirm with TechCrunch that it is beginning with an initial five tasks, which will be rolled out one at a time.While folks in the space have been cavalierly tossing out the term “general purpose” to describe these sorts of systems, it's important to temper expectations and point out that they will all arrive as single- or multi-purpose systems, growing their skillset over time. Figure CEO Brett Adcock likens the approach to an app store — something that Boston Dynamics currently offers with its Spot robot via SDK.Likely initial applications include standard manufacturing tasks such as box moving, pick and place and pallet unloading and loading — basically the sort of repetitive tasks for which factory owners claim to have difficulty retaining human workers. Adcock says that Figure expects to ship its first commercial robot within a year, an ambitious timeline even for a company that prides itself on quick turnaround times.The initial batch of applications will be largely determined by Figure's early partners like BMW. The system will, for instance, likely be working with sheet metal to start. Adcock adds that the company has signed up additional clients, but declined to disclose their names. It seems likely Figure will instead opt to announce each individually to keep the news cycle spinning in the intervening 12 months.Unlike some other humanoid designers (including Agility), Figure is focused on creating a dexterous, human like hand for manipulation. The thinking behind such an end effector is the same that's driving many toward the humanoid form factor in the first place: Namely, we've designed our workspaces with us in mind. Adcock alludes to Figure 01 being tasked with an initial set of jobs that require high dexterity.As for the importance of legs, the executive suggests that their importance for maneuvering during certain tasks is as — or more — important than things like walking up stairs and over uneven terrain, which tend to get most of the love during these conversations.…MoreGoogle's New AI Video Generator Looks IncredibleJAN 25, 2024MATT GROWCOOTGoogle has announced Lumiere: an AI video generator that looks to be one of the most advanced text-to-video models yet.The name Lumiere is seemingly a nod to the Lumiere brothers who are credited with putting on the first ever cinema showing in 1895. Just as motion picture was cutting-edge technology at the end of the 19th century, the Lumiere name is once more being associated with something new and original.The demo of Lumiere that Google put out focuses firmly on animals. The model can generate a scene using just text; much the same way AI image generators work, the user can dream up any scenario they would like to see a short video clip of.However, the user can also use an image as a prompt. Google provided multiple examples: including some that are real photos such as Joe Rosenthal's iconic Raising the Flag photo; “Soldiers raising the united states flag on a windy day” saw one of the 20th-centuries most recognizable photos suddently come to life as the soliders struggle with the flag that's being affected by gusts.Also in Lumiere is a “Video Stylization” setting which allows users to upload a source video and then ask the generative AI model for various element changes. For example, a person running may be suddenly turned into a toy made of colorful bricks.Another feature Google showed off is “Cinemagraphs”, where just a section of an image is animated while the rest stays still. “Video Inpainting” is included too which involves masking part of the image so that section can be changed to the user's desire.Space-Time Diffusion ModelLumiere is powered by “Space-Time U-Net architecture that generates the entire temporal duration of the video at once, through a single pass in the model.”This difficult-to-understand concept is apparently in contrast to existing video models which “synthesize distant keyframes followed by temporal super-resolution — an approach that inherently makes global temporal consistency difficult to achieve.”…Much MoreOpenAI's Sam Altman seeks funds for AI chip factories as demands surgeOpenAI CEO Sam Altman has opened discussions with global investors over the possibility of funding a network of artificial intelligence (AI) chip factories to keep pace with soaring demand.Altman is seeking around $8 billion to $10 billion worth of funds to set up several AI chip fabrication plants around the globe, an endeavor that will require synergy between leading chip manufacturers backed by investment giants.Altman is reportedly in talks with Japanese-based financial giant SoftBank Group (NASDAQ: SFTBF) and Abu Dhabi's G42 over funding plans, but details remain sparse. The discussions with G42 have been underway since 2023, with Altman describing a potential chip partnership as laying the foundation “for equitable advancements in generative AI across the globe.”Aside from SoftBank and G42, insiders say that Altman is still pursuing collaborations with other industry players to set up a network of chip fabrication plants. Although exact entities were not namechecked, industry experts are noting Intel Corporation (NASDAQ: INTC), Samsung Electronics, and Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co. (NASDAQ: TSM) as potential partners.Altman's approach to raising funds hinges on concerns that the chip supply will not be able to meet global demands for AI offerings by 2030. The OpenAI's CEO argues that the ideal solution will be a collaborative effort to set up chip manufacturing plants rather than build in silos.OpenAI has had its fair share of chip scarcity, rolling back a number of its offerings over a steady chip supply. To meet the rising demand, the company is reportedly mulling several options, including the prospect of building its chips from scratch and joining ranks with Google (NASDAQ: GOOGL) and Amazon (NASDAQ: AMZN) to explore an in-house solution.Given the costs associated with an in-house approach, OpenAI may pursue the acquisition of a chip manufacturer as a short-term solution or expand its collaboration with existing partners. However, a potential acquisition opens its own can of worms, including an inquiry by antitrust regulators.Governments are also involvedIn 2023, Altman urged the South Korean government to double their investments in AI chip manufacturing as a veritable strategy to play a leading role in the nascent ecosystem. Currently, South Korea ranks behind the U.S., China, and Japan in chip manufacturing, but a concerted government involvement could see the country climb up the charts.The OpenAI boss disclosed during his visit to South Korea that his firm will back local entities building chips for AI and other emerging technologies, with Samsung rumored to be in top position.“We are exploring how to increase our investment in Korean startups,” said Altman. “We are excited to meet as many as we can here today. I think this type of collaboration is essential to our work.”..MoreThe Future of Prosumer: The Rise of “AI Native” WorkflowsAnish Acharya, Justine Moore, and Olivia MoorePosted January 25, 2024Few people love the software they use to get things done. And it's no surprise why. Whether it's a slide deck builder, a video editor, or a photo enhancer, today's work tools were conceived decades ago — and it shows! Even best-in-class products often feel either too inflexible and unsophisticated to do real work, or have steep, inaccessible learning curves (we're looking at you, Adobe InDesign). Generative AI offers founders an opportunity to completely reinvent workflows — and will spawn a new cohort of companies that are not just AI-augmented, but fully AI-native. These companies will start from scratch with the technology we have now, and build new products around the generation, editing, and composition capabilities that are uniquely possible due to AI. On the most surface level, we believe AI will help users do their existing work more efficiently. AI-native platforms will “up level” user interactions with software, allowing them to delegate lower skill tasks to an AI assistant and spend their time on higher-level thinking. This applies not only to traditional office workers, but to small business owners, freelancers, creators, and artists — who arguably have even more complex demands on their time. But AI will also help users unlock completely new skill sets, on both a technical and an aesthetic level. We've already seen this with products like Midjourney and ChatGPT's Code Interpreter. Everyone can now be a programmer, a producer, a designer, or a musician, shrinking the gap between creativity and craft. With access to professional-grade yet consumer-friendly products with AI-powered workflows, everyone can be a part of a new generation of “prosumers.”In this piece, we aim to highlight the features of today's — and tomorrow's — most successful Gen AI-native workflows, as well as hypothesize about how we see these products evolving.What Will GenAI Native Prosumer Products Look Like?All products with Gen AI-native workflows will share one crucial trait: translating cutting-edge models into an accessible, effective UI.Users of workflow tools typically don't care what infrastructure is behind a product; they care about how it helps them! While the technological leaps we've made with Generative AI are amazing, successful products will importantly still start from a deep understanding of the user and their pain points. What can be abstracted away with AI? Where are the key “decision points” that need approval, if any? And where are the highest points of leverage? There are a few key features we believe products in this category will have: * Generation tools that kill the “blank page” problem. The earliest and most obvious consumer AI use cases have come from translating a natural language prompt into a media output — e.g., image, video, and text generators. The same will be true in prosumer. These tools might help transform true “blank pages” (e.g., a text prompt to slide deck), or take incremental assets (e.g., a sketch or an outline) and turn them into a more fleshed-out product.Some companies will do this via a proprietary model, while others may mix or stitch together multiple models (open source, proprietary, or via API) behind the scenes. One example here is Vizcom's rendering tool. Users can input a text prompt, sketch, or 3D model, and instantly get a photorealistic rendering to further iterate on.Another example is Durable's website builder product, which the company says has been used to generate more than 6 million sites so far. Users input their company name, segment, and location, and Durable will spit out a site for them to customize. As LLMs get more powerful, we expect to see products like Durable pull real information about your business from elsewhere on the internet and social media — the history, team, reviews, logos, etc. — and generate an even more sophisticated output from just one generation. * Multimodal (and multimedia!) combinations. Many creative projects require more than one type of content. For example, you may want to combine an image with text, music with video, or an animation with a voiceover. As of now, there isn't one model that can generate all of these asset types. This creates an opportunity for workflow products which allow users to generate, refine, and stitch different content types in one place.…MoreAndreessen Horowitz's Connie Chan to Leave as Consumer Focus Shifts to AIBy Kate Clark, Erin Woo and Cory WeinbergJan 23, 2024, 7:22am PSTFor years, partners at Andreessen Horowitz proclaimed they would scour the startup world for the next big consumer marketplace like Airbnb or the next hit consumer app out of China, areas in which the firm had unique expertise. Now, it's shifting toward an area more en vogue across venture capital: consumer apps powered by artificial intelligence.Those changes are happening amid an overhaul of its consumer team. Connie Chan, a general partner at Andreessen Horowitz who formerly led a team of consumer investors and was known for spotting internet trends coming from China, said she is leaving the firm.  She may raise her own fund, a person familiar with the matter said. Anish Acharya, a general partner at the firm who invested in enterprise-focused and financial technology businesses, now leads the consumer team, said people familiar with the change.Chan's move also follows a distancing by U.S. VC firms from investments in China tech, once a hotbed for U.S.  investors. In recent months, Chan has privately said it's becoming more difficult for her to work at Andreessen Horowitz because the partners have been increasingly disinterested in anything China related, another person said.The Takeaway• Fintech-focused GP Anish Acharya leading consumer deals• Consumer GP Connie Chan is leaving the firm• Consumer partner Anne Lee Skates left to start own fundThe changes are part of a broader personnel shakeup, including the decision by senior consumer investor and Airbnb board member Jeff Jordan to step back from making new investments last year. Of the four general partners that led the firm through a consumer deal blitz, none remain on the consumer team.Meanwhile, Anne Lee Skates, a consumer partner who worked on the firm's investment in live shopping app WhatNot, left in the fall to raise her own fund, according to two people familiar with the matter. Axios first reported that Chan was leaving the firm.The Andreessen Horowitz changes are emblematic of a broader VC industry gravitation toward AI and away from once-hot sectors like consumer marketplaces and financial technology, as a spike in interest rates undercut the growth aspirations of startups trying to elbow out incumbent social platforms and banking institutions.“We've gotten into this cycle now where, generally speaking, investors are less interested in consumer,” said Ben Lerer, managing partner at Lerer Hippeau. Known for its consumer investments in Warby Parker and Allbirds, the firm has invested 70% of its latest fund in enterprise companies, he said. “And AI feels like this very hopeful, very exciting, fresh thing.”Founders of some consumer startups have noticed the shift at Andreessen Horowitz. One founder of a consumer startup in the firm's portfolio said they had heard little from investment partners over the last year, a contrast to a steady drumbeat of emails the founder got in prior years from Andreessen staff who support portfolio companies with marketing and operations advice.Andreessen Horowitz's consumer investing team has been perhaps most well known for its focus on backing digital marketplaces, from peer-to-peer self-storage to real estate investment marketplaces, that could turn into the next Airbnb. Every year, it releases a ranking of top marketplace startups. “We are obsessed with marketplaces and have been since our inception,” Chan, who led investments in  social fashion startup Cider for the firm in 2021.But some of those startups backed by the firm, such as self-storage startup Neighbor, have struggled to take off in recent years. And like other venture firms, Andreessen Horowitz has also stepped back from investing in Chinese startups, an area of focus for Chan. She had championed the idea that the next wave of breakout U.S. consumer startups will model themselves after China's internet success stories, like all-in-one app WeChat.With $53 billion in assets under management, Andreessen Horowitz is one of the largest of traditional Silicon Valley firms and closely watched among other VC firms as a trend setter. And its track record of sniffing out hitmakers primed its partners to find the next trendy consumer app.The number of consumer deals Andreessen Horowitz has led dropped to 13 last year from 30 in 2021, a record for the firm, according to PitchBook data. It's possible the firm completed more consumer deals and that those investments haven't been announced. Its investments in AI companies have jumped to 23 from nine over the same years, including leading a $415 million investment in Mistral, the French developer of an open-source large language model.The firm has beefed up this team of investors primarily focused on enterprise, software infrastructure and AI startups. Led by Martin Casado, a close confidante to the firm's founders Horowitz and Marc Andreessen, it is raising its first standalone fund and has brought on two new general partners, Anjney Midha and Zane Lackey, since 2022, as well as a number of junior partners.As the infrastructure team gained power, the consumer team's profile shrank. The firm in 2023 combined its consumer and fintech teams and created a new group, called apps, led by general partner Alex Rampell, who previously co-founded installment lender Affirm, The Information reported last year. Under Rampell's leadership, the newly formed apps team will also soon launch a dedicated apps fund, according to people with direct knowledge of the matter. The consolidated team has been encouraged to pursue AI deals.Within Rampell's apps group, Acharya now leads the consumer sub-group. His portfolio of companies includes payroll company Deel and Silo, a provider of supply chain automation software. He's also an investor in Titan, a consumer investment application.Fueling the firm's shift away from consumer apps are likely disappointing returns. The startups that captivated consumers during the pandemic shutdowns have failed to retain their attention. Growth at companies the consumer team bet on, like Clubhouse, which Andreessen Horowitz backed three times in one year, and photo-sharing app BeReal, which it backed in 2021, has stalled.…MoreOpenAI Is a (Relative) StealBy Stephanie PalazzoloJan 22, 2024, 7:35am PSTOver the past year, we've seen billions in funding thrown at AI startups at eye-popping valuations. More important than the absolute valuation figures, though, is how they stack up to those startups' revenue numbers.In the chart above, we've tracked the valuations of eight AI startups that have recently raised funding, calculated against their projected revenue. On average, these companies raised money at a price that is 83 times their projected sales for the next twelve months. That's a big multiple by any measure, reflecting the rocket ship nature of these startups. But what makes the comparison noteworthy is that OpenAI has one of the lowest multiples, even though its business has the most traction.Venture capitalists tend to value early-stage startups at a premium based on their growth rates. OpenAI's business is far bigger and more mature—if we can use that word for a company growing as fast as OpenAI—than other generative AI companies. So, as fast as its revenue pace is growing—more than 20% in just two months most recently—newer firms are growing even faster.For instance, AI-powered search engine Perplexity AI doubled its annual recurring revenue from $3 million to $6 million from October to January. VCs were likely taking that expected growth into account at the time of investment, as the company would have garnered a much lower 75-times forward revenue multiple if it had raised at the same price just a few months later. Similarly, even though OpenAI rival Anthropic was likely generating around $200 million in annualized revenue at the end of last year (according to its October estimates), its projection that it would reach $850 million in annualized revenue by the end of this year surely made its mind-boggling valuation more palatable to investors.When you see the details of these AI startup funding rounds, it can sometimes feel like investors are throwing darts at nine-figure numbers on a wall. The chart suggests there's a method to the madness. Typically, startups selling to companies are valued based on the sector in which they operate. The lowest valuation multiples are accorded to startups offering industry-specific applications, while those offering more generalized applications draw a premium. The most highly valued firms are often infrastructure startups, which create the tools that developers use to build these apps. This order stems from how big the target market of these startups are, ranging from a specific industry (like healthcare or education) to all developers. We can see that general order reflected in burgeoning AI startups. For instance, Harvey, which sells an AI application for lawyers, has one of the lower multiples, while broader-reaching companies like Glean and VAST Data land higher multiples.It seems like investors aren't quite sure yet where model developers like OpenAI and Anthropic fall on this spectrum. Their costs are very different from a typical software startup due to how much computing power they need, and many investors are still worried that closed-source model developers may be overtaken by their cheaper, open-source counterparts.…MoreNews Of the WeekTed fellows resign from organisation after Bill Ackman named as speakerLucianne Walkowicz and Saeed Taji Farouky accuse Ted of taking anti-Palestinian stand over controversial billionaire's inclusionChris McGrealThe Ted organisation has been hit with resignations and criticisms after naming the controversial activist billionaire Bill Ackman, who was instrumental in forcing out Harvard's president over antisemitism allegations, among its main speakers at this year's conference.Four Ted fellows, led by the astronomer Lucianne Walkowicz and the filmmaker Saeed Taji Farouky, resigned from the group on Wednesday, accusing it of taking an anti-Palestinian stand and aligning itself “with enablers and supporters of genocide” in Gaza.“2024 main stage speaker Bill Ackman has defended Israel's genocide and ethnic cleansing of the Palestinian people and has cynically weaponised antisemitism in his programme to purge American universities of Pro-Palestinian freedom of speech,” the pair wrote to Chris Anderson, who leads Ted, and Lily James Olds, director of the fellows programme.“We've become increasingly concerned about the fundamental values and moral compass of the organisation over the years, but with this year's speaker selection, it is clear Ted has crossed a red line.”The conference will be held in Vancouver, Canada, in April, under the banner The Brave and the Brilliant”. The theme of Ackman's talk has not been revealed but his selection was announced last week after he was accused of using his money and influence to help force Claudine Gay's resignation as Harvard's president following her disastrous appearance before Congress in December when she was questioned about on-campus antisemitism during the Israel-Gaza war.Ackman has taken stridently pro-Israel positions, including justifying the scale of the attacks on Gaza in which more than 25,000 Palestinians have been killed, mostly civilians, and the forced removal of about 2 million Palestinians from their homes. He has described criticism of Israel as antisemitism and called for the blacklisting from employment of American students who signed petitions denouncing the offensive in Gaza in the wake of the 7 October Hamas attack on Israel.Farouky and Walkowicz's resignation letter noted that other speakers announced by Ted include the journalist Bari Weiss, who they describe as having “a long, sordid, and well-documented history of anti-Palestinian speech”, but that there are no Palestinians in the line-up.“We refuse for our work and identities to be exploited to promote the Ted brand while the organisation and its speakers generate income and advance their careers through dehumanising Palestinians and justifying their genocide,” the pair said.After the resignation letter was published, two other fellows – the entrepreneur Ayah Bdeir and cosmologist Renée Hlozek – also quit. Nearly 30 others added their names “in solidarity” without leaving Ted.…MoreTesla's Slowdown Disqualifies It From ‘Magnificent Seven' GroupBy Martin Peers, Jan 24, 2024, 5:00pm PSTStock market pundits may want to come up with a new name for the big tech stocks driving the overall market. The “magnificent seven” descriptor—referring to Apple, Microsoft, Alphabet, Amazon, Meta Platforms, Nvidia and Tesla—no longer seems to make much sense. I'd like to suggest that's because none of the company CEOs look like cowboy gunslingers from the 1960 movie that made the phrase famous. It's hard to imagine Steve McQueen playing Tim Cook or Andy Jassy, for instance (although Yul Brynner admittedly could have filled the role of horseback-riding Jeff Bezos).The real reason the moniker no longer works, however, is that at least one member of the group, Tesla, has had anything but a magnificent 2024 so far, and its fourth-quarter earnings report, released Wednesday, only made things worse. Before Tesla reported earnings tonight, its stock had fallen 16% so far this year, and it tumbled another 3% after hours to around $200 a share. This isn't a reaction to CEO Elon Musk's antics, which include asking for a bunch more stock, although that surely doesn't help. The stock decline reflects the slowdown in sales suffered by Tesla, which observers attribute to increased competition and a loss of government incentives. Automotive revenues, which make up the bulk of Tesla's top line, grew just 1% in the fourth quarter—down from 18% in the first quarter.In its outlook for this year issued today, the company said its growth in the volume of car sales would be lower than in 2023, and noted that its team is working on its “next-generation vehicle.” Meantime, expenses have been skyrocketing, eroding its profit margin. But our less-than-rigorous takedown of the magnificent seven branding isn't just about Tesla. If you look at the year-to-date performance of big tech stocks, or even their 2023 performance, you can see that just two tech stocks have roared this year. One is Nvidia, which is in a class of its own: up 27% since Jan. 1, thanks to its stranglehold on the specialized chips used in artificial intelligence. The other is Meta Platforms, which is up nearly 13%, reflecting confidence in its ad business.  In comparison, Microsoft and Alphabet are each up around 8%, likely thanks to expectations that AI will lift their businesses, while Apple and Amazon lag behind with year-to-date stock price rises of less than 5% each. Instead of the magnificent seven, it might be more appropriate to refer to the group as Nvidia, Meta and the humble five.… MoreTikTok's Testing 30 Minute Uploads as It Looks To Expand Its Content OptionsBy Andrew Hutchinson Content and Social Media ManagerThe next stage of TikTok is coming, with some users now seeing the option to upload 30 minute long videos in the app.As you can see in this example, shared by social media expert Matt Navarra, TikTok's currently testing the new 30 minute upload option in the beta version of the app.Which, if you've been paying attention, is not really any big surprise.TikTok has been steadily increasing its maximum post limit for years, with the platform originally starting at 15 seconds per clip, which was then extended to 60 seconds, then 3 minutes, then 5 minutes, before rising to 10 minutes in 2022.Last October, TikTok began experimenting with 15 minute uploads, so the trend towards longer clips isn't new.Though 30 minutes is likely the upper limit, based on the Chinese version of the app. Douyin, which is TikTok in China, expanded its upload limit to 30 minutes per clip in 2022, and it hasn't gone any further as yet.And presumably, Douyin has also seen good response to this longer time limit, which is why TikTok is now looking to implement the same, though it does seem like a long time to be watching a TikTok clip in-stream.Will users really warm to TV show length clips in the app?…MoreInstagram to scan under-18s' messages to protect against ‘inappropriate images'Feature will work even on encrypted messages, suggesting platform plans to implement client-side scanningAlex Hern and Dan MilmoInstagram will begin scanning messages sent to and from under-18s to protect them from “inappropriate images”, Meta has announced.The feature, being kept under wraps until later this year, would work even on encrypted messages, a spokesperson said, suggesting the company intends to implement a so-called client-side scanning service for the first time.But the update will not meet controversial demands for inappropriate messages to be reported back to Instagram servers.Instead, only a user's personal device will ever know whether or not a message has been filtered out, leading to criticism of the promise as another example of the company “grading its own homework”.“We're planning to launch a new feature designed to help protect teens from seeing unwanted and potentially inappropriate images in their messages from people they're already connected to,” the company said in a blogpost, “and to discourage them from sending these types of images themselves. We'll have more to share on this feature, which will also work in encrypted chats, later this year.”…Much MoreTiger Global Investor Relations Staff Depart After Fundraising ChallengesBy Francesca Friday and Maria HeeterJan 24, 2024, 4:46pm PSTSeveral Tiger Global Management employees focused on raising capital for the New York firm's venture funds have taken buyout offers, according to a person familiar with the matter. The departures of the staff, who worked with prospective investors, come as the firm has struggled to raise money for its latest venture capital fund after a collapse in startup valuations soured its paper returns for earlier funds.As of the second quarter of 2023, a $12.7 billion fund that Tiger started making investments from in October 2021 had a paper loss of 18%, calculated as an annualized return net of management fees, according to internal data distributed to investors in the fund. That's a slight improvement from six months earlier, when the 2021 fund showed a loss of 20%. The fund's performance is in the bottom quartile of funds started that year, the document said, and has also lagged the S&P 500's annualized net return in the same period.The Takeaway• Tiger employee buyouts are the latest example of VC cost-cutting• Tiger's $12.7 billion had lost 18% on paper as of June* Tiger could soon show a $350 million gain from OpenAI stakeAs of June 30, 2023, the $12.7 billion fund hadn't returned any cash to investors, which isn't unusual for such a young fund. But the paper losses are closely guarded secrets that reflect the kind of write-downs other venture firms have been making over the past two years as tech valuations have fallen.It isn't clear how big Tiger's investor relations team is, but the departures are the latest example of belt-tightening across the venture industry. Firms are raising smaller funds and striking fewer deals, reducing the need for sprawling support staff—including those who help firms raise money from pension funds and endowments...MoreWorldcoin hints at new Orb for a friendlier iris-scanning experienceby Vivian NguyenThe next-gen device will feature various colors and shapes to enhance its visual appeal.Worldcoin, an iris biometric crypto project, is set to launch a new Orb that aims to offer a more user-friendly iris-scanning experience, said Alex Blania, CEO and co-founder of Tools for Humanity, the developer behind the project, in an exclusive interview with TechCrunch today.“The next Orb will roll out in the first half of this year and will feature alternative colors and form factors in an effort to look ‘much more friendly,'” Blania explained. “Overall, it is going to look way more tuned down and similar to an Apple product.”Blania acknowledges that the initial design of the Orb predated his time at the company. “The new orb is coming and the next iterations will look quite different,” he remarked during a fireside chat at a recent StrictlyVC event, signaling a departure from the current, more controversial design.The goal of Worldcoin, as described by Blania, is to reach billions of users as fast as possible.“The thesis is very simple. We race toward billions of users as fast as we possibly can,” said Blania.Founded by Blania, Sam Altman, and Max Novendstern, Tools for Humanity has raised around $250 million from prominent investors like a16z and Bain Capital Crypto, among others. The project is famous for its unique Orb device designed to scan people's irises and assign them a “World ID,” granting access to Worldcoin's application and a digital passport. Worldcoin's vision is to authenticate individual identities and prevent the creation of multiple accounts.The current design of the Orb has been a topic of much debate due to its intimidating look, similar to a prop from a sci-fi movie, according to Blania. The company has also faced criticism for its beta testing approaches in developing economies and concerns over privacy and data security.Despite some skepticism, the Orb has seen practical use. At the StrictlyVC event in downtown San Francisco, a Tools for Humanity employee reported that a “couple dozen” attendees scanned their iris to receive a World ID. There has also been “field testing” of the new Orb design.…MoreStartup of the WeekLoyalty Startup Bilt Rewards Hits $3.1B Valuation After $200M RoundChris MetinkoJanuary 24, 2024Bilt Rewards, a loyalty rewards startup, raised a $200 million round led by General Catalyst at a $3.1 billion valuation — more than double the number after its last fundraising in 2022.The round also included participation from Eldridge Industries, Left Lane Capital, Camber Creek and Prosus Ventures.The New York-based startup allows consumers to earn rewards on the rent they pay. Bilt plans to use some of the proceeds to expand its network to include local dining, grocery stores, ridesharing and other retail purchases.“We're not just building a loyalty program; we're creating a community-centric ecosystem that benefits everyone from renters to local businesses,” said founder and CEO Ankur Jain.The company also appointed some big names to roles in the company. Bilt named Ken Chenault, former chairman and CEO of American Express, as its chairman, and Roger Goodell, the commissioner of the NFL, as an independent director.Big moneyThe company reported its annualized member spend is nearing $20 billion. It also became profitable on an earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization basis last year.Those metrics must have impressed investors, as Bilt has seen its valuation shoot up after raising a $150 million Series B at a pre-money valuation of $1.4 billion in October 2022. Founded in 2021, the company has raised a total of $413 million, per Crunchbase.Last year was a slow go for loyalty startups. Such companies raised only $74 million, per Crunchbase data. However in 2022, loyalty startups raised more than a half-billion dollars thanks to big raises that included Bilt's Series B and Madison, Wisconsin-based Fetch's $240 million Series E.With this fundraise, things are looking up for loyalty startups again.X of the Week This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit thatwastheweek.substack.com/subscribe

