Venture Unlocked: The playbook for venture capital managers

By Samir Kaji

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Category: Investing

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Episodes: 133

Description

Venture Unlocked is the playbook for starting, operating, & scaling a successful venture capital firm. Samir Kaji, Host of Venture Unlocked has +20-years of experience assisting & advising startups and venture firms. Listen for VC fund guidance.

ventureunlocked.substack.com

Episode Date
LP Unlocked shorts: What We're Hearing about Venture Liquidity with Meghan Reynolds of Altimeter
Apr 19, 2024
What's happening at the seed stage? Featuring Jenny Fielding, Kirby Winfield, and Nate Williams
Apr 10, 2024
The Craft of Venture Capital with David Sacks
Mar 27, 2024
Adam Bain of 01 Advisors on scaling Twitter from 0 to $1B+, being coached by Bill Campbell, and why they don't take board seats
Mar 13, 2024
Mitchell Green of Lead Edge Capital on the Moneyball approach to investing, the art of effective cold calling, and managing 700+ strategic LPs
Mar 06, 2024
Limited Partner Unlocked shorts: What we're Hearing from LPs with Meghan Reynolds of Altimeter
Feb 23, 2024
Khosla Venture's Samir Kaul on building an iconic, durable firm, and the role of non-consensus decision making
Feb 16, 2024
Venture Unlocked Shorts: Looking back the era of Unicorns and what's ahead?
Jan 31, 2024
Venture Unlocked Shorts: Why VC has gone mainstream and the parallels to private equity and hedge funds
Jan 26, 2024
The opportunity outside of Silicon Valley and how to build a strategic LP base with Brendan Wales and Kellan Carter of FUSE
Jan 25, 2024
Meet The Expert Series: Matt Trotter of Stifel Bank on the state of the venture debt market, and how investors & startups should approach the credit markets today
Jan 10, 2024
Pejman Nozad of Pear on building a $800MM+ AUM firm as an immigrant who sold Persian rugs before going into VC
Dec 22, 2023
Paul Kwan of General Catalyst on the importance of innovation in creating global resilience
Dec 07, 2023
The Chainsmokers' Alex Pall in crossing over from a grammy nominated group in the music industry to starting Mantis VC
Nov 29, 2023
Brad Gerstner talks AI, Tech Super cycles vs. Market cycles, and the start of Altimeter as a $3MM fund
Nov 16, 2023
Going back to the foundation of Kleiner Perkins with Mamoon Hamid through clear busines model focus and culture
Nov 01, 2023
Special LP roundtable: What are LPs thinking about in Venture with Beezer Clarkson, Guy Perelmuter and Chris Douvos
Oct 25, 2023
Building competitive moats in VC at Lerer Hippeau with Ben Lerer and Graham Brown
Oct 11, 2023
Building a next-generation tech-enabled Venture Capital firm with Chris Farmer of SignalFire
Sep 27, 2023
The art of raising from LPs in an economic downturn with Mark Suster, Upfront Ventures
Aug 30, 2023
Hernan Kazah of Kaszek Ventures on investing in Latin America, learnings from building a public company, and working with founders
Aug 16, 2023
Tomasz Tunguz of Theory Ventures on strategically raising a fund in a downturn, Why Firms Need a Business Model, and different views on portfolio construction
Jul 26, 2023
Sunil Nagaraj of Ubiquity Ventures on the journey of a solo-GP, The Importance of Authenticity, and Navigating Hype Cycles
Jul 12, 2023
Oren Zeev on scaling to $2B+ in AUM as a solo-GP, contrarian investing, and high founder NPS
Jun 14, 2023
Stephanie Palmeri and Melody Koh of NextView Ventures on incentives within venture partnerships, the changes in seed financing, and operating remotely
Jun 02, 2023
Scott Kupor, Managing Partner of a16z on Building a lasting Venture Franchise
May 17, 2023
Fundraising best practices for managers, strategic LP management, and LPACs with Meghan Reynolds of Altimeter
Apr 26, 2023
Satya Patel and Hunter Walk on learnings from building Homebrew, moving to an evergreen model, and launching Screendoor VC to back underrepresented fund managers
