Podcasts about precursor ventures

In this episode of The Distribution, host Brandon Sedloff sits down with Charles Hudson, Managing Partner and Founder at Precursor Ventures, to explore the challenges and opportunities of pre-seed investing. Charles shares how his early career at In-Q-Tel and Uncork Capital shaped his thesis for launching Precursor—a fund intentionally designed to write small checks to first-time founders before there's traction, product, or even a network. They discuss the philosophy behind backing “strangers with data,” how to identify founders with the resilience and creativity to thrive at the zero-to-one stage, and what's often misunderstood about investing in companies before traditional signals exist. Charles also reflects on why staying small by design is key to Precursor's success and how firm culture, founder psychology, and capital strategy all intertwine in early-stage venture. They also cover: * How product velocity is a leading indicator of startup success * The shift from institutional seed to pre-seed and why timing matters * Red flags and green flags when backing solo vs. co-founding teams * Why domain expertise isn't a requirement—and when it actually matters * Precursor's use of founder assessments and frameworks for diligence * Thoughts on AI, market timing, and where the next generation of breakout companies will emerge This episode is a must-listen for investors, founders, and allocators who want a firsthand look at how conviction, curiosity, and consistency define the earliest stages of venture capital. Links: Charles on LinkedIn - https://www.linkedin.com/in/chudson/ Precursor Ventures - https://precursorvc.com/ Brandon on LinkedIn - https://www.linkedin.com/in/bsedloff/ Juniper Square - https://www.junipersquare.com/ Topics: (00:00:00) - Intro (00:01:51)  - Charles' background and career (00:13:52) - Advice to young professionals (00:17:06) - More on Charles' career  (00:30:45) - Launching Precursor (00:34:39) - The current state of Precursor and their mindset toward investing (00:38:33) - What to look for in founders (00:42:38) - How do you narrow your funnel of founders you're interested in investing with? (00:54:40) - What's your view on AI as an investable industry?

In this episode of The Data Minute, Peter Walker (Head of Insights at Carta) is joined by Charles Hudson (Managing Partner and Founder, Precursor Ventures and writer of the Venture Reflections Substack - chudson.substack.com) for a deep discussion about pre-seed deals, the differences between multi-stage and small funds, and the types of investing that work in this AI dominated market. They also cover SAFEs, how pre-seed investing has changed, Charles' time in the National Venture Capital Association, and how what happens in Washington can affect emerging managers nationwide.Subscribe to Carta's weekly Data Minute newsletter: https://carta.com/subscribe/data-newsletter-sign-up/Explore interactive startup and VC data, with Carta's Data Desk: https://carta.com/data-desk/Chapters:00:00 Welcome1:42 Intro to Precursor Ventures7:06 The changes in pre-seed syndication13:38 Setting aside reserves in funding15:23 Competing with multi-stage funds19:12 Distinctions in AI funding 23:09 Making the case for small funds30:51 SAFEs and priced rounds37:47 Handling LP concerns39:34 Secondary selling and liquidity 43:24 Speed round questions43:29 Most interesting sector or subsector for investment?44:12 Most unique way that a GP has brought value to a portco?45:45 The one question more founders should ask in fundraising?48:16 The National Venture Capital AssociationThis presentation contains general information only and eShares, Inc. dba Carta, Inc. (“Carta”) is not, by means of this publication, rendering accounting, business, financial, investment, legal, tax, or other professional advice or services, and is for informational purposes only.  This presentation is not a substitute for such professional advice or services nor should it be used as a basis for any decision or action that may affect your business or interests. © 2024 eShares, Inc., dba Carta, Inc. All rights reserved.

Join Shaherose & Aamir as we reflect on our conversation with Charles Hudson of Precursor Ventures. Highlights: Don't forget the macro: Government regulations can lead to massive opportunities or failures. We discuss case studies of companies like Samsara, Movtive (fka KeepTrucking), Republic, and Zum, showing how regulatory shifts led to category-creating opportunities. Charles' worst investment was wiped out due to changes in government regulation. Team vs market: We discussed the interplay between having the right team, idea, and timing for startup success. Charles evaluates opportunities 70% team and 30% idea. Both Aamir and I take a more balanced approach than Charles does.Fund size vs. outcomes: Reflecting on the past learning, "Your fund size is your strategy." We wonder what role that played in Charles' decision to invest in the Athletic, later acquired by the NY Times for $550M.Links:Follow Charles Hudson on Twitter: @chudsonRead Charles' blog on SubstackLearn more about Precursor Ventures: Precursor VenturesConnect with Charles Hudson on LinkedIn: Charles HudsonConnect with Us:Follow the First Funders PodcastNewsletter with behind-the-scenes access and key takeawaysTwitter/X: @shaherose | @aviraniEmail us with feedback and suggestions on topics and guestsDisclaimer: This is for information purposes only. This is not investment advice.(00:00) - Introduction and Format Change (00:39) - The macro matters (03:40) - Learning from past investments while staying open minded, what about bias? (04:12) - Team vs. Market (10:36) - Fund size vs outcomes (16:17) - Investors don't know it all

Hailing from Michigan, Charles developed an early obsession with the public markets in high school. Charles Hudson is now the Managing Partner at Precursor Ventures, a pre-seed venture fund that has defined and has become synonymous with “pre-seed”. Charles is known for his ability to identify and mentor early-stage companies that have the potential to disrupt their industries - first and early - including companies like the Athletic (acquired by the NY Times for $525m), Bobbie (recently raised a $70m Series C), Carrot Fertility (recently raised $75M Series C) and Pair Eyewear (recently raised $75M Series C).Charles writes checks of $250k - $500k at Pre-seed and Seed. He is a Generalist with a focus on digital health, media, and software.Highlights:The boomerang back to VC: Charles shares his unique path from Michigan to Silicon Valley, starting in VC, then moving to Google and various startups before returning to VC.Founding Precursor Ventures: Charles spotted an opportunity to invest in non-obvious founders pre-product and pre-revenue while other firms moved upstream in 2015. This made him one of the first in a second wave of pre-seed firms to launch, and 10 years later, he's become the go-to first funder.Evaluating Founders vs. Ideas: Charles is a founder-first investor (founder 70%, idea 30%). He shares his criteria for assessing talent and reveals indicators of success that have generated alpha in his portfolio.Investment Strategy over Trends: Even in the face of trends like crypto, AI, and the economic downturn, Charles stays steady and focused on people and his definition of pre-seed, not morphing with industry shifts.Links:Follow Charles Hudson on Twitter: @chudsonRead Charles' blog on SubstackLearn more about Precursor Ventures: Precursor VenturesConnect with Charles Hudson on LinkedIn: Charles HudsonConnect with Us:Follow the First Funders PodcastNewsletter with behind-the-scenes access and key takeawaysTwitter/X: @shaherose | @aviraniEmail us with feedback and suggestions on topics and guestsDisclaimer: This is for information purposes only. This is not investment advice.(00:00) - Intro (00:52) - Early Days and Building Community (03:09) - Interning at Smith Barney to the CIA's Venture firm (08:59) - Embracing Risk and Independent Thinking defines a solo GP (11:05) - Operating Experience As Product Manager, then Business Development at Google and a Return to VC (16:50) - Charles' first role as an advisor surprisingly had a $300M acquisition by Paypal (19:55) - Joining Softech (now Uncorked) in 2010 when Seed investors were known as Super Angels (21:10) - Launching Precursor to fill the gap created by Super Angel Funds going upstream and defining a new category - "pre-seed" (23:50) - First Investments: the role of macro tailwinds and headwinds (27:57) - Evaluating Founders 70% and Ideas 30% (31:03) - The Role of Business Model Innovation in Generating Alpha (33:25) - Learning from Challenging Investments: If you don't know its ok, but say something (38:01) - Staying True to Your Investment Strategy (40:44) - Charles' best investment: The Athletic, acquired by the New York Times for $525M (45:55) - How he Decides: Evaluating Founders and Their Potential, Weird Patterns, Product Velocity, Remote Teams (51:38) - Current Investment Strategies, Focus Areas and Check Sizes (53:25) - Following High-Potential Talent vs. Investing Theses: People vs. Market vs. Product Evaluations (57:00) - Speed Round

Produced by Foundersuite (www.foundersuite.com), "How I Raised It" goes behind the scenes with startup founders and investors who have raised capital. This episode is with Hillary Bush of Pollen (https://www.runpollen.com/) a professional community for freelancers, consultants, and other independent operators. In this episode, we talk about the future of work, how the entrepreneurial journey is "concurrent not linear," tips for scaling a consulting business, why it's important to find investors who don't shy away from the "tough parts" of building a startup, how to get to a no faster, tips for reducing friction in the fundraising process, and more. Pollen most recently raised a raised $4M in funding from ANIMO VC, Founder Collective, XYZ Venture Capital, Precursor Ventures, and a group of prominent angels. How I Raised It is produced by Foundersuite, makers of software to raise capital and manage investor relations. Foundersuite's customers have raised over $17 Billion since 2016. Create a free account at www.foundersuite.com. If you are a VC or investment banker, check out our new platform, www.fundingstack.com

About Our Guest:Charles Hudson is a well-known figure in the Silicon Valley venture capital space. He is the founder and managing partner of Precursor Ventures, an early-stage venture capital firm. With over 26 years of experience in the industry, Charles has made a name for himself as a trusted investor and advisor to numerous successful startups. Summary:Charles Hudson, founder and managing partner of Precursor Ventures, shares his insights on venture capital and the process of investing in high-growth companies. He emphasizes the importance of investing in the right people and the challenges of evaluating early-stage startups. Charles also discusses the role of the board of directors and the impact of acquisitions on venture capitalists. Key Takeaways: Venture capital is a sub-branch of finance that aims to fund high-growth companies and help them achieve their full potential. The most important factor in investing is the founder's ability to turn their idea into reality. Venture capitalists aim to find outlier companies that can become worth hundreds of millions or billions of dollars. The role of the board of directors is to evaluate the performance of the CEO and provide guidance and support. The venture capital industry is slowly evolving to be more open and inclusive, but there is still progress to be made. Quotes: "I'm investing mostly in things that don't yet exist." - Charles Hudson "The more money you raise, the less fixated I am on the idea because money equals time." - Charles Hudson "Good boards can make you a better leader, a better CEO." - Charles Hudson "Sometimes good people pick bad ideas." - Charles Hudson "I want invest in companies that I think can become IPO candidates." - Charles Hudson Transcripton --- Send in a voice message: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/lexib/message