Venture capital can be elusive and seemingly untouchable so Sandra sits down with Shalene Guiriba this week to give you a down to earth perspective on what it is, how it works and where to begin. Sharlene is a Chicago native and Filipina immigrant passionate about creating pipelines and mitigating equity gaps for under-resourced communities through investments in innovation. She focuses on early-stage VC especially across edtech, fintech, web3, climate, and AI/ML-driven deals. Before becoming a VC she started out as a CPA at Deloitte and worked as an operator at fintech startup NextCapital (acquired by Goldman Sachs).More about Sharlene:Sharlene Guiriba is an Associate at Lerer Hippeau, an early-stage venture capital firm founded and operated in New York City. Sharlene began her career as a Deloitte tax consultant advising major corporations and ex-pats on international assignments. She then built out a software operations department at NextCapital(acq'd by Goldman Sachs), a late-stage fintech startup democratizing quality retirement advice. Sharlene completed the joint MBA and MPP program at the University of Chicago's Booth School of Business and Harris School of Public Policy. She also has her CPA and graduated with Double Majors in Accountancy and Chinese from the University of Notre Dame.Recorded April 3rd, 2023Connect with SharleneTwitterLinkedinConnect with NopaleraWebsiteInstagramTik TokJoin Sandra's Entrepreneurial NewsletterAsk a business question