Apr 12, 2023
Portfolio construction trends and best practices with CEO Anubhav Srivastava of Tactyc
Apr 07, 2023
Dana Settle on starting and building Greycroft, Maintaining culture and speed with scale, and thoughts on VC moving forward
Mar 30, 2023
Shuly Galili of UpWest on building lasting partnerships and how they bridged the gap between Israeli founders and the US Market
Mar 21, 2023
Ryan Hoover of Weekend Fund and Jordan Gonen of Compound on the rise of private and retail investors into venture capital and alternatives
Feb 22, 2023
Eddy Chan of Intudo Ventures on building a hyper-local venture strategy for Indonesia
Feb 02, 2023
Better Tomorrow Ventures, Jake and Sheel on Investing in FinTech, fund construction, and fundraising lessons
Jan 11, 2023
Jonathan Abrams, 8-Bit Capital: Learnings from founding and running Friendster, Defining "Founder Friendly", going from Angel to full-time VC
Dec 21, 2022
Gautam Gupta from TCV (Velocity) on the trend of large funds going early, the art of pro-rata investing, and what he is seeing in this market cycle
Dec 07, 2022
Patrick Chun at Juxtapose: How company creation models and studios work in VC, the squint and wedge framework of investing, and raising from blue-chip institutions
Nov 30, 2022
Valar Ventures Andrew McCormack on running concentrated portfolios with higher ownership vs. larger portfolios, learnings from working with Peter Thiel, and thoughts on valuations today
Nov 10, 2022
Mapping out a new partnership, why the RAISE GP/LP summit was such an important effort, and the art of fundraising by Joanna Drake of Magnify Ventures
Oct 26, 2022
Aydin Senkut of Felicis Ventures on angel to 9 time Midas list investor, inception to scale at Felicis, and winning in today's crowded market
Oct 05, 2022
Quid's Josh Berman on providing financings against private stock, "trapped liquidity" at funds, and his learnings from co-founding Myspace.
Sep 28, 2022
Discovering talent before it's obvious, the challenges of raising a fund I without a traditional pedigree, and startup fund culture with Eric Tarczynski of Contrary
Sep 21, 2022
Evaluating Crypto today, investing in crypto funds, the role of governance in the space featuring Rabia Iqbal and Jehan Chu of Nural Capital
Aug 24, 2022
Mark Mullen of Bonfire Ventures on going from a solo capitalist to joining forces with Jim Andelman, the state of seed markets, and his view on what makes fund managers differentiated
Aug 10, 2022
Ravi Viswanathan of New View Capital on the secondary and growth markets, and raising a unique $1B+ (modified) GP led secondary fund I
Aug 03, 2022
The art of pre-seed investing, mitigating investment risk at this stage, and building processes to build a true venture platform with a lean team
Jul 27, 2022
Parade Ventures Shawn Merani on building LP relationships, not focusing on "hot" deals, and his mindset with founders
Jul 15, 2022
Tusk Venture Partners Jordan Nof: Evolving to an early stage firm, navigating regulatory hurdles for startups, and what the future holds for crypto.
Jun 30, 2022
FPV's Wes Chan on the path to backing 20 unicorns and 5 decacorns, raising a $450MM Fund 1, working closely with Sergey and Larry and Google, and what Bill Campbell taught him about helping founders
Jun 22, 2022
Jessica Peltz-Zatulove and Kate Beardsley on closing an oversubscribed $52MM Fund I, the difference between family offices and institutions, secondaries as a foundation of portfolio management
Jun 01, 2022
GGV's Jeff Richards on making sense of the market today, growing a $9B+ firm, and whether geo-political tensions may affect international venture investing
May 05, 2022
Viola Ventures' Danny Cohen on the Israel's exponential growth as a tech hub, building decision frameworks for picking, and managing a firm in a rapidly changing market
Apr 20, 2022
776's Alexis Ohanian on the new era of VC, using technology in a firm, and things he's most excited about today.