Charles Hudson is the Managing Partner at Precursor Ventures, a classic seed-stage investment firm focusing on B2B software applications, B2C software and services, and connected hardware. Charles also serves as the Board Chair at the National Venture Capital Association and is a lecturer at the Stanford University Graduate School of Business. Before launching Precursor, Charles was a Partner at SoftTech VC, one of the most active seed stage investors in Internet and mobile startups. He was also the Co-Founder and CEO of Bionic Panda Games, an Android-focused mobile games startup. He spent several years working at In-Q-Tel, the strategic venture capital group for the Central Intelligence Agency. You can learn more about: 1. How to start a VC fund 2. How to craft a compelling pitch to LPs and cultivate an influential investor network 3. How to create a unique fund strategy    ===================== YouTube: @GraceGongCEO Newsletter: @SmartVenture LinkedIn: @GraceGong TikTok: @GraceGongCEO IG: @GraceGongCEO Twitter: @GraceGongGG =====================

Comeet, a global leader in collaborative recruitment software, and Spark Hire, a top-rated video interview platform, have announced plans to merge. The combined company will offer the most comprehensive suite of talent acquisition products on the market, including applicant tracking, candidate management, and video interviewing. https://hrtechfeed.com/hr-tech-merger-comeet-and-spark-hire/ NEW YORK — Pollen, a membership powering freelance careers, has raised $4M in funding from ANIMO VC, Founder Collective, XYZ Venture Capital, Precursor Ventures, and an esteemed group of angels. https://hrtechfeed.com/freelance-membership-platform-raises-4-million/  Workato, the Enterprise Automation platform, announced AI@Work which includes significant product updates that enable enterprises to adopt AI for automations to drive business efficiency. The new capabilities are seamlessly integrated into the Workato platform and leverage OpenAI technologies. https://hrtechfeed.com/workato-introducing-workato-copilot-generative-ai-functionality/ Seattle startup Humanly which helps companies automate their recruiting functions, raised $12 million to help fuel growth of its AI-powered software, Geekwire is reporting. https://hrtechfeed.com/ai-recruiting-chatbot-humanly-raises-12-million/ AMS the RPO provider announced the launch of AMS One, its proprietary RPO Operating system. https://hrtechfeed.com/ams-launches-ams-one-the-rpo-operating-system/  

Episode #74, Charles Hudson, Managing Partner, Precursor Ventures on Generative AI *Discussing how investors and founders can think about new generative AI startups that appear to have build products in days or weeks compared to years. *What this new technology means for developing moats or barriers to entry for startups that can create working products so quickly. *Early days of emerging managers with SoftTech VC / Uncork Capital and working with other emerging managers generating much higher returns than the large 30 year funds. *Founding a new VC emerging manager and migrating from small ticket LPs to larger institutional LPs. *Portfolio construction for early seed and strategies for follow on investing.   YouTube: https://youtu.be/qTz9frTbkq8 andrew@7bc.vc https://www.linkedin.com/in/romans/   Thanks to our sponsor Pacific Western Bank, Startup Banking & Venture Debt, Mark diTargiani, mditargiani@pacwest.com --- Send in a voice message: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/firesidevc/message

Good evening everyone. Happy AAPI Heritage month to you all! I am honored to be moderating our South Asian Women Trailblazers event today. Each and every panelist here tonight has brought about monumental change in their industries and are considered pioneers in their field, and have had a huge impact in their communities. It is my honor to be here this evening and to welcome our distinguished panelists for this important conversation.  Anu Aiyengar is someone we all know and are immensely proud of for representing us in finance on the world stage. She's the Global Co-Head of Mergers and Acquisitions at JPMorgan Chase & Co. She's been honored on Barron's “100 Most Influential Women in U.S. Finance” list and was recognized by American Bankers as one of the “Most Powerful Women in Finance.” Welcome, Anu Aiyengar. Assembly member Jennifer Rajkumar is a lawyer, professor, and government leader who made history as the first South Asian American woman ever to be elected to a state office in NY. She has passed landmark legislation protecting domestic workers, creating New York State's first AAPI Commission, and expanding support for victims of crime. Welcome Assemblywoman Jennifer Rajkumar. Snigdha Sur is the Founder and CEO of The Juggernaut, a Y Combinator and Precursor Ventures-backed media company telling smart South Asian news, entertainment, and human interest stories that were left untold.  She is fluent in Hindi and Bengali and sometimes can slip into Mandarin. Welcome Snigdha Sur. And finally, Dr. Sue Varma is a board-certified psychiatrist and Clinical Assistant Professor of Psychiatry at New York University (NYU) Langone Health. Dr. Varma is considered the nation's leading "Go-To" psychiatrist and mental health expert often called in for breaking news and has been featured on NBC, ABC, CBS, and Dr. Oz. Welcome Dr. Sue Varma. 

Upcoming Event!How Can Mindfulness Give You a More Abundant Retirement?Are you ready to let go of anxiety and find the peace of mind you seek as you prepare for your golden years? Your Answer Lies in These 5 Critical Retirement Questions: Am I on track for financial independence?What do I need to do to get on track?How do I design a mindful investing portfolio?How do I manage that portfolio and my income over time through changing markets?How do I prepare non-financially for retirement? What are the dominant variables in a happy retirement?Learn more: https://courses.mindful.money/mindful-retirement-review-workshop/Charles Hudson is the Founder and Managing Partner of Precursor Ventures, and early-stage venture capital firm focused on investing in the first institutional round of investments for the most promising software and hardware companies. Today, Charles joins the show to discuss the work he does as a venture capital investor, his philosophy of investing in diverse founders with a variety of ideas, and traits he looks for in an attractive investment. Charles explains the landscape of venture capital, shares the value that Precursor Ventures provides to founders, and discusses his passion for helping entrepreneurs scale and grow their businesses.

About Clutchwww.thatsclutch.comHQ: Houston, TXFounded: 2021Funding: $1.2M pre-seed funding (Precursor Ventures, HearstLab, Capital Factory, DivInc, etc.)Media Kit: https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/19RzgNVtaASi8Vo9bs9hZLoZSLuI3tSZyAbout: Founded in 2020 by Madison Long and Simone May, Clutch is the digital marketplace connecting creators with businesses. With our people-first platform, creators have the opportunity to monetize their unique talents and passions by helping businesses with their content creation needs. We are currently focused on connecting Gen-Z student creators with small businesses and national brands in need of digital marketing. We believe that by giving creators access to remarkable digital work opportunities with businesses, creators and businesses thrive. Our vision is to build a world where authentic, engaging work supports a more sustainable, equitable lifestyle.Founders Bios:Madison Long (CEO and Co-Founder): Madison is the CEO and Co-Founder of Clutch where she drives the company's vision of building a world where authentic, engaging work supports a more sustainable, equitable lifestyle. Her passion for entrepreneurship and helping the next generation thrive began in childhood including spending her high school summers creating a math mania programmatic instruction class for middle school students in need and working with youth advocacy programs in college. Prior to Clutch, Madison was a Program Development & Analytics Lead at Lean In where she led multiple initiatives including the foundation's 2020 Women in the Workplace report along with their first project focused on empowering youth girls. She was a Finance Rotation Program Analyst at Microsoft prior to her time at Lean In where she contributed to their Latin America HQ, Cloud and Artificial Intelligence OPEX, Customer Services and Support, and Internal Audit teams. Madison's overall goal is to create opportunities for the next generation to thrive in life and work. Twitter: https://twitter.com/madisonl0ngLinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/madisonlong5/ Simone May (CTO and Co-Founder): Simone is the CTO and Co-Founder of Clutch where she leads the company's efforts in translating their customer's needs into their product and technical functionality. Her interest in the world of technology and seeing what software can do began at a young age as she grew up with two engineers as parents and developed a passion for math, science and tinkering with all sorts of technical gadgets and projects that her parents worked on. Prior to Clutch, Simone was a Consultant at Accenture where she learned how to build a product from the ground up focused on learning first what the product's clients' needs are and then how to translate their needs into something technical. She has a passion for democratizing access to information and innovation that no one has had before, and leveraging technology to make the world a more equitable place. Twitter: https://twitter.com/Simone_May_,LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/simone-may/ 

Charles Hudson is the Managing Partner and Founder of Precursor Ventures, an early­ stage venture capital firm focused on investing in the first institutional round of investment for the most promising software and hardware companies. Under his leadership, Precursor Ventures has raised four funds and has over $175 million under management. He has invested in 250 companies and supported more than 400 founders, including the teams behind Clearco, Juniper Square, The Athletic, Incredible Health, Carrot, and Pair Eyewear.  Prior to founding Precursor Ventures, Charles was a Partner at Uncork Capital and Co­Founder and CEO of Bionic Panda Games. He holds an MBA from the Stanford Graduate School of Business and a B.A. in Economics and Spanish from Stanford University. Charles maintains close connections with his alma mater through volunteer service and teaching at GSB. He is an active member of the VC community, serving on several advisory boards and as a mentor to a number of emerging managers. Charles also serves on the Advisory Board for the San Francisco Opera Association. --------- Take the Next Reality Hero Quiz at http://www.heroesofreality.com

Charles Hudson of Precursor Ventures joins Paul and Randy to talk about what it's like to be a Solo GP.See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Charles Hudson is the founder and managing partner of Precursor Ventures, an early­ stage venture capital firm focused on investing in the first institutional round of investment for the most promising software and hardware companies. Under his leadership, Precursor Ventures has raised four funds and has over $175 million under management. He has invested in 250 companies and supported more than 400 founders, including the teams behind Clearco, Juniper Square, The Athletic, Incredible Health, Carrot, and Pair Eyewear. In this conversation with Stanford adjunct lecturer Ravi Belani, Hudson discusses his views on the structural inequities in the venture capital industry and how he thinks people in the industry can work to create more access to funding for founders who don't fit the traditional mold.

The duo aims to democratize the tools needed for everyone to become a content creator.

The duo aims to democratize the tools needed for everyone to become a content creator.

Investor Ayanna Kerrison of Precursor Ventures joins us to talk about all things pre-seed investing. Ayanna's perspective is extremely valuable as Precursor is widely known as one of the first and most active pre-seed funds in the world--they firm has over 300 portfolio companies and was founded in 2015. Tune in for an enlightening episode as Ayanna joins the podcast to break down the firm's perspective on pre-seed investing. You'll learn how they write 20-25 checks a year and add value at the earliest stage of a startups lifecycle, and why she's bullish on southern startup founders. We're proud that Ayanna is a Startup Runway judge.

This week's Espresso covers updates from Marvin, Talently, Elevva, and more!Outline of this episode:[00:28] - The Brazilian fintech Marvin closed a $15M Series A round[00:50] - The Mexican startup Paisa closed a $600K pre-seed round[01:33] - The edtech Talently announced it raised a $3M seed round[01:57] - Interview with Doménica Obando, Talently's CEO and co-founder[07:12] - Argentinian startup Elevva raised a $30M seed round[07:42] - User authentication startup Truora acquired the Brazilian firm ZapSign[07:59] - Interview with Maite Muñiz, co-founder at Truora[10:25] - Alejandro Guízar's featured article on the evolution of the startup ecosystem in Mexico[10:43] -The second episode of Hacking Insurance was releasedResources & people mentioned:Companies & Startups: Paisa, Talently, Elevva, Truora, ZapSign, Marvin, Simplee, MOVii.VCs, Accelerators, Institutions: Canaan, Magma Partners, Precursor Ventures, Latitud, Forum VC, Gaingels, 500 Startups Latam, Alaya Capital, Salkantay Ventures, Newtype Ventures, Potencia Ventures, Latin Leap, Asymmetric Capital, MatterScale Ventures, Canary, Redwood Ventures.People: Doménica Obando, Maite Muñiz, Rodrigo Alfonso, Diego Fernández, Alejandro Guízar, Daniel Briceño.

