Angela Tran (@angelatytran), GP at Version One, joins Erik on this episode. They discuss: - How digital health is helping to empower consumers. - The unbundling of healthcare. - Her requests for startups in healthcare. - The questions she asks when evaluating marketplace companies. - Why she looks for marketplace companies that are creating new behaviours for consumers, rather than just unbundling them from their previous providers. - Her thoughts on fitness, consumer social, and the Toronto Rap...
Mar 17, 2020•45 min
Alex Bangash (@alexbangash), founder of Trusted Insight, joins Erik on this episode. They discuss: - Why and how he wants to disrupt venture. - How VC is changing and why later stage investing is becoming more private equity-like. - Why he says common stock is the biggest driver of disruption in the industry now, and why it’s also the most misunderstood. - The myth of being a great picker in venture. - If and where data can provide an unfair advantage. - Why he likes the platform model. - What h...
Mar 15, 2020•1 hr 10 min
Amit Mukherjee (@AmitMukherjee) of NEA and Kyle Doherty (@kydoh) of General Catalyst join Erik on this episode: They discuss: - How data is being used in private market investing, how it differs from the approaches used in public markets, and how it will evolve in the future. - Crossover investing between public and private-oriented firms and why public investors are moving to earlier stages. - The advantages and disadvantages of going public and whether in the future there will be companies tha...
Mar 12, 2020•1 hr 20 min
Delian Asparouhov (@zebulgar), principal at Founders Fund, joins Erik on this episode. They discuss: - Delian’s essays on what he’s learned from working with Keith Rabois at Founders Fund, and why he says “osmosis is the best way to learn.” - How they evaluate talent in general, and specifically founders. - Why he says that the more technical the company, the better the founder has to be at fundraising and storytelling. - Why they are more excited about lending these days. - Companies that help ...
Mar 10, 2020•54 min
Ajay Agarwal (@ajay_bcv) and Kevin Zhang (@kevinzhang) of Bain Capital Ventures join Erik on this episode. They discuss: - The history of enterprise software and how the way it has been sold has changed over time. - How SaaS, cloud-based software and changing customer expectations have transformed enterprise software. - The ways that investors are investing differently in software in a bottom-up world. - The most interesting places where bottom-up software can go next. - Why Ajay says that suppl...
Mar 08, 2020•1 hr 12 min
Byrne Hobart (@ByrneHobart), creator of The Diff (diff.substack.com), joins Erik on this episode. They discuss: - The fox/hedgehog dichotomy - Is it better to be a specialist or generalist? - Do institutions drift leftward over time? - How will the culture war evolve over time? - How are financial bubbles created? - What we can learn from financial bubbles? - The future of K-12 and higher education - The future of identity and anonymity - Why filter bubbles are good - The future of journalism - ...
Mar 07, 2020•3 hr 31 min
Byrne Hobart (@ByrneHobart), creator of The Diff (diff.substack.com), joins Erik on this episode. They discuss: - The role of cost disease in healthcare, education, and construction - The future of globalization - Can bitcoin become a reserve asset - Is Wall Street good for society - How interest rates will change over the next 5-10 years and the role of negative interest rates - Mental models for thinking about financial bubbles - Betting on the future of Silicon Valley - Reasons for the Tech L...
Mar 06, 2020•2 hr 5 min
Joining Erik on this episode are: - Dan Hockenmaier (@danhockenmaier), founder of Basis One - Casey Winters (@onecaseman), Chief Product Officer at Eventbrite - Lenny Rachitsky (@lennysan), former founder as well as former growth PM at Airbnb They discuss: - How marketplaces have evolved over the last several years. - The trend towards owning more of a user’s experience, and the pros and cons of that approach. - The possibilities for new vertical marketplaces. - Where they would be investing if ...
Mar 05, 2020•2 hr 37 min
Don Stalter (@westsides) of Global Founders Capital and Ryan Darnell (@ryan_darnell_) of Max Ventures join Erik on this episode. They discuss: - Where are the opportunities in the ISA space and the new businesses ISAs will enable - How ISAs will enable new forms of homeschooling - The downsides of ISAs - The evolution of Digital Health and where it’s going - The evolution of digital commerce - The potential in the Vertical SaaS space - The future of U.S. and international innovation - Long or sh...
Mar 04, 2020•40 min
Jerry Neumann (@ganeumann), founder of Neu Venture Capital, joins Erik on this episode. They discuss: - Carlota Perez’s work and the implications for investors and founders, including what would change if VCs took her ideas seriously. - What people misunderstand the most about moats. - Why he wants to invest in situations where there is uncertainty, and what the right kind of uncertainty is. - Whether you can predict what the next technological revolution will be, and why the predictions themsel...
