Podcasts about slow ventures

What's the secret to scaling a franchise brand with venture capital? In today's episode, Yoni Rechtman shares his insights into what makes franchising a powerful tool for growth and why it's not just about finding the right product, but about creating systems that work. Yoni, a principal at Slow Ventures, joins Erik Van Horn to discuss the intersection of franchising and venture capital, explaining why the model is often misunderstood in the investment world. They dive into finding the right founder, the importance of scalable systems, and why franchisors must think beyond just opening more units.  If you're a founder or investor, this episode will give you the roadmap to build for growth and success. Tune in for an insider's perspective on how to make franchising work for you!   “I don't think you can build healthy businesses by just hacking it, cheating, and cutting corners. You can maybe do something quickly, but you can't build something durable. And what matters is building something durable that will outlive you and be a long-standing, important company." ~ Yoni Rechtman   In This Episode: - Meet Yoni Rechtman, Principal at Slow Ventures - Why other VCs are not as interested in franchising as Yoni - Yoni's advice to the founder who wants to raise capital - Liquidity timelines and the philosophy behind Slow Ventures - The importance of a founder's vision and ambition - How to determine brand valuation - What Yoni is looking for in a founder and a brand - Angel investor vs. venture capitalist - How VCs help franchise owners grow - Where founders should be focusing  - The value of building scalable systems for long-term success   Resources: 

Scott sits down with venture capitalist, essayist, and Slow Ventures GP Sam Lessin for a candid, high-signal conversation about the state of venture capital—and why the old playbook is officially dead. Sam unpacks the ideas behind his viral VC25 manifesto, including why the startup conveyor belt model is broken, how today's founders are flying blind, and what it really takes to build something worth betting on in a post-factory era. Together, Scott and Sam dive deep into the evolving role of seed investors, the myth of the “10x engineer,” and why most unicorns are now zombified corpses soaking up capital and talent. They riff on founder delusion, LP dysfunction, the commoditization of software, and how a new generation of operators must be built for long-term reality—not short-term hype. It's a provocative, honest, and sometimes brutal look at how we fund, build, and believe in companies today—and why SFD (Straight F*cking Down) might be the new north star for modern venture. What You'll Learn: -- Why the “VC Factory” model is gone for good -- How to survive as a seed fund in the mega-fund era -- Why great companies must now be built for forever, not acquisition -- What matters more than tech: story, founder, deal Support the show (and your wallet) by creating a free account at Kingscrowd.com Follow Sam Lessin on Twitter @lessin Follow Scott on IG/Twitter @Kitun

This week, Josh welcomes special guest cohost Billy Parks. Billy is a Venture Partner at Slow Ventures, which recently announced a $60 million fund for creators. On the show, we discuss the landscape of creator brands through the investor lens -- and also take a look at some headlines for the week, including the NikeSKIMS announcement and a peculiar case of true crime, fake content.Here's more detail on what we covered this week:Follow Billy Parks on LinkedIn.Slow Ventures announces $60 million fund to back creator businesses in "high value verticals" - TubefilterYouTube shuts down "true crime" channel that was all AI lies - TubefilterNIKE, Inc. and SKIMS Introduce New B  rand for Women: NikeSKIMSHow a computer that 'drunk dials' videos is exposing YouTube's secrets Creator Upload Socials:YOUTUBEINSTAGRAMTIKTOK

Last week, the team at early-stage VC firm Slow Ventures launched its new $60 million fund entirely focused on investing in content creators.Today on Equity, Rebecca Bellan sits down with Lightcap to dive into YouTube remains the dominant platform for serious creators,how niche community trust translates into scalable businesses, and what this new fund means for the creator economy. Listen to the full episode to hear more about: How this new asset class has the potential to scale. The firm's success stories so far, including Marina Mogilko's baby snack company and other ventures. The parallels between backing creators and traditional seed-stage founders. The “key man risk” and how investors navigate the challenge. Equity is TechCrunch's flagship podcast, produced by Theresa Loconsolo, and posts every Wednesday and Friday.  Subscribe to us on Apple Podcasts, Overcast, Spotify and all the casts. You also can follow Equity on X and Threads, at @EquityPod. For the full episode transcript, for those who prefer reading over listening, check out our full archive of episodes here. Credits: Equity is produced by Theresa Loconsolo with editing by Kell. We'd also like to thank TechCrunch's audience development team. Thank you so much for listening, and we'll talk to you next time. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Elon Musk just threw OpenAI into chaos with a $97 billion bid for its nonprofit arm. But does he actually want it—or is it just for the memes?Meanwhile, Slow Ventures has secured $60M to bet on the future of creators, and Brit and Jessica predict the rise of serial influencers.Oh, and Google Maps is broken. Seriously. All that and more in Episode #86 of More or Less.We're also on ↓X: https://twitter.com/moreorlesspod Instagram: https://instagram.com/moreorless Spotify: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/moreorlesspod Connect with us here: 1) Sam Lessin: https://x.com/lessin 2) Dave Morin: https://x.com/davemorin 3) Jessica Lessin: https://x.com/Jessicalessin 4) Brit Morin: https://x.com/brit(00:00:00) Trailer(00:01:07) Dressing well(00:03:38) Startups, hybrid work(00:11:47) Efficiency and productivity(00:18:51) Apple Intelligence (00:20:44) Google Maps(00:22:31) Elon's OpenAI bid(00:33:26) Who buys TikTok? (00:35:27) Bill Gates(00:41:31) Investing on people and adventure capital(00:50:30) 360 deals and musicians(00:52:34) Investing in niche creators(00:56:39) Super Bowl LIX and Kendrick Lamar(01:01:55) Outro

This Week in Startups is brought to you by…Vanta. Get $1000 off your SOC 2 athttps://www.vanta.com/twistNorthwest Registered Agent. Form your entire business identity in just 10 clicks and 10 minutes. Get more privacy, more options, and more done—visitnorthwestregisteredagent.com/twist today!LinkedIn Ads. Get a $100 LinkedIn ad credit athttp://www.linkedin.com/thisweekinstartupsToday's show: Jason and Alex cover…TBDTimestamps:(0:00) Episode Teaser(1:16) Welcome Alex Wilhelm & Sam Lessin; Slow Ventures Creator Fund(3:49) Significance of the $60M creator-focused fund(5:47) Community-building and product development strategy(7:02) Mr. Beast's success as a case study(9:41) Vanta. Get $1000 off your SOC 2 athttps://www.vanta.com/twist(11:17) Financial structures and strategies in creator investments(14:14) Addressing challenges in creator-focused investing(19:46) Northwest Registered Agent. Form your entire business identity in just 10 clicks and 10 minutes. Get more privacy, more options, and more done—visitnorthwestregisteredagent.com/twist today!(22:24) Startups optimizing operations in challenging climates(24:50) Transition to fusion energy and Helion's technology(27:46) Helion's fusion technology and CEO David Kirtley(29:16) Commercial fusion power timeline(29:43) LinkedIn Ads. Get a $100 LinkedIn ad credit athttp://www.linkedin.com/thisweekinstartups(32:12) Fusion energy's market potential and agreements(33:39) Comparing fusion to other energy sources(36:10) Safety and environmental considerations for fusion(43:00) Helion's upcoming milestones and team expansion(44:00) Lon Harris on AI, copyright, and fair use(47:00) Exploring fair use and IP infringement in AI(53:00) Market impact and licensing for AI technologies(56:00) Financial implications for AI and copyright(58:00) Distinguishing personal vs. commercial use of copyrighted materialSubscribe to the TWiST500 newsletter:https://ticker.thisweekinstartups.comCheck out the TWIST500:https://www.twist500.comSubscribe to This Week in Startups on Apple:https://rb.gy/v19fcpFollow Sam Lessin:X:https://x.com/lessinLinkedIn:https://www.linkedin.com/in/wlessin/Follow Helion:X:https://x.com/Helion_EnergyLinkedIn:https://www.linkedin.com/company/helion-energy/Follow David Kirtley:X:https://x.com/dekirtleyLinkedIn:https://www.linkedin.com/in/david-kirtley-490b8230/Follow Alex:X:https://x.com/alexLinkedIn:⁠https://www.linkedin.com/in/alexwilhelmFollow Lon:X:https://x.com/LonsLinkedIn:https://www.linkedin.com/in/lonharris/Follow Jason:X:https://twitter.com/JasonLinkedIn:https://www.linkedin.com/in/jasoncalacanisThank you to our partners:(9:41) Vanta. Get $1000 off your SOC 2 athttps://www.vanta.com/twist(19:46) Northwest Registered Agent. Form your entire business identity in just 10 clicks and 10 minutes. Get more privacy, more options, and more done—visitnorthwestregisteredagent.com/twist today!(29:43) LinkedIn Ads. Get a $100 LinkedIn ad credit athttp://www.linkedin.com/thisweekinstartupsGreat TWIST interviews:Will Guidara,Eoghan McCabe,Steve Huffman,Brian Chesky,Bob Moesta,Aaron Levie,Sophia Amoruso,Reid Hoffman,Frank Slootman,Billy McFarlandCheck out Jason's suite of newsletters:https://substack.com/@calacanisFollow TWiST:Twitter:https://twitter.com/TWiStartupsYouTube:https://www.youtube.com/thisweekinInstagram:https://www.instagram.com/thisweekinstartupsTikTok:https://www.tiktok.com/@thisweekinstartupsSubstack:https://twistartups.substack.comSubscribe to the Founder University Podcast:https://www.youtube.com/@founderuniversity1916

Guest @wquist (Slow Ventures) Hosts @kevingibbon (Shyp, Airhouse, something new) @berman66 (Nanit, Vowel, something new?)