This was another live week from the Equity crew, meaning that the towering Mary Ann, the inimitable Natasha, and the somewhat fungible Alex were all chatting in real time, thanks to Grace and Julio having the script and tech in place to allow for it. And as we were live, we also wound up taking a little bit more time per story than usual, which was good fun.What did we get into? A lot:The end of an era: Sandberg steps down from Meta COO role.Deals of the Week: Affirm ties up with Stripe, Felt raises $15 million for maps, and Astro proves that quick grocery delivery is still a thing.A new fund is coming from an alum of Precursor Ventures, a firm that we have covered extensively on the podcast.The latest from Substack, a startup that we nearly all use, but wonder about from a valuations perspective.And we wrapped with notes from our recent spotlight on Columbus, Ohio!Equity is mostly off next week, meaning no Monday show, and some pre-taped stuff the rest of the week. We're going to breathe, and come back recharged. Hugs, and chat soon!

In this episode, Sydney talks about thesis for Precursor Ventures, assessing TAM and unit economics, why interning is the best way to get into VC, experience being a Kauffman fellow, how can black women be supported in venture capital, the future of venture being services platforms, and much more!

In today's episode, our host John Rebecchi, Ph.D. (M.B.A. '83) had the pleasure of speaking with Snigdha Sur, founder and CEO of The Juggernaut. The Juggernaut is a premium media company and community focusing on global South Asian stories for the diaspora and beyond. We'll dive into the geniuses behind Sur's media company from its name to how she successfully pitched to predominant companies such as Y Combinator and Precursor Ventures. We will also discuss the effectiveness of running subscription-based business model, Sur's mission to diversify storytelling and the importance of uncovering stories untold by mainstream media.

On this week’s Dead Cat, Tom Dotan and I reflect on this year’s SXSW. We take stock of the Austin tech scene and ponder what storylines emerged from the mega conference.At the 19:24 mark, VC Jeopardy starts. You can listen in as I host four venture capitalists in a fierce battle of startup-world trivia. Our contestants were Deena Shakir at Lux Capital, Charles Hudson at Precursor Ventures, Julian Eison at Next Ventures, and Steve Brotman at Alpha Partners. You can also play along yourself:Here’s a link to the first round questionsHere’s a link to the second round questionsThanks to my dear friends, Max Child and James Wilsterman at Volley for hosting the SXSW event. Wilsterman wrote the Jeopardy questions with some light oversight from yours truly. Volley is a San Francisco-based startup that creates voice-controlled games. The company just announced a partnership with Sony Pictures Television to produce a Jeopardy! game for Amazon’s Alexa and for Google smart devices. Great to see everyone who made it out to the event. Let’s do it again next year!Give the episode a listen. Get full access to Newcomer at www.newcomer.co/subscribe

On this week's Dead Cat, Tom Dotan and I reflect on this year's SXSW. We take stock of the Austin tech scene and ponder what storylines emerged from the mega conference.At the 19:24 mark, VC Jeopardy starts. You can listen in as I host four venture capitalists in a fierce battle of startup-world trivia. Our contestants were Deena Shakir at Lux Capital, Charles Hudson at Precursor Ventures, Julian Eison at Next Ventures, and Steve Brotman at Alpha Partners. You can also play along yourself:Here's a link to the first round questionsHere's a link to the second round questionsThanks to my dear friends, Max Child and James Wilsterman at Volley for hosting the SXSW event. Wilsterman wrote the Jeopardy questions with some light oversight from yours truly. Volley is a San Francisco-based startup that creates voice-controlled games. The company just announced a partnership with Sony Pictures Television to produce a Jeopardy! game for Amazon's Alexa and for Google smart devices. Great to see everyone who made it out to the event. Let's do it again next year!Give the episode a listen. Get full access to Newcomer at www.newcomer.co/subscribe

In this episode of The Intersection Series, Aarti Shah talks with two influential tech leaders about justice, race, gender and how Silicon Valley is (or is not) responding to these challenges. Tale of Two Tech Sectors - Apolitical vs Equitable asks Charles Hudson, Managing Partner and Founder of Precursor Ventures and Syreeta Mussante, EVP of B2B & Enterprise tech at Praytel questions like: Can a company be both equitable and apolitical? Is the chasm between those who see silicon valet as a meritocracy and those who are willing to call out its inequalities getting larger?  The discussion includes valuable insights from Hudson and Mussante as people of color in Silicon Valley. They provide an inside perspective on how big tech responded with recent racial reckonings in America and what companies can or can't accomplish in this realm. Both discuss challenges working in places where not many peers look like them and the balance between friends who may say the wrong things and the larger systems which led those friends to unknowingly say biased things.   This video conversation features the following panelists: - Charles Hudson, Managing Partner and Founder of Precursor Ventures - Syreeta Mussante, EVP of B2B & Enterprise tech at Praytel - Aarti Shah, Past PRovoke Executive Editor (moderator) 

Alcor, a cloud solutions company, announced the new release of their Applicant Tracking System, TalentRun. It is an automated, self-service enterprise applicant tracking system built on the ServiceNow® platform and helps organizations in achieving automated, centralized, and seamless management of their recruitment cycle. https://hrtechfeed.com/talentrun-is-a-new-applicant-tracking-system/ Kevala, a workforce management and engagement solution built specifically for healthcare, announced today that it raised $12.1 million in Series A funding to modernize the healthcare industry through innovative scheduling and compliance software. Kevala spun out of Pioneer Square Labs in April 2020. https://hrtechfeed.com/kevala-raises-12-1-million-series-a-to-modernize-healthcare-staffing/ Fama, the world's largest social media screening company and a leader in applying AI to background screening services, announced its Series B investment this week. The company allows HR departments to leverage insights from the public web and bring them into their talent screening process. More than 1,500 businesses in 32 countries turn to Fama to help protect their brand and ensure a safe and welcoming workplace culture. https://hrtechfeed.com/social-media-talent-screening-tool-gets-10-million/ Epoch, an employee experience platform, announced the close of $3.6 million in seed funding. Rally Ventures led the seed round, with participation from Precursor Ventures, and a number of angel investors with deep operational and industry expertise. https://hrtechfeed.com/employee-experience-platform-gets-3-6-million/ Emi, the conversational AI recruiting platform for frontline workers, has secured $11 million in Series A funding, led by Merus Capital and Khosla Ventures. David Rangel, General Partner at Merus Capital and former COO of Iterable, has joined as a Board member. https://hrtechfeed.com/emi-raises-11m-to-help-enterprises-hire-better-frontline-worker/ WorkWhile announced it has raised a $13M Series A finding round , led by Reach Capital The company currently has a presence in 13 major markets across the US, and plans to use the funds to drive growth and hiring, doubling market footprint in 2022. https://hrtechfeed.com/hourly-worker-platform-raises-13-million/ Finally Jobvite, the end-to-end talent acquisition solution provider, today announced the launch of a newly-formed parent company, Employ Inc. The new corporate identity reflects the significant business transformation the Company has undergone since joining forces with JazzHR and NXTThing RPO to create the market leader in talent acquisition solutions. https://hrtechfeed.com/employ-inc-is-the-new-brand-for-jobvite-trio/

In Episode 21 of Venture Games, my guest Charles Hudson, Managing Partner at Precursor Ventures, discusses investing in early stage companies as a solo GP; co-founding Bionic Panda Games, an early, Android-focused mobile gaming startup; his thoughts on the Metaverse and blockchain gaming; and his reflections on diversity in the VC/tech ecosystem.

On this special replay, Charles Hudson of Precursor Ventures joins Nick to discuss Getting Smart on a New Market. In this episode we cover:  What Charles' experience at SoftTech was like and how he made the transition to founding Precursor. What his continuing role as a Venture Partner at SoftTech entails. How Charles decides to study a new, emerging market and some of the markets that he's analyzed over the years. The three components of his approach to getting smart on a new area. How important timing is and how he considers if the timing is right for a new area. If he assesses markets vertically and looks for the level within the supply chain stack to see where a company is playing and which level within the chain is going to exert the most control over the market. How he breaks down market structure and the critical components therein. The importance of the degree of homogeneity of the customer base within a target market. How he thinks about companies disrupting existing markets and those creating brand new markets. We discuss how there's always a good reason to say no to startups and, more importantly, the key, recurring reasons that come up that cause him to say yes. How do you look at companies addressing industries where the incumbent product offerings are free.  Businesses like Slack that were replacing free options Fresh Eyes… You've written about how you don't look at decks before the first meeting w/ an entrepreneur. Can you touch on the key reasons why you take meetings without reviewing the deck? If you are evaluating a startup that is pre-traction – what do you look for and why? In the spirit of continuous improvement… What are your thoughts on how one can learn and improve once they have a job in VC? What startup investor has inspired and influenced you most and why?

Charles Hudson, Managing Partner and Founder of Precursor Ventures, talks about how he founded Precursor Ventures and why he is unafraid to back unproven first-time entrepreneurs. Charles gives useful tips for founders embarking on finding product-market fit, and shares his thoughts on bridge funding.In this episode, you'll learn:[3:57] Starting early in venture capital as an undergraduate; what you enjoy, and what you miss[8:49] Why Precursor is unafraid to back unproven, first-time entrepreneurs[11:50] $1m pre-seed funding can quickly vanish due to lack of clarity on the product-market fit.[16:26] How bridge funding can be helpful to entrepreneursNon-profit that Charles is passionate about: San Francisco-Marin Food BankAbout Guest SpeakerCharles Hudson is the Managing Partner and Founder of Precursor Ventures. For more than three decades, Charles has made seed-stage investments in startups in the internet and mobile spaces. Prior to founding Precursor, he identified investment opportunities in mobile infrastructure, mobile applications, and marketplaces as a Partner at Uncork Capital. Before that, he co-founded Bionic Panda Games (a mobile games startup), held business development roles for Gaia Interactive, Google, and Serious Business, was a Product Manager for IronPort Systems, and worked at In-Q-Tel, CIA's venture capital fund.About Precursor VenturesPrecursor Ventures is a Silicon Valley-based venture capital firm that seeks to invest in a company's first round of institutional investment and focuses on investments in B2B software applications, B2C software and services, and connected hardware. Precursor's portfolio includes: AnyRoad, Afriex, Arternal, Ascent Autism, Bloom, Bobbie, Documate, Nomad, Encantos, Healthie, Knack, Sagelink, and Zeta.Next Week's EpisodeComing up next week in Episode 74, we welcome a special guest, Heather Harnett, CEO and Founding Partner of Human Ventures, to talk about how she identifies ‘futurists' to back them until the market sees their value.Subscribe to our podcast and stay tuned for our next episode that will drop next Tuesday. Follow Us:  Twitter | Linkedin | Instagram | Facebook