Apr 13, 2022
8VC's Drew Oetting on their decision-making culture, building talent at firms, and his most critical learnings as an investor
Apr 06, 2022
Bedrock Capital's Geoff Lewis on Vibe capital, the power of narrative violations, and winning in today's market
Mar 31, 2022
David Cohen on founding Techstars, patterns of successful founders, and the math behind large portfolios
Mar 23, 2022
Playground Global's Peter Barrett on investing in deep tech, what makes a good deep tech founder, and the difference between the improbable and impossible
Mar 16, 2022
Forerunner Ventures Eurie Kim on scaling the Forerunner franchise, thesis based investing, and advice for emerging managers
Mar 09, 2022
Not Boring's Packy McCormick on VC's building brand through content creation, tech trends he's most excited about, and how writing has helped him with investing.
Mar 01, 2022
Limited Partner and direct invest Guy Perelmuter (Grids Capital) on deep tech, bull and bear views on the market, and adding value as an LP
Feb 22, 2022
Scribble Ventures Elizabeth Weil on the many roles of an emerging venture fund manager, building partnerships, and why network strength is a key differentiator
Feb 15, 2022
Union Square Ventures' Rebecca Kaden on their theme based investing approach, fund sizing for USV, and navigating hot markets
Feb 09, 2022
Worklife Ventures' Brianne Kimmel on finding the right LPs, the big differences between angel investing and being a solo fund manager, and the main thing she looks for in founding teams
Jan 25, 2022
QED Investors' Frank Rotman in breaking down the venture market today, determining how to compete today, and how QED makes decisions.
Jan 18, 2022
Ripple Ventures Matt Cohen on individual VC personal brands, Hedge funds in tech, portfolio math and front weighting in seed, and investing in Canada
Jan 11, 2022
M13's Carter Reum on building an operational services team (Propulsion platform), navigating from operator to angel investor to building a firm for the long haul.
Jan 04, 2022
Harbinger Ventures Megan Bent on their concentrated portfolio approach, specific traits they look for in founding teams, and consumer behavior post-pandemic
Dec 22, 2021
Boldstart ventures Ed Sim on starting his career during the dot-com bubble, the opportunity as being a true day one investor, and views on today's VC market compared to past eras
Dec 14, 2021
Lux Capital's co-founder Peter Hebert on the firm's 20 year journey, creating multi-generational success, and the changing dynamics in VC (including their use of SPAC's)
Dec 07, 2021
Initialized Capital's Alda Leu Dennis on building the proper culture for decision making, finding ways to win in today's market, and her concerns with the drop in diverse founder funding.
Nov 30, 2021
Kindred Ventures Kanyi Maqubela on large firms entering seed, the challenges of rising valuations, and the nuances of portfolio construction
Nov 16, 2021
Base10's TJ Nahigian on using automation and research within the firm as a competitive advantage, ways to optimize outcomes in the current investing climate, and thoughts on crossover investing.
Nov 09, 2021
Glasswing Ventures Rudina Seseri on frontier tech, the KPI's Glasswing uses to measure their value-add to founders, and why diversity is central to their investing ethos
Nov 02, 2021
Eniac Ventures Hadley Harris on portfolio construction fundamentals, partnership durability, and views on the shifting seed market
Oct 26, 2021
LP Roundtable with Chris Douvos (Ahoy Capital), Beezer Clarkson (Sapphire Partners), Guy Perelmuter (GRIDS Capital) on opportunity funds, red flags they watch for, and the state of the market.
Oct 19, 2021
Human Ventures' Heather Hartnett on studio models, developing their business creation platform to add value to founders, and their fundraising learnings from raising their first significant fund
Oct 12, 2021
Global Founders Capital’s Don Stalter on their belief in larger portfolios, managing a global investment firm, and building systems and processes to deliver value at scale
Oct 05, 2021
Founders Fund Delian Asparouhov on Miami as a major tech hub, what he thinks as the drivers for innovation now, and the pros of incubating companies like Varda within firms
Sep 28, 2021
Banana Capital's Turner Novak on his unconventional path in breaking into VC, being a successful stage agnostic investor, and leveraging social platforms to build advantages
Sep 21, 2021
Primary Venture Partners Jason Shuman on integrating partners into an established partnership, KPI's on measuring value to founders, and views on portfolio construction.
