"Can't Be Done"

Orla Harris is the Cofounder and COO of SideQuest VR , an early-access testing platform for virtual reality with headquarters in Northern Ireland. Orla and her team provide tools that enable developers to grow a community around their app and solicit feedback from users in the early stages of development. Prior to SideQuest, Orla spent eight years working as a project manager in the construction i...

When serial entrepreneurs Thibauld Favre and Joris Delanoue joined forces to build the future of fundraising, the Frenchmen chose San Francisco as their home base in large part because of its investor mindset. So, how do Silicon Valley VCs think differently from other investors around the globe?   Thibauld and Joris are the Cofounders of Fairmint , a continuous financing instrument that allows sta...

More and more people understand that crypto is going to be big. But they don’t really know why. And they don’t want to be forced to turn all of their money into cryptocurrency right off the bat. So, what if there was a way to demonstrate the benefits of the technology with US dollars and then migrate users to digital currency over time?   Andy Bromberg is the new CEO of Eco , a wallet designed to...

Most founders avoid dealing with Uncle Sam unless absolutely necessary. But what if you could engage the government as an investor in your startup?   Sedale Turbovsky is the Cofounder and CEO of OpenGrants , the most powerful grant search tool in the US. The OpenGrants team is on a mission to unlock billions of dollars in grant funding for the best startups in the world, providing entrepreneurs wi...

Here at Boost VC, we define a startup as an organism in which the founders work to attract the smartest, most dynamic people to solve the problem they believe is most important. Yes, their ultimate goal is to build a product. But more importantly, they are building a talented team that will actualize that product together.   CEO Sam Cole and CPO Sameer Baroova are the Cofounders of FitXR , a start...

Cameron and Tyler Winklevoss have been on the forefront of two internet revolutions, social networking and cryptocurrency. So, what do they think is the next big thing?     Cameron and Tyler are the Cofounders of Gemini , a next-generation cryptocurrency exchange and custodian that allows users to buy, sell and store digital assets. The brothers are famous for creating the precursor to Facebook (a...

Despite being raised in the tech startup world, Jesse Draper didn’t believe she could BE that. Because she didn’t see women entrepreneurs, it didn’t seem like an option. So, Jesse started seeking out female founders—first to interview and later to invest in. And now, she runs a venture fund that is like the Batwoman-Signal for companies with female founders, attracting 4,972 deals last year alone....

A lot of founders are focused on making their solution accessible to everyone, so they offer it for free. But you’ve got to make money if you want to build and sustain a successful business. So, how do you identify who sees the most value from your product or service and design a business model accordingly?   Emily Dong is the Founder and CEO of SnoutID , a company working to improve the patient e...

Finding VC in an I-Don’t-Know Moment—with Dillon Liang   Are you curious about how different industries work? Would you like to learn something new every day? Then a career in venture capital might be a good fit.   Dillon Liang is a Junior VC at Bullpen Capital , an early-stage, post-seed venture fund based in Silicon Valley. His resume prior to Bullpen includes roles at M13, Techstars Cedars-Sina...

In the early stages of building a startup, the founders are doing all the things—all by themselves. But as a company grows, the most successful founders evolve, taking on whatever role is necessary to move the business to the next level. So, what does that journey look like? And what do you need to know as a founder in the early stages of building a business?   Spenser Skates is the Cofounder and...

Boost VC S5EP4 Streak CRM If You Can’t Be a Unicorn, Be a Workhorse—with Aleem Mawani Not every startup can be the proverbial venture unicorn. But just because a company isn’t valued at $1B or more doesn’t mean it’s dead. So, how do you build a profitable, growing tech workhorse? And how might venture evolve a new model that supports these businesses?   Aleem Mawani is the Cofounder of Streak , a...

We learn more through experience. And we experience more through VR. In fact, virtual reality solves for many of the limitations of in-person learning, allowing students to practice new skills through simulation. What if the future of education is VR? Tom Impallomeni is the Cofounder and CEO of TribeXR , a startup that leverages VR to teach creative skills, with the ultimate goal of turning aspiri...