Julieta Moradei, Partner at Hometeam Ventures, talks about their vision "to close the housing gap" through investing in ambitious founders developing revolutionary technology for the construction industry. Julieta shares an inspiring story of how they created Hometeam Ventures from a non-profit, about being a first-time fund manager, and authentic examples of startups making phenomenal innovations to improve the construction life cycle.In this episode, you'll learn:[6:01] How working with an AEC-based non-profit inspired our unique journey into venture capital[10:07] Why is the construction and housing industry hungry for innovation?[14:15] Your personality and reputation is everything in VC[27:46] How a 3D printing startup is changing lives through affordable housingNon-profit that Julieta is passionate about: New Story CharityAbout Guest SpeakerJulieta Moradei is a Partner at Hometeam Ventures. She drives dealflow and operations of the fund. Prior, Julieta led R&D at New Story Charity, where she formed 50+ partnerships with key academic and industry leaders to pioneer groundbreaking solutions for affordable housing. This includes a partnership with ICON, which built the world's first 3D printed community. Julieta's industry research focuses on circular economy, automated drone inspection, resiliency, and sustainability. About Hometeam VenturesHometeam Ventures is a Silicon Valley-based venture capital firm that invests in and scales double bottom line startups that improve the construction life cycle by reducing cost, increasing speed, and improving quality, resulting in more adequate housing globally. Hometeam focuses on BIM & Digital twins, Finance, Project & Job Site Management, Supply Chain Optimization, Industrialized Construction (3D printing, modular, prefab), Artificial Intelligence & Machine Learning. Portfolio companies include AirWorks, ICON, and REDIST.Next Week's EpisodeComing up next week in Episode 73, we welcome a special guest, Charles Hudson, Managing Partner and Founder of Precursor Ventures, to talk about why Precursor is unafraid to back unproven, first-time entrepreneurs. Charles explains how he finds the most promising investment opportunities in mobile infrastructure.Subscribe to our podcast and stay tuned for our next episode that will drop next Tuesday. Follow Us:  Twitter | Linkedin | Instagram | Facebook

Join Vik and Bree for episode ten of DrinksWithAVC as they share Manhattans with Charles Hudson of Precursor Ventures. Delve into Charles's rich tapestry of experiences, from his early days at Kroger to landscaping entrepreneurship, and from his intriguing work with the venture arm of the CIA to his role as Managing Partner at Precursor Ventures. Beyond his professional journey, discover the man himself—his passion for smoked meats and his unwavering loyalty to Chelsea Football Club.Links:www.precursorvc.comwww.twitter.com/chudson

Charles Hudson is the Founder & Managing Partner of Precursor Ventures, a seed and pre seed venture capital fund based in San Francisco with nearly $100 million in assets under management. Prior to launching Precursor, Charles was an investor at Uncork Capital, and was the co-founder of Bionic Panda Games. He is a two time graduate of Stanford University, and is a guest lecturing professor at the Stanford University Graduate School of Business where he teaches Entrepreneurship from Diverse Perspectives. In our first episode of the Diversity Riders podcast, Charles shares his story as one of the first venture capitalists to sign on to the Diversity Rider initiative, which was launched in the Summer of 2020 following the murder of George Floyd and the subsequent racial awakening in America. He explains why he did it, his perspective on why it works so well, and how the Diversity Rider is making an impact on him and his firm. We also discuss the topics of race and gender in venture capital today from the perspective of one of the most prominent Black investors in the entire investing game.

Jason & Charles Hudson from Precursor Ventures take 8 pitches from founders and give feedback on how the pitches were structured (13:10) and their business models (38:48).

Jason & Charles Hudson from Precursor Ventures take 8 pitches from founders and give feedback on how the pitches were structured (13:10) and their business models (38:48).

Charles Hudson is Founder and Managing Partner at Precursor Ventures Key Takeaways: 1. Volume matters- do you get to meet enough companies in a year. They meet 3-4k companies and make 30 investments. You can't identify high quality founders if you don't see enough of them. 2. Some investors are great product people, some are good at market structure, some are good people pickers. It helps in venture to decide where you are strongest and double down into it. 3. However much time you're spending on portfolio construction, spend twice as much. LPs care deeply about fund construction and what it takes to build a thoughtful portfolio. 4. When fundraising, look for people who give reciprocal energy, and spend time with them. When you get no follow up, no engagement, don't chase people and instead spend that energy on other folks that care.

Today, On Deck is announcing that it's raising a $20 million Series A led by Keith Rabois at Founders Fund with participation from Learn Capital, Chamath Palihapitiya, Slack Fund, Village Global, Eric Yuan, Fred Ehrsam, Allison Picken's The New Normal Fund, Charles Hudson at Precursor Ventures, Adam D'Angelo, Jen Rubio, Elad Gill, Julia DeWahl, Henry Ward, Afton Vechery, Jules Walter, Eric Su, Julia Lipton, Scott Belsky, Anthony Pompliano, Bloomberg Beta, Dylan Field, Aarti Ramamurthy, and many, many more members of the On Deck community. We cover why On Deck has a chance to build a Stanford for the internet: On Deck Investment Thesis. Natively Integrated Education. Platform and Team Constellation. The On Deck Opportunity. You can read the full original post and subscribe at notboring.co. --- Send in a voice message: https://anchor.fm/notboring/message

Tammy Sun is the CEO and co-founder of Carrot Fertility, the leading global fertility benefits provider for employers. Carrot's mission is to improve access to high-quality fertility care and dramatically reduce the emotional and financial strain for employees who need it. Tammy was inspired to create Carrot after she spent $35,000 of her personal savings to undergo egg freezing. Carrot supports over 200 companies in more than 50 countries across North America, Asia, Europe, South America, and the Middle East. Carrot has raised $40M in venture capital from leading funds like F-Prime, CRV, Maven Ventures, Precursor Ventures, and Uncork Capital. Tammy has had a successful career across marketing, technology, and politics. Before founding Carrot, she was the Director of Partnerships at Evernote. Prior to Evernote, she spent a decade in politics, where she served as a presidential appointee at the Federal Communications Commission during the Obama administration. She also held roles at the Clinton Foundation and The White House. In this episode, we will cover: How Tammy turned her personal experience with fertility into the motivation to start and build Carrot How to know if you're the best person to turn your idea into a business What to look for in a co-founder and founding team How to create feedback loops with prospective customers to inform market discovery and land your first customers The critical things Tammy did to generate momentum for her first raise and why fundraising has been easier since Tips for standing out in the sea of companies selling into HR & benefits teams Tammy's #1 suggestion for early stage founders

Shadiah Sigala is the Founder and CEO of Kinside, a platform to provide modern childcare benefits for today's working parent. Childcare issues cost the United States' economy an estimated $4.4 billion in lost productivity each year and also impact employee retention rates. Kinside serves hundreds of employers by connecting their employees to tens of thousands of reserved spots at top rated daycares and preschools nationwide. Kinside's intuitive app brings much-needed relief for new parents transitioning back into the workplace, and aids employers in their retention efforts with parents at all stages. Kinside has raised over $4M from investors including Initialized Capital, Haystack, Precursor Ventures, January Ventures, Y Combinator and Kairos. Shadiah is a serial tech entrepreneur, previously co-founding HoneyBook, a SaaS tech company that powers over 50,000 freelancers in managing their business and clients. Shadiah broke ground in her first generation Mexican-American immigrant family by receiving degrees from Harvard (Master's in Public Policy) and Pomona College (BA in Latin American Studies. She has authored groundbreaking studies regarding the gender pay gap and sexual harassment in the freelance economy, published on Fortune, Forbes, and Huffington Post, among others. In this episode, we will cover: How Shadiah's love of novelty and challenge led her to the world of startups Why Shadiah thinks it's a mistake to keep a new idea under wraps The role of co-founders and how to find them Why it's important for founders taking care of themselves – and to take a pay check from day one Raising the first round of capital, showcasing confidence, and equalizing the dynamic between investors and founders The case for selling ahead of building and landing your first customer with a PowerPoint pitch Kinside's critical role in addressing the childcare crisis caused by the pandemic

Produced by Foundersuite.com, "How I Raised It" goes behind the scenes with startup founders who have raised capital. This episode is with Christine Tao of Sounding Board, an online platform that is democratizing coaching for emerging business leaders (https://www.soundingboardinc.com/). In this episode, Christine shares how she raised capital as a female, non-technical co-founder, how coaching is similar to mentoring, how she kept in touch with her investors (each of which had previously told her "no"), how to look at investors as equals, and how she ran a lightning-fast oversubscribed process in 6 weeks. The Company most recently raised a $13.1 million Series A led by Canaan Partners. Other investors include Correlation Ventures, Bloomberg Beta, Precursor Ventures, as well as Degreed founder David Blake and Kevin Johnson, the former CEO of Udemy. How I Raised It is produced by Foundersuite, makers of software to raise capital and manage investor relations. Foundersuite's customers have raised over $2.5 Billion since 2016. Create a free account at www.foundersuite.com

In this episode, Charles discusses his experiences working at Google, founding his own company, and transitioning into venture capital, while giving insightful advice to young entrepreneurs on the key ingredients to success.Guest - Charles HudsonWebsite - www.precursorvc.comEmail - charles@precursorvc.comFollow Us!LinkedIn: www.linkedin.com/company/coefficient-labsInstagram: www.instagram.com/demodaypodcast/Facebook: www.facebook.com/coefficientlabs/Twitter: https://twitter.com/coefficientlabsContact Information:social@coefficientlabs.com

Produced by Foundersuite.com, "How I Raised It" goes behind the scenes with startup founders who have raised capital. This episode is with Zuleyka Strasner of ZeroGrocery.com which offers a grocery delivery platform that provides shoppers with a convenient and plastic-free delivery service. In this episode, Zuleyka talks about how she started the business and validated the market with $2,500 from her apartment building, what it's like navigating Silicon Valley and raising capital as a Black, trans, woman immigrant (and why resilience is key), why it's important to not waste time on investors who are "just not that into you," how COVID19 has dramatically changed the landscape for her business (in a good way), and much more. The Company most recently raised $3 million of seed funding in a deal led by 1984 Ventures. Luma Launch, GingerBread Capital, Forward Venture Capital, Chingona Ventures, Concrete Rose Capital, INCITE, MaC Venture Capital, Gaingels Syndicate, Cleo Capital, Bluestein Ventures, Alumni Ventures Group, VitalizeVC, WOCstar Fund, Precursor Ventures, SGH Capital, City Light Capital, Kapor Capital, Vitalize Venture Group, Tina Bou-Saba, Basecamp Fund, and Arlan Hamilton also participated in the round. How I Raised It is produced by Foundersuite, makers of software to raise capital and manage investor relations. Foundersuite's customers have raised over $2.5 Billion since 2016.

