#notfinancialadvice You should join every single syndicate that you possibly can. And NOT invest in any of their deals. This probably sounds really weird. Coming from me: Trust me. You’ll come out ahead. Even if you NEVER deploy capital through them. Here’s why. Think about it. Imagine you’ve joined 10 syndicates. And let’s pretend each … Read more
Some corporate venture spinouts aren’t really spinouts. They move the portfolio and leave the people. The parent decides the fund is no longer core to its strategy, a buyer takes the assets off the balance sheet, and the investment team goes off to do something else. Sim Blaustein and his partner Urs Cete went a … Read more
Tejpaul Bhatia and I go back to 1999, when we were fresh out of college, working at the same dot-com company in New York. We’ve stayed close ever since, through his first angel investment in a space company, his run as CEO of that same company, and now his new venture, Nebex, which has been … Read more
A VC office party taught me this lesson about winning 👇 At the party, I met a founder who’d just taken money from the newest partner at the firm. Always being curious about the how and the why of a deal, I asked them: “What were the things that made them stand out?” I was … Read more
Attending Columbia Business School was a big inflection point for me, and it’s been on my mind a lot lately. Probably because graduation season just passed, and that tends to make one reflective! Some lessons from my time there: B-school was a great place to launch a VC job search, and I think it still … Read more
You hear it constantly in VC. “We just had our first close.” “We’re closing the fund next month.” But what does closing a fund actually mean? What happens, step by step, between “we’re raising” and “we’re closed”? First, what a “close” even is A fund doesn’t usually raise all its money in one dramatic moment. … Read more
Mantis Venture Capital is the firm The Chainsmokers founded. Gaurav Bhogale just made partner there, becoming the first non-founding partner in the firm’s history. You might think that they’re a consumer fund given the background of the founders. And as Gaurav shared, you’d be dead wrong: “What I usually tell founders is think of everything … Read more
I keep hearing people say that media is “the next big thing” in venture capital. Even though I run a media company focused entirely on venture capital … I’m skeptical. You see, the idea that VCs can use content to build an edge isn’t new. This is the content I grew up on. So when … Read more
I was emailing a Benchmark-backed founder about an angel deal. He wasn’t interested, but it wasn’t because he didn’t like the deal. It was for a much more interesting reason: “I don’t really do much angel stuff because I’m an LP in Benchmark’s fund.” This is more common than you might think. You see, a … Read more
If you’re trying to break into venture (or level up once you’re in), almost nothing compounds faster than having a written investment thesis. It’s the single artifact that does the most work for you: Most people never write one because it feels vague and overwhelming. Where do you even start? Which market? How big does … Read more