Dan Nathan and Deirdre Bosa explore Amazon's strategic investment in Anthropic, the potential of Apple's upcoming AI features, and the importance of cloud service credits in AI investments. The regulatory challenges and future of TikTok in the US market are also scrutinized. After the break, Sam Lessin from Slow Ventures shares his insights on the impact of generative AI on venture capital investments, emphasizing the shift towards building sustainable businesses through organic growth and strategic mergers. The episode concludes by reflecting on the broader impact of AI and social media, highlighting the importance of authenticity in the tech space and the long-term opportunities for American entrepreneurs. Further Reading Barron's Give Facebook the thumbs down (Barron's) More or Less Podcast (Apple) — View our show notes here Learn more about Current: current.com Listen to 'Strategic Alternatives': https://www.rbccm.com/en/gib/ma-inflection-points Email us at contact@riskreversal.com with any feedback, suggestions, or questions for us to answer on the pod and follow us @OkayComputerPod. We're on social: Follow @dee_bosa on Twitter Follow @GuyAdami on Twitter Follow us on Instagram @RiskReversalMedia Subscribe to our YouTube page

Dan Nathan and Deirdre Bosa explore Amazon's strategic investment in Anthropic, the potential of Apple's upcoming AI features, and the importance of cloud service credits in AI investments. The regulatory challenges and future of TikTok in the US market are also scrutinized. After the break, Sam Lessin from Slow Ventures shares his insights on the impact of generative AI on venture capital investments, emphasizing the shift towards building sustainable businesses through organic growth and strategic mergers. The episode concludes by reflecting on the broader impact of AI and social media, highlighting the importance of authenticity in the tech space and the long-term opportunities for American entrepreneurs. Further Reading Barron's Give Facebook the thumbs down (Barron's) More or Less Podcast (Apple) — View our show notes here Learn more about Current: current.com Listen to 'Strategic Alternatives': https://www.rbccm.com/en/gib/ma-inflection-points Email us at contact@riskreversal.com with any feedback, suggestions, or questions for us to answer on the pod and follow us @OkayComputerPod. We're on social: Follow @dee_bosa on Twitter Follow @GuyAdami on Twitter Follow us on Instagram @RiskReversalMedia Subscribe to our YouTube page

Miles Thorson founded Odie Pet Insurance, a New York-based tech-enabled pet health insurance company, that raised $3M in funding from notable investors such as Walkabout Ventures and Slow Ventures.Where to find Miles Thorson:• Website: Odie Pet Insurance® | Affordable Pet Insurance For Dogs and Cats (getodie.com)• LinkedIn (11) Miles Thorson | LinkedInWhere to find Hadi Radwan:• Newsletter: Principles Friday | Hadi Radwan | Substack• LinkedIn: Hadi Radwan | LinkedInIf you like our podcast, please don't forget to subscribe and support us on your favorite podcast players. We also would appreciate your feedback and rating to reach more people.We recently launched our new newsletter, Principles Friday, where I share one principle that can help you in your life or business, one thought-provoking question, and one call to action toward that principle. Please subscribe Here.It is Free and Short (2min).

Nick & Beezer go inside their recent conversation with Jason Shuman and Will Quist to discuss the right way to be a contrarian investor, how to do no harm as a VC, and dive into the answer to their burning question: do VCs actually add value? Learn more about Sapphire Partners: https://sapphireventures.com/sapphire-partners/ Learn more about Notation Capital: https://notation.vc/ Learn more about Primary: https://www.primary.vc/ Learn more about Slow Ventures: https://slow.co/

What do Primary GP Jason Shuman and Slow Ventures Partner Will Quist have in common? At first glance, not much, given how differently their firms approach firm building and VC "platforms." At Primary, their Impact team outnumbers investors 2:1, while Slow consists of 3 GPs, and 3 GPs only. But in a surprising twist, they agree on more than one would expect.  They both see non-consensus investing as carrying big risk but also big opportunity. They are both seed investors and their respective firms go to market in very different ways. They sit down with co-hosts Nick Chirls, GP at Notation Capital & Beezer Clarkson, LP at Sapphire Partners, to talk about zigging when the market zags, identifying truly disruptive companies on day zero, and how much impact VCs actually have on the companies they partner with. Learn more about co-host Beezer and her firm at Sapphire Partners: https://sapphireventures.com/sapphire-partners/ Learn more about Notation Capital: https://notation.vc/ Learn more about Primary: https://www.primary.vc/ Learn more about Slow Ventures: https://slow.co/ Learn more about OpenLP: https://openlp.sapphireventures.com/  Subscribe to the OpenLP newsletter for a monthly roundup of the latest venture insights, including the newest Origins episodes, delivered straight to your inbox. Chapters: 00:00-Introduction & The Burning Question 06:06-Will & Jason Intros 09:13-Defining the S Curve 11:06-Positioning Your Firm to Win 15:08-Identifying Winners on Day Zero 18:31-Being Non-Consensus and Right 25:46-What is the Value Add of VCs? 32:43-Setting KPIs 35:36-”You Sell Something” 38:30-Outro

This is really one you should watch on our YouTube. Like, all of them are. But this one has Will going to a White Board.What if we could know whether the business idea you can't shake is worth pursuing? What if we could ensure that we're pairing the right ideas with the right capital sources to ensure the best possible outcomes? Will Quist, from Slow Ventures, is on a mission to answer these question and more for founders with subject matter expertise and high opportunity cost.To that end, he's designed the Slow PhD, a program that embraces the idea that "Important companies and successful businesses can't be hacked, forced, or faked.” Through a rigorous engagement process and step by step opportunity analysis, Will hopes to target more of the right people at the right opportunities with the right sources of capital behind them.  This conversation was an attempt to give a preview of the PhD program and explore ideas around its perimeter. Take aways from this one—There has been a decoupling of awesome products from awesome companies and awesome companies from awesome venture capital investments. Just because a product is great doesn't mean it will make a great company or require venture capital. A lot is knowable early on about a company's prospects.The abundance of venture capital in recent years may actually be a bug, not a feature, for founders. When capital was scarcer, getting funded was a stronger signal that an idea was worth a founder's opportunity cost to pursue. Now, founders are sacrificing a lot of their valuable time without enough diligence.Venture capital should be used to fund experiments to test novel hypotheses about how the world works that could be wildly valuable if true. The experiments should generate clear true/false signals without requiring too much capital. This gives optionality to pursue bigger opportunities if the initial hypothesis is validated.If founders become better “investors” in their own companies by deeply understanding their business model, capital efficiency, and growth levers beyond just building great products, it could lead to more efficient allocation of capital and better venture outcomes overall. But truly great venture-scale companies may still be constrained more by the supply of innovative ideas than the supply of capital.

The latest economic data suggests the Fed may be falling behind, but is today's data more noise than signal? We'll debate. Plus, Slow Ventures' Sam Lessin says Apple's WWDC showed it was being smart about AI and came with a serious warning to OpenAI. He'll join us to explain. And as shareholders vote on whether Elon Musk's pay package should get approved, we'll speak with one shareholder who voted yes.

