"I firmly believe that for-profit technology companies stand the best chance of solving many of the world’s toughest problems and venture lets me be a part of that process." Amy is a Partner at Costanoa Ventures where she focuses primarily on fintech. In addition to deepening the firm’s fintech portfolio in the US, Amy has driven the firm’s expansi…

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

Wen-Wen is a Partner at Gradient Ventures. Previously, Wen-Wen was the CEO & Co-founder of NexTravel (YCW15), a leading corporate travel solution that serviced thousands of customers like Lyft, Twilio, and Stripe. She grew the business to over $100M in annual sales before exiting to Travelperk in 2020. Prior to this, Wen-Wen worked with a number of…

Kate Goodall (she/her) is the Co-Founder and CEO of Halcyon, an incubator for early-stage impact ventures. Since launching in 2014, Goodall has added an early-stage venture fund (of which she is co-managing director), an angel investing network, microloan fund, and a range of intensive programs, continually seeking to serve increasing numbers of en…

Daniel Acheampong, Founder, Visible Hands VC Daniel was most recently an Entrepreneur in Resident at MIT designX, where he co-founded a marketplace platform. He was an associate at Summit Partners, where he helped manage the firm’s due diligence process to raise investment funds. Previously, he was a financial analyst at Goldman Sachs, where he sup…

About Ajay: Ajay Relan is an investor, entrepreneur, and community builder. Prior to Slauson & Co., Ajay was a founding Partner at Queensbridge Venture Partners. With a keen focus on brand building and storytelling, Ajay's passion lies in identifying trends and engineering culturally aligned brands. A lifelong Angeleno, Ajay has established a busin…

About Samara: Samara Mejia Hernandez is the Founding Partner and Managing Director of Chingona Ventures, a Venture Fund that focuses on rapidly changing sectors and founders with experiences that uniquely position them to build startups in underserved growth markets. The fund has $60MM in AUM and has made over 40 investments across technology secto…

Key takeaways: --Your limit to opportunities is your own mindset. --Founders should build their network consistently over time. It will help you understand the fundraising journey, and bring you honest feedback about how long the journey will take. --Early stage investors are "founder evaluators" more so than "business evaluators". Help them believ…

Elisa Miller-Out, Managing Partner Elisa Miller-Out is Chloe Capital’s Co-Founder and Managing Partner. She is an experienced serial tech entrepreneur, having founded and led seven companies over 20+ years. She is an experienced investor, having invested in 45 companies, in addition to executing 10 M&A transactions. Elisa is also an active board di…

Eric is the founder and GP of Contrary. Contrary's portfolio includes hyper-growth companies like Anduril, Ramp, and Zepto. Key Takeaways: Identify the brightest people in the world first, then build infrastructure to support them for their entire life Identify LPs who believe in you emotionally before they believe in your model (not people in weal…

Topics covered: Finding founders through thesis-driven investing Spotting resilient founders- are they building because this product needs to exist What this new market means for deal pacing Driving value add for portfolio companies The talent recruiting landscape Building your brand in venture About Meera: I’m an early stage investor at Redpoint V…

Nathan Beckord is the CEO of Foundersuite.com and VentureArchetypes.com. On the consulting and advisory side, he mainly works with early stage internet, B2B software, mobile, and consumer product startups. He is also interested in platforms, markets, and networks. Nathan has worked with several crowdfunding companies, such as Kickstarter and Appbac…

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 Ha…

Jenny Feilding, General Partner at The Fund, Adjunct professor at Columbia, and entrepreneur joins us on the Road Untraveled this week. Jenny is a pre-seed investor and mentor to hundreds of founders around the world. She is a 2x entrepreneur herself and knows how challenging it is to build great products, inspire a team and keep the lights on. She…

Hunter Walk, Co-founder and Partner at Homebrew. Homebrew is a seed-stage venture firm with investments like Chime, Plaid, Gusto, and many more. Prior to Homebrew, Hunter received his BA from Vasser and MBA from Stanford and then spent time at Youtube as a director of product management. Episode Highlights: Lessons learned at Google and Youtube as …

Key Take-Aways Ben Black - Founder and CEO of Akkadian Ventures: 1. "Venture capital requires a level of trust that is unlike any other business because you find out your failures first before you figure out your wins. And if you want to press personal relationships and really put a lot of pressure on them, deal with failure together." 2. Tune out …

I had an insightful conversation with David Fialkow, Co-founder and Managing Director of General Catalyst, a venture capital firm that partners with founders from seed to growth stage to build companies that withstand the test of time. Key Take-Aways From This Episode: 1. David speaks about the importance of connection and the value of working with…

On today's episode, I am joined by Barry Eggers, Founding Partner at Lightspeed Venture Partners. Episode Key Takeaways: Barry shares with us his 20+ year journey from a new venture firm in the early 2000s to the global powerhouse that is Lightspeed today. We get Barrys take on the state of venture and his position on acknowledging and preparing fo…