Sydney Thomas at Precursor Ventures talks about founders who truly care. She describes how she wants to work with inspiring entrepreneurs. She invests in startups to build the middle class. Entrepreneurs relate better to people like themselves, but not with career VCs who live a very different lifeThe true power of entrepreneurship is in creating long-term sustainable economic development in local communities.Depth of understanding the customer's needs is important. Non-profit: Public Safety, City of Oakland

This morning Salut, an app-based service that allows fitness trainers to host classes virtually, announced that it has raised $1.25 million in a new financing event. The round was led by Charles Hudson, an investor at Precursor Ventures. Founder Matthew DiPietro, formerly of Twitch, told TechCrunch that Salut soft-launched in mid-September, with a wider release […]

This morning Salut, an app-based service that allows fitness trainers to host classes virtually, announced that it has raised $1.25 million in a new financing event. The round was led by Charles Hudson, an investor at Precursor Ventures. Founder Matthew DiPietro, formerly of Twitch, told TechCrunch that Salut soft-launched in mid-September, with a wider release […]

Charles Hudson is the Managing Partner at Precursor Ventures, a classic seed-stage investment firm based out of San Francisco, CA. Precursor seeks to invest in a company's first round of institutional investment and focuses on investments in B2B software applications, B2C software and services, and connected hardware. Prior to launching Precursor, Charles Hudson was a Partner with SoftTech VC, one of the most active seed-stage investors in Internet and mobile startups. He focused on identifying investment opportunities in mobile infrastructure, mobile applications, and marketplaces. He was also the Co-Founder and CEO of Bionic Panda Games, an Android-focused mobile games startup. Prior to joining SoftTech VC and co-founding Bionic Panda Games, Charles Hudson was the VP of Business Development for Serious Business until the company was acquired by Zynga in February 2010. Prior to Serious Business, he was the Sr. Director for Business Development at Gaia Interactive, an online hangout and virtual world for teens. Prior to Gaia, Charles worked in New Business Development at Google and focused on new partnership opportunities for early-stage products in the advertising, mobile, and e-commerce markets. Prior to joining Google, he was a Product Manager for IronPort Systems, a leading provider of anti-spam hardware appliances that was acquired by Cisco Systems for $830 million in 2007. Charles was also the founder of the Virtual Goods Summit and Social Gaming Summit, two of the leading conferences in the free-to-play games space. Charles spent several years working at In-Q-Tel, the strategic venture capital group for the Central Intelligence Agency. While at In-Q-Tel, he focused on identifying investment opportunities that could deliver significant value to the CIA and the commercial market in both the short and long term. He holds an MBA from the Stanford Graduate School of Business and a B.A. in Economics and Spanish from Stanford University.  Some of the Topics Covered by Charles Hudson in this Episode The areas where Precursor Ventures is focused How Charles decided to focus on the very earliest stages of startup investing Charles experience raising his first fund as a single GP How Charles built the team at Precursor Ventures, brought on Sydney Thomas, and what it took for her to get promoted to Principal Charles views on the role of platform in venture capital How Charles organizes the insights from their portfolio companies The advice Charles has for founders around their pitch and the importance of storytelling What Charles looks for in companies he invests in How Charles looks at the brand for Precursor Ventures Why optimism is so important at the early stage of investing Why Charles wanted to be a venture capitalist How Charles invests in himself as an investor to improve at his job Charles' experience working with a coach on communication Getting honest feedback as an investor Sign up for The Weekly Grind, for actionable insights and stories from successful entrepreneurs delivered to your inbox once per week: https://www.justgogrind.com/newsletter/ Listen to all episodes of the Just Go Grind Podcast: https://www.justgogrind.com/podcast/ Follow Justin Gordon on Twitter: https://twitter.com/justingordon212 Follow Justin Gordon on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/justingordon8/

Even as the country is in the final days of a polarizing election, the cogs of VC never stop turning. On this ever-so-quiet, non-election-news Tuesday, venture firms still managed to file paperwork with the SEC indicating newly raised funds. Precursor Ventures and Insight Partners will join Hustle Fund in closing new capital. The filings are […]

This week, I sat down with the talented Snigdha Sur. (@snigdhasur) Snigdha the founder & CEO of The Juggernaut, a Y Combinator and Precursor Ventures-backed media company telling smart South Asian stories and news. The Juggernaut prides itself in telling stories with "untold context." She worked at McKinsey New York, in Bollywood, in media-focused venture capital/PE, and in launch strategy for Reese Witherspoon's Hello Sunshine. She's also advised BuzzFeed, Quartz. Snigdha graduated from Harvard Business School as a Baker Scholar with an MBA and magna cum laude from Yale College in Economics and South Asian Studies. She's fluent in Hindi and Bengali and sometimes can slip into Mandarin. What Snigdha is creating is very exciting and I know her media company has a bright future. I loved talking to her and I know she will do big things with The Juggernaut.

Managing Director of Precursor Ventures, Charles Hudson has decades of experience in Silicon Valley. This candid conversation with Next Play Founder Ryan Nece focuses both on Precursor's investment philosophy and on broader changes that need to happen in the VC industry.   Amongst those changes, hear why Charles thinks some of the old school habits, even the ones that have worked well, are responsible for some of the systemic lack of diversity in VC. A huge sports fan, Charles also discusses the ways that elite athletes exhibit behaviors that all startup founders should seek to emulate. Charles' advice is remarkably consistent for founders and VCs alike: focus on your strengths and find your superpower to pursue excellence.

Listen now (36 min) | Charles Hudson is the Managing Partner and Founder at Precursor Ventures, one of the first and most active pre-seed focused venture firms in the world. Precursor seeks to invest in a company’s first round of institutional investment and focuses on investments in B2B software applications, B2C software and services, and connected hardware. Prior to founding Precursor Ventures, he spent 5 years as a Partner at Uncork Capital (formerly known as SoftTech VC). Charles was also the Co­Founder and CEO of Bionic Panda Games, a mobile games startup. Prior to this he held Business Development roles for Serious Business (acquired by Zynga), Gaia Interactive, and Google. Prior to joining Google, Charles was a Product Manager for IronPort Systems, and he worked at In-Q-Tel, the venture capital fund backed by the Central Intelligence Agency. Charles holds a BA and an MBA from Stanford University. Get on the email list at ventureunlocked.substack.com

Alex Robinson is the co-founder and CEO of Juniper Square which operates an investment management platform for commercial real estate. The company has raised over $100 million from investors such as Redpoint, Felicis Ventures, Precursor Ventures, Ribbit Capital, Red Swan Ventures, LeFrak, Maiden Lane Ventures, OVO Fund, and Zigg Capital to name a few.

Alex Robinson is the co-founder and CEO of Juniper Square which operates an investment management platform for commercial real estate. The company has raised over $100 million from investors such as Redpoint, Felicis Ventures, Precursor Ventures, Ribbit Capital, Red Swan Ventures, LeFrak, Maiden Lane Ventures, OVO Fund, and Zigg Capital to name a few.

Zuleyka Strasner is the Founder and CEO of Zero, providing zero-waste groceries delivered fast, all to fit with their mission of removing single-use plastics from the food system. They architected a way to save the oceans while eating cleaner, healthier, and cheaper than ever before, and are leading the zero-plastic movement, one pantry at a time. Zero is fighting against the notion that convenience and environmentalism don't go together, and is proving that you can have what you want, when you want it, without ruining the planet. Connect with Zuleyka Strasner Zero Facebook Instagram Twitter LinkedIn zuleyka@zerogrocery.com Some of the Topics Covered by Zuleyka Strasner in this Episode The trip that inspired Zero The challenge Zuleyka faced of going plastic-free at home How Zuleyka's unconventional customer discovery process led to her actually starting Zero What questions Zuleyka asked as she got her business off the ground Fundraising and making Zero her full-time gig The 263 meetings that led to 6 checks making up her first $500K The process of launching and getting to the first 100 customers How Zuleyka made her first hires How Zuleyka and her team have approached product sourcing How COVID-19 has affected the Zero team Growing 15X from February to July 2020 and the challenges of such rapid growth Becoming a "wartime CEO" How Zero's customer acquisition process has changed Zero's traction and team as of July 2020 Zuleyka's vision for scaling Zero How Zuleyka views her role Zuleyka's advice for entrepreneurs Links from the Episode Growth hacking Charles Hudson with Precursor Ventures

This is a segment of Partner Mondays, where I talk to venture capitalists about what it's like on the other side of the table. Today, we're talking to Charles Hudson, the founder and Managing Partner of Precursor Ventures.

Charles Hudson is a Silicon Valley-based investor. He is part of a small percentage of Black Managing Partners of Venture funds here in the Bay Area. In this incredibly insightful interview, we talk to Charles about investing in Underrepresented Founders, Media, and his take on the fate of social media. We talk to Charles about his career in the Valley, which he has seen through multiple boom and bust cycles (from his time at Excite @ Home, to Google, to his early days as a venture investor). Charles provides his take on the events surrounding BLM and national recognition of racial inequality, and whether society can continue the momentum around some of the progress that's been made in the past several weeks. Charles provides his take on the media vs. tech issues that are coming to a head, and what they mean for both the tech industry and the media industry. His take is extremely objective, and anyone who cares about this issue should listen to his narrative. We talk to Charles about Clubhouse and what it means for social media. And whether social media platforms can ultimately grow if they build moderation tools early. Is the fate of social media bifurcated - where if you moderate too early you can't grow? And if you grow too much, it naturally turns into a cesspool? We talk about this topic extensively. If you're looking for a sober, level-headed explanation on hot topics, you don't want to miss this episode. One of the best we've ever recorded. 

