Venture Unlocked: The playbook for venture capital managers
Venture Unlocked is the playbook for starting, operating, & scaling a successful venture capital firm. Samir Kaji, Host of Venture Unlocked has +20-years of experience assisting & advising startups and venture firms. Listen for VC fund guidance. ventureunlocked.substack.com
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Betting on Founders Who Build the Real World
<p>Follow me @samirkaji for my thoughts on the venture market, with a focus on the continued evolution of the VC landscape.</p><p>Welcome back to another episode of Venture Unlocked, the podcast that takes you behind the scenes of the business of venture capital.</p><p>In this episode, I sit down with Lior Susan from Eclipse to explore his journey from building companies in the physical world to founding and scaling a unique venture firm. We discuss the importance of high-conviction investing, assembling elite teams from operator backgrounds, and staying adaptable in a rapidly shifting market shaped...
Unpacking "A Crisis Moment In Seed"
<p>Follow me @samirkaji for my thoughts on the venture market, with a focus on the continued evolution of the VC landscape.</p><p>Welcome back to another episode of Venture Unlocked, the podcast that takes you behind the scenes of the business of venture capital.</p><p>Today, I sat down with Rob Go, Co-Founder and Partner at NextView, to discuss the shift in seed-stage investing and what seed funds need to consider to remain viable. The conversation was sparked by a series of Posts Rob wrote, the first of which was called a Crisis Moment in Seed. We...
Platform Shifts, AI, and the Future of Consumer Investing
<p>Follow me @samirkaji for my thoughts on the venture market, with a focus on the continued evolution of the VC landscape.</p><p>Welcome back to another episode of Venture Unlocked, the podcast that takes you behind the scenes of the business of venture capital.</p><p>In this episode, I had the pleasure of speaking with Mercedes Bent about her fascinating journey from a tech-driven upbringing to becoming a leading venture capitalist. We discussed how her unique background informs her investment philosophy and the importance of originality and non-consensus thinking in today’s VC landscape. Our conversation also co...
The GP of 2030: AI, Automation, and the Future of Capital Formation
<p>Follow me @samirkaji for my thoughts on the venture market, with a focus on the continued evolution of the VC landscape.</p><p>Welcome back to another episode of Venture Unlocked, the podcast that takes you behind the scenes of the business of venture capital.</p><p>In this episode, I had the pleasure of speaking with Alex Robinson, CEO and Co-Founder of Juniper Square. We talked about the evolution of private markets and the transformative role of technology and AI in fund administration. We also discussed the inefficiencies that inspired Juniper Square’s founding, the challenges of scaling op...
Jack Altman on the transition going from building a Unicorn with Lattice to starting a venture firm
<p>Follow me @samirkaji for my thoughts on the venture market, with a focus on the continued evolution of the VC landscape.</p><p>Welcome back to another episode of Venture Unlocked, the podcast that takes you behind the scenes of the business of venture capital.</p><p>In this episode, I sit down with Jack Altman, Managing Partner at Alt Capital. We unpack Jack’s journey from Lattice CEO to venture capitalist. We dive deep into the nuances of venture investing, exploring how operators transition into investors, the importance of founder relationships, and the critical elements of successful early-stage in...
How to win in seed stage investing today
<p>Follow me @samirkaji for my thoughts on the venture market, with a focus on the continued evolution of the VC landscape.</p><p>Welcome back to another episode of Venture Unlocked, the podcast that takes you behind the scenes of the business of venture capital.</p><p>In today’s episode, we are joined by Nakul Mandan, who is the founding partner of seed-stage firm Audacious Ventures.</p><p>Having known Nakul since the early days of his journey in starting the firm in 2020, I was excited to dive deep into his unique path, from his roots in India to...
What is happening in VC today and the role of wealth management in growing the private markets?
<p>I recently joined Turner Novak on The Peel for a conversation about the current state of private markets and the realities facing fund managers and investors today. We discussed why fundraising is particularly difficult right now for both emerging and established venture funds, and examined some of the structural forces driving change across the private investing landscape. I had a lot of fun doing this one, so wanted to cross-post here. </p><p>Some of the key topics we covered include:</p><p>* The explosive growth in private markets, with ten times more private investment firms than public companies...
Navigating growth stage investing in today's AI driven market with Logan Bartlett of Redpoint
<p>Follow me @samirkaji for my thoughts on the venture market, with a focus on the continued evolution of the VC landscape.</p><p>In this episode, I sat down with Logan Bartlett, Managing Director of Redpoint Ventures. We explore the evolving landscape of venture capital and startup investing and dive deep into the challenges facing unicorn companies post-2021, the transformative potential of AI, and the critical factors for successful startup investments. Logan shares insights on identifying promising founders, navigating market uncertainties, and the importance of adaptability in both founding teams and venture capital. Key takeaways include the need for...
The New World of VC and Building a Durable Firm with Category Ventures' Villi Iltchev
<p>Follow me @samirkaji for my thoughts on the venture market, with a focus on the continued evolution of the VC landscape.</p><p>Welcome to another episode of Venture Unlocked. In this episode, I had the pleasure of welcoming Villi Iltchev, founder and managing partner of Category Ventures. Villi has had a long history in tech, both in operating roles at companies like Box and Lifelock, as well as investing roles at August Capital and Two Sigma, where he departed in 2024 to launch Category Ventures.</p><p>We covered a lot of ground in our conversation, including his inspiration...
The Benchmark Way: Running of an Iconic firm with Victor Lazarte
<p>Today, I sat down with Victor Lazarte, a Benchmark partner who transitioned from founding a billion-dollar mobile gaming company in Brazil to becoming a venture capitalist in Silicon Valley with Benchmark in 2023. Victor shared Benchmark's unique investment philosophy, which focuses on deep, meaningful partnerships with entrepreneurs, with each partner doing only 1-2 deals per year. </p><p>We also spoke about the equal partnership Benchmark has, and what that means in practice day to day from a decision making and culture standpoint. This was a fun one so hope you enjoy!</p><p>Throughout our conversation, Victor provided a...