Should the United States ban or force the sale of TikTok? What are the implications for free speech? In mid-April 2024, about a month ago, the United States Congress passed legislation that gave ByteDance, the parent company of TikTok, 270 days to sell TikTok or it would be banned in the United States. President Biden signed it into law a few days later. This is a totally unprecedented move — TikTok is one of the largest social media applications in the world and has more than 150 million active users in the US alone. In response, TikTok filed a lawsuit declaring the legislation unconstitutional on a number of free speech grounds. And it's currently making its way through the courts.To unpack all these issues, we've brought on two experts on social media, technology, and free expression.Evan Greer is a Director at Fight For the Future, an advocacy organization focused on technology and free expression. She writes for major publications including The Guardian, Time, and Newsweek. And…we should add that Evan is also a musician who has performed with artists such as Pete Seeger, Talib Kweli, and Dispatch.Sam Lessin is a partner at Slow Ventures, a venture capital firm based in the Bay Area. He is also the co-host of More or Less, a podcast that analyzes the tech industry. Previously, Sam founded a number of tech companies and was the VP of Product at Facebook.Today we ask a wide range of important questions about TikTok.Should the United States ban TikTok?What are the compelling arguments for and against a potential ban or forced sale?Is it constitutional? What are the implications for free speech and expression? Show NotesEvaluating the legislation [2:47]The 1st Amendment [05:36]How independent is ByteDance? [11:17]Data collection [16:37]Is there a slippery slope? [17:28]Privacy protection [24:12]What will happen to TikTok after the legislation? [36:09]China's interests [40:25]Young people and TikTok [46:50]Political factors [47:27]Steelmanning [50:04]Episode Previeww/ Alex Grodd and Producer Catherine CushenberryIn mid-April 2024, about a month ago, the United States Congress passed legislation that gave ByteDance, the parent company of TikTok, 270 days to sell TikTok or it would be banned in the United States. President Biden signed it into law a few days later. This is a totally unprecedented move — TikTok is one of the largest social media applications in the world and has more than 150 million active users in the US alone. In response, TikTok filed a lawsuit declaring the legislation unconstitutional on a number of free speech grounds. And it's currently making its way through the courts.To unpack all these issues, we've brought on two experts on social media, technology, and free expression.Evan Greer is a Director at Fight For the Future, an advocacy organization focused on technology and free expression. She writes for major publications including The Guardian, Time, and Newsweek. And…we should add that Evan is also a musician who has performed with artists such as Pete Seeger, Talib Kweli, and Dispatch.Sam Lessin is a partner at Slow Ventures, a venture capital firm based in the Bay Area. He is also the co-host of More or Less, a podcast that analyzes the tech industry. Previously, Sam founded a number of tech companies and was the VP of Product at Facebook.Today we ask a wide range of important questions about TikTok.Should the United States ban TikTok?What are the compelling arguments for and against a potential ban or forced sale?Is it constitutional? What are the implications for free speech and expression? Show NotesEvaluating the legislation [2:47]The 1st Amendment [05:36]How independent is ByteDance? [11:17]Data collection [16:37]Is there a slippery slope? [17:28]Privacy protection [24:12]What will happen to TikTok after the legislation? [36:09]China's interests [40:25]Young people and TikTok [46:50]Political factors [47:27]Steelmanning [50:04] Episode Previeww/ Alex Grodd and Producer Catherine Cushenberryxoxo,The Disagreement Teamxoxo,The Disagreement Team

Today's episode features an interview with Will Quist, partner at Slow Ventures. In this conversation Will talks about his transition from water polo player to helping build Slow, Slow's unique thesis in venture, the old model of VC versus new VC, and treating venture capital like a phD program. Check out our two interviews with Will's partner at Slow, Sam Lessin: Seed is Over https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=py7IPmDKjb4 VC in 2024 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=crj_H3JPHvg --- BOOK CITED: The Success Equation: Untangling Skill and Luck in Business, Sports, and Investing by Michael J. Mauboussin --- Join our free newsletter: https://turpentinevc.substack.com/ --- RELATED SHOWS:  @10xcapitalpodcast  If you like Turpentine VC, check out our show The 10x Capital Podcast with David Weisburd, where David talks to the investors behind the investors: https://10xcapitalpodcast.com/ --- X / TWITTER: @wquist (Will) @eriktorenberg (Erik) @turpentinemedia --- TIMESTAMPS: (00:00) Intro (00:14) Will Quist's Journey from Pro Athlete to VC (04:44) Slow's Evolution (07:00) Anti-Platform From the Jump (09:51) Helping Founders Become Better Investors in Their Own Business (14:49) Sponsor: Turpentine (15:12) Old vs. New Venture Capital Models (20:46) VC Framework (26:05) Franchises (29:49) Success in Venture Capital (31:13) Fund Size and Portfolio Construction at Slow (36:11) Multistage Challenges and Opportunities (39:25) Introducing the Slow PhD Program (44:22) Philosophy of Building and Investing (54:06) Wrap --- This show is produced by Turpentine: a network of podcasts, newsletters, and more, covering technology, business, and culture — all from the perspective of industry insiders and experts. We're launching new shows every week, and we're looking for industry-leading sponsors — if you think that might be you and your company, email us at erik@turpentine.co.

Megan Lightcap from Slow Ventures joins Erik Torenberg to discuss both of their insights into evolving creator economy and the role of strategic investment in digital creators and entrepreneurs. Megan discusses strategies for investing in creators, leveraging her experience, how to evaluate potential in creator businesses, deal structures, challenges of this new asset class, and how the future of creator financing might unfold.  — LINKS: Slow https://slow.co/ — X / TWITTER: @eriktorenberg (Erik) @mmlightcap (Megan) @slow (Slow Ventures) — TIMESTAMPS (00:00) Episode Preview (02:25) Funding creators (05:52) The art of choosing the right creator to back (07:23) Examples of successful creator investments (15:24) Potential in creators building marketplaces (17:33) Creator investing vs investing in startups (23:25) The concept of creator franchises (25:31) Involving angel investors (28:33) The challenges of investing in humans (31:08) Entrepreneurs vs creator investment (32:59) The creator economy (35:30) The use of funds (45:05) The future of social tokens and NFTs (48:05) The future of in creators

Megan Lightcap from Slow Ventures joins Erik Torenberg to discuss both of their insights into evolving creator economy and the role of strategic investment in digital creators and entrepreneurs. Megan discusses strategies for investing in creators, leveraging her experience, how to evaluate potential in creator businesses, deal structures, challenges of this new asset class, and how the future of creator financing might unfold. We're hiring across the board at Turpentine and for Erik's personal team on other projects he's incubating. He's hiring a Chief of Staff, EA, Head of Special Projects, Investment Associate, and more. For a list of JDs, check out: eriktorenberg.com.—LINKS:Slow https://slow.co/—X / TWITTER:@eriktorenberg (Erik)@mmlightcap (Megan)@slow (Slow Ventures)—TIMESTAMPS(00:00) Episode Preview(02:25) Funding creators(05:52) The art of choosing the right creator to back(07:23) Examples of successful creator investments(15:24) Potential in creators building marketplaces(17:33) Creator investing vs investing in startups(23:25) The concept of creator franchises(25:31) Involving angel investors(28:33) The challenges of investing in humans(31:08) Entrepreneurs vs creator investment(32:59) The creator economy(35:30) The use of funds(45:05) The future of social tokens and NFTs(48:05) The future of in creators This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit mediaempires.substack.com

As power shifts from institutions to individuals, creators have a unique opportunity to build enterprise empires in their niches. To make this happen, creators often need the help of outside investors, including venture capital firms (VCs).  In this episode, Megan Lightcap, Principal at Slow Ventures, walks us through the thought process of VC investors, explaining the unique dynamics of funding creator businesses. She shares why VC investment firms are strategically investing in creator businesses. She also delves into the strategies, insights, and considerations that VCs have when evaluating and investing in the ever-evolving creator economy. Megan highlights the untapped possibilities for creators to identify and capitalize on white space opportunities. She shares how creators can leverage their loyal followings and insider knowledge to make substantial industry impacts with the help of VC investors. Show Notes: Here are the key takeaways from our conversation with Megan: Maximize Your Unique Industry Position:Megan spotlights the inherent advantages creators have in areas such as consumer product goods (CPGs). By having early retail distribution and avoiding the initial hurdles of brand awareness, creators can uniquely position themselves in the market. Megan emphasizes the significance of authentic audience engagement over merely securing endorsement deals. Creators have the unique ability to identify white space opportunities and pivot toward industries where they can leverage their embedded distribution and industry knowledge. Capitalize on Your Community: Megan discusses the power of creators to transform their loyal followings into thriving enterprises. By leveraging personal brands, creators have the unique opportunity to bypass traditional hurdles in pathways such as retail distribution. Megan shares how VC funding frees creators to strategically invest time and resources into their personal brand, enabling them to step back from day-to-day content creation without sacrificing their business's growth. Structure for Flexibility and Growth with the Top Co Model: Megan advocates for investing in top cos as a strategic way for creators to access funding while retaining flexibility. This approach, which involves creating a top holding company with various underlying projects, provides the benefit of separating the creative aspects from the business opportunities. Megan shares how creators and COOs interested in VC funding can position themselves for investment in a way that still allows for experimentation and growth. Jump into the Conversation: [05:12] Why equity can be a better fit for creator businesses than debt [12:07] When and why creators should raise capital [14:43] The role of Creator COOs in raising capital [16:44] Mitigating the risk of the creator lifecycle [28:44] Evaluating creators to invest in [30:17] The impact of cult-like followings [41:42] Helping creators navigate long-term planning [44:30] Underwriting creator businesses [49:14] Why VCs invest in creator top cos [55:24] Maintaining lifestyle business versus building a bigger enterprise Continue the conversation with these resources: Follow Megan Lightcap on LinkedIn and X

Here's what we covered today:Our Creator on the Rise is The Korean Vegan, aka Joanne Molinaro! Here's our write up: https://www.tubefilter.com/2024/01/31/creators-on-the-rise-korean-vegan/TikTok, Meta CEOs take heat from Congress in contentious Capitol Hill hearing on child safety - Tubefilter Mark Zuckerberg defends teenage creators' right to public Instagram accounts | TechCrunch Universal Music Group plans to pull song catalog from TikTok | TechCrunchTikTok loses songs from Taylor Swift, Olivia Rodrigo, Drake amid Universal Music Group dispute - TubefilterYouTube celebrates 100 million subscribers across its Music and Premium tiers - TubefilterYouTube ad revenue earns 15% year-over-year bump, hits $9.2 billion in Q4 2023 - TubefilterMrBeast action figures will be coming home for the holidays in 2024 - Tubefilter Creator Upload Socials:YOUTUBEINSTAGRAMTIKTOK