Jean-Pierre Adechi, Founder & CEO, Wheeli Key Takeaways 1. The system isn't merit based- build relationships and a network that can help you build trust in the communities that will allow you to access the resources you need to succeed 2. Lean on advisors and people from the community to better identify folks who want to help you navigate the syste…

Charles Hudson is Founder and Managing Partner at Precursor Ventures Key Takeaways: 1. Volume matters- do you get to meet enough companies in a year. They meet 3-4k companies and make 30 investments. You can't identify high quality founders if you don't see enough of them. 2. Some investors are great product people, some are good at market structur…

Key Takeaways 1. Exceptional founders understand "what matters most". They help triage what is most important and help their teams deliver on the priorities that matter most for the growth of the business. 2. Founders must be "learning animals"- ready to scale and upskill at all times. They must surround themselves with smart talent, ask questions,…

Jeff Harbach, President & CEO, Kauffman Fellows Key Takeaways The worlds biggest problems will be solved by companies that weren't venture backable in the past. More importantly, the people building those companies will be the folks who have experiencing dealing with those problems first hand, and will likely be more representative of society (more…

Key Takeaways: 1. 70% of the value in tech has been created by catalyzing network effects within the core business. 2. Competition in the venture ecosystem is good for business. The disbalance of power in the past caused bad behavior, and more competition is good for Founders and helps them find the best partner for their specific endeavor. 3. Look…

David Tisch, Founder & Managing Partner, Box Group Key Takeaways, 1) Behind every great company are people, and it's our job to identify the best teams and try to convince them to let us work with them. 2) Friends give advice, parents tell people what to do. The best investors are friends, who prioritize Founder interest over their own. 3) The proc…

Leyla Seka, Partner, Operator Collective Key Takeaways: 1) Build consensus within an organization and work in the background to gain momentum before asking for support. Bring in a holistic view and others opinions to make sure you are analyzing all the valid perspectives. 2) Come solution oriented when you are working to create change. 3) There's n…

Jamin Ball, Redpoint Ventures Key Takeaways: 1. Productivity tools, remote collaboration and cloud security are three areas seeing momentum due to the move to remote during the pandemic. 2. Net revenue retention and GM adjusted CAC Payback are two metrics he watches to see if a company has what it takes to succeed in public markets. 3. Don't undere…

Crystal Widjaja, Startup Advisor & Sequoia Scout Key Takeaways: 1) Spending time operating before venture helps you better understand the drivers of growth in a company, and it's helpful when you sit on the other side because it helps you identify founders who really understand the journey. 2) As you begin scout investing, develop your thesis aroun…

Semil Shah, Managing Partner, Haystack VC Key Takeaways: 1) LP's struggle to deploy capital without face to face opportunities, so emerging managers are not being funded as quickly as they hoped. On the flip side, many LP's are excited about the pending reset in asset prices from a downturn, and funding may pick up sooner than expected as they sear…

Olivia and Justine Moore, CRV Key Takeaways: 1. Sourcing: college students are often the first adopters of next gen consumer platforms, and being around the college campus is a great way to get involved. 2. Finding trends: follow a diverse range of creators outside of your friend community to see what new products and apps are gaining traction. 3. …

Courtside VC, Founding Partners (Vasu Kulkarni + Deepen Parikh) Key takeaways: 1. Sports is a global gateway, and there is a lot of pent up demand for it. It's not a matter of if, but when, and there will be significant momentum when it can finally return. 2. 75% of betting in Europe is in game betting, while only 25% in the US. There is a lot of t…

Nnamdi Okike, Founder & Managing Partner, 645 Ventures Key Takeaways: 1. Deals today can be more efficiently identified outside of the traditional technology hubs. In part because software companies today require less upfront capital, but also because and the technical talent needed to scale them is more distributed than ever before. 2. Founders sh…

Rob Go, General Partner, NextView Ventures Key Takeaways: 1. E-com businesses that have subscription-like unit economics will begin to be treated more favorably as this crisis unlocks a new consistent consumer base. 2. Dislocation between economic realities and public markets exists, but early stage company valuations are still predominantly driven…

Brendan Wallace, Founder and Managing Partner, Fifth Wall Key Takeaways: 1. Emerging manager needs to be able to clearly articulate their edge in the market and what makes them win vs other new funds, especially in times where capital is harder to raise. 2. 90% of US retail still happens offline, and we don't know when they will open or how people …

Jules Maltz, General Partner, IVP Key takeaways: 1. Companies don't go out of business because the idea fails, they go out of business because they run out of money. Protecting your resources allows you to pivot and weather the storm. 2. Building in "degrees of freedom" that allow the business to sustain revenue decline/downturns is critical and sh…