Sep 14, 2021
Broadhaven Ventures' Michael Sidgmore on democratization of venture capital, why Alts are the future of private portfolios, and the role of wealth management firms.
Sep 07, 2021
Act One Ventures Silton and Guerrero on the Diversity Rider initiative, building meaningful partnerships, and operating experience has been key to their model
Aug 31, 2021
From Norwest to starting Roble Ventures, Sergio Monsalve on equity and diversity in tech, adapting from large VC to a small, solo-GP, and investing in heated markets.
Aug 24, 2021
Haystack's Semil Shah on building the firm from the ground up, portfolio models, and the state of VC today
Aug 17, 2021
137 Ventures Justin Fishner-Wolfson on why ownership is an overvalued heuristic, building lasting teams, and the current state of secondary markets.
Aug 10, 2021
Jeff Morris, Jr. on finding your own fund/market fit, having like Lightspeed and Sequoia as LPs, and the ever-changing dynamic between entrepreneurs and VCs
Aug 03, 2021
Miriam Rivera on going from angel to running a firm, driving real change in diversity in tech, and how traditional heuristics should be challenged in VC.
Jul 27, 2021
Ben Casnocha on his learnings from working with Reid Hoffman, building network incentives, and the art of portfolio construction.
Jul 20, 2021
Lan Xuezhao of Basis Set Ventures on using data science along with human psychology to assess deals, finding LP/GP fit, founder super powers measurement, and conviction based investing.
Jul 13, 2021
Meet the Expert: Braughm Ricke of Aduro Advisors on working with over 300 Emerging Firms, his time as the first CFO at True Ventures, traits of successful managers
Jul 08, 2021
Monique Woodard of Cake Ventures on the 3 layers of the Cake that comprise her thesis, what she learned at Lightspeed and 500 startups, fundraising during a pandemic, and diversity in the seed.
Jul 06, 2021
Shauntel Garvey of Reach Capital on EdTech, raising a sector focused fund, and the importance of being an active seed investor beyond the A round
Jun 29, 2021
Mark Suster of Upfront Ventures on Generational Firm Evolution, Why Fundraising is Like Enterprise Sales, & The State of Venture today
Jun 22, 2021
Satya Patel of Homebrew on how they were able to raise their first fund in 100 days, creating enduring partnerships, and the art of fund sizing.
Jun 15, 2021
Jeff Clavier of Uncork Capital on being one of the earliest seed stage VC's, lessons in fundraising during a downturn, and building a multi-generational firm
Jun 08, 2021
Nnamdi Okike of 645 Ventures on thoughtfully growing funds, data driven sourcing in venture to reduce bias, and building one of the largest BIPOC led venture firms.
May 25, 2021
Stephen DeBerry of Bronze VC on social impact investing, GP commits, & the next-gen of underrepresented managers
May 19, 2021
Sunil Dhaliwal from Amplify Partners on finding overlooked investment opportunities, deal competition, and the future of venture capital
May 11, 2021
Pete Flint from NFX on network effects, VC as a platform, and how they think about fund sizes.
May 04, 2021
Jamie Rhode of Family Office Verdis Investment Management on using decision science to drive fund allocation strategy, their view on large portfolio sizes, and biggest trends they see in VC.
Apr 26, 2021
Paul Martino from Bullpen Capital on being an early pioneer in post-seed, conviction to back non-consensus startups + another way to think about the SPAC movement
Apr 20, 2021
Ashmeet Sidana on moving from a partnership with Foundation Capital to being a Solo GP, investing in technical teams, and the upside and downside of data.
Apr 13, 2021
Katie Jacobs Stanton on moving from angel investing to starting Moxxie, experiences with LP's "ghosting", and why she went the solo GP route
Apr 06, 2021
Daniel Leff of Waverley Capital on media tech, how he's crafted a successful VC career by being contrarian, and the role of strategic LPs as differentiators
Mar 30, 2021
Brian Garrett of Crosscut Ventures on building a regionally based seed firm outside of SV, the rise of LA, raising during a recession, and how Crosscut has evolved over the last 13 years.