Ben Lerer is a Managing Partner at Lerer Hippeau. He is the Co-Founder and former CEO of Thrillist, which was acquired by Vox Media in 2022. He chairs the Board of Directors for Urban Upbound and is an Associate Member of the International Academy of Digital Arts & Sciences (IADAS). Lerer holds a BS from the University of Pennsylvania.

Follow me @samirkaji for my thoughts on the venture market, with a focus on the continued evolution of the VC landscape.On this week's show, we're excited to have Ben Lerer and Graham Brown, Managing Partners at Lerer Hippeau. The firm was founded in New York in 2010 to back early-stage entrepreneurs. Today the firm manages $1.2B and has invested in over 400 companies including Oscar, Buzzfeed, Mirror, Warby Parker, and Casper. Ben's background prior to investing was as Founder and CEO Thrillist, while Graham came over in 2015 from Softbank. During our chat, we covered everything from building and productizing a community to the evolution of the firm in maintaining its competitive advantage in the region. Hope you enjoy our conversation. A word from our sponsor:Feature-packed operating account & partnership ecosystemNationally chartered and headquartered in New York City, Grasshopper Bank is a client-first digital bank built to serve the business and innovation economy, combining the best of banking technology and years of industry expertise to deliver best-in-class experiences with trusted security and unparalleled support. Serving clients globally, the client-first digital bank recently announced the launch of Accelerator Checking, a feature-packed operating account with powerful digital tools designed to serve a wide range of venture-backed startups. With its latest offering, startup clients also receive exclusive access to its newly established partner marketplace, as well as a curated community of investors for fundraising support. For more information about Accelerator Checking or how to leverage Grasshopper's platform for your firm, visit the bank's website at www.grasshopper.bank or follow on LinkedIn and Twitter.About Ben Lerer:Ben Lerer is a Managing Partner at Lerer Hippeau. He is the Co-Founder and former CEO of Thrillist, which was acquired by Vox Media in 2022. He chairs the Board of Directors for Urban Upbound and is an Associate Member of the International Academy of Digital Arts & Sciences (IADAS). Lerer holds a BS from the University of Pennsylvania.About Graham Brown:Graham is a Managing Partner at Lerer Hippeau. He joined Lerer Hippeau from SoftBank Capital, where he focused primarily on early stage investments in mobile and Internet, with a particular interest in marketplaces. Prior to SoftBank Capital, Graham was an Associate at Polaris Partners and then helped lead digital strategy at Life Line Screening, a direct-to-consumer preventive health company backed by Polaris Partners.Graham is a graduate of Colby College and Columbia Business School.In this episode, we discuss:(02:48) Why start a company? (05:33) The gap they saw when founding the firm in 2010(09:59) What drew Graham to the firm in 2015(13:34) Why their investing thesis of early-stage NYC companies worked so well in retrospect(19:32) How the the firm invests in its community(26:32) The number of investments typically per fund at Lerer Hippeau(29:11) Maintaining operational discipline(34:24) Deciding when to make an exception on a deal(38:08) Why they launched a select fund to invest at Series A, B, and C(42:41) Learnings from investing in companies later stages after they passed the first time(48:36) The importance of empathy and being humane when passing on a companyI'd love to know what you took away from this conversation with Ben and Graham. 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

Ben Lerer of Lerer Hippeau joins Nick to discuss How to Thrive in a Down Market; Investing through the AI Hype Cycle; and Consumer Exits and Key Lessons from Warby Parker, MIRROR, Casper, Allbirds, and Oscar. In this episode we cover: Opportunities In the New York Tech Scene The Challenges Of Building a DTC Company How To Assess Purchase Frequency When the Market Is Low Avoiding Startups Building With Generative AI Where Is the Alpha In the Solar Space What Makes For an Amazing CEO Do Founders Have a Unique Superpower Guest Links: Twitter LinkedIn Lerer Hippeau 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. Want to keep up to date with The Full Ratchet? Follow us on social. You can learn more about New Stack Ventures by visiting our LinkedIn and Twitter. Are you a founder looking for your next investor? Visit our free tool VC-Rank and we'll send a list of potential investors right to your inbox!

The Truth About Gen Z At Work. Meagan Loyst is a former venture capitalist who was previously worked at Lerer Hippeau, where she was the youngest person on her team by a decade. In October 2022 Meagan embarked on her own entrepreneurial journey, launching the community ‘Gen Z VCs'.A global collective of 25,000+ Gen Z VCs, founders, angel investors, operators and aspiring VCs She was recently honored with a spot on the Forbes 30U30 list in Venture Capital for 2022 and was celebrated as the National Venture Capital Association's 2022 "Rising Star" Award Winner. Timestamps Sponsor Check out our sponsor, Free Agency (https://www.freeagency.com/) Socials Host: https://twitter.com/calum_johnson9 Guest: https://twitter.com/meaganloyst

Today we are joined by Ben Lerer who is a Managing Partner at Lerer Hippeau, an early stage investment fund that targets New York based businesses and that has invested in the seed rounds of companies like Casper, Venmo, and Warby Parker. Before Lerer Hippeau, Ben was a founder at Thrillist Media Group which provides city guides to nightlife and restaurants in cities like New York and LA. Thrillist later acquired media businesses such as Now This and the Dodo to form the holding company Group Nine Media where Ben was the CEO. Group Nine Media was acquired by Vox in 2022. In this episode we discuss how Ben built Thrillist, what it was like to run Group Nine Media, and how Ben meets great entrepreneurs. Stick around to the end to hear Ben's stories about his close friend, Gary Vaynerchuk. Please subscribe to Studying Success to hear more from the best entrepreneurs and investors!Also check out our website at www.studyingsuccesspodcast.com.And follow us on Instagram @studyingsuccesspodcast.

Ben Lerer is the Managing Partner at Lerer Hippeau, a prominent early-stage venture capital fund in New York City. Lerer Hippeau has a portfolio that includes Allbirds, Glossier, Thrive, BuzzFeed, Warby Parker, Casper, Mirror, and more. Besides his role at Lerer Hippeau, Ben is renowned for founding Thrillist Media Group and serving as the former CEO of Group Nine Media.   You can learn more about:  Insights gained from launching and managing a successful media company Venture investing in New York City Perspectives on investment strategies, portfolio building, and the advantages of being an operator when making investment decisions ===================== YouTube: @GraceGongCEO Newsletter: @SmartVenture LinkedIn: @GraceGong TikTok: @GraceGongCEO IG: @GraceGongCEO Twitter: @GraceGongGG =====================

In the seventh episode of Season Three, Cody and Eli are joined by Ben Lerer, a Managing Partner at Lerer Hippeau, for a captivating conversation. They explore a range of topics, including AI, cryptocurrency, and the future of venture-backed direct-to-consumer (DTC) brands. If you haven't already, make sure to leave a review for the podcast. Your feedback helps us reach a wider audience. This season of the podcast is sponsored by Postscript and Tapcart. You can try Postscript for free for 30 days using this link: postscript.io. And with this link, you can get up to two months free with Tapcart: tapcart.com/downtochat. Connect with the hosts and guest: Cody: Twitter - @codyplof, Newsletter - codyplofker.com/newsletter Eli: Twitter - @eliweisss, Newsletter - eliweisss.com Ben: Twitter - @BenjLerer, Website - Lererhippeau.com

In this conversation with Claire, we hear about her journey from LevFin to PE to now VC, and how she tapped into various networking opportunities and fields of career as she chose to pursue VC. She also shares some trends in the startup world she is tracking closely. And we end the chat with some candid and genuine advice for women who are trying to break into this ecosystem!

Una excelente conversación en un evento reciente. Hablamos de mi opinión sobre la caída actual del mercado de NFT y cómo la predije hace más de un año; por qué me metí tan fuerte en NFT y VeeFriends; la “tiktokificación” de las redes sociales y qué significa; el grafo de interés versus el grafo social, y más. Disfruta el episodio y coméntale a Gary —sí, en español— qué te pareció en Twitter @GaryVee Texto GaryVee (USA) 212-931-5731 Web: garyvee.com garyveeespanol@vaynermedia.com --- Send in a voice message: https://anchor.fm/garyveeinspanish/message

Episode twenty of DrinksWithAVC launches with venture virtuoso Kate Shillo Beardsley. Join us as Kate shares her journey from bartending to becoming a Managing Partner at Upslope Ventures and a pivotal figure at Lerer Hippeau Ventures. Vik and Bree uncover her time with Martha Stewart and delve into her impact on Web 3 and women in VC. Tune in to hear how this master of follow-ups continues to shape the venture ecosystem.Links:www.hannahgrey.comwww.twitter.com/kshillowww.mint.women-vc.com (Women in VC NFTs!)www.filemonade.com (What we're drinking!)www.needlepointclubhouse.com (New hobbies!)

The major averages were mixed in Thursday trading as a stronger-than-expected GDP report and solid blue chip earnings offset Meta's share meltdown. Lerer Hippeau managing partner Eric Hippeau and LightShed's Brandon Ross join to discuss Mark Zuckerberg's big bet on the metaverse, and if it will ever pay off. Matthew Ball, who founded the metaverse ETF, weighs in on the future use cases for the technology. Cantor's Eric Johnston discusses if the broader equity comeback can last in the face of disappointing tech results. Plus Lazard's Peter Orszag on the midterm impact on the market, DA Davidson's Tom Forte on Apple and Amazon, and the buzz on why Credit Suisse just took a major leg lower.