Mar 03, 2020•54 min
Daniel Gross (@danielgross) of Pioneer and Brett Berson (@brettberson) of First Round join Erik on this episode. They discuss: - The different types of founders and the different companies they eventually end up building. - Creating positive feedback loops for aspiring entrepreneurs. - The psychology of founders, and why at the end of the day they are status and hierarchy maximizers, and why it’s important to find the right hierarchy to maximize within. - The advice that you can’t truly apprecia...
Mar 01, 2020•1 hr 24 min
Andreas Klinger (@andreasklinger), founder of Remote First Capital, joins Erik on this episode. They discuss: - What has led to the rise of remote work - The recent acceptance of remote work by Silicon Valley VCs - What companies can now be built because of remote work - How private equity is driving the transition to remote work Thanks for listening — if you like what you hear, please review us on your favorite podcast platform. Check us out on the web at villageglobal.vc or get in touch with u...
Feb 29, 2020•26 min
Andy Coravos (@AndreaCoravos), Nina Alli (@headinthebooth), and Beau Woods (@beauwoods) join Erik on this episode. They discuss: - Software’s role in medical devices and our increasing dependence on it - What is DEF CON and who attends - How medical device manufacturers should be working with hackers - What’s the relationship between regulators and security researchers - The state of DIY biohacking - The relationship between the FDA and startups - What would the FDA look like if you could rebuil...
Feb 28, 2020•57 min
Dan McMurtrie (@supermugatu), founder of Tyro Partners, joins Erik on this episode. They discuss: - The similarities and differences between hedge funds and venture capital. - Why “you’re usually competing against yourself” in liquid markets. - His thoughts on the crypto gold rush in 2016-2017. - What venture capitalists need to know about short-selling. - His view of trends in healthcare, housing, and education, and the political implications of those trends. - Why he’s deeply concerned about t...
Feb 27, 2020•2 hr 57 min
Ali Hamed (@AliBHamed) of CoVenture and Chris Keller of Moelis Asset Management join Erik on this episode. They discuss: - What do LPs look for when investing in venture funds - How will the LP and VC dynamic shift over time - Concentration in LP portfolios - The role of power law in venture capital - Incentive misalignments for LPs - How should VCs foster relationships with LPs - Why hasn’t the VC model been innovated upon much in the past decade - Will the middleman ever get cut out - How the ...
Feb 26, 2020•49 min
Sheel Mohnot (@pitdesi), fintech investor, and Jake Gibson (@iamjakestream), co-founder of NerdWallet and Better Tomorrow Ventures, join Erik on this episode. They discuss: - Why it’s still so hard to start a fintech company. - The history of retailers moving into financial services, a trend that Sears started back in the day. - How different categories within fintech have evolved over time and the challenges and opportunities inherent in each of them. - Why financial education hasn’t worked, wh...
Feb 25, 2020•1 hr 3 min
Rick Zullo (@Rick_Zullo), General Partner at Equal Ventures, joins Erik on this episode. They discuss: - The different phases of technological revolutions - Will incumbents become stronger in the next platform shift - What Carlota Perez’s work means for the venture capital landscape - Which categories will create the most successful startups in the next decade Thanks for listening — if you like what you hear, please review us on your favorite podcast platform. Check us out on the web at villageg...
Feb 24, 2020•41 min
Anu Hariharan (@anuhariharan), partner at Y Combinator, joins Erik on this episode. They discuss: - Common mistakes that CEOs make when growing their companies. - How to think about compensation plans in a growing startup. - How to think about managing your board, including why you should get to know your board members as people, as well as when to listen to them or not. - How founders should think about the possibility of a reckoning in the macro environment. - Her talk on the nine different ty...
Feb 23, 2020•1 hr 4 min
Will Houghteling (@willhoughteling), Founder & CEO at Strive, and Paul Freedman (@pmfreedm), Founder and CEO of Entangled Ventures, join Erik on this episode. They discuss: - Mental models for thinking about the higher education space - The future of bootcamps and schools like Lambda - What does the future of credentials look like - What’s the role of government in higher education - Where’s the whitespace in higher education - Requests for education startups - Navigating the idea maze for highe...
Feb 22, 2020•37 min
Tyler Cowen (@tylercowen), economist and author, joins Jasmine Wang (@j_asminewang), technologist and philosopher, and Erik’s co-host for this episode. They discuss: - What Tyler has learned about identifying talent and why he thinks that IQ is overrated. - The forces shaping education today and how Tyler would change it if he could. - Whether leftism is “eating the world.” - What will replace cyberpunk and the role of aesthetics in intellectual life. - How to find the best people for government...