Mar 23, 2021
Kelsey Chase of Aumni on using data to become institutional quicker, and what LPs now expect from emerging managers - Venture Unlocked 027
Mar 18, 2021
Clara Brenner of Urban Innovation Fund - Venture Unlocked 026
Mar 16, 2021
Lindsay Lee of Authentic Ventures on operationalizing networks & creating an edge through diversity rich networks- Venture Unlocked 025
Mar 09, 2021
Ryan Hoover of Weekend Fund on collaborative based investing, building founder NPS, and considerations around scaling funds - Venture Unlocked Ep. 24
Mar 02, 2021
Renata Quintini & Roseanne Wincek of Renegade Partners on the Supercritical Stage and running a fund like a startup; Venture Unlocked #023
Feb 23, 2021
Welly Sculley & Winter Mead of Oper8r on building the “YC for fund managers” and tips for launching a firm - Venture Unlocked 022
Feb 16, 2021
Beezer Clarkson of Sapphire Partners on the #OpenLP effort, How to Pitch LP’s, & what she sees in the venture ecosystem - Venture Unlocked 021
Feb 09, 2021
Mac Conwell of RareBreed Ventures & Roy Bahat of Bloomberg Beta on the state of Emerging VC - Venture Unlocked 020
Feb 02, 2021
Mike Maples of Floodgate on investing models, how he thinks about exceptional companies, and building a lasting firm - Venture Unlocked Episode 019
Jan 26, 2021
Apurva Mehta of Summit Peak Investments on discovering the next-gen of top venture investors, Venture Unlocked Episode 018
Jan 19, 2021
Jaclyn Freeman Hester of Foundry Group on investing in emerging manager funds, venture trends, and mistakes fund managers can avoid when raising - Venture Unlocked Episode 017
Jan 12, 2021
Avidan Ross of Root VC on investing in deep tech, taking an heavy approach on reserves, and building LP relationships - Venture Unlocked 016
Jan 05, 2021
Marlon Nichols of MaC Ventures on VC firm mergers, funding diversity, and his relationship with LP's - Venture Unlocked 015
Dec 29, 2020
Deena Shakir of Lux Capital on firm culture, solving the diversity issue, and how portfolio management is a team sport - Venture Unlocked 014
Dec 22, 2020
Chris Douvos of Ahoy Capital on the art of investing in Emerging VC funds, Venture Unlocked 013
Dec 15, 2020
Nate Williams of UNION Labs on the studio model & investing in deep tech, Venture Unlocked 012
Dec 10, 2020
Soraya Darabi of TMV on building and scaling a seed stage firm, Venture Unlocked 011
Dec 08, 2020
Greg Sands of Costanoa Ventures on building a boutique Venture Firm, firm culture, and portfolio theory - Venture Unlocked 010
Dec 01, 2020
Brendan Wallace of Fifth Wall on building a different type of venture firm - Venture Unlocked 009
Nov 24, 2020
Leo Polovets of Susa Ventures - Venture Unlocked 008
Nov 17, 2020
Sahil Lavingia's learnings as a VC backed founder and running a Rolling Fund - Venture Unlocked 007
Nov 12, 2020
Ted Maidenberg of Tribe Capital - Venture Unlocked 006
Nov 10, 2020
Jon Sakoda of Decibel on building your fund with founders by your side - Venture Unlocked 005
Oct 27, 2020
Jodi Sherman Jahic of Aligned Partners on why alignment with partners, LPs, and companies is powerful - Venture Unlocked 004
Oct 20, 2020
Roger Ehrenberg of IA Ventures on the craft of building a top-decile firm - Venture Unlocked 003
Oct 13, 2020
Charles Hudson of Precursor Ventures - Venture Unlocked 002
Oct 06, 2020
Elizabeth Yin of Hustle Fund - Venture Unlocked 001
Sep 29, 2020
Releasing The Venture Unlocked Podcast
Sep 24, 2020