GeneralSubscribe to Fully Vested at FullyVested.co or through your podcast app of choice.Notes: Related to the deaths of George Floyd, Breonna Taylor, and Ahmaud ArberyWhat HappenedFor roughly nine minutes on Memorial Day 2020, white police officer Derek Chauvin knelt on George Floyd's neck in Minneapolis. Floyd died on the scene. His death was ruled a homicide by the medical examiner. A bystander's cell phone video went viral on Facebook and other social media sites, and catalyzed the protests we're seeing now. Floyd was 46 and left behind 5 children. Chauvin and attending officers have been charged with second degree murder and other charges.Just after midnight on March 13, 2020, Louisville, KY police officers used a battering ram in a no-knock raid on Breonna Taylor's apartment. This was in conjunction with an investigation of two men suspected to have been selling drugs out of a house 10 miles from Taylor's apartment. Police shot Taylor eight times. She died in her home at 26.Father and son Gregory and Travis McMichael, both white, allegedly participated in the killing of 25 year-old Ahmaud Arbery, a black man, while Arbery was jogging through Glynn County, Georgia. Travis fatally shot Arbery with a shotgun and rammed Arbery with his truck, shouting racial epithets. A man named William Bryan Jr. recorded the killing on cell phone video. In a plot twist, it was revealed this past week that former law enforcement officer Gregory McMichael himself was the person who leaked the video of the murder. Gregory, Travis, and accompliceOur ResponseBlack Lives Matter. This is the official stance of Fully Vested.If you, your company, or your investment firm has the means, consider donating to one of the many organizations supporting racial justice and police and prison reform. To support protesters and others who are kept in jail before trial, donate to a bail fund.However your company can, find ways to support employees who participate in protests and the broader movement for racial justice and to end police brutality. This can and should include matching employee donations, if your company has the means.It's not merely enough to just not be racist these days; one must be actively anti-racist. People will not feel welcome at your table if you tell them to bring their own chair; if you've already got your seat, make space and invite folks in.Startup & Venture Capital Community's ResponseSince Fully Vested is primarily a show about VC and startups, we'll focus on the response from that community:What black VCs are sayingHat-tip to former Crunchbase News colleague Sophia Kunthara for collating this.Precursor Ventures, an all-black VC firm. "The Precursor team is grieving the loss of our brothers and sister to police violence. We are an all black team. We invest in black founders. We believe that their lives and our lives matter. We remain steadfast in our efforts to create a more just venture ecosystem. We stand alongside those who work to combat the effects that institutional racism and police brutality have on communities of color."Disclosure: Precursor Ventures backed a company run by friends of Graham and Jason. Our mention of the statement from Precursor Ventures founding partner Charles Hudson was not motivated by those associations.Harlem Capital, an all-black VC firm. "While the protests are striking, we encourage people to focus on the root cause of these events, which are racism, injustice, and oppression. Words can be meaningful, but actions speak louder. Actions like texting a black colleague, educating yourself and your network, speaking up publicly, voting in elections and voting with your dollars are the start of meaningful change. As a firm with a mission focused on increasing access for minorities and women, we continue to focus on economic empowerment and using our energy to make the world a more equitable place."VC firms commit to support black founders & promote diversity.SoftBank raised $100M for a fund earmarked for companies founded and led by people of color. While this is a nice gesture, SoftBank has invested tens of billions of dollars in startups founded by white guys, many of which have a history of discrimination or lack of inclusivity.Andreessen Horowitz announced its Talent x Opportunity (TxO) fund, which consists of $2.2 million donated by A16Z partners. The donor-advised fund's returns will be reinvested in the fund, making more capital available to underserved founders over time. Also worth noting, A16Z raised its Cultural Leadership Fund back in 2019, which is aimed at advancing more African Americans into technology.Disclosure: A16Z is an investor in Jason's employer and a A16Z partner sits on the company's board. Our mention of these efforts is unconnected with A16Z's association with Jason's employer.About The Co-HostsJason D. Rowley is a researcher and writer at Golden.com. He volunteers with startup outreach for the open-source community, and sends occasional newsletters from Rowley.Report.Graham C. Peck is a Venture Partner with Cultivation Capital and additionally helps companies build technology development teams in partnership with Brightgrove and other technology development organizations.

On this episode, we speak with Cherae Robinson - the founder and CEO of Tastemakers Africa; which is an experience marketplace connecting black millennials to culture and heritage worldwide. Cherae has been featured in large media publications such as TechCrunch and has successfully raised a $1M seed round led by Precursor Ventures. Cherae helps provide knowledge from her experience as a founder on topics such as Building a Team, Raising Funding, Acquiring First Customers, and Influencer Marketing. Please subscribe to our podcast and let us know your thoughts on this episode! Visit our website and submit a question/topic here. Hosted by @de_havia and @imessien Recorded: April 2020

Founder's FAQ: answers to all the possible questions of a founder. Hosted by Ilker Koksal. This episode's guest is is Charles Hudson. He is the Managing Partner at Precursor Ventures, a seed-stage investment firm based out of San Francisco. Prior to launching Precursor, Charles was a Partner with SoftTech VC, one of the most active seed-stage investors in the Internet and mobile startups. He was also the Co-Founder and CEO of Bionic Panda Games. And lastly, he's the lecturer at Stanford Graduate School of Business.In this episode;1-) How to evaluate the founder.2-) The track record of a founder Current startup vibe that she's starting.3-) Valuations of companies.4-) Pivots.Founder's FAQ is a book for founders and you can pre-order through the website. You can also reach us through @foundersfaq on Twitter, LinkedIn, Instagram, and YouTube.

Get the whole discussion with Charles Hudson HERELast week, we kicked off our Extra Crunch Live interview series with an interesting chat with Charles Hudson, the general partner of Precursor Ventures.Charles Hudson founded Precursor Ventures to invest in pre-seed and seed-stage companies. Earlier this year, the firm filed paperwork to put together a $40 million third fund after previously raising two main funds and one $10 million “opportunity” fund.

Get the whole discussion with Charles Hudson HERELast week, we kicked off our Extra Crunch Live interview series with an interesting chat with Charles Hudson, the general partner of Precursor Ventures.Charles Hudson founded Precursor Ventures to invest in pre-seed and seed-stage companies. Earlier this year, the firm filed paperwork to put together a $40 million third fund after previously raising two main funds and one $10 million “opportunity” fund.

Produced by Foundersuite.com, "How I Raised It" goes behind the scenes with entrepreneurs and VCs who have raised capital. This episode is with Charles Hudson of Precursor Ventures (www.precursorvc.com) a San Francisco based venture capital fund that invests in seed and pre-seed startups. In this episode, Charles talks about how many investor pitches it takes to raise a first-time fund, what LPs expect to see before committing to fund #2, the dynamics of being a single GP, deal sourcing outside Silicon Valley, how he assesses pre-revenue startups, and much more. This series is produced by Foundersuite, makers of software to raise capital and manage investor relations. Foundersuite's customers have raised over $2.2 Billion since 2016. Create a free account at www.foundersuite.com.

Charles Hudson of Precursor Ventures joins us to illuminate everything Pre-Seed -- not just what it is and how founders/companies should navigate it, but also and more deeply:  - How he came into this corner of the venture world - How he started Precursor as a solo GP and raised his first/subsequent funds, and what that journey was like - How he manages the firm, its overall strategy, and especially portfolio construction within this relatively new asset class (spoiler: it's different!) Note: we recorded this episode in the days right before it became clear that the coronavirus was going to become a major global crisis. While the world has obviously changed since, nothing in this episode is fundamentally different and -- if anything -- Pre-Seed rounds are going to be more relevant for entrepreneurs and investors going forward as valuations and check-sizes contract. We hope you enjoy and find the discussion as useful and illuminating as we did!

Host Name: Vincent A. Lanci (www.vincentlanci.com/podcasts)Guest Name: Samyr Qureshi, Founder and CEO of Knack(https://www.joinknack.com/) (samyr@joinknack.com)www.instagram.com/yourfavoritemorningpodcast/www.facebook.com/YourFavoriteMorningPodcasttwitter.com/PodcastsByLanciWant to know what it’s really like to be an entrepreneur? Well, you came to the right place! Hear real-life, authentic stories and accounts from entrepreneurs each week.For the thirty ninth episode and sixth episode of Season 2, Vincent A. Lanci brings on Samyr Qureshi, Founder and CEO of Knack.Knack is aligning incentives to create a world where college students can build the skills they need to be successful in the classroom and 21st-century workplace.Knack is a student success platform enabling campuses to supplement academic support and create a more personalized, equitable, and accessible support experience for every student at scale: from freshman through senior year.It is an impact-rated social enterprise backed by world-class investors, venture funds, and educational institutions including Precursor Ventures, Jeff Vinik (Tampa Bay Lightning Owner), ETS (creators of the GRE), Lumina Foundation, Arizona State University Enterprise Partners, Village Capital Investments, Hired.com, Elysium Venture Capital, and Psychological Assessment Resources (PAR Inc.) This episode digs deep into his background and extremely motivational entrepreneurial path that is sure to inspire you!Host Name: Vincent A. Lanci (www.vincentlanci.com/podcasts)Email: PodcastsByLanci@Gmail.comYouTube: www.youtube.com/channel/UCy0dil34Q5ILEuHgLVmfhXQInstagram (Speaking): www.instagram.com/vincentalanci/Instagram (Podcast): www.instagram.com/yourfavoritemorningpodcast/Facebook (Podcast): www.facebook.com/YourFavoriteMorningPodcast/Twitter (Podcast): twitter.com/PodcastsByLanciLinkedIn (Podcast): www.linkedin.com/showcase/what-its-really-like-to-be-an-entrepreneur/Guest Name: Samyr Qureshi, Founder and CEO of KnackEmail: samyr@joinknack.comWebsite: https://www.joinknack.com/LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/samyr-qureshi-1534b237/Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/joinknack/Digital Editing Name: Vincent A. Lanci (PodcastsByLanci@Gmail.com)Adventure by MusicbyAden | https://soundcloud.com/musicbyadenMusic promoted by https://www.free-stock-music.comCreative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 3.0 Unportedhttps://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0/deed.en_USAhmad Article: Entrepreneur.comQuote: Blog.hubspot.com

After raising venture capital from NFX, Andreessen Horowitz, Obvious Ventures, and Precursor Ventures, CEO & Co-Founder Iman Abudzaid made her fundraising learnings, methodology, and frameworks public for the benefit of Founders everywhere. Topics discussed with Iman include: When to fundraise Fundraising amount & goals Personal insights & learnings Personal fundraising process Traction & metrics Evolution of the pitch deck And much more Incredible Health - https://www.incrediblehealth.com/ TechCrunch article - https://techcrunch.com/2019/09/12/incredible-healths-hiring-platform-for-nurses-gets-15m-led-by-andreessen-horowitz/ Signal - https://signal.nfx.com/login The Brief - https://thecompanybrief.com/ To read more essays and content on fundraising, network effects, growth, and frameworks visit - www.nfx.com

Hello and welcome back to Equity, TechCrunch’s venture capital-focused podcast where each week we discuss other people’s copious dollars and lacking sense.This week was special! Kate and Alex at Disrupt where they recorded live in front of an audience. Equity has recorded at Disrupt before. Equity has taped before an audience before. But this was the first time that we taped it at Disrupt and in front of an audience that actually had chairs. Progress!https://twitter.com/KateClarkTweets/status/1179915146392588289?s=20Charles Hudson of Precursor Ventures joined us as well, making for an excellent show. Astute listeners among us will recall that Hudson is a former guest on the show, having taken part back in mid-2017.Onto the topics, we discussed the impending Precursor Ventures opportunity fund (more here). We wanted to know why it was of modest size, especially in an era of ever-larger venture capital funds.Next, we turned to a trio of startup stories, starting with Rhino, a company that is working to shake up the rental deposit market. Hate paying deposits for an apartment? Would you rather pay a small, regular fee? Rhino hopes that you would, and has raised $21 million to build out the idea.Also on our list of topics was a small upstart by the name of Knowable, our colleague Josh Constine profiled the business here. The company sells educational audio bits, and they want you to know, they are not a podcasting business. We're still a bit unclear of the difference between educational audio and podcast but VCs seem confident enough in the company's prospects, funneling $3.75 million in the project.The last startup we riffed on is called oollee. The company provides people with an unlimited supply of filtered drinking water for a small monthly fee. It’s raised $1 million in pre-seed funding from investors, including Mission Gate Inc. and Columbus Holdings, and, of course, we have thoughts!After that we touched on the most valuable Y Combinator companies, including Stripe (more here and here), Airbnb and DoorDash. The list of YC's hits is getting long. And, it provided the perfect segue to Airbnb.Airbnb intends to go public via a direct listing, according to a whole bunch of recent reports. Every VC in town seems to have opinions about direct listings as the next best path to the public markets, maybe they're right. Finally, WeWork is selling off a bunch of stuff that it bought recently. Here's a list of what it bought, but SpaceIQ, Teem, Conductor and more are said to be on the chopping block.All that and we had fun! Back to normal next week.