Today's episode of the GaryVee Audio Experience is a great fireside chat I had recently! We discuss my thoughts on the NFT markets current decline and how I predicted this repeatedly a year ago, why I've gone so hard into NFTs and VeeFriends, the "TikTokificaiton" of social media and what it means, interest graph versus social graph and much more! Enjoy! Let me know what you thought! Check out my new NFT project: veefriends.com Join the VeeFriends Discord: https://discord.gg/veefriends Tweet Me! @garyvee Text Me! 212-931-5731 My Newsletter: garyvee.com/newsletter

Bloomberg's Emily Chang breaks down the latest TiKTok challenge that involves cooking chicken with Nyquil, and how the stunt led to an FDA warning. Plus, Eric Hippeau talks about how Lerer Hippeau is looking for the next big thing after closing $230 million in funding.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

In der Rubrik “Investments & Exits” sprechen wir heute mit Tina Dreimann, Co-Founder von better ventures. Tina hat die Finanzierungsrunde von RipeLocker und Dr. B analysiert sowie die Zusammenarbeit von Orna Therapeutics und Merck. Merck, außerhalb der USA und Kanadas als MSD bekannt, und Orna Therapeutics, ein Biotechnologieunternehmen, das Pionierarbeit bei der Erforschung einer neuen Klasse von zirkulären RNA-Therapien (oRNA) leistet, gaben heute eine Zusammenarbeit zur Erforschung, Entwicklung und Vermarktung mehrerer Programme bekannt, darunter Impfstoffe und Therapeutika in den Bereichen Infektionskrankheiten und Onkologie. Im Rahmen der Vereinbarung wird Merck eine Vorauszahlung an Orna in Höhe von 150 Millionen US-Dollar leisten, die Merck im dritten Quartal 2022 als Aufwand verbucht und in den non-GAAP-results berücksichtigt wird. Orna Therapeutics wurde 2019 von MPM Capital und BioImpact Capital mit finanzieller Unterstützung des UBS Oncology Impact Fund gegründet. Der Anbieter von Behältern zur Konservierung von Lebensmitteln und Blumen RipeLocker hat 7,5 Millionen US-Dollar erworben. Das Unternehmen mit Sitz in Bainbridge Island, Washington, verkauft Behälter, in denen frisch geerntete Produkte und Blumen aufbewahrt werden können. Unternehmensangaben zufolge ist die Finanzierung eine Mischung aus Angel-Investoren, einschließlich Kunden, Landwirten und Verpacken sowie Führungskräften der Agrarindustrie und Wissenschaftlern. Das Unternehmen wurde von George Lobisser und Kyle Lobisser gegründet. Das New Yorker Telemedizin-Unternehmen Dr. B hat 8 Millionen US-Dollar erhalten. Dr. B stellt Gesundheitsdienstleistungen unabhängig von der Zahlungsfähigkeit der Patienten zur Verfügung und will mit der Runde seine Plattform weiter ausbauen. Zu den Geldgebern gehören Lerer Hippeau, Founders Fund sowie weitere Investoren. Cyrus Massoumi hat Dr. B mit der Mission gegründet, den Zugang zum Gesundheitswesen effizienter und gerechter zu gestalten.

So today, Shamus Madan sits down with two very special guests, Hunter Walk, the founding partner at Homebrew, and Kate Beardsley, the Founding Partner of Hannah Grey, an early-stage VC Fund revolving around investing in customer-centric founders. Prior to Homebrew, Hunter led consumer product management at YouTube, starting when it was acquired by Google back in 2003. Hunter's first job in Silicon Valley was in Product Management for SecondLife or LindenLabs, an early version of the metaverse, which still exists today. Prior to Hannah Grey  Kate, lead Special Projects with Martha Stewart. After that position, Hannah became Chief of Staff at Huffington Post and a founding member of Lerer Hippeau. Twitter of Host: @mbitpodcastTwitter of Guests: @hunterwalk & @kshillo

Follow me @samirkaji for my thoughts on the venture market, with a focus on the continued evolution of the VC landscape.Today we’re thrilled to bring you our conversation with Jessica Peltz-Zatulove and Kate Beardsley, co-founders of Hannah Grey VC. Backed by firms such as Twitter, JP Morgan, Screendoor, Insight Partners, etc. the firm recently announced it’s oversubscribed $52MM seed fund and (13 investments made to date). Jessica and Kate have backgrounds in entrepreneurship, branding, and strategy, and bring their wealth of experiences to this week’s episode.About Jessica Peltz-Zatulove:Jessica Peltz-Zatulove is a Founding Partner at Hannah Grey.Prior to founding Hannah Grey, Jessica was Senior Managing Partner at MDC Ventures, leading investments in companies including Netomi, Gradient.io (acquired by Criteo), Veritonic, Indicative (acquired by mParticle), Catch & Release, Perksy, and Mezzobit (acquired by OpenX). Before she was a VC, Jessica specialized in connecting marketers with tech at innovation consultancy Evol8tion and at Zenith Media.Jessica also leads a NYC’s Women in VC group and created the Global directory for Women in VC, which now includes 3,800+ women investors spanning 2,400+ venture funds across 200+ cities and 60+ countries.About Kate Beardsley:Kate started her career as director of special projects for Martha Stewart Living, reporting directly to Martha Stewart. She went on to become Chief of Staff to Ken Lerer at the Huffington Post, and joined him to co-found Lerer Hippeau, a NYC-based fund focused on early-stage companies.In 2014, Kate joined Upslope Ventures as Managing Partner which took her from NYC to Denver. She is active with the Rocky Mountain Venture Capital Association and the Rockies Venture Club.Episode Summary:01:26 Why did they start Hannah Grey, and what were the key components they knew were necessary for them?08:21 What exactly is their product outside of capital? 13:36 Thinking through LP discovery and composition20:11 Learnings from raising a fund, including the difference between raising from institutional investors and non-institutional investors30:51 What internal KPI’s they track for the firm 35:26 The future of service-oriented venture38:44 The ‘Hannah Grey’ Experience when supporting founders. 43:25 Recommendations for emerging managers46:46 Cultivating a community of female investorsMentioned in this episodeHannah GreyI’d love to know what you took away from this conversation with Jessica and Kate. 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

For Episode #90, we were joined by the "Queen of the Gen Z's": Meagan Loyst! Meagan is the founder of Gen Z VCs, a global community centered around empowering the next generation of leaders in venture capital, growing it to more than 14,000 members since November 2020.  She's also an Associate and youngest investor at Lerer Hippeau, where she's sourced and helped lead seven investments working with 20 portfolio companies.

The metaverse is a digital society that is still new but growing quickly. In the past, virtual reality has been limited to games and simulations. Recently, with the development of more sophisticated technology, these platforms have opened up to allow users to interact with one another in a large variety of ways. This episode will discuss how to improve accessibility and socialization in the metaverse. The future of virtual reality depends on both of these things, so let's take a look at them together! Meagan Loyst founded Gen Z VCs, a global community centered around empowering the next generation of leaders in venture capital, growing it to more than 11,000 members since November 2020. The youngest investor at Lerer Hippeau, she's sourced and helped lead three investments, working with 12 portfolio companies. Loyst's Gen Z VCs Summit included 3,000-plus attendees from 71 countries. Know More About Gen Z VC https://www.genzvcs.com/ ================================================================ Subscribe to Zain Jaffer: https://bit.ly/2SWhYW5 Follow the PropTech VC Podcast: Listen on Apple - https://apple.co/2Izoznu Listen on Spotify -  https://spoti.fi/2STWDwq Listen on Google Play - https://bit.ly/2H7s6c0 Follow Zain Jaffer at: Twitter: https://twitter.com/zainjaffer Website: https://zainjaffer.com/ Current Ventures: https://zain-ventures.com/ LinkedIn:  https://www.linkedin.com/in/zainjaffer/ ================================================================ The Metaverse—What It Is and How It Can Present Real Solutions https://youtu.be/al3Nyitg71U    How the Metaverse Could Offer Marked Changes in Workflows and Utilization https://youtu.be/uol2i8S-CgE   Real Estate in the Metaverse  https://youtu.be/NeuouWh6Xgs ================================================================ About Zain Jaffer: Zain Jaffer is an accomplished executive, investor, and entrepreneur. He started his first company at the age of 14 and later moved to the US as an immigrant to found Vungle, after securing $25M from tech giants including Google & AOL in 2011. Vungle recently sold for $780m.   His achievements have garnered international recognition and acclaim; he is the recipient of prestigious awards such as "Forbes 30 Under 30", "Inc. Magazine's 35 Under 35," and the "SF Business Times Tech & Innovation Award." He is regularly featured in major business & tech publications such as The Wall Street Journal, VentureBeat, and TechCrunch.

Blockchain is a rising technology that allows for decentralized transactions in which both parties can trust the process. The hope is that this could help streamline transactions, reduce costs, and allow more transparency about information concerning the property. But The big question in today's real estate market is: Are we ready? Meagan Loyst founded Gen Z VCs, a global community centered around empowering the next generation of leaders in venture capital, growing it to more than 11,000 members since November 2020. The youngest investor at Lerer Hippeau, she's sourced and helped lead three investments, working with 12 portfolio companies. Loyst's Gen Z VCs Summit included 3,000-plus attendees from 71 countries. Know More About Gen Z VC https://www.genzvcs.com/ ================================================================ Subscribe to Zain Jaffer: https://bit.ly/2SWhYW5 Follow the PropTech VC Podcast: Listen on Apple - https://apple.co/2Izoznu Listen on Spotify -  https://spoti.fi/2STWDwq Listen on Google Play - https://bit.ly/2H7s6c0 Follow Zain Jaffer at: Twitter: https://twitter.com/zainjaffer Website: https://zainjaffer.com/ Current Ventures: https://zain-ventures.com/ LinkedIn:  https://www.linkedin.com/in/zainjaffer/ ================================================================ The Metaverse—What It Is and How It Can Present Real Solutions https://youtu.be/al3Nyitg71U    How the Metaverse Could Offer Marked Changes in Workflows and Utilization https://youtu.be/uol2i8S-CgE   Real Estate in the Metaverse  https://youtu.be/NeuouWh6Xgs  ================================================================ About Zain Jaffer: Zain Jaffer is an accomplished executive, investor, and entrepreneur. He started his first company at the age of 14 and later moved to the US as an immigrant to found Vungle, after securing $25M from tech giants including Google & AOL in 2011. Vungle recently sold for $780m.   His achievements have garnered international recognition and acclaim; he is the recipient of prestigious awards such as "Forbes 30 Under 30", "Inc. Magazine's 35 Under 35," and the"SF Business Times Tech & Innovation Award." He is regularly featured in major business & tech publications such as The Wall Street Journal, VentureBeat, and TechCrunch.

Meagan Loyst founded Gen Z VCs, a global community centered around empowering the next generation of leaders in venture capital, growing it to more than 11,000 members since November 2020. The youngest investor at Lerer Hippeau, she's sourced and helped lead three investments, working with 12 portfolio companies. Loyst's Gen Z VCs Summit included 3,000-plus attendees from 71 countries. Know More About Gen Z VC https://www.genzvcs.com/ ================================================================ Subscribe to Zain Jaffer: https://bit.ly/2SWhYW5 Follow the PropTech VC Podcast: Listen on Apple - https://apple.co/2Izoznu Listen on Spotify -  https://spoti.fi/2STWDwq Listen on Google Play - https://bit.ly/2H7s6c0 Follow Zain Jaffer at: Twitter: https://twitter.com/zainjaffer Website: https://zainjaffer.com/ Current Ventures: https://zain-ventures.com/ LinkedIn:  https://www.linkedin.com/in/zainjaffer/ ================================================================ The Metaverse—What It Is and How It Can Present Real Solutions https://youtu.be/al3Nyitg71U    How the Metaverse Could Offer Marked Changes in Workflows and Utilization https://youtu.be/uol2i8S-CgE   Real Estate in the Metaverse  https://youtu.be/NeuouWh6Xgs ================================================================ About Zain Jaffer: Zain Jaffer is an accomplished executive, investor, and entrepreneur. He started his first company at the age of 14 and later moved to the US as an immigrant to found Vungle, after securing $25M from tech giants including Google & AOL in 2011. Vungle recently sold for $780m.   His achievements have garnered international recognition and acclaim; he is the recipient of prestigious awards such as "Forbes 30 Under 30", "Inc. Magazine's 35 Under 35," and the "SF Business Times Tech & Innovation Award." He is regularly featured in major business & tech publications such as The Wall Street Journal, VentureBeat, and TechCrunch.

On this episode of The Sonic Truth Podcast CEO and Founder of Veritonic, Scott Simonelli, is in conversation with three exceptional guests: Alan Patricof of Greycroft Partners, Caitlin Strandberg of Lerer Hippeau, and Daniel Borok of Newark Venture Partners. They are not only some of the biggest champions of growth in audio, but they are […] The post Investing in the Growth of Audio appeared first on The Sonic Truth.

The adult industry is bigger than Hollywood yet it largely lacks access to basic financial services. Cutoff from banking, payments, and venture capital, it is remarkable the industry exists at all. Some sub-segments have earned their reputations as high-risk. But sexual wellness has not. It's a $10B+ industry cutoff from financial services despite being low-risk and highly profitable. It's an extraordinary failure. We explore why the adult industry hasn't had access to financial services and the barriers still left to overcome today. We find that the industry is changing - the barriers are falling. Dame, Mauve, Hello Cake, and Foria have overcome tremendous odds to build promising startups. Lerer Hippeau, RRE, and a select few other venture capitalists are starting to provide funding. It's never been a better time to fund and build sexual wellness. Check out this week's letter for the full story. Follow @FatTailThoughts on Twitter and your co-hosts @KleeBeard and @StevenDickens3 for more content.

