Smart Venture Podcast

Sophia Amoruso is the founder and managing partner of Trust Fund, an early-stage venture fund focused exclusively (yet broadly) on investing in tech-enabled products that help people start and build businesses. Trust fund’s investors include Marc Andreessen, Chris Dixon, David Sacks, Jason Calacanis, Ev Williams, Naomi Gleit, Andrew Chen, Jeff Jordan, Jesse Draper, Rob Hayes, and Phil Hellmuth. Some of their portfolios include Public, Liquid Death, and MoonPay, among others. She is also the founder of Nasty Gal, Girlboss and a New York Times Bestselling author. 

You can learn more about: 

• How to Brand Your Business
• How to Invest in Top Startups
• Lessons from Being an Entrepreneur to Venture Capitalist

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Dave Long is the CEO of Orangetheory Fitness. He leads the company's franchise model, regional development, and product development strategy. After founding the company in 2010 with two partners, Dave has led the brand through countless pivotal achievements, including launching two apps, creating a proprietary heart rate monitor with strategically chosen partners, and signing celebrity brand ambassadors. In addition, Dave facilitated Orangetheory Fitness's exponential growth and expanded the brand worldwide, with studios now open in several countries. The scientifically backed fitness franchise continues its rapid expansion with no end in sight under Dave's leadership. Before that, Dave helped grow Massage Envy from 25 to 800 locations. Dave also helped European Wax Center expand the concept from 4 to over 550 locations in less than nine years.

You can learn more about:

1. How to build an iconic fitness brand
2. How to build an effective system to scale your business
3. How to stay on top of the tech trends and apply them to your businesses

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Jake Seid is the Co-Founder and General Partner at Ballistic Ventures, a VC firm focused on early-stage cybersecurity and security-related venture investments, with a debut fund of $300M. Before working at Ballistic, Jake was a Managing Director at Lightspeed Venture Partners and founder and Managing Director at Stone Bridge Ventures—his portfolio includes Blend, Brex, Bolt, Abnormal Security, Carta, Cresta.ai, Drata, and more. 

You can learn more about: 

1. Investing trends in the cybersecurity space
2. Starting and building a successful fund 
3. How to attract the best founders 

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Sergio Monsalve is the Founding Partner of Roble Ventures, an early-stage venture capital firm investing in entrepreneurs building human enablement technologies. Before founding Roble Ventures, Sergio was a Partner at Norwest Venture Partners and the Board Member and Investor of Udemy. He also invested in other billion-dollar companies such as Kahoot! and Adaptive Insights. 

You can learn more about: 

1. From working at a top fund to starting a fund.
2. Insights into founding Roble Ventures and key strategies for success in venture capital.
3. A look into future trends in work, learning, and AI, and what makes a successful ed-tech company.

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Our sponsor, LD Talent, will transform how you hire, manage, and upskill your tech team. Visit https://www.ldtalentwork.com to get 100 dollars in free credit, and build your product and distributed team quickly, efficiently, and creatively. Disclosure: I am an investor in the company.

Disclosure: I am an investor in the company. 

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Ambar Bhattacharyya is the Managing Director at Maverick Ventures. During his venture capital career at Maverick Ventures, Bessemer Venture Partners, and Bain Capital Ventures, Ambar has led or been actively involved in investments resulting in 16 IPOs & acquisitions, with six companies achieving valuations of over $1B in the public markets.

Ambar has received broad recognition for his leadership, including Fortune Magazine's "40 under 40", Business Insider’s “30 leaders under 40 transforming healthcare”, San Francisco Business Time’s "40 under 40" list, and as a Global Shaper by the World Economic Forum. He was also selected to be an Aspen Institute Health Innovators Fellow in 2022. Ambar has been cited by publications including Business Insider, CNBC, Fast Company, Forbes, The New York Times, and the Wall Street Journal for his thoughts on the startup ecosystem and innovation. 

You can learn more about: 

1. How to invest in the top healthcare companies? 
2. How to accelerate your career growth in venture capital? 
3. The healthcare AI landscape deep dive. 

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Gaurav Jain is the Co-founder of Afore Capital, one of the top venture funds ($300M AUM) dedicated to pre-seed investments. Some of the investments Gaurav and/or Afore have been involved in include Modern Health (leading mental health platform), Hightouch (leader in data infra), Cruise Automation (acq by GM for $1B+) and Firebase (acq by Google). You can find Gaurav at https://twitter.com/gjain

You can learn more about: 

1. How to identify talents in the early stage 
2. How to build a top pre-seed VC fund 
3. How to add value to top founders 

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Rebecca is a Co-Founder and General Partner at Canvas Ventures where she leads early-stage investments in Fintech, Healthtech, and AI. Rebecca has been named to the Forbes Midas List five years running, a Woman to Watch: Senior Deal Maker by the Wall Street Journal, and a Top Woman VC by the New York Times. Some of her notable investments include Luminar (NASDAQ: LAZR), Lending Club (NYSE: LC), Practice Fusion (acq Allscripts), Gabi (acq Experian), Check (acq Intuit), RelateIQ (acq Salesforce), CrowdFlower (acq by Appen), Viewics (acq Roche), FutureAdvisor (acq Blackrock), and Figure8 (acq Appen). 

