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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Why $100M Exits Matter More Than Trillion-Dollar Dreams
<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 Venture Unlocked, the podcast that takes you inside the business of venture capital. I’m your host, Samir Kaji.</p><p>My guest today is Micah Rosenbloom, Managing Partner at Founder Collective, one of the longest standing and respected seed firms in the industry, with early investments in companies like Uber, The Trade Desk, and Coupang. What makes Founder Collective atypical to most successful firms is their decision to keep fund sizes small. In...
Deep Tech Gold Rush: Smart Boom or Future Bust?
<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’m joined by three deep tech investors and friends of the show, Nate Williams, Sunil Nagaraj, and Guy Perelmuter, for a roundtable on the state of deep tech and the changing venture landscape. We dig into what deep tech really means today, why it’s suddenly attracting so much...
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...