Most of us spend a significant amount of time cultivating our online assets. And yet, we don’t actually own our slice of the digital economy. Our social media accounts and even our personal websites can be censored or taken away from us at any time by the big companies that control them. But the decentralized web is different.   Matthew Gould and Bradley Kam are the cofounders of Unstoppable Domai...

The old way of doing capitalism is about making money in the short term, and that way of thinking has caused a lot of destruction. But some venture funds are taking a new approach and deploying capital in a way that is net beneficial for society in the long term. So, how do we leverage this new kind of conscious capitalism to support the biotech companies that are making the world a better, more s...

A whole lot of founders make the mistake of undervaluing their product. Some even give it away for free, not realizing that generating revenue is critical to proving out a business model and attracting venture investors. Healthcare education startup GIBLIB struggled to gain traction until the team shifted to a subscription-based platform, and now they are thriving in their mission to leverage virt...

How is an early-stage VC a lot like Shane Battier or Andre Iguodala? When they are on the court, they make the players around them better. That’s how Michael Sidgmore sees his role as a pre-seed and seed round FinTech investor: He’s the sixth man, coming off the bench to serve as the glue that helps his team get to the next level. He may not be in the trenches on a daily basis, but when he does ge...

An Amazon study revealed that 100ms in latency cost them 1% in sales. Meanwhile in crypto, it can take as long as a week to set up a CoinBase account! Imagine how conversion rates would skyrocket if the industry tackled latency and solved for the two greatest voids in the market: fiat on-ramping and scalability. So, what blockchain startups are making progress toward these goals? And how is the bl...

The best venture investors bring more to the table than capital. The most successful venture investors serve as active advisors, mentoring unproven entrepreneurs and propelling startups forward. So, what do such founder-driven investors look for in emerging talent? How do they teach the fundamentals of operating a business? How do they identify and then cultivate the SPARK it takes to build a comp...

CEOs in the deep tech space are deeply passionate about what they are building. But these brilliant technical minds tend to be less passionate about sales and marketing. So, how can a VC with a background in branding inspire his founders to invest in marketing material that reflects the power and beauty of what they’re building technically? Greg Castle is the Founder and Managing Director of Anora...

If you’ve ever wished you could fly, your dream is within reach. The jetpack industry, though still small, has developed to a point where a handful of startups are consistently carrying out safe flights and building businesses around the superpower most of us have daydreamed about, but never recognized as a realistic possibility. David Mayman is the founder, CEO and Chief Test Pilot of JetPack Avi...

Prior to 2016, no proper study had been done around the economics of the ocean. At the time, the ocean economy was estimated at $1.5 trillion and expected to reach $3 trillion by 2030. In fact, the ocean has the potential to solve several of humanity’s biggest problems, and the opportunities in ocean tech are as vast and deep as the ocean itself. Liané Thompson is the cofounder and CEO of Aquaai,...

If you look at the numbers, VR appears to be on the precipice of mass adoption. 60 virtual reality titles have generated more than $1M in revenue, with the top-grossing games making $10M-plus. Millions of headsets are in circulation, and we’re seeing 3K to 5K concurrent users per popular title. Governments are investing billions to develop VR technology and $3.4B in VC money was invested in the ec...

“Clearly, the killer use case, the most valuable thing 6DoF can do is allow two or more humans to interact—just be with each other from wherever they are.” The internet has succeeded in connecting people to machines and information. So, what’s missing? Anjney Midha argues that the element of human interaction is what the web lacks, and he is on a mission to develop the tools creators can use to de...

The world of cryptocurrency is fascinating. It is also noisy. And if you are trying to learn more about digital currency or blockchain technology, it’s necessary to sift through a lot of misinformation to get to the good stuff. So, how do you know who to listen to in a space where everyone seems to be shouting from the rooftops? Is there a media outlet you can trust to deliver the truth in an othe...