Before founding Canvas, Rebecca served as a General Partner at Morgenthaler Ventures. During her time at Morgenthaler, one of her early investments, Doximity (NYSE: DOCS), went public in 2021 and was one of the year’s largest IPOs. Before that, she was the VP of NextCard. At NextCard, the first online credit card company, Rebecca helped scale the company from 30 people to 1300 and an IPO. 

You can learn more about: 

1. How to invest in the world’s changing entrepreneurs  
2. Founding and managing a leading VC firm 
3. How to be a value-adding board member 

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Sam Yagan is the co-founder and Managing Director of Corazon Capital, a leading Chicago-based Seed and Series A venture fund. Their portfolio includes companies like SpotHero, Songfinch and Stellar, among others. Prior to Corazon, he served as CEO of ShopRunner and led its 2020 acquisition by FedEx Corp. Previously, as CEO of Match Group, he spearheaded the launch of Tinder in 2012 and oversaw the company's IPO in 2015. His previous ventures also include founding SparkNotes in 1999 and co-founding OkCupid in 2004.

You can learn more about: 

1. How to start and run multiple successful startups 
2. How to run the best dating company 
3. How to build a great network and start a fund 

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David Rogier is the founder and CEO of MasterClass, the streaming platform where anyone can learn from the world’s best across a wide range of subjects. Instructors include Anna Wintour, Serena Williams, Gordon Ramsay, Chris Voss (our former guest), and more. With MasterClass at Work, companies can develop durable skills that transform employees into future-ready leaders through cinematic lessons and life-changing stories taught by the world’s best.

You can learn more about: 

1. How to build a world-class learning platform 
2. How to effectively fundraising 
3. The secret to storytelling and running a fast-growing company

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Dave Zilberman is a General Partner at Norwest Venture Partners. Norwest Venture Partners manages more than $12.5 billion in capital. They have invested in over 600 early-to-late-stage companies, with more than 200 currently active. Dave primarily focuses on early to late-stage investments in enterprise and infrastructure—some of his portfolios include Slack, DocuSign, Amagi Corporation, and more. Before joining Norwest, Dave was the Managing Director of Comcast Ventures.

You can learn more about: 

1. How to identify and invest in the next generation of Slack and DocuSign 

2. Investing career advice from corporate venture arm to traditional VC fund

3. How do you construct an excellent portfolio to produce good results and stay competitive?

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Karl Alomar is the Managing Partner at M13, a consumer technology venture capital firm with a $400 million fund to invest Seed and Series A startups offering Software and Services into the future of work, commerce, health, and money. M13's portfolios include Daily Harvest, Matterport, Ring, Rothy’s, and more. Before joining M13, Karl was the COO of DigitalOcean (NYSE: DOCN), where he grew the company from a small team to pre-IPO. 

You can learn more about: 

1. How to leverage your operating experiences to break into venture 

2. How to create high-growth potential career opportunities 

3. Day-to-day managing a top VC firm 

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Mitchell Green is the founder and Managing Partner of Lead Edge Capital, a growth-stage investment fund with over $5B AUM investing $25 million to $300 million across public and private tech companies globally. Their portfolio companies are across the internet, software, consumer, and tech-enabled services sectors - including Alibaba, Asana, Benchling, Spotify, Toast, Wise, and more.

You can learn more about:

1. How to start a successful growth stage investment fund
2. How to build a unique LP network that can differentiate your firm  
3. How to invest in some of the most competitive companies

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Steve Jang is the Founder and Managing Partner at Kindred Ventures. An early-stage VC firm raised $312 million across two new funds in 2022. Over the past 14 years, Steve has backed over 100 companies across different theme areas, including Uber, Coinbase, Postmates, Tonal, Color Health, Humane, DYDX, Zora, and Blue Bottle Coffee. Since 2009 and up until IPO, Steve has also served as an Advisor to Uber since the founding of the company, up through initial product launch, global expansion, and then IPO. Steve currently serves as a Board Member of Humane, Tonal, Color, and Zora, to name a few. In 2023, Forbes’ Midas List named Steve as #45 among the world’s 100 top venture capital investors. 

You can learn more about: 

1. How to invest in the next generation of Uber and Coinbase?  
2. How to build an amazing track record as an angel investor? 
3. How do you transition from a successful angel investor to a Managing Partner at a VC fund? 

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Sponsor Spotlight guest: Alumni Ventures’ CEO Mike Collins 

Welcome to the Smart Venture Podcast’s sponsor spotlight, where we take a moment to highlight the companies making our show possible. We're thrilled to feature Alumni Ventures.  Alumni Ventures, offers individual investors access to venture investing through its diversified, professional-grade venture portfolios. We're excited to share more about what they do and how they're making a difference. So sit back, relax, and let's dive into Alumni Venture’s sponsor spotlight. 

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How to invest in startups as individual investors?

I get this question, A LOT.

So I brought one of the experts to join me to talk about this.

Mike Collins is the CEO of Alumni Ventures, America's Largest Venture Capital Firm for Individual Investors.