Episode brought to you by More StaffingSam Lessin is a seasoned entrepreneur and venture capitalist who is currently GP at Slow Ventures, a venture fund that boasts five funds and nearly a billion dollars of capital. Previously, he served as the VP of Product Management at Facebook. As a contrarian investor, he's been an early supporter of multiple high-profile startups, from household consumer brands like Allbirds, Casper, Birchbox, Barkbox, to fintech/blockchain bets like Robinhood, Solana, and popular SaaS companies like Airtable, Front, and Slack to name a few.Join 15k founders and marketers & get our pod highlights delivered directly to your inbox with the DTC Pod Newsletter!On this episode of DTC pod we cover:1. Sam's Views on Platform Dependence2. Investment Philosophy and Strategies3. Entrepreneurial Realism in Pitching Businesses4. The Potential of the Franchise Model5. Constellation Software Angle in Business6. Reach and Engagement7. Investing in Niche Creator Markets8. Creator Business Investment Approaches9. Understanding Unique Communities10. Good Business Opportunities11. The Role of Audience and Community in Startup Success12. The Impact of AI on the Creator Sphere13. National Security and Business Concerns14. Sam Lessin's Background and Contributions15. The Evolution of Distribution Strategies and Creator Monetization16. Social Media Evolution and Attention ShiftingTimestamps00:00 Facebook, my college acquaintance, became revolutionary network.05:30 Decade of product development in online identity.09:04 Meta monetizes attention, success in brand deals.12:29 Social media evolved from entertainment to connection.17:06 Investing in creators with strong financial potential.18:41 Investing in diverse, niche expertise for impact.23:20 Starting things requires passion and trustworthiness.24:15 Consider audience building over operator expertise long-term.27:49 AI enhances entertainment, not human influence efficiency.32:33 Email remains crucial, platform choice is subjective.34:33 Invest in contrary, undervalued market ideas.38:43 AI companies are trendy, but often misleading.43:09 Venture capital experience leads to success.44:28 Studio models stack cash flows, creating constellations.Shownotes powered by CastmagicPast guests & brands on DTC Pod include Gilt, PopSugar, Glossier, MadeIN, Prose, Bala, P.volve, Ritual, Bite, Oura, Levels, General Mills, Mid Day Squares, Prose, Arrae, Olipop, Ghia, Rosaluna, Form, Uncle Studios & many more. Additional episodes you might like:• #175 Ariel Vaisbort - How OLIPOP Runs Influencer, Community, & Affiliate Growth• #184 Jake Karls, Midday Squares - Turning Your Brand Into The Influencer With Content• #205 Kasey Stewart: Suckerz- - Powering Your Launch With 300 Million Organic Views• #219 JT Barnett: The TikTok Masterclass For Brands• #223 Lauren Kleinman: The PR & Affiliate Marketing Playbook• ​​​​#243 Kian Golzari - Source & Develop Products Like The World's Best Brands-----Have any questions about the show or topics you'd like us to explore further?Shoot us a DM; we'd love to hear from you.Want the weekly TL;DR of tips delivered to your mailbox?Check out our newsletter here  and our brand directory hereFollow us for content, clips, giveaways, & updates!DTCPod InstagramDTCPod TwitterDTCPod TikTok Sam Lessin - Partner at Slow VenturesRamon Berrios - Co-Founder of CastmagicBlaine Bolus - Co-Founder of Castmagic

Sam Lessin is a GP at Slow Ventures, a former Facebook product manager, and the founder of Drop.io and Fin. He's also the co-host of an excellent podcast on tech called More or Less. On this episode of World of DaaS, Sam gives a comprehensive breakdown of the state of venture capital. Auren and Sam discuss the “unicorn factory” for building public companies, the influence of megafunds like Tiger Global and Softbank, and the fundamental changes that VC went through in 2018-2022. Sam also shares his outlook on the best areas for investment in 2024 and beyond, including which founders are set up to thrive and which businesses are likely to struggle. They also go deep on the dynamics of investing in AI– Sam is confident he knows who the winners will be in artificial intelligence. To close out, Auren and Sam dive into some of the “weird” investment ideas they're exploring, like income share agreements and backing creators. They also reflect on the changing global landscape of tech and discuss whether the era of the “open internet” is over. World of DaaS is brought to you by SafeGraph & Flex Capital. For more episodes, visit safegraph.com/podcasts.You can find Auren Hoffman on X at @auren and Sam Lessin on X at @lessin. 

Sam Lessin is a GP at Slow Ventures, an early-stage VC firm based out of San Francisco, Boston, and New York. In the last decade, they have invested in the earliest rounds of over 500 companies including Solana, Robinhood, Venmo, Airtable, Slack, Front, Allbirds, Postmates, and more. He's the cofounder of Fin. He was VP of Product Management at Meta. He has a degree from Harvard. In this episode, we cover a range of topics including: - AI technology is great, but AI investing is not a good idea. Why? - Why is AI just an extending innovation as opposed to a platform shift? - Why can't $100B platform wins be manufactured? - Do AI startups have moats? - AI moment vs cloud computing moment - AI regulation - Seed equity "killing fields" - Meaningful AI use cases Sam's deck: https://docsend.com/view/e6nd457kgbg8zichSam's favorite book: The Lessons of History (Authors: Will and Ariel Durant)--------Where to find Prateek Joshi: Newsletter: https://prateekjoshi.substack.com Website: https://prateekj.com LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/prateek-joshi-91047b19 Twitter: https://twitter.com/prateekvjoshi 

Erik is joined by Sam Lessin, General Partner at the early-stage VC firm Slow Ventures, essayist, and former VP of Product at Facebook. Make informed decision for high impact donations with GiveWell, which is offering Econ 102 listeners donation matching up to $100. To claim your match, go to givewell.org ➡️ pick “Podcast” enter "Upstream with Erik Torenberg" at checkout. -- We're hiring across the board at Turpentine and for Erik's personal team on other projects he's incubating. He's hiring a Chief of Staff, EA, Head of Special Projects, Investment Associate, and more. For a list of JDs, check out: eriktorenberg.com. -- SPONSORS: Shopify: https://shopify.com/torenberg for a $1/month trial period Shopify is the global commerce platform that helps you sell at every stage of your business. Shopify powers 10% of all ecommerce in the US. And Shopify's the global force behind Allbirds, Rothy's, and Brooklinen, and 1,000,000s of other entrepreneurs across 175 countries. From their all-in-one ecommerce platform, to their in-person POS system – wherever and whatever you're selling, Shopify's got you covered. With free Shopify Magic, sell more with less effort by whipping up captivating content that converts – from blog posts to product descriptions using AI. Sign up for $1/month trial period: https://shopify.com/torenberg. GiveWell: https://www.givewell.org/ Have you ever wondered where your donation could have the most impact? GiveWell has now spent over 15 years researching charitable organizations and only directs funding to the HIGHEST-IMPACT opportunities they've found in global health and poverty alleviation. Make informed decisions about high-impact giving. If you've never donated through GiveWell before, you can have your donation matched up to $100 before the end of the year, or as long as matching funds last. To claim your match, go to givewell.org and pick “Podcast” and enter "Upstream with Erik Torenberg" at checkout. Vanta: https://www.vanta.com/upstream  Compliance doesn't have to be complicated. In fact, with Vanta it can be super simple. Vanta automates the pricey, time-consuming process of prepping for SOC 2, ISO 27001, HIPAA, and more. With Vanta, you can save up to 400 hours and 85% of costs. Vanta scales with your business, helping you successfully enter new markets, land bigger deals, and earn customer loyalty. Bonus? Upstream listeners get $1000 off Vanta. Just go to https://www.vanta.com/upstream  -- TIMESTAMPS: (00:00:00) Episode Preview (00:01:00) On Screenshot Essays, writing, and being OK with being wrong (00:03:54) Sam's thesis on the factory system of venture capital (00:07:18) What does venture look like when the factory line is over? (00:10:10 Sam's bearishness on YC and a16z (00:-) What are the best firms going to look like in the future? (00:15:08) Sponsor: GiveWell | Oracle Cloud Infrastructure (00:17:47) The future state of company building and venture (00:19:16 On the fake unicorns in the past decade and what the next 10 years of unicorns might look like (00:23:15) The biggest factors of luck in life and company building (00:24:29) Sam's thesis on constellation software (00:28:01) Thoughts on the studio model of venture (00:30:20) Team Shares and why that's Sam's most bullish investment (00:33:06) Sponsors: Vanta (00:34:31) Why Sam is bullish on crypto (00:39:47) The different models of finance and investing in creators (00:43:11) Sam's advice for future investors in 2040 (00:46:16) Is the LP landscape going to change significantly? (00:48:10) On consumer social (00:50:20) On VC firms and indexing (00:52:54) Lower variance founders (00:57:16) Kardashians and the future of media / celebrity (00:58:48) Sam on Balaji's protech and anti-journalist class (00:59:50) What could have made Twitter a $100b company? (1:02:17) How can we represent social capital on the internet? (1:03:48) On the end of capitalism (1:07:24) Slow Ventures today and where they expect to go in the future

