Lo Toney of Plexo Capital joins Nick to discuss Common Traits Shared by Top GPs, Why Underrepresented Fund Managers Will Produce Superior Returns, and SPACs vs. Direct Listings vs. IPOs. In this episode, we cover: Walk us through your background and path to VC? Why are Product Management skills similar…
Lanham Napier of BuildGroup joins Nick to discuss Scaling Rackspace, The Evolving Responsibilities of a Venture-Backed CEO, and Confronting Big Tech Monopolies. In this episode, we cover: You took on capital from Sequoia, Norwest, and others while at Rackspace. What was the biggest challenge to taking on venture capital? How…
Trae Vassallo of Defy Partners joins Nick to discuss Leaving Kleiner Perkins to Start Defy Partners, The State of Venture in the Bay Area, and Maintaining a Beginner’s Mind. In this episode, we cover: Can you talk about your transition from Kleiner Perkins? How tough was that decision to make?…
Nikhil Basu Trivedi of joins Nick to discuss Agglomerators vs. Specialists, the Rise of the Solo-Capitalist, and the Importance of Founder-Investor Fit+. In this episode, we cover: Why did you decide to leave Shasta? What’s the plan moving forward? The Rise of Solo Capitalists You wrote a great piece on…
Ben Casnocha of Village Global joins Nick to discuss Backing from Bezos, Zuckerberg, and Gates; Lessons from Reid Hoffman; and Building a Network-centric Venture Firm. In this episode, we cover: – How have things changed for the firm since the pandemic broke?– You’ve raised from some very big names in…
Stephen McIntyre of Frontline Ventures joins Nick to discuss Cross-Border Startup Expansion — Lessons from 175 Companies. In this episode, we cover: – You recently published research on the expansion of 175 US companies into Europe. I’d like to discuss a number of points from the piece, but first off……
Jonathan Hsu of Tribe Capital joins Nick to discuss A Quantitative Approach to PMF, Tribe’s Magic 8 Ball for Objective Evaluation, and Approaches to Reduce Talent Biases. In this episode, we cover: The thesis at Tribe Capital? How do you define PMF? Could you explain what the 8 Ball diligence…
Check Warner of Ada Ventures joins Nick to discuss Structural Disadvantages in Venture, Investing in the “Overlooked,” and Open-Sourcing the VC Fund Raise and Investment Playbook. In this episode, we cover: Background / Path to Venture The thesis at Ada Ventures Is it tough getting the up-rounds from Tier 1…
Niki Pezeshki of Felicis Ventures joins Nick to discuss Finding Markets with Long-Term Tailwinds; Macro Impacts on Venture; and Robust vs. Fragile Data. In this episode, we cover: Background and path to venture. Thesis at Felicis and your focus there? How has the pandemic affected your approach to investment? You’ve…
Henrique Dubugras of Brex joins Nick to discuss the Blazing Fast Path to $B+; Binary Outcomes; The Fintech Revolution; and A New Approach to Employee Comp. In this episode, we cover: Background — path that led to Brex? Origin story for Brex Tag-line / One sentence overview What’s so different…