Feb 20, 2020•59 min
Jonathan Hsu (@jonathanhsu), co-founder and general partner at Tribe Capital, joins Erik on this episode. They discuss: - His background in data science, how it has impacted (or not) venture, and how using data can help remove bias. - Why so much of talent evaluation by venture capitalists is instinct-driven instead of data-driven. - The common misconceptions that people have about product-market fit and how he thinks about it. - How to pick the right metric when setting strategy for your startu...
Feb 18, 2020•1 hr 19 min
Beezer Clarkson (@beezer232) of Sapphire Ventures and Aydin Senkut (@asenkut) of Felicis Ventures join Erik on this episode. They discuss: - Their perspectives on the operator-angel and nano-fund trends. - How to think about scouts. - Moats in venture capital and whether they really exist. - Whether we need more venture capital or more venture capitalists. - How the LP and GP ecosystems will evolve over the next five to ten years. - How to figure out what the right fund size is for a firm. Thank...
Feb 15, 2020•53 min
Winter Mead (@wintmead), an LP formerly of Sapphire, and David Booth (@david__booth), co-founder and CEO of OnDeck, join Erik on this episode. They discuss: - Assessing fund managers from an LP perspective, and what it means to be “too diversified” in VC. - Enabling the next generation of GPs. - What it means to say that “venture capital is a human capital game.” - The impact of the current market on LPs’ willingness to invest. - Whether there will be an alternative to the ten year fund cycle. -...
Feb 13, 2020•1 hr 5 min
Alex MacCaw (@maccaw), founder and CEO of Clearbit, joins Erik on this episode. He is a co-author of the book The Great CEO Within. They discuss: - The power of good management and the lack of a modern handbook for managers. - Why and how they treat interviewing and hiring as a science experiment. - What to know for a great reference check. - Managing conflict effectively. - Why you only really close a hire after the first ninety days of them working at your company. - How to think about compens...
Feb 11, 2020•52 min
Sriram Krishnan (@sriramk), investor and former product lead at Twitter, Facebook, and Snap, joins Erik on this episode. They discuss: - His experiences working at the three big social media companies and what he learned there. - Why each company is a reflection of the founder. - What people misunderstand or under appreciate about each of them. - Why he thinks that Facebook missed a golden opportunity when they decided not to build a web browser. - What he thinks each of Twitter, Facebook, and S...
Feb 09, 2020•1 hr 5 min
Spencer Bogart (@CremeDeLaCrypto) of Blockchain Capital and Brayton Williams (@BraytonKey) of Boost VC, join Erik on this episode. They discuss: - Their analysis of the different eras of crypto and how the thinking of the people involved in the space has evolved. - Whether the crypto bubble in 2017 can be compared to the internet bubble of 1999. - Unpacking the Bitcoin-as-programmable money thesis. - Specific problems that crypto is solving that they have invested in, as well as their requests f...
Feb 07, 2020•58 min
Fabrice Grinda (@fabricegrinda), entrepreneur and angel investor, joins Erik on this episode. They discuss: - What Fabrice believes about marketplaces and the trend towards verticalization that VCs don’t believe. - How they evaluate investments and the four criteria that they use to determine whether they will invest or not. - His breakdown of some of the failed marketplace startups. - What you need to know if you’re building a marketplace business in 2020. - His analysis of marketplaces for hom...
Feb 05, 2020•1 hr 15 min
Marco DeMeireles (@MarcoDeMeireles), partner at TCG, joins Erik on this episode. They discuss: - How the firm came to be and how they think about portfolio construction. - What owning the life stage means and why it makes for better businesses. - Some of the spaces they’re thinking about, including weddings, fertility, and funerals. - Marco’s thoughts on e-commerce enablement. - His other requests for startups. Thanks for listening — if you like what you hear, please review us on your favorite p...
Feb 04, 2020•1 hr 2 min
Michael Galpert (@msg) and Greg Isenberg (@gregisenberg) join Erik on this episode. They Discuss: - What’s changed about consumer social in the past year - The rise of vertical social networks - The success and future of TikTok - The role of startup acquisitions in making a successful social network - Will there be a new social network for every generation - Will future social networks incorporate a physical element - How will consumer social be different a year from now Thanks for listening — i...
Feb 02, 2020•44 min
Burak Yenigun (@BurakYngn), founder of Stylus Capital ( www.styluscapital.com ) joins Erik on this episode. They discuss: - The problem of founder scarcity and why it exists. - The most effective levers for increasing the number of founders. - Whether we are in a bubble or not. - What founders need to know when thinking about interest rates. - The advantages and disadvantages of risk-sharing arrangements for founders, and how they would work. Thanks for listening — if you like what you hear, ple...
Jan 31, 2020•44 min