Sam Lessin, General Partner at Slow Ventures, and Seth Rosenberg, General Partner at Greylock, debate what the effects of AI on incumbents and the next wave of AI-first products will look like. If you're looking to improve your sourcing, tracking, and due diligence, check out: https://synaptic.com/turpentine We're hiring across the board at Turpentine and for Erik's personal team on other projects he's incubating. He's hiring a Chief of Staff, EA, Head of Special Projects, Investment Associate, and more. For a list of JDs, check out: eriktorenberg.com. --- SPONSORS: Synaptic unifies over one hundred real-time company performance metrics across alternative datasets like user traffic, employee data, app downloads, product reviews, and more. It's your all-in-one source for alternative data that helps you make better investment decisions. To learn how Synaptic can improve your sourcing, tracking, and due diligence, visit https://synaptic.com/turpentine --- RECOMMENDED PODCAST:  Every week investor and writer of the popular newsletter The Diff, Byrne Hobart, and co-host Erik Torenberg discuss today's major inflection points in technology, business, and markets – and help listeners build a diversified portfolio of trends and ideas for the future. Subscribe to “The Riff” with Byrne Hobart and Erik Torenberg: https://link.chtbl.com/theriff RECOMMENDED PODCAST: LIVE PLAYERS Join host Samo Burja and Erik Torenberg as they analyze the mindsets of today's most intriguing business leaders, investors, and innovators through the lens of their bold actions and contrarian worldviews. You'll come away with a deeper understanding of the development of technology, business, political power, culture and more. LIsten and subscribe everywhere you get your podcasts: https://link.chtbl.com/liveplayers. --- Join our free newsletter to get Erik's top 3 insights from each episode every week: https://turpentinevc.substack.com/ --- LINKS: Seth's essay on Product-Led AI: https://greylock.com/greymatter/seth-rosenberg-product-led-ai/ --- RELATED SHOWS: If you like Turpentine VC, check out our show The Limited Partner with David Weisburd, where David talks to the investors behind the investors: https://link.chtbl.com/thelimitedpartner For more AI content, check out The Cognitive Revolution with Nathan Labenz, where Nathan covers the most pertinent AI updates in the industry with builders, investors, and more: https://link.chtbl.com/TheCognitiveRevolution --- X / TWITTER: @lessin (Sam) @SethGRosenberg (Seth) @eriktorenberg (Erik) @TurpentineVC --- TIMESTAMPS: (00:00) Episode preview (00:47) Seth's blog post on opportunities in AI (04:46) Sam's reaction to Seth's product-led AI thesis (9:58) Identifying outliers (12:29) What happening during the cloud, mobile, and AI tech waves (14:51) Sponsor: Synaptic (15:52) Why incumbents are incredibly well-positioned to add AI tools (19:08) The mobile tech wave and why incumbents won (21:59) The Uber of the AI era (26:11) New markets unlocked with AI (28:26) Defensibility of AI startups (32:28) Thoughts on Midjourney and Character AI (34:01) Closing remarks (37:26) ​​On copilots

In this episode of Upstream, Emad Mostaque, founder of Stability AI, and Sam Lessin, GP of Slow Ventures and former VP Product at Facebook, discuss how paradigm shifting AI will be for different sectors of the global economy, whether startups or incumbents have the edge, and whether AI is actually a good investment for Venture Capital. Topics covered in this debate span: the attention and information economy, SaaS markets, how AI-created entertainment will impact society and our relationships, porn, and AI disruption of highly-regulated industries. Erik Torenberg and The Cognitive Revolution AI podcast host Nathan Labenz serve as moderators, asking questions towards the end. We're proudly sponsored by Vanta. Get $1000 off Vanta with https://www.vanta.com/zen -- We're hiring across the board at Turpentine and for Erik's personal team on other projects he's incubating. He's hiring a Chief of Staff, EA, Head of Special Projects, Investment Associate, and more. For a list of JDs, check out: eriktorenberg.com. -- Please support our sponsors: Shopify | Mercury | Vanta Shopify: https://shopify.com/torenberg for a $1/month trial period Shopify is the global commerce platform that helps you sell at every stage of your business. Shopify powers 10% of all ecommerce in the US. And Shopify's the global force behind Allbirds, Rothy's, and Brooklinen, and 1,000,000s of other entrepreneurs across 175 countries. From their all-in-one ecommerce platform, to their in-person POS system – wherever and whatever you're selling, Shopify's got you covered. Sign up for $1/month trial period: https://shopify.com/torenberg. -- Looking to give your startup a competitive edge? Meet Mercury: https://mercury.com/ Mercury is banking for ambitious companies—a modern partner that can provide you with the tools and resources you need to turn your startup into the best version of itself. It's software built to help you scale, with safety and stability, when you need to — whether you're a team of two, or a team of 1,000. Join more than 100,000 startups on Mercury, the powerful and intuitive way for ambitious companies to bank. Mercury is a financial technology company, not a bank. Banking services are provided by Choice Financial Group and involve bank and trust members FDIC. -- Compliance doesn't have to be complicated. In fact, with Vanta it can be super simple. Vanta automates the pricey, time-consuming process of prepping for SOC 2, ISO 27001, HIPAA, and more. With Vanta, you can save up to 400 hours and 85% of costs. Vanta scales with your business, helping you successfully enter new markets, land bigger deals, and earn customer loyalty. Bonus? Upstream listeners get $1000 off Vanta. Just go to https://www.vanta.com/zen -- TOPICS DISCUSSED: (01:00) Episode Preview (03:20) AI as an extender rather than a deck shuffler (07:45) Is AI a disruptive or sustaining innovation?  (09:13) What is intelligence? (11:47) The attention and information economy (16:43) Storytelling, the stock market, and the economy (18:13) Sponsors: Mercury, Vanta, NetSuite (25:30) Startups vs incumbents (27:40) Disrupting highly-regulated industries (28:47) AI in education: an AI tutor for every child (31:40) AI as StackOverflow 2.0 for engineers (33:45) Regulatory Arbitrage (36:20) The oracle problem (38:00) Apple as the weakest live player in AI (42:15) AI in communities and the future of social media (43:00) Replika on Valentine's Day and AI-generated porn (50:10) How does the market for inference shape up? Inference vs. cloud (52:30) What are the most likely incumbents to be disrupted? (53:25) Will big tech continue to opensource?  (55:30) Birth rate in US in the future given AI (57:00) Can any AI leader sustain high gross margins in the future? (58:00) Stability's business model

This week Erik is joined by Sam Lessin, General Partner at the early-stage VC firm Slow Ventures, essayist, and former VP of Product at Facebook. If you're looking to make fund administration easy and intuitive, check out: http://carta.com/turpentine We're hiring across the board at Turpentine and for Erik's personal team on other projects he's incubating. He's hiring a Chief of Staff, EA, Head of Special Projects, Investment Associate, and more. For a list of JDs, check out: eriktorenberg.com. --- SPONSORS: Carta is the world's largest venture fund administrator. Carta's software-based approach takes fund administration out of the spreadsheet and into 2023 and beyond with powerful solutions and intuitive interfaces, all on one platform. Their suite of products and expert services help funds at any stage with up-to-date insights and automated workflows to get them to that next level. Learn more at: carta.com/turpentine Synaptic unifies over one hundred real-time company performance metrics across alternative datasets like user traffic, employee data, app downloads, product reviews, and more. It's your all-in-one source for alternative data that helps you make better investment decisions. To learn how Synaptic can improve your sourcing, tracking, and due diligence, visit synaptic.com/turpentine Pesto Tech is a hiring marketplace that makes finding great remote developers fast and easy. They use large language models to evaluate developers along dozens of parameters, including code quality, performance, and security. If you need to start hiring developers fast, all you have to do is answer 5 simple questions on their website: pesto.tech --- Join our free newsletter to get Erik's top 3 insights from each episode every week: https://turpentinevc.substack.com/ --- RELATED SHOWS: If you like Turpentine VC, check out our show The Limited Partner with David Weisburd, where David talks to the investors behind the investors: https://link.chtbl.com/thelimitedpartner --- X / TWITTER: @lessin (Sam) @eriktorenberg (Erik) @slow (Slow Ventures) @TurpentineVC --- TIMESTAMPS: (00:00:00) Episode Preview (00:01:22) On Screenshot Essays, writing, and being OK with being wrong (00:04:04) Sam's thesis on the factory system of venture capital (00:07:18) What does venture look like when the factory line is over? (00:10:14) Sam's bearishness on YC and a16z (00:12:36) What are the best firms going to look like in the future? (00:15:36) Sponsor: Carta (00:16:17) The future state of company building and venture (00:17:52) On the fake unicorns in the past decade and what the next 10 years of unicorns might look like (00:21:46) The biggest factors of luck in life and company building (00:23:15) Sam's thesis on constellation software (00:26:39) Thoughts on the studio model of venture (00:28:38) ​​Team Shares and why that's Sam's most bullish investment (00:31:49) Sponsors: Synaptic | Pesto Tech (00:33:15) Why Sam is bullish on crypto (00:38:32) The different models of finance and investing in creators (00:42:08) Sam's advice for future investors in 2040 (00:45:21) Is the LP landscape going to change significantly? (00:46:55) On consumer social (00:49:35) On VC firms and indexing (00:52:17) Lower variance founders (00:56:08) Kardashians and the future of media / celebrity (00:57:42) Sam on Balaji's protech and anti-journalist class (00:58:34) What could have made Twitter a $100b company? (1:01:00) How can we represent social capital on the internet? (1:02:41) On the end of capitalism (1:05:38) Slow Ventures today and where they expect to go in the future (1:07:26) Sponsor: Carta