Naomi Shah is the founder and CEO of Meet Cute. We discuss Naomi's early passion for STEM, being a Goldman Sachs equity trader, leaving VC to be a founder, why a rom-com podcast network solves a problem in the wellbeing market, raising $6M of capital during COVID, and how a non-Hollywood background makes her a better media entrepreneur.Subscribe to our newsletter. We explore the intersection of media, technology, and commerce: sign-up linkLearn more about our market research and executive advisory: RockWater websiteFollow The Come Up on Twitter: @TCUpodEmail us: tcupod@wearerockwater.com---EPISODE TRANSCRIPT: Chris Erwin:Hi, I'm Chris Erwin. Welcome to The Come Up, a podcast that interviews entrepreneurs and leaders. Naomi Shah:At the early stages, it was exploratory, "Let's make one of these stories, let's figure out how this process works." I was actually on the investment team at USV when I started working on this idea. I had a really close relationship with the partners at USV, two or three months into building this, they said, "Why don't you come in and pitch us more formally." And that was a crazy experience of being in the same room that I'd sat in for the last two years listening to pitches and being on the other side of the table pitching my old colleague. Chris Erwin:This week's episode features Naomi Shah, the founder and CEO of Meet Cute. Naomi grew up in Portland, and one of her earliest memories is not just learning to walk, but specifically walking to the local science museum. So from an early age, Naomi had a love for STEM and actually ended up going to Stanford to study mechanical engineering and human biology. But, her early career took her to Wall Street, first as an equities trader at Goldman Sachs, and then as an investor at Union Square, focusing on the intersection of entertainment and wellbeing. But after hearing hundreds of pitches and learning the power of story to convince her partners to invest, Naomi only decided to flip the script. Chris Erwin:She felt a large portion of the wellbeing market was under invested, and so wanted to create a product that mirrored the benefit of tech-powered health solutions, but done differently. And so Meet Cute, the rom-com podcast and modern media company was born. Naomi is one of the youngest founders I've interviewed on the show, and it was a lot of fun getting to know her over the past couple of months. Some highlights of our chat include growing up a tomboy, her love for the "Flubber room", how her family inspired her workplace culture, raising $6 million of startup capital during COVID, and how a non Hollywood background makes her a better media entrepreneur. All right. Let's get into it. Chris Erwin:Naomi. Thanks for being on the podcast. Naomi Shah:Thanks for having me. I'm excited to be here. Chris Erwin:As we always do, let's dive back a little bit. I'm curious to know a little bit more about where you grew up and what your household and parents were like, so tell me about that. Naomi Shah:I grew up in Portland, Oregon, loved growing up there. I always say it's like a small little big town. It has all the elements of a big city, but just geographically smaller, fewer people. And I grew up with my mom, my dad and my older brother, Preem. My older brother is two and a half years older than me, I always felt like I was chasing him, following in his footsteps in various ways, and we're still very close. Chris Erwin:When you say you always felt like you were following in his footsteps, was it because of like different hobbies he had or sports or friend groups or things he was doing in school? What do you mean by that? Naomi Shah:I would say when I was younger, I was pretty tomboyish just like in terms of what he did. So if he wore Pokemon shirts, I wore Pokemon shirts, if he was playing Pokemon, I was doing that. If he was like roughhousing with his friends at the playground, I was doing that, I was always kind of chasing him. I would also say that as I grew up, because we both went to the same high school, I was always Preem's little sister in high school, and so all the teachers knew me as Preem's little sister. So it was just always part of my identity growing up. Chris Erwin:And was he excited to have you following him around or was it like, "Ugh, my little sister's here. This is annoying." Naomi Shah:No, my brother is somehow is super mature and always took care of me and was totally fine bringing me around. Even to this day, if he's hanging out with his friends, he's always like, "Oh yeah, my sister's in town, she'll come hang out with us." Chris Erwin:Jumping forward. But describing yourself as a tomboy growing up, and now you run a rom-com podcast network, a little bit of a funny juxtaposition there. Naomi Shah:Absolutely. I think it's hilarious. And even as a tomboy growing up, I loved rom-coms and I identified with a lot of the protagonists in rom-coms because one of my favorite ones growing up, Bend It Like Beckham was about a woman who really loved soccer and her parents wanted her to be the like classic good, perfect girl. And she was like, "Why can't I be that and play soccer?" Same thing with She's The Man. And so I always identified with that type of tension where I knew that I could play soccer, be really good at soccer, and still be a woman. I could really care about science and math and still wear makeup if I wanted to. Naomi Shah:And kind of taking away the tension between those two things was something that was really important to me growing up and something that I really appreciate that my mom spent a lot of time on with me. She's like, "Just because you do science fairs and you like swimming and soccer, it doesn't mean you can't care about what you wear and want to look nice and all of these other things that people associate with being feminine." And so I really liked being able to do both of those, and I think that that's a big part of my identity today. Chris Erwin:Speaking of your parents, you're just talking about your mom, what were your parents like? So we know that you have an early history and interest in STEM, today you're media and entertainment executive. Is that inspired by your parents at all? What did they do? Naomi Shah:My parents ran a company together, it was a software consulting company. And so pretty early on in life, my brother and I were exposed to my parents being leaders. And they would bring work home with them, they would talk about it at dinner, they'd talk about it when we were on family vacations. And so I always saw myself in a role where I was impacting a lot of change in an organization, not really knowing what that meant. More tactically, both my parents went to business school and studied business, so I always imagined that past for myself. It turns out I didn't end up going to business school and I just threw myself into founding. And I feel like I've picked up a lot of the things just by practicing it day to day that I would have learned in business school. Naomi Shah:So I kind of felt like I'd stepped off of their path there, but it was inspired by seeing how they ran a company together when they were in their early 20s and early 30s. Chris Erwin:Co-owners and co-running this company? Naomi Shah:Yeah. Yes. My mom was the president, my dad was the vice president. Chris Erwin:You think of things of like, okay, the family income is not diversified. It's not like if one person loses their job or the company goes under, the other one's okay. But it's also like, they work together, spend so much time together. I'm sure a lot of it went swimmingly, but there's probably times and it was difficult and challenging. Did that come into the home front as well? Naomi Shah:I can't remember that happening. And I think they did a good job of making sure that they protected us from that. To be completely honest, when I was growing up, all I knew is that my parents ran a company together, I didn't really look into what they were doing, what the company did, all of that. So I felt like I was sheltered from that a bit. I'm sure it did. I'm sure that there was a lot of complexities to running a company and they probably had to work through that, and they spent a lot of time together. But I think that they split up the roles and responsibilities both at home and at work in a way that worked really well for them. Naomi Shah:And there was also a lot of flexibility that you get from that, like my mom was there to pick us up from school and if we got sick, she would take care of us. When my mom would travel for work trips, my dad would turn into, we joked he was Mr. Mom and he would make all over meals for us and drop us off to play dates. And so they really shared the load. And I think that that has played into not only like how I see running a company and making sure that people feel ownership over different parts of it, but also how we think about relationships and how work and relationships can be a symbiotic relationship and not in tension with each other. Chris Erwin:That's well put. I was going to ask you, does entrepreneurship run in the family? Clearly. And, what are the values of your parents as entrepreneurs that inspired how you run your company, how you find balance, how you empower different relationships on your team? I think the note that you just gave on that is really thoughtful. Now, it's like middle school going into high school, how early does this theme around STEM interest and passion start? Naomi Shah:I think it starts probably early, early on in our lives. I could imagine learning to walk and going to a science museum around the same time. In Portland, Oregon, there's a science museum called The Oregon Museum of Science and Industry. And I just remember being maybe three or four years old and being in this Flubber room where you could just touch and play around with Flubber, and you're experimenting with how it's made and you're pressing it into different shapes and things like that. Naomi Shah:And my brother and my dad would be over in the chemistry and physics labs, and my mom would be in the Flubber room with me and I'd be walking around touching things and being like, "Why does this work this way? And what is this?" And they really encouraged us from a young age to not be scared of asking questions, not feel you're dumb because you don't understand how something works. And I think that they took it upon themselves to make sure that if we showed interest in something, that whatever that thing was, whether it was science or dance or writing, that they would help promote that curiosity in that space. Naomi Shah:And so I think that the curiosity piece has probably started way earlier than middle school, but my first foray into STEM and being interested in that happened in sixth grade, I would say when we were all, I remember this very vividly, we were all in the library at my middle school and our science teacher was like, "Everyone needs to do a science project this year. Go on Wikipedia, go on Google, go look for topics that you're curious about." And I was like, "That's an insane thing to ask a group of sixth graders. The world is huge, we're curious about so many things." Naomi Shah:And I remember like coming up with a list of topics that I was interested in and I ended up scratching all of them off, because I was like, "I want to do something that relates to my life and people in my life." And so what I ended up working on in sixth grade was a project around air quality and lung health because both my brother and my dad had allergies. And that was really the first time that I was setting up a research question, coming up with hypotheses, figuring out how to go about experimenting around it. And that process was what made me very interested in STEM and the whole discovery process. Chris Erwin:I have to admit, there's not many sixth graders who when tasked with a project and they could be like, "Go research any topic that you find interesting," that you take a pause, you caveat the project and say, "How is this going to help other people? How has this maybe going to help my family?" And then air quality comes to mind. So I think that's probably a pretty rare trait. Naomi Shah:I think so too. And I can't like take credit for that, I honestly think that like my science teacher in sixth grade probably sat down and helped me a lot with narrowing on topics. I actually think my dad was pretty influential and being like, "If you want to spend hours and hours researching something, you have to make sure you care about it." I'm pretty sure I came home and was like, "I want to build a hovercraft." I think that felt like the most interesting thing to me where I was like, "This is the future of travel. Let me research how to do that." My dad was like, "Awesome, I think that could be a really good project. Is that something that you as a person, as a human are really interested in?" Naomi Shah:And so I think I took some time there to think about, "What are things that I would actually want to know the answer to?" And seeing my brother and dad have allergies six months out of the year, I was like, "Why does that happen?" And I started looking up just very basic Google searches around it and found that indoor air quality was one of the top five silent killers. There's so many things that we know about pollution, we know about outdoor pollution, but no one really thinks about the air pollutants in their home. And so I was like, "Wow, no one talks about this. I don't know the first thing about it. I'm pretty curious in terms of, how does this affect my family?" Naomi Shah:I make it sound like in the hour that I was given, I figured it out, but I think it was like many conversations later, lots of lists, lots of hypotheses around these questions, and then I probably came to it. Chris Erwin:Got it. Okay. So it starts at an early age. You're describing an interest in STEM and science dating back to when you can start walking and you can actually visit some of these museums. Sixth grade, this big question for a report. Then you end up going to Stanford, and you actually focus on mechanical engineering and human biology. So at this point, you're going to undergrad, what did you think that your career was going to be? Naomi Shah:To be completely honest, because I was so interested in human health and things that impacted human health, I went in thinking that I would be a surgeon. I thought I was going to be pre-med the last couple quarters of high school before I went to Stanford. At Stanford, I started by taking a core classes like math and science that I would need for either an engineering major or if I were to do human biology, those were the classes I would need. So I went through a period of being a little bit confused about what my career was going to be. I can't say that I was like, "This is definitely what I want to dedicate my life to." Naomi Shah:And I think that that's pretty common for people in that age to go through a period of, "I'm not really sure what I wanted to do, but I know that whatever I end up doing, I want it to have an impact in some way." So I started out with human biology as my main focus. And then sophomore year, I took my first mechanical engineering class, kind of on a whim. I was excited about Stanford as a great design school, and I was excited about just sitting in on one of the classes there, figuring out what about design and engineering is pulling me into trying a class here. So I took my first class and was fascinated by the whole process of. you start with an idea, you sketch it out, you design it, you build it, you do user testing around it, you interview people, and then you put the final touches on it and you figure out how this could become a product in the world. Naomi Shah:And I think that that process to me felt very similar to the science research process that I loved in high school. I also feel like the pace of engineering felt very perfect for my personality where it's like, in academia, I think you'd spend a lot longer answering the same question and you have to be a lot more... you have to like apply for a grant, be patient about how long it takes you to get to the final answer. Whereas in engineering, you learn the process, you understand it, and you constantly apply that process to building. And I really liked that hands-on experience that Stanford offered in the mechanical engineering department. Chris Erwin:What I'm hearing though is also, you had a builder mentality early on where you liked the scientific method and process of, have a hypothesis, research, get some data, but also, you don't want to be stuck in the system where you're researching forever, that you wanted to put things out into the world. Naomi Shah:Exactly. And I think that that is a really important point, which is that, even in my science research when I was looking at air quality and lung health, when I got to my results and conclusions phase of the project, I think someone who wanted to stay in academia would have said, "Okay, this is great. I'm going to go back into the lab now." For me, what was interesting is, how does this connect into policy? How does this connect into building a product that people can use? So I think that my natural tendency at that point was to say, "What is the connection between research and humans? Naomi Shah:And that's where I loved mechanical engineering and in building because you had something physical that people could interact with. And so that's where I realized that, "Okay, I'm interested in the interface between engineering and humans. And so when people ask me, do I regret minoring in human biology? I always say, "No, I loved those lectures. I loved sitting down and learning about human development, psychology, behavioral studies, all of that, because I think that informs a lot of how you build." And tying that to today, building a company, constantly, I feel like I'm going through that process of like, "Here's a question, let's come up with what we think is going to happen. Let's go test it. Let's sit down and look at our results. Now let's see how can we implement those results into the product to make it better for our users." Naomi Shah:So I actually think that a lot of the things that I worked on starting in middle school, in college, and after college are all tied in to each other, and the common thread is just that curiosity and in that scientific process of question, hypothesis, results, and then implications, like, how does that tie into something tangible that people can touch? Chris Erwin:This is helpful because I went into this interview, Naomi, as I started doing research for it, I was like, "Okay, what's the through line here?" I was like, "Naomi is running a modern day audio media company focused on micro casts rom-com scripted content. Got it." So as I'm doing the research, I'm like, "All right, early STEM focus, mechanical engineering, human biology." I was like, "How does this come together?" But I think you've woven a tale for our listeners that makes a lot of sense. And I will say I've interviewed a lot of people on the show, I don't think anyone has a background like yours. Chris Erwin:But now, I think you might be inspiring maybe a whole new breed of people to enter into media entertainment saying, "Well, if Naomi can do it and look at her success now, then we can do it." My guest pedigree might be changing over the next couple of years. Naomi Shah:I love that you pointed that out. What I really about Meet Cute and how we've built Meet Cute is that I think we approach the space of media and entertainment through beginner's mindset. And I think that scientists and researchers always have to have a beginner's mindset because you never know what your results are going to be or what the data is going to show. And so, I often feel like media entertainment is one of those spaces that people are like, "Do you have a production background? Do you have an agency background? Do you know people in the industry?" Naomi Shah:And I actually think it's a strength to say no to those because you've come up with new solutions, new ways of doing things, you bring a fresh perspective to it. And honestly, I love talking about the different paths that it could take to get into media and entertainment because, to your point, we can inspire new people to join this way of like flipping existing and traditional models in an industry. But two, I think that people who are already in the industry love having conversations with new people because they bring a different perspective to the table, they bring something that hasn't been done before to the table. Naomi Shah:And so I love having those types of conversations and being like, "Yeah, I actually have no idea how these deals are done before, but here's an idea. What do you think of this?" Chris Erwin:I'd like to point out that you said also about a beginner's mind. It reminds me, I interviewed Matthias Metternich on this podcast, he's the founder and CEO of Art of Sport. And before he did that, he's launched a consumer product and media brand around it., he was at I think a FinTech company, like a B2B FinTech business. He actually also ran a women's bathing suit retailer and manufacturer. And I was like, again, "What's the through line?" He's like, "I like to get into industries with a fresh mind and solve consumer problems." And he's like, "I think it gives me an advantage versus I've been in this vertical for 20 years." Chris Erwin:But anyway, Naomi, we could go down a whole tangent on this. Before we get into your early career, going into being an equities trader at Goldman and being an investor at Union Square, I also do want to ask, I saw that, there's a pretty strong through line of volunteerism throughout your history. I saw Camp Kesem, I saw a StreetSquash, and then I saw OMSI, if I'm pronouncing that right. And so I'm just curious, when did this start? And I know Camp Kesem is for kids with parents undergoing cancer treatment. Honestly, I don't know what StreetSquash is. So what are some of the inspiration for these groups that you're involved in? Naomi Shah:This is a testament to my parents who have always encouraged us to try and be involved in our community in some way. OMSI is actually the science museum that I used to run around as a kid, and I volunteered there in middle and high school, basically talking about science experiments with the next generation of kids. And so I loved the education aspect of it. I thought that it was a way to give back to the community in a way to be involved in bringing STEM into more people's lives. Because I think that especially there is a stigma around middle and high school, I think a lot of women who could be really interested in STEM stop taking classes around it. Naomi Shah:And they either think that it's not for them or they don't see their friends in it, so they stop taking them, and that trickles into the breakdown of how many females are in certain college majors when you get to college. While I didn't think about this all as an eighth grader, now looking back, I can see that that was one of the things I loved most about volunteering at OMSI, is being able to bring an excitement around STEM to people who might not otherwise care about it. Showing people that there were really cool applications in the world by pursuing this stuff was part of OMSI. Naomi Shah:Camp Kesem in college was a summer camp that I worked at for a week at the end of the school year, and it was all Stanford counselors. I actually do have a personal relationship to cancer in my family, and so that was an important liaison for me. And it was at the first time that I shared that experience publicly, it was the first time I opened up about it to people that weren't in my closest circles. And I think that that was a really great way to be a leader and like learn how to lead with vulnerability and learn how to lead with transparency and honesty. Naomi Shah:And I think I take a lot of the things that I learned from being a counselor at Kesem into the way that I want our team to function at Meet Cute today, or the way that I interacted with my coworkers at USV and Goldman. Something that I always say is like, "Don't check your personality at the door, bring a lot of those experiences into your work." And I think it makes you a stronger colleague, I think it makes you a better teammate, I think it's easier to have discussions and brainstorms when you know a little bit more about your coworkers without oversharing. I think that that's also an important boundary to strike. Naomi Shah:So that was Camp Kesem, I loved being a counselor, I loved being outdoors. It was a week of no phones, a week of- Chris Erwin:So rare nowadays. Naomi Shah:Exactly. I think that those four weeks one every year was the longest I've ever spent off of my phone probably since I got a cell phone in middle school. It's one of the most liberating things when you come back to the real world at the end of the week and your phone is just like for the next 20 minutes, just like blowing up. And you're like, "It's actually so important to get away from your phones, but we just don't do it." And then the last one, you mentioned StreetSquash. Before I moved to San Francisco last year, I lived in New York for three years. And I don't play squash, but StreetSquash is a program that merges squash practice with academic involvement. Naomi Shah:It takes place in Harlem, in New York. And it's a primarily a program for kids who are usually first-generation, want to develop skills in a sport and get better in their homework and in academics. And we bring those two things together. And I actually love that because sports have been a part of my life growing up. I loved playing soccer when I was little, I ended up swimming in middle and high school, I skied throughout a lot of my childhood. And I found that having extracurricular activities that took up time meant that I was just more dedicated and learned things like discipline and showing up in teamwork, and those were all things that I think I took into school projects, my internships, my jobs after college. Naomi Shah:So I loved the combination of those two. And I started out as an academic tutor at StreetSquash, and then the second two years ended up co-chairing the young leaders committee. So was involved in fundraising, was involved in managing the board, all of that. Chris Erwin:Very cool. So now leaping forward a bit. You come out of Stanford, Naomi, and head to Wall Street, you become an equities trader at Goldman. Curious, what got you excited about going into finance? That was a path that I took right out of undergrad as well. What was the thinking? Naomi Shah:Yeah. I actually did an internship at Goldman my junior year. They came to campus and talked about how engineers that wanted to work on fast-paced problems could find a spot on the trading floor. Really interesting. And I was thinking about it and I was like, "I love patterns." When I think about science research, when I think about even mechanical engineering, I love looking for patterns in data and learning about why those exist and what we can learn from those patterns. And what was exciting to me about the trading floor is looking for those patterns in the public market, like how does this conflict internationally affect oil prices? Or how does a change in leadership in this government affect jobs? And things like that. Naomi Shah:So I think that I was just genuinely curious and I'd never applied it to thinking about the public markets until I started working at Goldman, and I loved the idea of working on projects that involve that data to the point that you were making earlier, applying that to something very directly, applying that to trades and making trades. So I can connect that in my mind to just curiosity and not really caring what the physical product was that I was working on, but instead caring about the process to get to that product. And so I actually loved my internship there. I really was excited about working in New York, about like that fast-paced lifestyle. Chris Erwin:You grew up in Portland you lived there your whole life, and then you were West Coast at Stanford, but you had never lived on the East Coast? Naomi Shah:Exactly. And I think part of me wanted to have one of those classic New York jobs. I think I was enamored by it. I loved the idea of waking up at... This is going to sound crazy, but I love the idea of waking up at like 5:30, grabbing a coffee and just being on all day. And I thinks that my personality has that intensity to it where I like the grind. And I think that that is part of what Goldman provided. They were like, "Yeah, everyone here is really smart and grinds, and you will be surrounded by people who will push you, will ask you questions. Will say, 'Why did you do that?'" And I really liked that. I thought that was a very important and pivotal part of my first job out of college. Chris Erwin:And what that sounds like to me, that's an early 20s love story with New York. Naomi Shah:Totally. Chris Erwin:I grew up in the tri-state area, Jersey Shore. And so I was super pumped about going into finance, being on Wall Street, being in New York, right out of undergrad, like you, Naomi, being like, "I'm going to work 24/7." To the point where I was walking around like delirious, because it was banking 7:00 AM to 4:00 AM, seven days a week. But it's funny, I'm seeing your eyes light up, which is probably reminiscent of when you were in your early 20s doing it. Now, you write about love stories, maybe you just got a theme for an upcoming Meet Cute show. Naomi Shah:We like to say that there's a rom-com every situation, so if there are there billion people in the world, there are nine billion rom-coms, and you can definitely see one happening around finance and the culture there. But yeah, I completely agree with you, I think that there is absolutely a... I wanted to live in New York, I wanted to have a job that pushed me really hard. I loved the culture around grinding. And I think that that was really a part of what made me sign a return offer at Goldman and come back as an equities trader. I really liked how fast paced the markets were. And I felt it played to a lot of my strengths. Naomi Shah:I always told people, "I don't think you need to be a finance major to go get a really good job in banking, I think you can be an art history major and apply that to banking. I think you can be an engineer and think of ways to automate and create process around trading." And I think that was what stood out on my resume to Goldman, where it was the scientific process, applying that to trading, how do you ask questions and create processes around answering those questions? And that's really the direction that banks want to go now. But what I've found there is that it didn't hit on the creativity part of what I was excited about. Naomi Shah:So I almost felt like a repetition to what I was doing that I liked at first, and then I started thinking, I don't know if this is what I want to do five or 10 years later. And I miss the creativity from building and college, from my mechanical engineering classes that said, "Okay, you have this idea. Now, go create it in the world, create something new that no one has seen before, and do it from scratch." And I missed that. So that's really what caused me to make the jump to venture capital, where I could work with early-stage founders and learn from them and learn that process of building something from scratch. Naomi Shah:And so that was what excited me about early-stage venture and about Union Square Ventures when I applied for that job, Chris Erwin:I also have to ask you just an inside question about Goldman and macro market trading. I know everyone likes to predict the markets of like, "Oh, there's a big governmental shift over here, some regulatory shift over there. Macro economic prices are soaring, they're falling." I think there's so much noise in the market that is actually very difficult to say, "Oh, because X happened, Y is then going to be the results," because you don't know the big institutional traders making their big market investments at incredible volume. Were you guys actually able to pinpoint specific market activity? I find that to be like so challenging for the retail traders that I talk to. Naomi Shah:Well, I definitely think you're right. I think that there is so much volatility and a lot of things can change an outcome of a trade. One of the interesting things is like, you