Episodios
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Guest: Jake Kupperman (@jbkupperman)
Company: Level Ventures
Location: New York, NY
Background: Level is a leading data-driven investment manager focused on technology innovation. Their team thinks about venture investing differently than most, and they apply deep levels of data science to inform their decision-making process.
Talking points (five-second version):
The human aspect of venture capital becoming more data driven LP value creation to venture funds Non-obvious differences between working in venture and working at a fund of funds -
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Guest: Nico Cerdeira (@nicocerdeira)
Company: Failory
Location: Buenos Aires, Argentina
Background: Failory is a content side for founders, and Nico has led their team for the past five years. Their team has mastered their marketing, and their site brings in hundreds of thousands of unique visitors per month. They use programmatic SEO to make this happen, and we cover more of the details in this talk.
Talking points (five-second version):
The fundamentals of programmatic SEO How Failory reached 200k+ unique visitors / month with a team of one Ways to monetize a content site Lessons on how companies have found product-market fitKey takeaways (30-second version):
If you're ignoring search trends, your business has no shot. You have to win attention in today's world. Search trends tell you where attention lives today. Programmatic SEO is about building thousands of pages to capture long tail search demand. You do this by keeping the structure of the page consistent and mapping information to that structure. You can learn a TON by observing people and companies that have won at programmatic SEO. Nomad List, Zapier, and Failory are three companies to study. Increasing prices is the best way to grow top line. This can be uncomfortable if you're starting out. Sponsorships < affiliate programs < subscriptions. All business owners prefer recurring dollars over transactional dollars. If you warrant sponsorship, use it to earn recurring revenue down the road. Lack of PMF is the biggest reason startups fail. If you want to save yourself time, money, and heartache, check this out. You want ruthless feedback instead of passive compliments. The best way to pre-sale is to justify demand first. -
Guest: Matt Knight (@JustMattKnight)
Company: Proptech Angel Group
Location: Atlanta, GA
Background: Proptech Angel Group is an angel group out of Atlanta that, as the name suggests, invests in companies shaping the future of real estate. The group has grown to ~200 members, and Matt is the founder and leader of the group. If you invest in proptech, he's a great guy to know.
Talking points (five-second version):
Running an angel group vs. running a traditional fund Subsectors of proptech worth betting on Non-obvious takeaways growing a paid community to 200 membersKey takeaways (30-second version):
Angel groups are a great source of inside information. If you're looking to get answers to questions you can't find on Twitter, try an angel group. Angel groups are slow because members notoriously don't have free time. Many of these people are running their own companies, so chasing down capital is the biggest con to running an angel group. You have much more flexibility running an angel group than a traditional fund. This is the two-sided coin of having less structure. You can learn things academically, but you don't really understand things until you get anecdotal evidence. To better understand academic concepts, practice them in real life. Any community is going to follow a Pareto's principle. 20% of members will produce 80% of the value. Find those people, and reward them to keep them engaged. When you're in an up-cycle, everybody wants things that are growing to expand revenue. During a down-cycle, people start focusing more on cost-cutters and other things that can streamline operations to reduce overhead. People are renting for longer periods of time for a few different reasons. Some are priced out as home prices have increased, but others are choosing to avoid homeownership because it is more convenient for them to rent. -
Guest: Mack Kolarich (@MackKolarich)
Company: Assure
Background: Assure is the OG and most-used special purpose vehicle platform. They help anybody running SPVs by handling all of the administrative work that you don't have time for. Mack is a VP, and he also leads up their analytics team to leverage data to better understand trends.
