ACQ2 by Acquired

Ben & David take their turn at the "power ballad" of VC blogging/podcasting, explaining how venture term sheets work. From valuation to pro rata rights to founder vesting, we leave no stone unturned in this episode. If you're a founder, work at a startup, or are considering doing one of those someday, this episode is for you! Sponsors: Sierra: https://bit.ly/acquiredsierra   Be sure to follow...

We’re joined by Upfront Ventures partner Kevin Zhang to discuss the evolution of both Upfront as a venture firm and the LA tech ecosystem more broadly. We cover the journey from Upfront’s founding as “Global Retail Partners” in 1996 to its place today as the premier and largest tech investor in Southern California. We talk about rebranding the firm and choosing Upfront as a name, launching the Upf...

“80% of the worlds workforce doesn’t sit at a desk, and 95% of the world’s software is built for people who sit at a desk. Once people build software for the other 80%, the size of the addressable market that could be created could dwarf what we currently have, which is pretty humbling to think about.” Jake Saper, Emergence Capital (@jakesaper)   We dive deep into the nitty gritty details of SaaS...

We continue the conversation with Emily White, covering topics including her career path, what it was like working with Sheryl Sandberg for so many years, her time at Snap, her experience serving on public company boards, and how she operates as an investor now at Anthos Capital. Sponsors: Sierra: https://bit.ly/acquiredsierra

As promised in our holiday special, we dive into the past, present and future of clean energy funding, with the absolutely perfect guest: the former Obama administration Assistant Director for Entrepreneurship at the White House Office of Science and Technology Policy, Doug Rand. This episode was totally eye-opening for us, and we hope inspires many of you to think about energy and climate through...

Ben and David talk about some of their current investment theses at PSL and Wave, as well as how VCs think about themes and theses in general.  Sponsors: Sierra: https://bit.ly/acquiredsierra Links: Greg McAdoo “Wave” talk at Startup School 2008 https://youtu.be/fZ5F2KhMLiE The Myth of the Job Hopping Millenial https://www.vox.com/the-big-idea/2018/7/11/17559484/gig-economy-jobs-rooted-rootless-mo...

Ever wondered what's really going on during the Monday Meetings of your friendly neighborhood VC firm? Ben and David take you behind the scenes to discuss structure (especially how the management company works), staffing, LPs, and most importantly decision-making and motivations for VC firms and their partners. Whichever side of the table you're on, we hope you find this episode useful! Sponsors:...

Ben and David continue the Acquired holiday tradition. Happy holidays to everyone!   Note: we apologize for David’s sound quality... we’re still working out the kinks on our mobile recording setup. Sponsors: Sierra: https://bit.ly/acquiredsierra   Extended carve-out links: Books:  David: Broken Earth trilogy https://www.amazon.com/gp/bookseries/B01947LZ8A Ben: eBoys  https://www.amazon.com/dp/B000...

Ben and David discuss “the art of the pitch” through the lens of fundraising for seed-stage companies, but the takeaways are also (hopefully) applicable far beyond! Sponsors: Sierra: https://bit.ly/acquiredsierra   Links: Sequoia pitch deck template:  https://www.sequoiacap.com/article/writing-a-business-plan/# Don Valentine talk at GSB: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nKN-abRJMEw Jim Goetz talk a...

Ben and David are back for episode #3, with special guest Dan Hill . Dan discusses: - How his startup, Crashpadder, got acquired by Airbnb - Why Airbnb succeeded, and why marketplace businesses in the US have an advantage in early growth - How they decided on growth metrics at Airbnb - How his new company, Alma , is making charitable giving simple Sponsors: Sierra: https://bit.ly/acquiredsierra

Ben and David are back for episode #2, diving into the most elusive early-stage investing and company-building topics: product-market fit.    Sponsors: Sierra: https://bit.ly/acquiredsierra

Kicking off ACQ2 (formerly known as the LP Show) and diving into some jargon-y VC vocab.  Sponsors: Sierra: https://bit.ly/acquiredsierra