solo gp

This is our startup-focused, Wednesday episode, so today we’re counting down important venture rounds and chatting our way through other startup and VC news. Here’s the rundown:

• Plex raises $40M, targets profitability: The media streaming company thinks that it can reach black ink by the end of this year, or early 2025. Not bad for a very expensive industry.
• Rebellions raises $124M to take on Nvidia: What is designing new AI chips and is partnered up with Samsung? Rebellions, which is now quite a lot richer in cash terms thanks to a new round.
• Nile is building a new data system for SaaS: Multi-tenancy is tricky, but why should SaaS companies have to reinvent the wheel?
• Aurora Solar joins the layoff parade: Solar is booming, but that doesn’t mean that vertical SaaS companies in the space are growing as fast as they planned.
• And on the venture front, Giant Ventures raised $250 million for two funds, Poland’s SMOK Ventures closed a new $25 million vehicle, while Ubiquity Ventures proves that solo GPs are not dead yet, want to go for a walk.

For episode transcripts and more, head to Equity’s Simplecast website.

Equity drops at 7 a.m. PT every Monday, Wednesday and Friday, so subscribe to us on Apple Podcasts, Overcast, Spotify and all the casts. TechCrunch also has a great show on crypto, a show that interviews founders and more!

Credits: Equity is hosted by TechCrunch's Alex Wilhelm and Mary Ann Azevedo. We are produced by Theresa Loconsolo with editing by Kell. Bryce Durbin is our Illustrator. We'd also like to thank the audience development team and Henry Pickavet, who manages TechCrunch audio products.

In this episode you will learn:

00:00 - Introduction

01:21 - Who is a solo capitalist?

03:42 - What are the merits of being a solo capitalist?

07:50 - How is a solo capitalist helpful for a founder?

15:20 - Do solo GPs offer better founder friendly terms?

17:30 - Can solo capitalists be a bad deal for some founders?

22:10 - Why are LPs interested in backing solo GPs?

24:20 - Do solo capitalists charge lower management fees than LPs?

29:00 - Is there an upper limit to the fund size for solo capitalists?

30:08 - What are the challenges of being a solo capitalist?

35:40 - How should solo capitalists look at their succession?

36:40 - How can solo capitalists stay on top of their game while maintaining work-life balance?

38:50 - How do solo VCs and traditional firms differ in terms of diligence, sourcing, portfolio risk management, etc?

41:40 - How has being a solo capitalist become a ‘trend’ in the last five years?

47:50 - Are solo capitalists born out of the evolution of scout programs and super angels?

51:00 - Do founders' agile fundraising strategies match the support provided by solo capitalists?

56:00 - What is the next step in the evolution of solo GPs?

57:15 - Will solo capitalists operate like traditional firms when it comes to managing reserves?

01:00:00 - How will the relation between traditional VC firms and solo capitalists evolve?

01:03:33 - Conclusion

About

Itamar is a solo capitalist and the founder of Recursive Ventures, a pre-seed fund focused on fintech, AI and emerging tech startups. Itamar has been on all sides of the startup table: as a founder and executive, an institutional VC, and an angel investor. He has supported over 50 successful startups, including Deel, Honeybook, Placer, Credible (IPO), MileIQ (acquired by Microsoft), Automatic Labs (acquired by SiriusXM), Tile (acquired by Life360), SafeGraph, and Armory. He’s been recognized by Business Insider as a Top 100 global seed investor. As an operator, he helped take Life360 from Seed to IPO, scaling the business to over $250m in revenue. Before that, Itamar was a founding team member and head of Product at Gigya (acquired by SAP). He holds an MBA from Berkeley Haas and an undergraduate degree in computer science from the Tel-Aviv Jaffa College.

Maxine Minter, founder and managing partner of Co Ventures, joins Vlad Cazacu, co-founder and CEO of Flowlie, to discuss the Australian-US arbitrage opportunity, lessons from building her first fund, and the unusual VC market of '21 and '22.

You can find Maxine Minter on Twitter at https://twitter.com/minmintymin and learn more about CoVentures at https://www.coventures.vc/.

Learn more about Flowlie and how the platform can help you screen deals faster and discover the right connections from your network at https://www.flowlie.com.
 

Stay up-to-date with all our episodes by checking our website at https://www.thevcarchitects.com, following us on Twitter at https://twitter.com/thevcarchitects, and on Instagram at https://www.instagram.com/thevcarchitects.

This week, Natasha interviewed Ankur Nagpal, the entrepreneur behind Teachable, Ocho, and Vibe Capital - Ankur's $70 million venture fund, raised last year from over 200 investors.

Today, we're talking about:

• The future of Solo GPs and Ankur's choice to shrink Vibe Capital's fund size
• How Ankur built, sold, pivoted and launched in public
• The upside of building in public vs building in private
• The importance of brand and succession

Of course, we ended with a lightning round of questions - including the meaning behind Ankur's tattoo.

As always, Alex, Natasha and Mary Ann will be back for our weekly news roundup on Friday, but you can follow us on Twitter @EquityPod for live updates and more.

For episode transcripts and more, head to Equity’s Simplecast website. 

Equity drops at 7:00 a.m. PT every Monday, Wednesday and Friday, so subscribe to us on Apple Podcasts, Overcast, Spotifyand all the casts. TechCrunch also has a great show on crypto, a show that interviews founders, one that details how our stories come together and more!

Credits: Equity is hosted by TechCrunch's Alex Wilhelm and Mary Ann Azevedo. We are produced by Theresa Loconsolo with editing by Kell. Bryce Durbin is our Illustrator. We'd also like to thank the audience development team and Henry Pickavet, who manages TechCrunch audio products.