Talking points (five-second version):
Perspectives on building track record SPV trends Takeaways on innovation within the VC tech stackKey takeaways (30-second version):
Managing SPVs is more complex than you think. When it comes time to launch your first SPV, you want to go with an SPV provider that has seen everything before. SPVs aren’t just for VCs. Real estate funds, crypto funds, broker dealers, and others use SPVs to pool funds. 50% of funds admitted to sacrificing diligence to get into deals. This was one of the takeaways from the survey we ran with Assure earlier this year on how junior VCs are looking at special purpose vehicles. The main reason that investors aren’t building their personal track record is a lack of capital. SPVs offer a way around this. Syndicate leads are competing for LP attention today. LPs today are backing 20-30 different syndicates, and this optionality on the LP side is making it harder to get deals done. The number of family offices participating in SPVs has dropped in half over the past year. However, those that have stuck around have doubled the size of their investment. -
Guest: Drew Glover (@DrewBailer)
Company: Fiat Growth
Background: Fiat Growth is an emerging VC focused on supporting and growing the next generation of fintech companies.
Talking points (five-second version):
Differences in evaluating and investing companies at different stages of the lifecycle Overcoming the hurdles of selling into financial services Subsectors of fintech that Drew and the team are diving into -
Guest: Anubhav Srivastava (@anubhav0313)
Company: Tactyc
Background: Anubhav is the founder and CEO of Tactyc, a venture portfolio construction, performance forecasting, and scenario planning software for data-driven funds. Get started with a 30% discount on their Construction and Solo plans by using the code CONFLUENCE30 at checkout.
Talking points (five-second version):
Why fund managers should never be creating spreadsheets The importance of portfolio construction and scenario planning What's going on behind the scenes in the venture services marketKey takeaways (30-second version):
Funds that are shutting down right now are going to miss out on some of the best opportunities. Valuations are down, founders still need capital, and investors that wait on the sidelines are going to miss the upside. Scared money don't make money. Especially at the pre-seed, revenue shouldn't be prioritized highly. Product-market fit and having early indicators of traction matter more than immediate revenue. More and more opportunities are popping to syndicate and tag along into deals they're already doing. Portfolio construction is a process. You usually have to lay this out in the fundraise. A good portfolio construction strategy is an evergreen asset you can keep using to manage investment decisions going forward. The better you lay this out, the better you can stick to your strategy over the lifecycle of the fund. Your primary goal as a GP is not to create spreadsheets. It's to get into deals and raise capital from LPs. Most up-and-coming venture services providers are collaborative and are building out products with a focus on integrations. Most of the traditional venture services providers are exclusive and want to build a one-stop shop for VCs. It's easier to see this on the inside, but it holds true. Australia is one of the fastest-growing venture capital markets in the world. According to Anubhav, they have clients over there, and they have some of the best internal processes he has seen. Startups need most help around distribution. If you want to actually be helpful to your portfolio companies, help them get the word out. -
Guest: Jacob Peters (@J__Cub) Company: House Capital Role: Co-Founder & General Partner Background: House Capital is the venture arm of Launch House. They invest ~$100k checks to support builders of the next Silicon Valley, and all of their portfolio companies get lifetime access into Launch House.
Talking points (five-second version):
How the younger generation is influencing investment What the future of venture looks like Evaluating community-led companies Non-obvious things that make great communities -
Guest: Mike Suprovici (@msuprovici) Company: VC Lab Role: Head of Acceleration Background: VC Lab is the leading venture capital accelerator for fund managers. The program is 16 weeks, it's free for participants (once accepted), and the goal is to help participants reach their first close.
Talking points (five-second version):
The types of people that are most-likely to become emerging managers The most challenging parts about starting your first fund Non-obvious things about pitching LPs -
Guest: David Kobrosky (@thebrunchguy) Company: Intros AI Role: CEO Background: Intros AI helps automate introductions to help communities build stronger connections. We use their software to help our community make more meaningful relationships, and Confluence premium members can sign up for that service here.
Talking points (five-second version):
What makes a great place to gather Differences between Web2 and Web3 communities Similarities between choosing jobs and communities -
Guest summary (10-second version):
Guest: Melissa Widner (@melissawidner) Company: Lighter Capital Role: CEO Background: Lighter Capital is a revenue-based financing fund that helps SaaS companies raise capital without giving up ownership.Talking points (five-second version):
Revenue-based financing dynamics Ownership preferences of founders How downturns affect capital markets -
This week we had on Zain Jaffer (@zainjaffer) from Zain Ventures.