have to be very good at taking risks in that role because you have no idea what the outcome could be. The market could move against you because something happens and you have to be really fast at trading out of that position. But I will say that there are a lot of research projects that you can do to say, "If this trade was executed... " Say for instance like oil prices crashed, "Well, what happened to these three prices when oil prices crashed five years ago, 10 years ago, 15 years ago?" Naomi Shah:So you can map out what you think is going to happen, what you predict is going to happen based on historical trade data and figure out patterns in that that create more educated hypotheses about what will happen today. And who knows, there could be so many confounding variables, so that's why you have to put a 95% confidence interval around it and then be okay with that 5% of risk where it's like, if something else happens that isn't part of your model, that'll move the needle on what the outcome of your trade is. Naomi Shah:Surprisingly, markets are so cyclical and you can come up with a lot of predictions based on historical trade data. And that's where the pattern recognition comes in. Chris Erwin:Very helpful. When you leave Goldman, I think you were there for about a year, did Union Square reach out to you or were you proactively looking for your next one? Naomi Shah:I was surprisingly not really aware that venture capital was a career path. And at that point, I think no one I knew was in VC, and so I didn't really understand what a job or a career in VC looked like, but I was looking around at different startups and different companies. And I stumbled upon the USV Blog, which is a dynamic blog that they post about their investments. And so I read back two or three years in their blog, like why did they make an investment in Twitter? Why did they make an investment in Duolingo? Why did they make an investment in SoundCloud and Etsy? Naomi Shah:And I was fascinated by, it's a very different risk profile than public markets because you're taking these like eight to 10 year bets on companies at the earliest stage of an idea, you're taking a bet on the idea and the founder. And I love reading why they took that bet, what convinced them to do it. And I felt like it was a really good example of taking some pattern recognition, which I think I had affinity towards and then taking some like creativity and intuition and saying like, "What do we want the world to look like in five years?" So I was reading their blog and then around that time, they actually put out a call for analysts and there was this two year analyst program. Naomi Shah:So in that evening that I was starting to read and stuff, I just submitted an application. I literally spent like a few hours on it, and the application was closing soon, so I probably just like made it into the application pool right as it was closing, and talked about what I found interesting about VC. And I think that one of the questions was, here are three companies, talk about whether you think they're overvalued or undervalued. And I obviously used a lot of my training from Goldman to answer that question, but then I applied a separate lens to it, which is like, what as a user do I think this company is doing well? I think I picked Snapchat, Chris Erwin:Were you bullish or bearish on Snapchat back then? Because now Snapchat is crushing it, but there were a lot of skepticism over the past. Naomi Shah:I was bullish. And I think that was rare. I think everyone else that just Snapchat was bearish at that time. And I pointed to a bunch of things that I thought they were doing really well and setting themselves apart. And maybe we're going through a tough few years, but I thought that they had a long-term view on a lot of things. And so I think that that was a pretty unique perspective. And then I backed it up with a few quantitative and qualitative points. Chris Erwin:What I like that I'm hearing from you is I think just going through your background, if you look at like STEM, engineering, biology, it was very defined data sets, very defined research methods and hypothesis creation. But I think then as you were saying, at Goldman, something you were missing was like, what's the creativity? What's the art and the science? And I think going into venture investing, and you're starting to read these theses on their blog, you're like, "Look, there's some market data and information, but the data sets are a lot less defined." And you have to trust your gut and have a different set of judgments. Chris Erwin:So it feels like the creativity vein you saw a lane for you that was building off of yet a financial background still got you excited, but this is clearly setting you up for even going deeper once you started Meet Cute, is that right? Naomi Shah:Also I'm very impressed with how you articulate things, because these are things that I've just started articulating to myself after years of doing this. And these are the types of things that I love thinking about. So absolutely. I think that venture investing is an art and a science. I think that founding a company is an art and a science. I love using both sides of my brain. I think that I didn't realize early on in my life that you could find a perfect fit that uses both sides of your brain. I love going deep and brainstorming and thinking creatively about things that don't exist. And I call it like my big picture brain. Naomi Shah:And then I love going into the details in the operations and saying, how does this actually work tactically? What are the steps we need to follow to get there? And I think both of those exist in venture investing and in founding a company. And at USV, I would do five to 10 coffee meetings with founders every week, and sifting through all of those conversations where every person is so passionate about what they're building was one of the coolest things. And a lot of it is intuition, you go into a founder meeting, which conversations make you lean forward and say, "This is the next big thing. This is what I want to invest in"? Naomi Shah:You get that when you feel that and when you find those companies, it's the best feeling in the world. And then it was my job as an analyst at USV to convince the team or one of the partners at USV, why they should spend more time with this company and meeting them. And so part of it was I had to tell a story to my team. And so there was like a storytelling component to venture capital that I think really trickled in. And I've pulled into things that I do at Meet Cute today, which is, we're a storytelling company, we're also a business that reports to investors. Chris Erwin:Hey listeners, this is Chris Erwin, your host of The Come Up. I have a quick ask for you. If you dig what we're putting down, if you like the show, if you like our guest, it would really mean a lot if you can give us a rating wherever you listen to our show. It helps other people discover our work, and it also really supports what we do here. All right, that's it, everybody, let's get back to the interview. Chris Erwin:I'm curious about the exposure to audio, because I was looking at the Union Square portfolio, I know Headgum is an audio network. That investment was made by, I think it was after your time there or in the latter half. So what was the exposure to podcasting and audio and how did the actual like idea of Meet Cute start coming to be? When you were there, I may have read that maybe some partners approached you about it, but elaborate. Naomi Shah:Like I said, I was spending a lot of time in the wellbeing category of our portfolio. And what I was excited about was there was an under-invested category within wellbeing in venture capital. And I wanted us to be looking at that category more seriously. And that was, what do people do for fun? So Chris, what do you do for fun when you're like trying to blow off steam? Chris Erwin:I like to surf and be in the ocean and in the water. Naomi Shah:Okay. That's a great example of it's not prescriptive, no one is telling you, you have to do this. It's not a meditation, it's not healthcare, it's not mental health, but that supports your mental health, that makes you feel good. Similarly, people like reading books, watching movies, scrolling on Netflix, listening to podcasts, listening to music, going to concerts. So I was like, "If we could find a company in the media and entertainment space that felt like a product or technology investment that mirrors in the investments that we've made in product and technology, that'd be pretty cool. That'd be a great coming together of two different categories." Naomi Shah:And so I started looking for a company in that space and spent a lot of time on it. And eventually was very excited about short form content, very excited about audio, very excited about a verticalized media company that created a niche for itself in a massive market that could attract many consumers through network effects. And so to be honest, you can do what we're doing in many different mediums, many different genres, but we just had conviction in audio and in romantic comedies. And that's why we started there. Naomi Shah:And so I was actually on the investment team at USV when I started working on this idea, I was working really closely with one of the partners, Andy Weissman, who also led the Headgum Investment. And at first it was like an incubation, I was literally working out of the USV office. It was only when I started building a team around it did we spin it out and make it a portfolio company rather than a project within USV. Chris Erwin:Seems like you're starting to operate as like an EIR, where you're an investor there, and then you're probably increasingly spending more time here, your passion is here. And so your role is changing at the company. Naomi Shah:Yes. And there was like a six-month period where I was just doing two jobs at once. I was looking for investments, and then also spending a ton of time building out the earliest stages of an idea and business model around what ended up being Meet Cute. At that time we were calling it something else. It was a very unique path to founding where I had a really close relationship with the partners at USV. They trusted me, they knew me. And so two or three months into building this, they said, "Why don't you come in and pitch us more formally?" Naomi Shah:And that was a crazy experience of being in the same room that I had sat in for the last two years listening to pitches and being on the other side of the table pitching my old colleagues at USV. Chris Erwin:Naomi, I have to ask, when you started working on Meet Cute, did you have conviction like, "This is it. I know this is a great idea. I'm going to build this"? Or was it more exploratory, which is like, "I think there's something here, let's see where it goes"? Naomi Shah:At the early stages, it was exploratory. It was, "Let's make one of these stories. Let's actually figure out how this process works. Do people like this? Is there a certain time constraint that we can apply to it?" And I think that keeping things flexible in the early stages of a company means that you get to learn from user feedback, you get to learn from listening data and engagement data. And so I like to say that we definitely have conviction in certain things, like we said, we want these stories to be uplifting and positive because there is a gap in that market, but keeping certain things open to feedback and listening data was really important to us too. Naomi Shah:So I would say it's definitely, it started out more exploratory, it started out trying to figure out how this works and how we can build it. And a big reason for that is the founding team at Meet Cute, didn't have experience in doing this. And so it was really an experiment to say, "Is this a good idea first? And then now let's fundraise around it and let's build a team around it to execute. Chris Erwin:Now, the tables are turned. You're now pitching the partners at Union Square for a company that you want to found, and you're asking them for money. So how does that go down? Naomi Shah:The biggest part of that pitch was taking a bet on a new idea where we're essentially bringing Hollywood and a product company together, and taking a bet on me as a former colleague of theirs. I think that there was a lot of comfort in the idea that I was pitching people I knew. So there was that kind of ease in it, but there was a completely new paradigm that I was now on the other side of the table, I was a founder and I was looking for the right fit in terms of like, are they asking me questions? Are they pushing me? And they absolutely did. Naomi Shah:They asked me, why are you thinking about it this way? What is the vision of the company? And I loved that. And I think it showed me early on that as a solo founder, you want investors who are going to challenge you and who are going to almost like build alongside you. They're not just going to put the capital in and then step back. And so part of the fundraising process for me was learning to be able to find investors that were really involved in hands-on. And I'd seen at Union Square Ventures, the way that the team did that with other portfolio companies. Naomi Shah:And so I was really excited about them being involved in Meet Cute, even though they're not traditional media entertainment investors, we were approaching it from a different way and they were very excited about that. So that was a big part of the pitch. A big part of it is leaving room for experimentation to the point we were just talking about and saying, "I'm okay, not knowing all the answers today, but here's what I think, and here's the things that I want to test. And here's the team that we have around Meet Cute to go execute on that." Naomi Shah:And I think that setting it up like that is a really strong way for a seed company to say, "We don't have all the answers, but we're about to go figure it out and work really hard to do that." Chris Erwin:I think that's well put. Look, I'm a strategic advisor for companies and I always have to tell the team, "Yes, we're known to be the experts, but we don't have to have all the answers in the moment. It's more about, let's have a point of view, a vision. Let's also stand in our power where we don't know the answers, but let's have a plan for how we can figure that out thoughtfully." And I think that when you take that approach with confidence, it actually instills a lot of confidence in an investor, in a client. So I think that shows great self-awareness, Naomi. Naomi Shah:Absolutely. And honestly, these were things that I picked up from getting pitched to a lot, where sometimes I would be in a conversation with a founder where I'd suggest, "Have you thought of this? Or what do you think of this?" And if they hadn't thought of it, but they were willing to engage in conversation around it or say, "I'm not sure, I need to look into that," and have that humility that maybe they don't have all the answers, I was like, "That might be a founder that is really fun to have brainstorms with and discussions with because they're open to learning." Naomi Shah:And I actually think that if you have all the answers, then you'd already be a massive success, whereas at the earliest stages of founding, a lot of things are still unproven. Chris Erwin:After this pitch, do you get the funding? I think it's a $3 million seed. Does that happen pretty quickly? Naomi Shah:Happens pretty quickly. And a big reason is that I raised from people that I knew. Plus, we brought in Advancit Capital, which is Shari Redstone's investment team. I already had a team around Meet Cute of founding team. We already had our head of content and head of development. And so we go right into making a story. We now have capital to start testing this out. And we start bringing in creators around us like writers, producers, voice actors, and just start developing relationships in the field. A lot of this is trial and error. Naomi Shah:And so we start saying like, "It doesn't make sense to have a writing team in-house. It does it make sense to go get a studio space or rent studio space. How do we open up a bank account?" And so I had this like ongoing checklist of things. Some of them is super trivial, how do we get an EIN number? All these things that I had never had to do before. And so I just asked a ton of questions of people around me and asked for help when we needed it. And that was what the first few months of starting was like, it was just, this fire comes up, let's put it out, let's try it again. Naomi Shah:We don't know the answer to this question, let's go ask an expert in the field and send out a few cold emails. And that was the process of figuring it out. Chris Erwin:I think you finalized the funding in January of 2020. So this is just right before COVID is hitting. But at this point, have you released any content? Naomi Shah:Our first series came out in December of 2019. So we did put some content out there, and no one knew about us at that point, so we just sent it around to people we knew, friends and family, asked for feedback, posted it on social media. We were just trying to get our earliest beta testers, for lack of better word, to give us feedback. Chris Erwin:How was it received? Naomi Shah:It was received really well. People really liked the short form. Some people hated it and were like, "This is never going to work." And then it was up to us to take certain feedback with a grain of salt and say, "No, we want to make another one. We think this is going to work." Overall, feedback was very positive, it was really fun to see even not being discoverable in the podcast platforms, yet we were getting some organic lessons from people, sharing us with their friends. Our creators that worked on that story shared as far and wide, like the voice actors, the producers, the developers of that story. Naomi Shah:And that was really encouraging to us to see how proud the people who worked on it were and how they wanted to make sure everyone in their networks knew about it too. So pretty quickly we had like a few hundred people listening to the story and qualitatively getting some feedback around what engagement. And listening was like, it encouraged us enough to make the next few in January. Chris Erwin:I know that at RockWater for our content, some of the most powerful ambassadors are just our internal team. So after we podcast or publish a writing piece, they help spread the word and then hopefully it catches fire elsewhere. That's how you build initially. I have to ask, one of your themes has building a really diverse set of creatives, and also which then enable very diverse rom comedies, micro cast stories from a values perspective, from geography, from ethnicity, from gender, sexual orientation. Was that part of the mandate from very early on, or is that something that evolved in the beginning of it? Naomi Shah:That was something that we made a conscious decision about. So rather than building out an internal team of writers and producers, we thought if we can open a network of people that can participate in Meet Cute and can participate in our creative process, that's going to be a part of our business model to have multiple voices, that diversity and inclusivity piece that we valued as a company, but now it's baked into the way that we create. So I think that at first, it was just we want those voices to be a part of Meet Cute because we think that will create better storytelling, and that was important to us. Naomi Shah:And over time we were like, "This is our MO. This is something that we're doing that no one else has. We have the largest network of creatives because we're enabling people from multiple geographies, people from any sexual orientation, people from around the world to participate in our storytelling. And so I would say, it's both a business value and it's a creative value at Meet Cute that we think that the stories that were told from people who might not have a voice in media and entertainment today otherwise, we get to benefit from their storytelling because they care about the stories that they tell. Naomi Shah:They share it with their communities, they write stories for communities that might not be represented in pop culture. And that means that those stories are making our platform more diverse and inclusive in a really organic way. And what's important to Meet Cute is that we don't tokenize those communities. We're not saying, "This is a story from the LGBTQ community." No, we want that to be normalized in our feed, and just to be another rom-com, all of these stories are rom-coms. There are multiple ways to love in the world, and we want to be the brand that captures all of those stories. Chris Erwin:I really like that. Speaking to another very strategic decision that you made early on was micro casts. This is something that's near and dear to my heart and that of the RockWater team. We launched a micro cast podcast ourselves called the RockWater Roundup over the past few months, where you get your industry news in like 10 to 15 minutes. The reason behind that, we've been evangelizing this to our clients is because the growth of smart speakers expected to be like a 650 million install base over the next few years. Chris Erwin:We think it's going to bring audio into the home, more routine-based listening, listening in between your day-to-day moment. So that's probably like shorter time. And then Spotify has their playlist and they're curating for you and they want to have shorter snippets to pull in, we think that there's a lot of tailwinds of like micro cast is an exciting format, but it still hasn't caught on in the broad industry. But you guys made this decision dating back nearly two years. So is that you're going to stick to, or are you also exploring long form? Tell me about that. Naomi Shah:Yeah. We really like, exactly to your point that these stories can fit in in your day, anywhere. Within our 15-minute stories, we have three-minute chapters. So on the way to a meeting or when you're waiting for your Uber or whatever it is, you can throw in a story and throw in a chapter and get a little escape from your day. And that to us was really exciting, because there are a lot of books out there that could be eight or nine hours, but it's just a bigger time commitment. And so we wanted to create a slightly new product and a new use case. Naomi Shah:And we're finding that people are consuming these throughout the day in the mornings when they're getting ready for work. Even though rom-coms traditionally are like your evening, Friday and Saturday entertainment, now we're pulling them into new parts of people's day because they're so accessible and they're so short that you can fit them in anywhere. And so to us, it was exciting that we could create new listening behavior around this genre. Chris Erwin:I like that. I like to read Modern Love from The New York Times. Like you said, Naomi, I typically read that maybe at night, on the weekends, it helps me relax, go to sleep with just like a good feel. But I was listening to one of your episodes, like a cruise episode because it reminded me I had lost love on a cruise line dating back 15 years. And I was like, "Oh, I got to check this out." And I just liked the feeling that it left me with. So I liked that you could start inserting this feeling like earlier in the day or midday, a little bit different. Naomi Shah:Exactly. Like you have a stressful meeting, you want 15 minutes of optimism, or hope, or human connection, we want Meet Cute to be the go-to place for that. And to your point, there is a lack of optimistic stories. If you think about Ted Lasso, I don't know if you've seen that? Chris Erwin:Oh, I love Ted Lasso. I just started watching the new season, it just came out. Naomi Shah:Yes. The second episode I think dropped yesterday, but I'm obsessed with it, and everyone that I've talked to is obsessed with it. And it's because there isn't that much content out there that isn't darker or anxiety ridden or doom-scrolling related. And I think people are craving that, especially after the last year, it was such a hard year. There were so many negative news cycles. You were scared about a lot of things in the world, and people want an escape. People want a consistent feeling of hope in their lives. Naomi Shah:And so you can get that through a Disney movie, you can get that through Ted Lasso. How do you get that around human connection and love? We think that there is a place in the world for that, and that's what we were hoping to build at Meet Cute. Chris Erwin:Naomi, before we wrap up with the Rapid Fire round at the end, I just want to hear, look, you launched a business right before COVID. COVID hits, you're a new young founder, incredible challenges, but clearly you guys are doing something right, because fast forward into the end of 2020, and you raise another six million. That I think is from Lerer Hippeau, Newark Venture Partners. And then it's off to the races. So tell me quickly, where is Meet Cute headed from here? What's the grand vision? Naomi Shah:Meet Cute vision for the company is to become the official source of romantic comedies. We want to be one of the largest entertainment brands on the order of magnitude of Disney and Pixar, and create universes that people fall in love with, characters that you want to wear on your sweatshirt and your tote bag. And honestly, be a best friend to people in the entertainment world because of the stories that we're telling. And so the core of that is being an incredible storytelling company, enabling creatives to do their work best, and building a verticalized media business that focuses on optimism, and hope, and human connection. Naomi Shah:So five years from now, we're still working on our audio stories, we can adapt some of those into other formats, into TV, film, books, live shows. We're selling merch for some of our biggest theories. We have a community of people that cares about the show and wants to listen to every series that comes out. I could go on and on. There's so many possibilities for what you can do, but at the core bit, it's become one of the greatest entertainment brands that's long lasting, that stays relevant and fresh, no matter how society evolves and pop culture evolves, we want to be at the apex of that. Chris Erwin:And right now, you're focused on building audience and you're not yet monetizing, is that right? Naomi Shah:We're focused on audience and community. That's correct. Chris Erwin:I get that you are preparing for the long term, the vision for five years, but we're in something that we talk about, we're in the middle of the audio wars, and you see incredible capital flows. Amazon buying Wondery, Amazon buying Art19. You see the exclusive rights deals for Call Her Daddy with Spotify, and also with SmartLess. You see SiriusXM buying Stitcher, and so much more. Is there a world where you must be thinking about, you may have already gotten inbounds for Meet Cute as an acquisition target? What do you think about that? Naomi Shah:Yeah, there is a ton of movement. There's new headlines every day in the podcast world, in the world of acquisitions. A lot of people are looking for exclusive content. I see Meet Cute as a large entertainment brand. And so working really hard to not get distracted in the meantime as we're building that and just focus on telling amazing stories and building our community, I think it does take putting blinders on. And our work is set out for us, and that's something that we're excited about in the next few years. Chris Erwin:Before the Rapid Fire, I just want to give you some kudos, Naomi. Going into this interview, I think I was telling you before, you're one of the youngest people that we've brought on in terms of your experience, your experience before actually starting a company, but I think it's been so rewarding for me to hear about coming from such a different background from so many other media and entertainment professionals that have interviewed that it's been very refreshing. And I think that you make a really great case for why a background like yours is so powerful and it's so relevant and could be a really strategic asset for you. Chris Erwin:That's great to hear for additional investment that might come your way, additional team members that you want to recruit, but I really think that your story could also start to recruit new founders into the media and entertainment ecosystem, which would be such a beautiful thing. I think overall, Hollywood, traditional and digital new Hollywood needs some rethinking, some new brains and muscles to add to the mix. And I think that you're really paving the way for it. And I think that how thoughtful you are for how you are building and how that's inspired by some of like your home grown roots and your parents is a really beautiful thing. So I think you're set up for some really great success. And I want to acknowledge that Naomi Shah:Thank you so much. That means so much coming from you. I think that like new founders in any space, rethinking things, flipping the status quo, building from scratch, I love seeing that kind of movement in an industry, especially one that has been around for so long and things are done a certain way. And so I'm very excited to be building in a space that we can rethink a lot of the existing assumptions. And I know the whole Meet Cute team is excited about that. So I appreciate you acknowledging that. And I think that more people should jump into feels that they might not have experiencing, but have good ideas around. Chris Erwin:All right. Now we're in the Rapid Fire round, six questions. The rules are that you can answer as short as possible. So it could be just one sentence, it could maybe even just be one or two words. Do you understand the rules, Naomi? Naomi Shah:I understand the rules. Chris Erwin:Proudest life moment? Naomi Shah:Meeting President Obama. Chris Erwin:Oh, wow. Okay. What do you want to do less of in 2021? Naomi Shah:Being a slave to Google Calendar? Chris Erwin:What do you want to do more of? Naomi Shah:Spending time on big picture vision for Meet Cute. Chris Erwin:Not setting up EIN numbers anymore? That mini-stuff. Naomi Shah:Not setting up the EIN numbers. That's right. Chris Erwin:What one to two things drive your success? Naomi Shah:Caring about community and the people around me. Chris Erwin:Advice for media execs going into the second part of 2021, and then into 2022? Naomi Shah:Have conviction even when things are really rocky, like a global pandemic, and don't overthink things. Chris Erwin:Yeah. Keep it simple, is a core value for us too. Any future startup ambitions? Naomi Shah:I like blinders, so I'm focused on Meet Cute right now. I think Meet Cute has a lot of potential in terms of new products and offshoots from Meet Cute. And so I'm excited to explore that more. Chris Erwin:Before I ask you the last one, I have to go back. What were the circumstances for meeting Obama? Naomi Shah:Honestly, that was the first thing that popped into my head. I think that the things that I'm proudest about are the science research that led me to meeting President Obama. It was just something I spent seven years working on it, and that was an example of hard work pays off. We got to visit the Oval Office and I have a really funny photo with him where I have like a Lego trophy and it fell on the floor, and all that. So that was the circumstance. Chris Erwin:I love that. Very cool. All right. Last one, this is easy. How can people get in contact with you? Naomi Shah:Any social media. I'm on Instagram, Twitter, LinkedIn, DM me, follow Meet Cute. Love Responding to DMs and happy to chat. Chris Erwin:Awesome. Naomi, this has been a delight. Thank you so much for being on the show. Naomi Shah:Thank you so much for having me. This was awesome for me as well. Chris Erwin:Wow. It's amazing how much Naomi has accomplished so early on in her career, yet she's so down to earth. That was such a fun chat. Really enjoyed it. All right. In closing, reminder that one, we love to hear from all of our listeners. So shoot us a note. If you have any guest's ideas, any feedback for the show, you can reach us at tcupod@wearerockwater.com. And also that we have a new podcast that's out, it's called the RockWater Roundup, where me and my colleague, Andrew Cohen, we break down must-know medi