San Francisco, CA  — RecruitBot, the powerful hiring platform that transforms the entire recruiting experience, has raised $8.2 million in additional seed funding to fuel growth of its AI-powered software. The investment was led by Slow Ventures with participation from other investors https://hrtechfeed.com/recruitbot-lands-additional-8-2-million-investment/ Appcast, the global leader in programmatic recruitment advertising technology and services,  announced today its acquisition of recruitment marketing pioneer, Bayard Advertising. This strategic acquisition combines Appcast's award-winning programmatic technology with  Bayard's full-service recruitment marketing capabilities, significantly expanding Appcast's  offerings to optimize companies' entire recruitment marketing processes.  https://hrtechfeed.com/appcast-acquires-bayard-advertising-2/ Twitter's new job listings are slowly being rolled out to Verified Organizations in the app, with some businesses now able to post job openings direct to their Twitter profile. This is according to an article from Social media today.com https://www.socialmediatoday.com/news/twitters-new-job-listings-option-looks-close-to-launch/686108/

Raj Parekh is the Co-Founder & CEO @ Portal (www.portalhq.io). Backed by Haun Ventures, Chapter One, Slow Ventures, & more, Portal enables you to launch a powerful and secure offering with a single integration for all of Web3 that gives your users direct access to the world of DeFi, NFTs, blockchain-based gaming, and more. In this episode we discuss Raj's perspective on user experience in web3 given his background at Visa, his thoughts on the future of multi-party-computation and account abstraction, commentary on TradFi adoption and movement toward web3, interesting frontiers within the crypto space from his vantage point, and much more.Recorded Wednesday June 28th, 2023.

In this episode, Nathan Labenz and Erik Torenberg host a discussion between Emad Mostaque, founder of Stability AI, and Sam Lessin, GP of Slow Ventures and former VP Product at Facebook. These influential technology thinkers tackle topics pertinent to evaluating whether AI is a good investment for venture capital. They talk about the attention and information economy, SaaS markets, how AI-created entertainment will impact society and our relationships, and AI disruption of highly-regulated industries. RECOMMENDED PODCAST: The HR industry is at a crossroads. What will it take to construct the next generation of incredible businesses – and where can people leaders have the most business impact? Hosts Nolan Church and Kelli Dragovich have been through it all, the highs and the lows – IPOs, layoffs, executive turnover, board meetings, culture changes, and more. With a lineup of industry vets and experts, Nolan and Kelli break down the nitty-gritty details, trade offs, and dynamics of constructing high performing companies. Through unfiltered conversations that can only happen between seasoned practitioners, Kelli and Nolan dive deep into the kind of leadership-level strategy that often happens behind closed doors. Check out the first episode with the architect of Netflix's culture deck Patty McCord. https://link.chtbl.com/hrheretics LINK FOR NATHAN'S LIVE EVENT IN SAN FRANCISCO: Friday June 16th: Why AI with Athena: https://v4p9mjmurpv.typeform.com/to/llRcJSF9 RECOMMENDED PODCAST: Media Empires from Turpentine: https://link.chtbl.com/mediaempires A new podcast where Erik Torenberg interviews influential media creators, podcasters, newsletter writers, and media entrepreneurs to learn exactly how they built their empires. Check out the first episode with Austin Rief, CEO of Morning Brew. TIMESTAMP: (00:00) Episode Preview (01:17) Nathan explains why we hosted a conversation with Emad and Sam (08:25) Discussion kicks off: AI as an extender rather than a deck shuffler (12:01) Is AI a disruptive or sustaining innovation? (14:22) What is intelligence? (16:00) The attention and information economy (21:56) Storytelling, the stock market, and the economy (23:23) Sponsor: Omneky (23:50) AI in the media industry, Hollywood, and distribution (29:10) Startups vs incumbents (30:30) Disrupting highly-regulated industries (32:30) AI in education: an AI tutor for every child (35:15) AI as StackOverflow 2.0 for engineers (37:23) Regulatory Arbitrage (40:06) The oracle problem in AI (42:00) Apple as the weakest BigTech player in AI (44:30) AI in communities and the future of social media (46:55) Replika on Valentine's Day and AI-generated porn (53:50) How does the market for inference shape up? Inference vs. cloud (55:08) Price of primary care in US in the next decade (55:38) What are the most likely incumbents to be disrupted? (56:55) Will BigTech continue to opensource? (58:56) Marriage rate in US in the future given AI (01:00:24) Can any AI leader sustain high gross margins in the future? (01:02:04) Stability's business model TWITTER: @EMostaque (Emad) @Lessin (Sam) @CogRev_Podcast @labenz (Nathan) @eriktorenberg (Erik) SPONSOR: Thank you Omneky for sponsoring The Cognitive Revolution. Omneky is an omnichannel creative generation platform that lets you launch hundreds of thousands of ad iterations that actually work, customized across all platforms, with a click of a button. Omneky combines generative AI and real-time advertising data. Mention "Cog Rev" for 10% off. Download this episode as an mp3: https://chrt.fm/track/993DGA/traffic.megaphone.fm/RINTP2126380296.mp3?updated=1686676812 Music Credit: MusicLM

Michael Feng is the Co-Founder @ Hummingbot (https://hummingbot.org/). Backed by Initialized Capital, Slow Ventures, & more, Hummingbot is open source software that helps you build high-frequency crypto trading bots that specialize in market making and arbitrage strategies. They average $100M+ 24H volume, have 1M+ all-time downloads, and support 13+ HFT strategies. In this episode we dive deep on recently decentralizing their operations to HBOT token holders, why they restructured as a not-for-profit organization, the key differences between TradFi and crypto markets for traders, & much more.Recorded Tuesday May 30th, 2023.

The Biden Administration and Congressional leadership hashing out a tentative deal to avoid a default, but what about the market risks? UBS' Evan Brown says liquidity concerns are overblown. Consumer confidence slipped to a six-month low in May, but Moody's Mark Zandi still says no recession ahead .And Wolfe Research says AI could renew optimism around Silicon Valley real estate, but Slow Ventures' Sam Lessin says ‘that's a bridge too far.' 

My guest is Rick Nariani! Ricky is the Founder and CEO of WANTD, which is a social commerce marketplace focused on sneakers and streetwear. He founded his company in 2020 and was part of Y-Combinator's W22 batch. Rick recently led WANTD through a seed round and is backed by reputable VCs, such as Slow Ventures, Pioneer Fund, and Goodwater Capital.  Prior to his start-up, Rick was an Associate Partner in IBM's M&A team with a focus on Artificial Intelligence. Prior to that, he'd spent several years with IBM's Corporate Strategy team and was a strategy consultant for various Fortune 500 companies (e.g. Xylem). Rick is an MBA with an undergrad finance. Social and website: Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/rickynariani/ Website: https://getwantd.com/ Download WANTD: https://click.getwantd.com/VNpD/wantdweb Follow on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/getwantd/ For more episodes and information, visit us at https://www.digitalnicheagency.com/media Apple Podcasts: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast... Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/4zS5V79... Stitcher: https://www.stitcher.com/s?fid=524781... Follow Digital Niche Agency on Socials for Up To Date Marketing Expertise and Insights Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/digitalniche... Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/company/digi... Instagram: DNA - Digital Niche Agency (@digitalnicheagency) • Instagram photos and videos. Twitter: https://twitter.com/DNAgency_CA YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCDlz… #marketingtips #advice #marketingquotes #socialmediagency #marketingagency #startup #marketingtools  #socialmediaexperts #marketingguru #digitalmarketers #searchengineoptimization #entrepreneurship #smallbusiness #crowdfunding #marketing #strategies #websitetraffic #instagramads #socialmediamarketing #content101 #contentcreation #businesspodcasts #JasonFishman, #ShariNoonan  #mentorpodcast #educationalpodcast

The first episode in our Crypto/Web3 sprint welcomes Clay Robbins, the crypto principle at Slow Ventures, a generalist fund that invests at the center of technology. In this episode, Clay tells us about where the crypto space is at right now, how he analyzes companies looking for investments from Slow, and how he broke into the crypto industry (and how you can, too!) Interested in learning more about Slow Ventures and Clay after listening to this episode? Follow them on Twitter!   @crabbylions  @slow --- Support this podcast: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/nyu-svs/support

Tess Michaels has found her way to have a big impact on the world around her by creating new financing solutions for students. The venture, Stride Funding, has acquired financing from top-tier investors like Graham Holdings, Slow Ventures, GSV Ventures, and Juvo Ventures.

