Corporate venture capital is becoming a first choice option for founders seeking the value-add that corporates can bring in an industry. This is the thesis of Laurent Grill as he seeks to build the #1 choice PropTech fund at JLL Spark.
Cannabis is still a schedule 1 narcotic (cocaine is a less serious schedule 2). Cannabis plants have RFIDs on them and are tracked from seed to sale. Casa Verde's Karan Wadhera tells us why he sees this and other regulations as an opportunity and why he and Snoop set up Casa Verde to invest from $1M to $15M in cannabis startups.
Do you feel good about the purchases you make and the trash you generate as a consumer? Dan Fishman believes in empowering consumers and he shares perspective for startups and brands that are being built to serve our new regenerative future.
Maureen Klewicki heads up investing at Cedars-Sinai Health Ventures, the venture arm of Cedars-Sinai. Cedars-Sinai is a top 10 hospital in the US that serves more than 1 million people each year with over 4,500 physicians and nurses. Maureen discusses opportunities she sees for startups to be created to address issues in care delivery, the labor shortage crisis, and the move to value-based care. She shares go to market strategies in healthcare and much more.
Amanda Groves shares how startups can best navigate working with elite athletes and celebrities. How should a startup structure an equity arrangement? Has cancel culture gone too far? And how does a firm like PLUS Capital help to measure and quantify an engagement's impact.
Kathryne Cooper tells us about Jumpstart Nova, a new $55M fund investing in incredible Black healthcare founders at the seed and series A stage. Jumpstart has LPs such as Meharry Medical College, Eli Lilly and Company, Cardinal Health and is part of the trend of VCs offering strategic help from their LPs as an important value-add.
The best day to sell your company is the worst day to re-invest that money. The best day to plan for that sale is not a month before it happens. Evoke's Michael Carney shares wealth management tips for startup execs and tells us about Evoke's fund of funds strategy.
Ludis Capital founder Matilda Sung is investing $500k - 1M at the intersection of sports media and technology. She explains why the NFL looks up to the NBA's digital engagement, how sports betting is different in the US than in other countries and she clarifies who really owns the rights to digital assets like TopShop NFTs.
Jonathan Hung tells us about his two new funds: Trousdale Ventures has deployed over $300M the last two years and is a partnership with Phillip Sarofim. Playhouse Ventures is a web3/NFT fund with Steve Aoki. He also shares his perspective on doing business with China and how to choose a manufacturing partner in today's market.
This episode is so good. If you care about how culture is born in a city or what makes LA tech special, then get some inspiration as Crosscut's Brett Brewer talks about the early days of building Intermix and MySpace and how he sees the ecosystem evolving.
Venture investment in consumer brands goes in and out of vogue. Amanda Schutzbank explains how Willow Growth takes a unique approach to consumer investing that combines the best of venture and private equity investing.
One of everyone's favorites, Ed Wilson, joins to talk to about Impulsum Ventures, how they've built a venture firm alongside a 30-person dev shop and his sunny approach to life.
Another great Series A fund in LA! Yelena Shkolnik is a partner at Jump Capital. Jump may be most recognized for their crypto work, but we have a broad conversation on content, commerce, fintech and how those are converging in today's ownership economy.
Every pitch today involves community. Upfront partner and former CMO Kobie Fuller tells us how the best brands are giving users the tools to be brand advocates and how those same brands are tapping into the community to get insights. We also talk about being black in venture and what inspired Kobie to build Valence, a network for black professionals.
The Gotham Gal herself, Joanne Wilson, tells us that department stores are dead, but gives us a glimpse into the future and her own upcoming cannabis store that will pair your cannabis with your needs, mood and even the food you're serving that night. We also cover the state of VC today and much more.
We couldn't be more excited for Carter Reum and M13's newly announced $400M Fund III. There are still only a few funds in LA that are true lead Series A investors. Carter tells us how they have doubled in size from Fund I to Fund II and again from Fund II to Fund III (it helps to have 11(!) unicorns in Fund I) and how their thesis has continued to evolve as they've built the fund.
Earth's population has doubled in Cody's lifetime. 96% of mammals on earth by biomass are now humans and livestock. China emits more greenhouse gases than all developed countries combined. This and much more from Cody at MCJ Collective.
How are sports evolving to match the changing tastes of fans? What can traditional sports learn from esports? How is sports betting rolling out across the country? This and much more with Steve Ahern, partner at KB Partners.
Zach Noorani is a partner at Foundation Capital where he leads FinTech investing. Zach shares why he is excited for composability in finance, why he's still excited for neobanks and why traditional finance is not going to be disrupted by web3 overnight.
Great discussion with Richard Wolpert on the convergence of tech and media. Some punchlines: * Movie theaters will only be for tent-pole movies * Live concerts are not going away * The metaverse will happen * Social media is toxic and needs to be fixed
Dom Perri is with Vertex US, an early-stage venture fund that's part of the broader Vertex global network. With its $200M Fund III, Vertex will continue investing in early-stage B2B companies. Dom tells us about Vertex US, his partners In Sik and Jonathan, his career in corp and business dev, and also some of his favorite maxims, including: "you don't ask, you don't get".
After investing in Chime, Step, Brace, and many others, leading FinTech investor, Joe Guzel, tells us why he and fellow Crosslink partner McLain Southworth are starting their own fund, Haven, and betting their careers on web3 FinTech.
Ben Marcus is the cofounder of UP Partners, a new $230M fund investing in the moving world. Ben tells us about electric vertical takeoff airplanes, drones delivering packages from the roofs of Walmarts, and how flight is going to connect humanity.
Two-time NBA all-star, Baron Davis talks about his investing and how he encourages people to put their money where their mouth is.
Omar is a partner at Mucker and leads their $190M "early" fund. Previously a partner at Sequoia and founder of AdMob. So many great insights on building companies and why it's hard for startups to raise a Series A from Sand Hill.
Kyle Adkins is a partner at FullCycle Climate Partners. FullCycle invests to accelerate the deployment of technologies that address our greenhouse gas crisis. Kyle shares great perspective on the state of climate tech and climate tech investing today.
Saeed Amidi is the CEO and founder of Plug and Play. Plug and Play connects startups with corporate partners and is one of the most active investors in the world with about 250 investments per year and over 2000 startups going through one of their programs every year.
Alex Andrianopoulos tells us how scientific breakthroughs are going to reshape medicine, climate and the world we live in. Kairos Ventures is a ~$300M fund investing in these breakthroughs... even when other VCs aren't yet interested.
Shawn Colo is a founder and managing partner at 3L Capital, a growth equity firm based in LA and NY writing $10-30M checks. We discuss 3L portfolio companies goPuff, Relativity Space, AvantStay and Shawn's founding of Demand Media.
Martha Notaras is the smartest and most fun Insurtech investor that I know. She tells us about Brewer Lane's $175M Fund I and investing into Series A and B Insurtech and Fintech companies.