Hello and welcome back to Equity, TechCrunch’s venture capital-focused podcast where each week we discuss other people’s copious dollars and lacking sense.This week was special! Kate and Alex at Disrupt where they recorded live in front of an audience. Equity has recorded at Disrupt before. Equity has taped before an audience before. But this was the first time that we taped it at Disrupt and in front of an audience that actually had chairs. Progress!https://twitter.com/KateClarkTweets/status/1179915146392588289?s=20Charles Hudson of Precursor Ventures joined us as well, making for an excellent show. Astute listeners among us will recall that Hudson is a former guest on the show, having taken part back in mid-2017.Onto the topics, we discussed the impending Precursor Ventures opportunity fund (more here). We wanted to know why it was of modest size, especially in an era of ever-larger venture capital funds.Next, we turned to a trio of startup stories, starting with Rhino, a company that is working to shake up the rental deposit market. Hate paying deposits for an apartment? Would you rather pay a small, regular fee? Rhino hopes that you would, and has raised $21 million to build out the idea.Also on our list of topics was a small upstart by the name of Knowable, our colleague Josh Constine profiled the business here. The company sells educational audio bits, and they want you to know, they are not a podcasting business. We're still a bit unclear of the difference between educational audio and podcast but VCs seem confident enough in the company's prospects, funneling $3.75 million in the project.The last startup we riffed on is called oollee. The company provides people with an unlimited supply of filtered drinking water for a small monthly fee. It’s raised $1 million in pre-seed funding from investors, including Mission Gate Inc. and Columbus Holdings, and, of course, we have thoughts!After that we touched on the most valuable Y Combinator companies, including Stripe (more here and here), Airbnb and DoorDash. The list of YC's hits is getting long. And, it provided the perfect segue to Airbnb.Airbnb intends to go public via a direct listing, according to a whole bunch of recent reports. Every VC in town seems to have opinions about direct listings as the next best path to the public markets, maybe they're right. Finally, WeWork is selling off a bunch of stuff that it bought recently. Here's a list of what it bought, but SpaceIQ, Teem, Conductor and more are said to be on the chopping block.All that and we had fun! Back to normal next week.

On this episode, Philip spoke with Charles Hudson. Charles is a serial entrepreneur and is the Managing Partner and Founder of Precursor Ventures. Precursor is an early-stage venture capital firm focused on investing in the first institutional round of investment for the most promising software and hardware companies. They recently closed their second fund at $31m, doubling their first fund which was $15m. Prior to founding Precursor Ventures, Charles was a Partner at SoftTech VC. In this role, he focused on identifying investment opportunities in mobile infrastructure. Before joining the world of venture capital Charles was a budding entrepreneur in the events industry and then the gaming industry. In this episode, they talk startups, diversity in tech and more. This is a rebroadcast to celebrate black history month.

Produced by Foundersuite.com, "How I Raised It" goes behind the scenes with startup founders who have raised capital. This episode is with Isa Watson of Squad (www.withyoursquad.com) makers of an invite-only community for millennials and gen-z looking to move beyond screens & emojis to real life connections. In this episode, Isa talks about how she cracked into the Silicon Valley startup and VC scene, her method for getting intros to key advisors, tips for raising capital as a POC, how she selected investors for her oversubscribed round, and much more. The Company raised a $3.5 million seed round led by Harrison Metal with support from Precursor Ventures and others. This series is produced by Foundersuite, makers of software to raise capital and manage investor relations. Foundersuite users have raised over $1.2 Billion since 2016. Learn more at www.foundersuite.com.

Morgan Stanley's Carla Harris talks with Charles Hudson, founder and Managing Partner at Precursor Ventures, a seed-stage investor bringing an institutional perspective to startups in the earliest stages of their development.

Welcome back to Season 3 of the Access & Opportunity Podcast. This season we are exploring how influential investors from across various pools of capital are helping women- and multicultural-led businesses gain access to capital. In this episode, we speak with Charles Hudson, founder and Managing Partner at Precursor Ventures, a seed-stage venture capital firm that was built on that belief that all entrepreneurs, regardless of background, benefit from having an institutional investor to help them scale and grow their company from the very beginning. Charles talks to us about how his experiences as an entrepreneur have shaped his perspective as an investor, why he focuses on pre-seed companies, and how the entire investing landscape needs to change to better incorporate women and people of color at every level.The guest speakers are neither employees nor affiliated with Morgan Stanley & Co. LLC. (“Morgan Stanley”). The views and opinions expressed herein do not necessarily reflect those of Morgan Stanley. The information and figures contained herein has been obtained from sources outside of Morgan Stanley and Morgan Stanley makes no representations or guarantees as to the accuracy or completeness of information or data from sources outside of Morgan Stanley. Morgan Stanley is not responsible for the information or data contained in this podcast. This podcast does not provide individually tailored investment advice and is not a solicitation of any offer to buy or sell any security or other financial instrument or to participate in any trading strategy. It has been prepared without regard to the individual financial circumstances and objectives of persons who receive it. © 2019 Morgan Stanley & Co. LLC, Members SIPC.

 Charles is the founder and Managing Partner of Precursor Ventures, one of Silicon Valley’s hot seed stage venture firms. He was previously at Uncork, the storied seed venture firm founded by Jeff Clavier. Precursor is a classic seed stage venture firm investing in founders they believe in.  Before becoming a venture capitalist, Charles cofounded Bionic Panda Games, and held senior business development roles at Serious Business and Gaia Interactive.  Also – he went to Stanford. Twice. In this episode we discuss a range of issues including what it’s like to be a black VC in a mostly white industry, how he made his way to venture, what it’s like working at Q-Tel, and why he left a hugely successful VC to start his own.   www.uncorkcapital.com www.precursorvc.com www.somethingventured.us

Michele Romanow is the Founder & CEO @ Clearbanc, the startup that provides entrepreneurs capital to grow without giving up a piece of their company. In 2019 alone, Clearbanc plans to invest $1B in 2,000 companies. To fund these ambitious plans, they have backing from some of the best in the business including Founders Fund, Santi @ Emergence, Social Capital, Precursor Ventures and Y Combinator just to name a few. As for Michele, prior to Clearbanc, she founded SnapSaves, a leading mobile savings platform that was acquired by Groupon. Before Snapsaves, Michele founded Buytopia, one of Canada’s leading e-commerce companies with over 2.5m customers. If that was not enough Michele is also a Dragon on Dragons Den Canada, the youngest dragon ever. In Today’s Episode You Will Learn: 1.) How Michele made her way from serial entrepreneur with exits to Groupon and being a Dragon on Dragons Den to changing the way we fund today's businesses with Clearbanc? 2.) Why does Michele fundamentally believe we need to rethink the way we fund our businesses? Why does giving away equity to buy FC and Google ads not make sense? What is the solution? What types of business with what types of revenue does this work for? Why does Michele believe we need to fundamentally stop celebrating fundraisings? 3.) So if Clearbanc lends on repeatable revenue from Google and Facebook, how does Michele think about the volatility of CACs we see as businesses progress? Is Michele concerned by the large incumbents pushing up CACs on traditional platforms? Investors can also be wise strategic advisors, how does Michele think about the potential loss of these advisors and board members with an alternative financing mechanism? 4.) From Clearbanc's data, what have been the big learnings on how venture is currently distributed across the US? To what extent does Michele believe that unconscious bias pervades into the decision-making of much of venture? What have Clearbanc discovered in terms of the diversity of the founders they back, purely through objective data analysis of their businesses? 5.) How does Michele respond when shit hits the fan? What is her coping mechanism? How would Michele advise young founders today in coping with tough times? What were Michele's lessons from her first sturgeon caviar business not being a success? Items Mentioned In Today’s Show: Michele’s Fave Book: Little Black Stretchy Pants As always you can follow Harry, The Twenty Minute VC and Michele on Twitter here! Likewise, you can follow Harry on Instagram here for mojito madness and all things 20VC. Want to book your own travel and not have the admin team chasing you for every receipt? Take your business travel program to the next level with TravelPerk. They’ve built the world’s largest inventory of low-cost flights, hotels, airbnb, trains, cars, you name it, all in one gorgeous booking experience. AND they’re built for business. Book, manage, support, analyze, and optimize your business travel, all in one place. Add to this a support team made up of dedicated travel experts who deliver a 7-star experience around the clock, and you’re taking corporate travel out of the dark ages. 20VC listeners can score a free lounge pass to over 1200 airports for a whole year. Not only will you be able to add “company savior” to your email signature, but you can also enjoy the luxury of amazing airport lounges all over the world. Click here to find out more!

Charles Hudson, Managing Partner of Precursor Ventures, shares strategies on the great rewards & risks of pre-seed, betting on founders with unique insight, analyzing market structure vs. size, importance of mobilization to increase SV diversity, & the art of making early deals without data

Charles Hudson, Managing Partner of Precursor Ventures, shares strategies on the great rewards & risks of pre-seed, betting on founders with unique insight, analyzing market structure vs. size, importance of mobilization to increase SV diversity, & the art of making early deals without data

The post E22: “Angel” podcast: Charles Hudson, Managing Partner of Precursor Ventures, shares strategies on the great rewards & risks of pre-seed, betting on founders with unique insight, analyzing market structure vs. size, importance of mobilization to increase SV diversity, & the art of making early deals without data appeared first on This Week In Startups.

The post E22: “Angel” podcast: Charles Hudson, Managing Partner of Precursor Ventures, shares strategies on the great rewards & risks of pre-seed, betting on founders with unique insight, analyzing market structure vs. size, importance of mobilization to increase SV diversity, & the art of making early deals without data appeared first on This Week In Startups.

Charles Hudson of Precursor Ventures (https://precursorvc.com) goes over the challenges of raising a seed fund in today's environment, then discusses how Precursor Ventures takes bets on up and coming founders in exciting industries.

