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We sourced five startups from our Fund81 VC forum members to present for our June forum. Check out this episode to hear pitches from these incredibly tenacious entrepreneurs.
I find that I have to expend three times more energy to feel productive during the holidays. This pattern tends to persist not only during the week of July 4th, but for the entire month of July.
I have fielded several requests for introductions this week. I like to be helpful, but I also like to be respectful of my network’s time. I'd like to share a few tips for making double opt-in intros easy.
I’ve always thought of myself as someone who has a modern marriage. Three months into this COVID-19 situation, however, I'm starting to feel like I'm stuck in a 1950s sitcom.
As a VC, I have the opportunity to build relationships with people who have tremendous resources. I often hesitate to ask my network to support philanthropic causes, because I want to respect our business relationship. After seeing the impact of COVID-19, however, I decided it was time to ask.
I post my most interesting weekly thoughts, coupled with the best of my listening and reading list, and occasional MergeLane portfolio news each Tuesday. Here’s the best of what I’ve read and listened to this week:
I launched my first business in 2005 at the age of 24. This was before Venture Deals was written, accelerators were commonplace and shows like Shark Tank existed. How would my experience as a first-time entrepreneur have been different if I would have started my business with a support system as robust as our startup community is today? I often think about that question.
Now, as an entrepreneur, turned angel investor, turned venture fund manager, I see a striking parallel to my experience as a first-time entrepreneur in 2005. Today, when entrepreneurs have a question, the answer is typically just one Google search away. This is not the case for new venture fund managers. With more and more people making the jump to venture, I would like to change that. That is why I've launched Fund81. 1981, the year I was born and the start of the millennial generation, Fund81 is a podcast for the next wave of venture capitalists. I am going to take all of the questions I have had as an emerging venture fund manager and try to answer them in a way that will benefit others in similar situations.
The Fund81 VC Managers’ Forum is an invite-only group of venture capitalists designed to facilitate deal flow and information sharing. Each month, Fund81 invites a veteran venture capitalist or limited partner to speak to the Forum. The Forum currently consists of managers of funds ranging in size from $5 to $300 million located everywhere from Omaha to Jerusalem. Forum members invest from Pre-seed to Series A across a variety of industries. Forums are held virtually and quarterly in-person events are held in the Bay Area and Colorado. To be considered for Fund81 Forum membership, apply here.