Will Quist is a Partner @ Slow Ventures. Over the last decade, the team at Slow Ventures have invested in the earliest rounds of over 500 companies including Robinhood, NextDoor, Airtable, Solana and many more. As for Will, prior to Slow he spent over 8 years at Industry Ventures and before industry, cut his teeth in the world of finance at Banc of America. In Todays Episode with Will Quist We Discuss: 1.) Entry into Venture: How Will made his way from 6th generation San Francisco to Partner @ Slow? What are 1-2 of the biggest takeaways from his early 1-1s with Don Valentine? What does Will know now that he wishes he had known when he started in venture with Industry? 2.) WTF Really is Venture Capital? Why does Will believe that 95% of venture capital today is not really venture capital? What is true venture capital in Will's mind? How does Will divide the world of VC into two with; venture classic and new venture? How are they different? How are their return profiles different? 3.) The Questions: Discovering Greatness: Why does Will believe “for the most part, investors across asset classes are just asking the same questions”? What are those questions? What different answers are each looking for? What are the 5 core questions that will needs to understand to determine conviction and accurately price an asset? How does Will think through and analyze the question when meeting founders of; “what needs to come true for this business to become a great business”? 4.) The Future of Venture Capital: How does Will predict the venture capital ecosystem will look in 5 and then 10 years? What are the most concerning traits of the venture ecosystem for Will today? Who will be the winners of the next decade? Who will be the losers? What happens to the crossover funds? What will happen to Tiger?

Slow Ventures' Megan Lightcap, interviews me this time and has me share my take on social tokens in todays market.Full episodeSeason 6 Episode 5About Mint ShortsEnjoy the best moments from the podcast in bite-size segments.---------------------------------------------------------------------------Sign up for Adam Levy's newsletterhttps://levychain.substack.com---------------------------------------------------------------------------Follow Adam Levy on social media:Twitter:https://twitter.com/levychainInstagram:https://www.instagram.com/levychainLinkedIn:https://www.linkedin.com/in/levy-adamWebsite:https://adamlevy.io

Mint Season 6 episode 5 welcomes a fun conversation between Slow Ventures' Creator Principal Megan Lightcap and Mint host Adam Levy on the pseudonymous creator economy, why on-chain data is the most exciting opportunity for creators, Time Stamps00:12 - Intro04:17 - Recapping NFT NYC08:39 - How Does Web3 Empower Creators?15:12 - The Divide Between Web2 Creators and Web3 Creators24:29 - Thoughts Around Social Tokens29:26 - How Creators Should Use On-chain Data to Serve Their Communities36:40 - Pseudonymous Creator Economy40:33 - Advice for Web2 Creators Entering Web3Additional ResourcesEpisode Timestamps and TranscriptsSlow's YouTube channelMegan Lightcap's LinkedinSlow Ventures' Website---------------------------------------------------------------------------Claim Season 6 NFThttps://adamlevy.io/nft/---------------------------------------------------------------------------Support Season 6's NFT Sponsors

The investor and crypto privacy entrepreneur reflects on the Tornado Cash sanctions.This episode is sponsored by Nexo.io, Chainalysis, FTX US and NEAR.NLW is joined today by Jill Gunter, a co-founder of the Open Money Initiative, a venture partner at Slow Ventures and the chief strategy officer at Espresso Systems. In this conversation, they discuss why the U.S. Treasury Department might have chosen an action that seemingly leaves them open to much legal recourse, and why part of the answer might be technological not political. -Nexo is a security-first platform where you can buy, exchange and borrow against your crypto. The company safeguards your crypto by relying on five key fundamentals including real-time auditing and insurance on custodial assets. Learn more at nexo.io.-Chainalysis is the blockchain data platform. We provide data, software, services and research to government agencies, exchanges, financial institutions and insurance and cybersecurity companies. Our data powers investigation, compliance and market intelligence software that has been used to solve some of the world's most high-profile criminal cases. For more information, visit www.chainalysis.com.-FTX US is the safe, regulated way to buy Bitcoin, ETH, SOL and other digital assets. Trade crypto with up to 85% lower fees than top competitors and trade ETH and SOL NFTs with no gas fees and subsidized gas on withdrawals. Sign up at FTX.US today.-NEAR is a simple, revolutionary Web3 platform for decentralized apps, created by developers for developers. More than 700 projects are now building on NEAR's fast, secure and infinitely scalable protocol, from DeFi apps to play-and-earn games, NFT marketplaces and more. Start your developer journey now by visiting NEAR at near.org.-I.D.E.A.S. 2022 by CoinDesk facilitates capital flow and market growth by connecting the digital economy with traditional finance through the presenter's mainstage, capital allocation meeting rooms and sponsor expo floor. Use code BREAKDOWN20 for 20% off the General Pass. Learn more and register: coindesk.com/ideas-“The Breakdown” is written, produced by and features Nathaniel Whittemore, aka NLW, with editing by Rob Mitchell and Eleanor Pahl. Research by Scott Hill. Jared Schwartz is our executive producer and our theme music is “Countdown” by Neon Beach. The music you heard today behind our sponsors is “The Now” by Aaron Sprinkle. Image credit: Malte Mueller/Getty Images, modified by CoinDesk. Join the discussion at discord.gg/VrKRrfKCz8.See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

(1:27) – Welcome Josh Wolfe(3:10) – Market updates(13:21) – Anti-bubble(16:28) – Consolidation(19:57) – Everything times pi(22:35) – Welcome Sam Lessin(25:43) – NY tech founders in ‘07(30:44) – Slow Ventures(33:12) – The crypto debate begins(41:57) – On chain real estate(49:19) – Legal protections(1:03:10) – Does it hold up in court?(1:09:52) – Final walk through(1:14:42) – Bearer bonds(1:19:58) – Zach's reasons against crypto(1:31:37) – Zach's point(1:33:51) – Carta for your DAU(1:37:11) – Back to liquidity(1:41:24) – Why is it not awesome?(1:45:17) – Users(1:52:40) – Unsettled case law(2:00:29) – Final arguments(2:04:10) – The boiling point(2:06:59) – Maybe we can publish this part(2:12:15) – Zach ending(2:22:08) - Outro Mixed and edited: Justin HrabovskyProduced: Andrew Nadeau and Rashad AssirExecutive Producer: Josh MachizMusic: Griff Lawson 

Welcome back, this week Lucas and Anita break down the chaotic rollout of Ethereum's biggest drop yet — a virtual land sale for the Bored Apes metaverse. The startup behind it banked more than $400 million in the sale, but the auction of land tiles called Otherdeeds brought the Ethereum blockchain to a crashing halt, leaving users paying exorbitant transaction fees worth thousands and tens of thousands of dollars just to buy themselves some monkey land.Beyond that, they discuss Wikipedia's abandonment of crypto donations after a vote from the Wikimedia Foundation's editors and how the SEC is bulking up its crypto crime division with a few new hires that are tasked with the daunting challenge of policing web3.In their interview this week, Lucas and Anita chat with Jill Gunter. Jill is a crypto VC at Slow Ventures and the co-founder of Espresso Systems — a startup building a privacy-centric blockchain. Listen along as they get her take on why there are so many blockchains out there and whether we're headed towards a future where one blockchain rules them all.Subscribe to the Chain Reaction newsletter to dive deeper: https://techcrunch.com/newsletters

Dave Morin is an entrepreneur, investor, and philanthropist, born and raised in Helena, MT. Currently, he is Co-Founder of Offline Ventures, an investing and inventing company focused on the creation of humanist technology and serving founder potential, and is Chairman of Esalen Institute, a leading center for exploring and realizing human potential through experience, education, and research.Early in his career, Dave was the 29th employee at Facebook and his first job upon moving to San Francisco was at Apple. Needless to say, he's been on the forefront of tech innovation since the start of the internet in the 90s, and over the last couple decades has co-founded and managed a handful of ventures in this realm: Path, a company dedicated to being a source of happiness, meaning, and connection through simplicity and privacy in social networking technology; Slow Ventures, a Silicon Valley venture fund that champions long term thinking and serves a community of over 300 of the most innovative startups in the world; and Sunrise, a nonprofit focused on bringing together science, spirituality, technology, and design to revolutionize how humans experience depression.In today's conversation, we talk about his path from a ski racer in small town Montana to an angel investor and serial entrepreneur smack in the middle of the tech capital of the country, Silicon Valley, California. Recognizing early on that his brain was different than most other kids, Dave describes his childhood as one of looking for belonging, and he found solace and stimulation at his grandfather's house while playing on one of the earliest computer models ever made. He was also serendipitously introduced to Aikido, a Japanese martial art, through his best friend's uncle, and that began his lifelong foray into eastern philosophy, self awareness and contemplative practices.We tackle a big topic today—mental health in the age of technology—and while this interview just scratches the surface of the immensity of this conversation, I hope you walk away with an understanding of the nuance of our current predicament, the good and bad of modern technology, the intent with which it was originally created, and the knowing that there are people like Dave out there, pouring themselves into ideas like Web3, and how to make our interactions with these tools safer, healthier and more human.Offline VenturesSunriseEsalen InstituteSupport the show (https://featheredpipe.com/gratitude/)

Jill Gunter is the co-founder and chief strategy officer at scaling solution Espresso Systems and a venture partner at Slow Ventures. She became interested in Bitcoin via her experience with Latin American markets — which is somewhat of a pattern in the space. She was a debt trader at Goldman Sachs, focusing on Argentina and Venezuelan bonds, and saw crypto's potential to help those in corrupt or repressive regimes. She continued exploring how crypto can help skirt currency controls and enable more global and efficient markets, and we discuss how those themes are playing out right now in the war in Ukraine. We talk about how Jill went from Wall Street to crypto, and from VC to founder. Her latest venture is Espresso Systems, which aims to bring scalability and privacy to web3. Thanking our podcast sponsors: 0x/Matcha makes sure you're getting the best possible price by routing trades over various DEXs, without taking commissions. Head over to matcha.xyz/defiant. Eden Network is a next-generation private transaction service for Ethereum, providing traders with MEV protection by submitting transactions directly to miners and away from the prying eyes of harmful bots. 1inch finds the best rates across multiple networks. Why use a single DEX when you can use them all? Find your best deal at 1inch. Sperax has created $USDs, the stablecoin that generates passive income for holders. Thanks to the Auto-Yield feature, it pays to hold $USDs. Try it yourself here!