Sydney Thomas, Investment Associate & Head of Operations at Precursor Ventures, an investment firm based in San Francisco, CA. Sydney describes how and why she chose Airtable as the must-have system for Precursor’s tiny but mighty team of two. She gives us a tour of the base she built to manage their portfolio. Her template for this has become quite popular on Airtable Universe.

Produced by Foundersuite.com, "How I Raised It" goes behind the scenes with startup founders who have raised capital. This episode is with Aaron Schwartz of Passport Shipping (www.passportshipping.com), a provider of international shipping services designed for eCommerce companies. The Company recently raised $3 million of seed funding from Precursor Ventures, Resolute Ventures and Ryan Hoover of Product Hunt. Sophia Amoruso (GirlBoss) and April Underwood (Slack) also participated in the round. In this episode, Aaron talks about creating an "asset light" business in the shipping world, how he built investor relationships well in advance of raising capital, the advantages of having a diverse cap table, the terms he uses when putting together an Advisory Board, and much more.

As part of our Investor Series, we hear from Silicon Valley VC, Charles Hudson, currently at his own seed stage investment firm, Precursor Ventures, although at the time of this recording, Charles was at SofTech Ventures (now Uncork Capital). In this podcast, Charles talks a lot about the fundraising process, along with some keen thoughts on founding teams and solo founders. He also gives a very realistic glimpse into how VCs approach investing - what worries them, what he wishes he hadn't passed on. In his words, 'You have to have a short memory in this job.' Over his career, Charles has been an active investor in all different stages of the investment spectrum, from Series A and M&A, to now Pre-Seed and Seed stage. You can follow him on Twitter, @chudson, as well as us here at Founders Floor on all social channels as @foundersfloor. Don't forget to rate, comment and subscribe to stay updated when we regularly release new episodes.   

In episode 19 of Venture Confidential, Charles Hudson stops by the studio to talk about his journey from founding a mobile games company to becoming a partner with Uncork and most recently Precursor Ventures.

In episode 19 of Venture Confidential, Charles Hudson stops by the studio to talk about his journey from founding a mobile games company to becoming a partner with Uncork and most recently Precursor Ventures. The post Ep. #19, Feat. Charles Hudson of Precursor Ventures appeared first on Heavybit.

Sydney Thomas is a venture capital investor and head of operations with Precursor Ventures, a San Francisco-based pre-seed venture firm. Sydney is also the creator and host of the Be About It Podcast, a podcast featuring entrepreneurs who are building companies that serve “real people". In this episode, Syndey tells about growing up in San Diego, her early career in government & public service, and her path to venture capital.   - Follow Sydney at @sydneypaige10 and www.sydneypaigethomas.com and her Be About It Podcast @thebeaboutitpod   - And checkout Precursor Ventures at @precursorvc or at https://precursorvc.com/

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

On this episode, Philip spoke with Charles Hudson. Charles is a serial entrepreneur and is the Managing Partner and Founder of Precursor Ventures. Precursor is an early-stage venture capital firm focused on investing in the first institutional round of investment for the most promising software and hardware companies. Prior to founding Precursor Ventures, Charles was a Partner at SoftTech VC. In this role, he focused on identifying investment opportunities in mobile infrastructure. Before joining the world of venture capital Charles was a budding entrepreneur in the events industry and then the gaming industry. In this episode, they talk startups, diversity in tech and more. precursorvc.com Startuphandmedowns.com

The post E795: Charles Hudson, Managing Partner Precursor Ventures, breaks down how not to mess up your Seed round, manage product, team & investors, avoid distractions, critical hiring questions, future milestones & more @ Founder.University appeared first on This Week In Startups.

After "trying on" a variety of internships and roles, including time in the public sector, Sydney Thomas realized she wanted to be the one making the decisions about where to invest money for the most impact instead of the person asking for the investments. It was her curiosity, networking and yes, those internships, that led her into the venture capital industry. Currently she works as an investment associate and head of operations at Precursor Ventures. In today's episode of I Want Her Job: The Podcast we talk to Sydney about her path into venture capital and the scope of her current role. We also discuss her journey through 52 cups of coffee through her LinkedIn profile, her tips for turning connections into coffee dates and hear about some of her favorite productivity tips and apps. If you enjoy this show, please share it with a friend, and subscribe to iwantherjob on itunes.

In this interview, Charles Hudson explains how seed investing has changed over the years. We talk about his process for raising money, the details of his new fund and the things founders should be cautious of when working with investors.

Sydney Thomas (@sydneypaige10) investment associate at Precursor Ventures, joins us this week to discuss the turmoil in Silicon Valley. The importance of mentorships and personal relationships in private industry. How venture capital firms resemble minor fiefdoms. Why it’s becoming more apparent that utopian Silicon Valley rhetoric has departed from the actual reality. Check out Sydney's list of black women in venture capital: https://medium.com/@sydneythomas/the-list-of-black-women-in-vc-dff25e8d52dc

Today we cover Part 2 of Getting Smart on a New Market with Charles Hudson of Precursor Ventures. In this segment we address: How do you look at companies addressing industries where the incumbent product offerings are free.  Businesses like Slack that were replacing free options Fresh Eyes… You've written...   To listen more, please visit http://fullratchet.net/podcast-episodes/ for all of our other episodes. Also, follow us on twitter @TheFullRatchet for updates and more information.

Charles Hudson of Precursor Ventures joins Nick to cover Getting Smart on a New Market, Part 1. We will address questions including: What Charles' experience at SoftTech was like and how he made the transition to founding Precursor. What his continuing role as a Venture Partner at SoftTech entails. How...   To listen more, please visit http://fullratchet.net/podcast-episodes/ for all of our other episodes. Also, follow us on twitter @TheFullRatchet for updates and more information.

Charles Hudson is the Managing Partner with Precursor Ventures, an early-stage venture capital firm focused on first check investments in strong teams developing innovative hardware and software products and services. Prior to founding Precursor, Charles was a Partner with SoftTech VC, one of the most active seed stage investors in Internet and mobile startups. Prior to SoftTech, Hudson spent time at Google,  IronPort Systems, and In-Q-Tel.   In Today’s Episode You Will Learn: 1.) How did Charles made his way into VC from working with the CIA? What were Charles biggest takeaways from his operational experience? 2.) Why have we seen the rise of the solo GP fund? What tools and services can be used by solo GPs to make their lives easier? 3.) Chris Sacca said, 'you have to be a moron to launch a solo VC fund'. What does Charles think about this and what was it about Precursor that made him want to leave SoftTech? 4.) How does Charles' market requirements change now as a pre seed investor, a 100m exit is excellent. Do you you still need unicorns? 5.) How does Charles look to differentiate with Precursor in the sea of emerging VC funds? What is the most important thing for him about pr-seed investing? 6.) What is Charles' vision for Precursor? What would success look like for him? Items Mentioned In Today’s Episode:  Charles' Fave Book: Alec Ross: Industries of The Future Charles' Fave Blog: The Information   As always you can follow The Twenty Minute VC, Harry and Charles on Twitter here! If you would like to see a more colourful side to Harry with many a mojito session, you can follow him on Instagram here!   The Twenty Minute VC is brought to you by Leesa, the Warby Parker or TOMS shoes of the mattress industry. Lees have done away with the terrible mattress showroom buying experience by creating a luxury premium foam mattress that is order completely online and ships for free to your doorstep. The 10 inch mattress comes in all sizes and is engineered with 3 unique foam layers for a universal, adaptive feel, including 2 inches of memory foam and 2 inches of a really cool latex foam called Avena, design to keep you cool. All Leesa mattresses are 100% US or UK made and for every 10 mattresses they sell, they donate one to a shelter. Go to Leesa.com/VC and enter the promo code VC75 to get $75 off!

Charles Hudson is founder of Precursor Ventures and a partner at SoftTech VC. This episode is about startup investing We talk about what makes a great investor, how Charles evaluates founders, how he raised a fund, advice to aspiring investors and more. We also talk about his past experiences at the CIA, Google, diversity in tech, the events business, and much more. Edited by @alexkontis Lavish Praise to @chudson Constructive Criticism to @eriktorenberg

This episode are highlights from my conversation with Charles Hudson. Charles Hudson is the Managing Partner and Founder of Precursor Ventures. Precursor Ventures is an early-stage venture capital firm focused on investing in the first institutional round of investment for the most promising software and hardware companies. Some of their investments include The Athletic, Goodr and Co-Star. Links: Click here to listen to my full conversation with Charles Hudson ( https://www.theconsumervc.com/32-charles-hudson-precursor-ventures-the-state-of-seed-investing-the-early-stage-ecosystem-and-why-consumer-has-been-out-of-favor-with-vcs/ ) Click here on Mobile to join our Community. ( https://link.upstreamapp.com/eEoV65h1U6 )

*Charles Hudson* ( https://precursorvc.com/team_member/charles-hudson/ ) *is the Managing Partner and Founder of* *Precursor Ventures* ( https://precursorvc.com/ ) *. Precursor Ventures is an early-stage venture capital firm focused on investing in the first institutional round of investment for the most promising software and hardware companies. Some of their investments include The Athletic, Goodr and Co-Star.* *Prior to founding Precursor Ventures, Charles was a Partner at SoftTech VC and Co-Founder and CEO of Bionic Panda Games, an Android-focused mobile games startup. He also was the VP of Business Development for Serious Business (acq. Zynga) and Director of Business Development at Gaia Interactive.* *You can follow Charles on Twitter* *@chudson* ( https://twitter.com/chudson ) *. To follow along behind the scenes of the show, you can follow* *@mikegelb* ( https://twitter.com/MikeGelb ) *and* *@consumervc* ( https://twitter.com/consumervc ) *.* *A couple books that impacted Charles professionally are* *The New Geography of Jobs* ( https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0544028058?camp=1789&creativeASIN=0544028058&ie=UTF8&linkCode=xm2&tag=theconsumervc-20 ) *by Enrico Maretti and* *Who Gets What and Why* ( https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0544705289?camp=1789&creativeASIN=0544705289&ie=UTF8&linkCode=xm2&tag=theconsumervc-20 ) *by Alvin Roth . A book that impacted him personally is* *The Wright Brothers* ( https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/1476728755?camp=1789&creativeASIN=1476728755&ie=UTF8&linkCode=xm2&tag=theconsumervc-20 ) *by David McCullough.* *On this episode you will learn -* * *How did Charles make his way into Venture Capital? How did Precursor come together? How does Charles think about the early investment landscape? His due diligence and decision making process. How he thinks about domain expertise.* * ** * *Why are there two different seed markets with radically different round sizes and valuations and what does seed look like today? What are some of the differences in the diligence process when investing in consumer vs. enterprise startups?* * ** * *How he thinks about pivoting in the early stages? How he thinks about portfolio composition? Advice for founders that are in tertiary or secondary markets or have a network of VCs when fundraising? What consumer trends is he most focused on? What is one thing that he would change when it came to venture capital? What is one piece of advice for founders of consumer companies?* * **