Have you ever experienced FOMO in investing?  Investing used to seem like an exclusive, daunting endeavor, especially for women and minorities. But the upward trend of online investing is changing all of that.  Today Scarlett Sieber hosts a lively discussion about the role of social media in investing featuring Lisa Carmen Wang, Global Head of Brand and Communications at Republic, Katie Perry, VP of Marketing at Public, and Meagan Loyst, VC at Lerer Hippeau and Founder of Gen Z VCs.  This second episode about women in investing is centered around the powerful impact that online communities have on investing.  In this conversation, you'll gain insights into some of the most pressing questions surrounding the impact of social media on investing today.  Click here to subscribe and listen: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/the-yield/id1527659260Key Takeaways:[:51] An introduction of the panelists on this second Women in Investing podcast. [4:02] The impact that a supportive online community has on the ability to invest. [8:25] Enhancing a global network like the one in Gen Z VCs is made much easier in an online community. [11:00] The critical difference that online options make for otherwise forgotten groups of investors.[17:32] How can investors link their spending behaviors to their investment portfolios? [21:06] Do women have a competitive advantage with online investing versus traditional?[27:17] Normalizing conversations around wealth and investing. [34:38] The net positive impact of social media on investing and increasing media literacy. [37:10] Why aren't more women investing in crypto? [40:50] First time investor tips from a retired professional athlete. [44:11] Are new and uninformed investors too heavily influenced by social media? [48:28] What should women be investing in today?[50:31] Final thoughts and key takeaways from these investors. Mentioned in This Episode:Yieldstreet