Smart Venture Podcast’s sponsor, Alumni Ventures, offers individual investors access to venture investing through its diversified, professional-grade venture portfolios. The company’s funds have consistently outperformed public market equivalents, with over $1.1 billion raised and invested in over eleven hundred portfolio companies. They have a dedicated team of fifty full-time venture investors and were the #1 most active venture firm in the US in 2022 and #3 globally according to Pitchbook. Investing in venture capital can help reduce overall portfolio risk and increase the likelihood of stronger returns. To learn more, visit av.vc/grace and schedule a call. Investors must be accredited. Please note that all financial investments involve risk, past performance does not guarantee future results, and it is important to conduct your own research and seek professional advice before making any investment decisions.

Check out their service: av.vc/grace

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Michael Jones is the founder of studio and venture fund Science Inc., where he helps founders scale highly profitable and successful businesses. Mike’s portfolio includes Liquid Death, Dollar Shave Club, Myspace, DogVacay, Goodreads, and Maker Studios, to name a few. Prior to Science, Mike served as the CEO of Myspace, and his company, Userplane, was acquired by AOL. His experience and expertise in both large and small companies focuses on strategy, growth, and operational efficiency, and has resulted in over $2B in exits. 

You can learn more about: 

1. How do we build the next big consumer brand? 
2. How to create and manage a successful venture capital portfolio? 
3. How to invest in the next Liquid Death and Dollar Shave Club? 

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Matt Madrigal is the Vice President and General Manager of Merchant Shopping at Google. In this role, Matt leads the product and engineering teams that build Google Shopping’s tools, partner integrations, and infrastructure to help businesses and merchants grow and thrive. Bringing an extensive background in retail, platforms, and technology, Matt is passionate about helping businesses through digital transformation. Prior to joining Google, Matt was the Chief Technology and Product Officer at Fanatics, where he played a key role in shaping the mobile strategy and expanding their product development and data capabilities for both the consumer and partner sides of the business. Prior to that, he was the SVP of eCommerce & Marketing for Williams-Sonoma, Inc. and he spent 8 years leading engineering and product for all of eBay’s digital marketing and onsite advertising technology functions, including the analytical & data platforms that powered the company’s global Internet marketing efforts. While at eBay, he was also instrumental in the creation of Triton, one of the most respected SEM platforms in the industry. 

You can learn more about:

1. How to strategize your career for optimal growth and learning?

2. How to establish a clear mission, principles, and OKRs for your team?

3. What is the future landscape of shopping?

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Peter Wagner is a Founding Partner of Wing Venture Capital, where he focuses on the Modern Enterprise, an agile workplace built on data and powered by AI. Peter has led investments in dozens of early-stage companies, including Snowflake, Gong, and many others, which have gone on to complete IPOs or successful acquisitions. Recently Wing has announced Wing Four, a new $600 million pool of capital dedicated to early-stage investing and long-term company building in B2B technology. Peter was also featured on the Forbes Midas List as one of the top tech investors. 

You can learn more about: 

1. How to build a successful fund? 

2. How to invest in the AI companies that truly matter? 

3. How does AI transform businesses? 

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Charles Hudson is the Managing Partner at Precursor Ventures, a classic seed-stage investment firm focusing on B2B software applications, B2C software and services, and connected hardware. Charles also serves as the Board Chair at the National Venture Capital Association and is a lecturer at the Stanford University Graduate School of Business. Before launching Precursor, Charles was a Partner at SoftTech VC, one of the most active seed stage investors in Internet and mobile startups. He was also the Co-Founder and CEO of Bionic Panda Games, an Android-focused mobile games startup. He spent several years working at In-Q-Tel, the strategic venture capital group for the Central Intelligence Agency.

You can learn more about:
1. How to start a VC fund
2. How to craft a compelling pitch to LPs and cultivate an influential investor network
3. How to create a unique fund strategy 

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Ben Lerer is the Managing Partner at Lerer Hippeau, a prominent early-stage venture capital fund in New York City. Lerer Hippeau has a portfolio that includes Allbirds, Glossier, Thrive, BuzzFeed, Warby Parker, Casper, Mirror, and more. Besides his role at Lerer Hippeau, Ben is renowned for founding Thrillist Media Group and serving as the former CEO of Group Nine Media.

You can learn more about: 

1. Insights gained from launching and managing a successful media company
2. Venture investing in New York City
3. Perspectives on investment strategies, portfolio building, and the advantages of being an operator when making investment decisions

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Daniel Kan is the Co-Founder and Chief Product Officer at Cruise, a leading self-driving car company sold to General Motors for over $1 Billion 2 years after its founding. Before building Cruise, Daniel co-founded EXEC with his brother Justin Kan, the founder of Justin.tv (which later became Twitch). After founding the company in 2011, EXEC was sold to Handy in 2014. 

You can learn more about: 

1. How to have the confidence and knowledge it takes to start a technology company without being technical 
2. How to navigate the startup phases you need to go through, from having few people on the founding team to selling it over $1 Billion
3. Lessons from early on in life shaped how you think as an entrepreneur 

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