Key Takeaways: 1. A great way to be a helpful ally is not to shift the burden and ask how you can help, but ask what programs and organizations they care about and donate your time and money to help those causes grow. 2. Warning systems fail because they don't tell us when they are no longer going to warn us. Whether within a company or out in soci…

Nihal Mehta, Founding General Partner, Eniac Ventures Key Takeaways: 1. "Time spent on media" vs "ad dollars going to media" are not directly tied. Consumer business models are not designed to succeed in recessions, and many will need to adjust rapidly to survive. 2. Construction, real estate, insurance, health care are large components of GDP tran…

Sheel Tyle, Founder and CEO, Amplo Key Takeaways: 1. Public market run up is a result of investors struggling to find good places to deploy capital. Low interest rates and an increase in trading volumes can create false rallies, and don't necessarily suggest strong fundamentals. 2. Advice to Founders: Hope for the best and plan for the worst. 3. Tr…

Miriam Rivera, Founder & Managing Partner, Ulu Ventures Key Takeaways: 1. Role models and resources can change the trajectory of a student's professional journey. Find ways to take a chance on students who may not look like you, and drive the diversity you want to see in the World. 2. Founders should evaluate the spectrum of capital available when …

Kiki Mills Johnston, Managing Director, DRIVE by DraftKings Key takeaways: 1. Companies are trying to identify ways to engage fans when they aren't able to bring them into the stadium (VR, competitions, fantasy, etc) 2. A new light is being shed on e-sports, but we still need to ask "is this a means to an end or a new norm once all this settles". 3…

Marlon Nichols, Founder & Managing Partner, MaC Venture Capital Key Takeaways: 1. Companies that can thrive in this environment: health tech space, remote work, collaboration, government/reg tech. 2. Companies will have to make hard changes, but need to keep an eye on how the business is performing and whether you are still achieving the short term…

Courtney Reum, Founder, M13 1. Double down on transparency and communication with your investors and employees. 2. Consumer companies will have to bridge the frustrations in delivery lag by creating unique messaging and a sense of community to capture customers. 3. Founders should think hard about how to not self-isolate during these lonely times. …

Amy Wu, Partner, Lightspeed Venture Partners Key Takeaways: 1. Teams should think about stress-testing for both "COVID impact" as well as "recession impact". 2. Great companies are founded & funded in times like this. Funds will continue to search for high quality opportunities to add to their portfolio. 3. Industries with potential tailwinds: gami…

Breton Birkhofer, Principle, Prologis Ventures Key Takeaways: 1. Companies should think critically about the total cost of layoffs, as they also should include the cost of hiring and retraining. 2. The depth and length of the demand shock is still unclear, and it is hard to know just how severe the knock on effects across the supply chain will be f…

Matt Higgins, CEO @ RSE Ventures / Vice Chairman @ Miami Dolphins Key Takeaways: 1. Every conversation should start "how can I help you". Investors should think about ways they can relieve their teams of items that have long lead times. 2. The future belongs to the content creators. Build a community and build empathy to your end customer. 3. Teams…

Ann DeWitt, General Partner, The Engine Key Takeaways: 1. This pandemic is highlighting the importance of "tough tech" companies and accelerating their ability to reach milestones and engage customers. 2. Global issues have been localized as a result of COVID19, and the resulting collaboration of teams working to solve issues like climate change wi…

Nikhil Basu Trivedi, Managing Director, Shasta Partners Key Takeaways: 1. There are a number of behavioral changes that are happening through this environment that will shape the strategy of companies born in the near future. 2. The health of your employee base should be of paramount focus. That includes ensuring that founders monitor themselves. 3…

Jim Mawson, Founder and CEO Key Takeaways: 1. Corporate VC's can be instrumental in helping their portfolio companies not only have the funding to get through, but a perspective of a customer on how to engage during these times. 2. Debt may become a more compelling financing instrument if equity and VC funding becomes more expensive. 3. In the shor…

Jeff Cherry, CEO, Shift Ventures Key Takeaways: 1. There is opportunity to invest in short term solutions that get us through the times, but it's also important to focus on "the next big things", and those companies are still being built. 2. Try to get your founders focused on solving the little things- with so much on their plates, paralysis can s…

Shawn Merani, Founder and Managing Partner, Parade Ventures Key lessons for founders and emerging managers that are preparing to fight COVID19. Key Takeaways: 1. Bolstering the balance sheet and identifying opportunities to extend runway is one of the most important things a founder can do right now. 2. This process (and pending layoffs) will likel…

Andrea Hoffman, Founder and CEO, Culture Shift Labs Andrea Hoffman and Culture Shifting Labs, among other things, is committed to the success of the Black and Latinx VC community. Through these tough times, she and her partners (including Denmark West) are working to identify the LP's and allies that want to continue and even accelerate this work. …