Zain is a former operator with multiple exits under his belt, the most notable being Vungle's $780 million acquisition by Blackstone in 2019. Zain now primarily focuses on his family office, Zain Ventures, and he invests primarily in real estate and proptech companies.
In this talk, we cover:
Prepping for a successful exit Non-obvious differences between family offices and traditional funds Opportunities in the future of real estate -
This week we had on Alexa Grabell (@alexa_grabell) from Pocus.
Pocus is a product-led sales platform that helps GTM teams use data to improve customer acquisition, conversion, and expansion. Alexa is the co-founder & CEO, and she just raised $23mm to fuel their next phase of growth.
In this talk, we cover:
Branding as a product-led growth company Creating early demand for your product Extracting value from investors after they write checks -
This week we had on Nick Moran (@TheFullRatchet) with New Stack Ventures.
New Stack is a Chicago-based funds that invests in outsiders. They aim to back pre-seed and seed founders working on problems within software, fintech, protech, healthcare, supply chain, and e-commerce. Nick is the managing partner of the fund, and he is also the founder and host of The Full Ratchet.
In this talk, we cover:
Becoming an insider in the venture game The solo capitalist movement Why it's worth betting on talent outside of the hubs -
This week we had on Kirby Porter (@KirbyPorter_) with New Game Labs.
Kirby started her career in venture, and switched over the operating side recently to launch New Game Labs to help athletes learn, connect, and create in web3.
In this talk, we cover:
Figuring out your "why" NIL deals and their impact on college athletics Layering on community to improve the first version of your productWant to get more involved?
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This week we had on Corey Walters with Here.
Here let's anybody invest into vacation rentals like stocks. They handle all the administrative work; investors earn passive income. We love this company, and we're currently syndicating a small allocation into their upcoming round (to view our memo and participate, you'll have to back us syndicate first).
In this talk, we cover:
Educating before selling The process of fractionalizing hard assets Solving bottlenecks as you scaleWant to get more value from us? Check out our website at www.confluence.vc.
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This week we had on Jared Fuller (@fullerfreedom) with BuiltFirst.
BuiltFirst helps communities spin up vendor marketplaces to help community members make better software decisions. We're one of the 200+ communities they have onboarded (we use them for our perk board), and they have already created $30mm in software savings. Jared runs partnerships, and he is in charge of managing the different relationships between vendors, partners, and purchasers.
In this talk, we cover:
Using ecosystems to your advantage Modern partnerships 101 How to make sure that your portfolio CEOs are making the right hiresWant to get more involved?
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This week we had on Nik Talreja (@niktalreja) from Sydecar.
Sydecar is a frictionless deal execution platform for venture investors. Their platform handles back-office operations, automating banking, compliance, contracts, and reporting so that customers can focus on making deals and building relationships.
In this talk, we cover:
Why more junior investors are using SPVs to build their track record The benefits of not building in public Attracting top talent as an early-stage startupWant to get more involved?
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This week we had on Fed (@foliofed) with Hive Index.
Hive Index is an aggregation tool that let's anybody find the right online communities to join. Fed is a nomad, a bootstrapped founder, and he also runs another software company when he's not busy with Hive Index.
In this talk, we cover:
Things that great communities do well Community-focused businesses The rise of the solopreneurWant more content like this delivered straight to your inbox? Subscribe to our newsletter.
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This week we had on Dustin McCaffree (@terribledustin) with Marvel.
Marvel helps businesses outsource their content creation, and it specializes in blogs and other forms of written content. We use them for a lot of our content, and we would recommend them to anybody reading this.
In this talk, we cover:
Winning the SEO game Why every company is becoming a media company Overcoming bottlenecks as a founder - Mostrar más