Sam Lessin - General Partner at Slow Ventures. He has co-founded two companies, Fin and Drop.io (acquired by Facebook in 2010). Between 2010 and 2014 Sam was a VP of product management at Facebook, where he managed the People, Places, and Things product group and the Identity product group. Sam started his career at Bain and Company and attended Harvard as part of the graduating class of 2005. Things we cover: Starting Slow Ventures and working with notable companies early on in their creation such as Birchbox, Venmo, and many more Sam's unique funding ideology and the importance of building a thesis The new Human Potential Initiative, in which Slow Ventures invests directly into individuals rather than their businesses The passion factor that is needed when working with founders and startups Sam's opinion on investing in friends and working closely with people that you trust and respect

This episode is sponsored by Nexo.io, Arculus and FTX US.    Today on “The Breakdown,” NLW is joined by Espresso Systems co-founder and Chief Strategy Officer Jill Gunter. She is also an investor with Slow Ventures and the former co-founder of the Open Money Initiative. In this discussion, they cover: The impact of Russia's invasion of Ukraine on crypto and the global money system  The evolution of the crypto industry since the last crypto winter  Changing consumer expectations around privacy  And more    Find our guest on Twitter: @jillrgunter  - From cash to crypto in no time with Nexo. Invest in hot coins and swap between exclusive pairs for cash back, earn up to 17% interest on your idle crypto assets and borrow against them for instant liquidity. Simple and secure. Head on to nexo.io and get started now. - Arculus™ is the next-gen cold storage wallet for your crypto. The sleek, metal Arculus Key™ Card authenticates with the Arculus Wallet™ App, providing a simpler, safer and more secure solution to store, send, receive, buy and swap your crypto. Buy now at amazon.com. - FTX US is the safe, regulated way to buy Bitcoin, ETH, SOL and other digital assets. Trade crypto with up to 85% lower fees than top competitors and trade ETH and SOL NFTs with no gas fees and subsidized gas on withdrawals. Sign up at FTX.US today. - Consensus 2022, the industry's most influential event, is happening June 9–12 in Austin, TX. If you're looking to immerse yourself in the fast-moving world of crypto, Web 3 and NFTs, this is the festival experience for you. Use code BREAKDOWN to get 15% off your pass at www.coindesk.com/consensus2022. Enjoying this content?   SUBSCRIBE to the Podcast Apple:  https://podcasts.apple.com/podcast/id1438693620?at=1000lSDb Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/538vuul1PuorUDwgkC8JWF?si=ddSvD-HST2e_E7wgxcjtfQ Google: https://podcasts.google.com/feed/aHR0cHM6Ly9ubHdjcnlwdG8ubGlic3luLmNvbS9yc3M=   Join the discussion: https://discord.gg/VrKRrfKCz8   Follow on Twitter: NLW: https://twitter.com/nlw Breakdown: https://twitter.com/BreakdownNLW   - “The Breakdown” is written, produced by and features Nathaniel Whittemore aka NLW, with editing by Rob Mitchell, research by Scott Hill and additional production support by Eleanor Pahl. Adam B. Levine is our executive producer and our theme music is “Countdown” by Neon Beach. The music you heard today behind our sponsor is “I Don't Know How To Explain It” by Aaron Sprinkle. Image credit: paparazzit/Getty Images, modified by CoinDesk. Join the discussion at discord.gg/VrKRrfKCz8. 

The Expresso Systems strategist joins to discuss bitcoin, macro, politics and more. This episode is sponsored by Nexo.io, Arculus and FTX US. Today on “The Breakdown,” NLW is joined by Espresso Systems co-founder and Chief Strategy Officer Jill Gunter. She is also an investor with Slow Ventures and the former co-founder of the Open Money Initiative. In this discussion, they cover:The impact of Russia's invasion of Ukraine on crypto and the global money system The evolution of the crypto industry since the last crypto winter Changing consumer expectations around privacy And more Find our guest on Twitter: @jillrgunter -From cash to crypto in no time with Nexo. Invest in hot coins and swap between exclusive pairs for cash back, earn up to 17% interest on your idle crypto assets and borrow against them for instant liquidity. Simple and secure. Head on to nexo.io and get started now.-Arculus™ is the next-gen cold storage wallet for your crypto. The sleek, metal Arculus Key™ Card authenticates with the Arculus Wallet™ App, providing a simpler, safer and more secure solution to store, send, receive, buy and swap your crypto. Buy now at amazon.com.-FTX US is the safe, regulated way to buy Bitcoin, ETH, SOL and other digital assets. Trade crypto with up to 85% lower fees than top competitors and trade ETH and SOL NFTs with no gas fees and subsidized gas on withdrawals. Sign up at FTX.US today.-Consensus 2022, the industry's most influential event, is happening June 9–12 in Austin, TX. If you're looking to immerse yourself in the fast-moving world of crypto, Web 3 and NFTs, this is the festival experience for you. Use code BREAKDOWN to get 15% off your pass at www.coindesk.com/consensus2022.-“The Breakdown” is written, produced by and features Nathaniel Whittemore aka NLW, with editing by Rob Mitchell, research by Scott Hill and additional production support by Eleanor Pahl. Adam B. Levine is our executive producer and our theme music is “Countdown” by Neon Beach. The music you heard today behind our sponsor is “I Don't Know How To Explain It” by Aaron Sprinkle. Image credit: paparazzit/Getty Images, modified by CoinDesk. Join the discussion at discord.gg/VrKRrfKCz8.See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Adam Moelis shares why half of American's can't come up with $400 in an emergency, and 78% of people live paycheck to paycheck. But they spend $80 billion on the lottery every year. We also discuss a recent study that showed that most wished they'd learned more about money in school and scored themselves low when it came to financial literacy. Could tech change this? Adam shares how he founded Yotta to help Americans make healthier financial decisions and become more financially secure. Adam's company provides the chance to win big every week, similar to playing the lottery but in an FDIC-insured account where customers cannot lose any money. About Adam  Adam Moelis is the Co-Founder and CEO of Yotta, a financial technology startup whose mission is to help Americans become more financially secure by offering a unique banking experience that allows customers to win weekly prizes of up to $10 million.   Adam graduated summa cum laude with a B.S. in Finance and Accounting from Wharton. His degree and interest in personal finance and passion for behavioral psychology led him to co-found Yotta with Ben Doyle. Adam and Ben were honored with the prestigious Forbes 30 Under 30 in 2021 for their social impact on founding their company, Yotta. Additionally, Yotta has raised over $17 million from investors like Base 10, Core Innovation Capital, Slow Ventures, FundersClub, TwentyTwo VC, Chapter One, Capital X, among some angel investors. Yotta graduated from the prestigious Y Combinator in July of 2020.  Previously, Adam was an investment analyst in the Multi-Strategy Investing Group at Goldman Sachs. He also worked as a Product Manager and Data Analyst at YipitData, where he built a mobile app for consumers. Tech Talks Daily Podcast Sponsor Details Get Surfshark VPN at https://surfshark.deals/TTD - Enter promo code TTD for 83% off and 3 extra months free! 

This morning MealMe.ai, a food search engine, announced that it has closed a $900,000 pre-seed round. Palm Drive Capital led the round, with participation from Slow Ventures and CP Ventures. TechCrunch first became familiar with MealMe when it presented as part of the Techstars Atlanta demo day last October, mentioning it in a roundup of […]

Tej Singh interviews Brian Chen, the Co-founder & CEO of Room, which makes soundproof and affordable in-office booths that resemble modern, sleek telephone booths. The company's soundproof booths provide a solution to the issues associated with the loud and distracting environment of open floor plans. In fact, 90% of employees working in offices with an open floor plan experience increased stress levels, conflict, blood pressure, and turnover rates. Room is a young startup that recently raised a $2 million seed round led by Slow Ventures, yet it already boasts over 3,000 customers, like Nike, JP Morgan, Google, and Salesforce.

Robotic Process Automation (RPA) has been a hot commodity in recent years as it helps automate tedious manual workflows inside large organizations. Robocorp, a San Francisco startup, wants to bring open source and RPA together. Today it announced a $5.6 million seed investment. Benchmark led the round with participation from Slow Ventures, firstminute Capital, Bret Taylor, president and chief product officer at Salesforce and Docker CEO Rob Bearden.