Natalie Sportelli was bitten by the writing bug at a young age, working her way from an Associate Content Producer role at Forbes to becoming the Head of Content at a hot new company called Thingtesting. If you've ever wondered what it's like to have a role in content, this is the episode for you. Natalie walks us through her content-related roles at Forbes, VC firm Lerer Hippeau, and Thingtesting, while sharing her best advice around leveraging your network to find new roles and how to get that promotion or raise at your current company. Thingtesting Careers at Thingtesting The Job Seeker Lab withSarina - Enrollment Is Now Open! Sarina's Free Networking & Job Search Tracker

This week our hosts chat with Caitlin Strandberg of Lerer Hippeau. Based in New York, this early-stage venture firm invests across all sectors, backing entrepreneurs with product vision, customer insight, and a keen instinct for brand building.

Hey everyone, Michael here

Nash Ahmed, Founder and CEO of Undock Nash Ahmed is a serial telecom executive and the Founder and CEO of Undock, an artificial intelligence-enabled meeting platform built for the future of work. Nash raised a $1.6M seed round from Lightship Capital, Bessemer Venture Partners, Lerer Hippeau, and other notable investors. Prior to Undock, Nash ran a company that started providing telephony solutions to enterprise clients and evolved into a full suite of technology services. That path led to his interest in communication tools and particularly video. Nash's unique expertise includes product building from a design and engineering perspective. He holds a bachelor's degree in computer science and business management from Drew University, but design has always been a personal passion that manifested itself in projects ranging from graphics and photography to interior design and audio production. Join Our community of thousands of entrepreneurs at https://entre.link/EntrepreneurShow Follow us on social media @joinentre --- This episode is sponsored by · Anchor: The easiest way to make a podcast. https://anchor.fm/app

This week we had on Meagan Loyst, a VC at Lerer Hippeau based in New York. Lerer Hippeau is one of the most active and well-respected early-stage venture funds in the world, and within her role, Meagan focuses primarily on Seed and Series A investments in consumer, digital media, e-commerce, emerging tech, and enterprise software. Meagan recently did some interesting work around Gen Z trends, and after interviewing 75 other young investors from around the world, she published some of here findings here. In this talk, we discuss: Meagan's path into early-stage investing, Why she decided spend so much time understanding Gen Z investment preferences, Her main takeaways and companies to watch based on her findings

John leads growth for Air, a Brooklyn based creative collaboration start-up backed by several leading VCs including Lerer Hippeau and Tiger Global. Our conversation delves into navigating the early decisions in your career, having hard conversations with the people closest to you, becoming a T-shaped individual, nurture vs nature, power of the side hustle and risk mitigation techniques and alignment between your personal values and goals with the culture of the company you work for.

Successful disruption is difficult to spot. Ideas are endless, talk is cheap, and many founders flourish, while others fall to the wayside. How can anyone be sure what will be a truly successful venture, and what's simply hype (or talk)? We asked Joe Medved, a Partner at Lerer Hippeau, a highly active seed-stage investment firm that funds innovative founders across nearly all industries. He came on the #FlipMyFunnel podcast, where Dave Knox interviewed him as part of Dave's #TakeoverTuesday series. Here's what we're unpacking today:  Venture capital funding How to determine whether a venture will be successful As a VC, what key trends does Joe see on digital disruption? What is at the foundation of disruptive brand creation? Are emerging digitally native vertical brands going to expand, or get acquired by bigger players? How is voice going to impact brands? How can business leaders evaluate new entrepreneurs with ideas they have no experience in? How Twitter helps you keep up with disruption   This #TakeoverTuesday episode of the #FlipMyFunnel podcast is cohosted by Dave Knox, and special guest Joe Medved.

Jonah Goodhart is the CEO and co-founder of Moat, a New York–based analytics company focused on driving success for brand marketers and premium publishers. Moat raised $70 million from investors like First Round Capital, Founders Fund, Lerer Hippeau, Insight Partners, or Founder Collective to name a few. Moat was ultimately acquired by Oracle for a reported $850 million. Jonah was the founding investor and board member of Right Media (acquired by Yahoo for a reported $680 million), founding partner of WGI Group and co-founder of Billions.org. Jonah was also a member of Mayor Bloomberg's Council on Technology and Innovation.