Driving Alpha

David Hornik, founding partner at Lobby Capital, has spent over 25 years shaping the venture capital landscape. Formerly a lawyer with degrees from Stanford and Harvard, David transitioned into venture capital, making early bets on companies like Splunk, Build.com, and GitLab. His career is marked by a passion for helping founders, fostering strong industry relationships, and identifying high-pote...

Laura Chau is a Partner at Canaan, where she leads investments in consumer technology and commerce tech. With over a decade of experience in venture capital, Laura has backed companies like Clutch, Ollie, Mischief, Solvely, and Nagish.   Here's a glimpse of what you'll learn: 00:43 Introduction to Driving Alpha 01:07 Guest Introduction: Laura Cho 02:58 Laura's Background and Career Path 05:35 Inve...

Dave Lambert, co-founder and managing director at Right Side Capital Management, has built one of the most active pre-VC investment firms in the U.S. With a portfolio of over 2,000 companies, Dave and his team take a data-driven approach to ultra-diversified early-stage investing, making quick decisions and challenging traditional VC norms.   In this episode... In this episode, Dave shares how Rig...

Charles Hudson, Managing Partner and Founder of Precursor Ventures, joins Steve Brotman to share his journey through venture capital. With over 15 years of experience, Charles has made more than 400 investments and raised over $200 million, making him a leading voice in the seed-stage community. Here's a glimpse of what you'll learn: 00:43 - Introduction to Driving Alpha Podcast 00:53 - Meet Charl...

How do you turn Texas into a global innovation hub? For Joshua Baer, founder and CEO of Capital Factory, the answer lies in empowering unstoppable founders, fostering a vibrant entrepreneurial community, and leveraging Texas's unique advantages. Here's a glimpse of what you'll learn: 00:43 Introduction to the Driving Alpha Podcast 00:54 Meet Josh Baer: Texas Startup Powerhouse 01:37 The Impact of...

Chris Farmer, the founder and CEO of SignalFire, is transforming the venture capital landscape through a pioneering, AI-native approach. Leading a $2.1 billion early-stage venture firm, Chris has integrated cutting-edge data analytics to revolutionize how investments are sourced and scaled. His journey began with operational and entrepreneurial roles, including spearheading the turnaround of Skybi...

Richard Seewald, founder and managing partner of Evolution Equity Partners, joins Driving Alpha to share his incredible journey from scaling AVG Technologies to $400 million in revenue to leading one of the world's largest cybersecurity-focused VC funds. With over 30 years of experience and $2 billion raised to invest in category-defining software companies, Richard offers invaluable insights into...

Amit Patel and Brian Smiga discuss the origin story of Owl Ventures, founded in 2014 in response to major shifts in education technology infrastructure and consumer behavior. They cover key trends that enabled the rise of edtech, including the expansion of broadband in U.S. schools and the availability of affordable devices like Chromebooks. Amit shares his unique career journey, starting in film...

Chip Hazard is a General Partner at Flybridge Capital Partners, where he has been investing in early-stage technology companies since 2002. He co-founded Flybridge, focusing on ambitious founders building the AI-powered future. With a background in Greylock and a proven track record in venture capital, Chip has been a key investor in successful companies such as MongoDB. He also co-founded XFactor...

In this insightful episode of "Driving Alpha," host Steve Brotman sits down with Dror Nahumi, a seasoned General Partner at Norwest Venture Partners. Dror's extensive experience spans operational roles, strategic investments, and guiding startups from seed stage to multi-billion dollar outcomes. He has a strong track record with investments in leading companies like Gong, Vast Data, and Weka.io, m...

In this latest episode of Driving Alpha, venture capitalist Steve Brotman welcomes Tim Draper, founder of Draper Associates, DFJ, and Draper University. Known for his visionary investments in companies like SpaceX, Tesla, and Coinbase, Tim Draper has left an indelible mark on the venture capital landscape.  Here's a glimpse of what you'll learn: 00:00 Introduction to the Episode 00:56 Tim Draper's...

In the latest episode of the Driving Alpha podcast, Brian Smiga sits down with Raju Rishi, General Partner at RRE Ventures. Raju brings decades of experience in entrepreneurship and venture capital, sharing his deep knowledge of the tech landscape and investment strategies. At RRE Ventures, he specializes in sectors such as Enterprise Software, Artificial Intelligence, and Robotics, and has built...

In this episode of the Driving Alpha podcast, Brian Smiga sits down with Jeffrey Berman, a partner at Camber Creek, to discuss the intricacies of investing in real estate tech. Jeffrey brings his unique background as a venture capitalist and former real estate professional to the table, sharing insights into what sets top-performing VC firms apart, how to identify venture-scale opportunities, and...

Leura Craig is the founder and managing partner at  Outlander VC , a venture capital firm specializing in pre-seed and seed-stage investments. A former operator turned investor, Leura brings her entrepreneurial experience to venture capital, having previously bootstrapped and scaled two startups, including L&W , which raised $30M from top investors like CRV and Benchmark. Leura is passionate about...

Matthew Greenfield is a Managing Partner at Rethink Education, a venture capital firm dedicated to innovative educational technology. He holds multiple board seats, including at SNHU and BrightBytes, and has co-founded several successful technology companies, such as near-unicorn Rethink First. An accomplished educator and thought leader with a BA, MA, and PhD from Yale, he is former professor at...

Rebecca Kaden is a Managing Partner at Union Square Ventures, a New York-based venture capital firm. She began her career as a journalist, and prior to USV, was a General Partner at Maveron, a consumer-focused early-stage fund. Rebecca was born in New York City. She studied English and American Literature at Harvard and received her MBA from Stanford. Episode Chapters (00:00) Introduction (2:46) R...

Ed Sim is the Founder of Boldstart Ventures, a true believer and partner from inception for bold founders reinventing the enterprise stack. Ed is currently on the boards of Snyk, BigID, Blockdaemon, Protect AI, Env0, and several other cybersecurity and infrastructure startups. Other notable inception investments include Kustomer, where he was on the board until his exit to Meta, Superhuman, Securi...

Hans Swildens is the CEO and Founder of Industry Ventures and manages the overall business. As an early pioneer of the modern secondary market for venture capital, Hans created new ways to get liquidity for venture capital investments prior to an IPO or M&A event. Additionally, he was early to support the development of a new class of venture capital partnerships focused on seed and early-stage in...

Jason Calacanis is the Founder and CEO of early-stage investment firm LAUNCH and real-time business news app Inside.com. A serial entrepreneur, angel investor, and former Sequoia Capital scout, Jason has invested in hundreds of startups, including Uber and Calm, a meditation app now valued at $1 billion. He previously launched Venture Reporter — formerly known as Silicon Alley Reporter — and Weblo...

Steve Brotman is the Managing Partner at Alpha Partners, a company that co-invests with the world's best VCs by sharing economics with early-stage VCs. With extensive experience in venture capital, Steve co-founded and managed venture capital firms such as Greenhill SAVP and Silicon Alley Venture Partners, with notable investments in companies like LivePerson and Medidata Solutions. His entreprene...

Ron Insana is an award-winning financial analyst and commentator at CNBC, where he shares insights into economic trends. In addition to writing for Money magazine and USA Today , Ron has hosted two nationally syndicated radio programs. He previously served as the CEO of Insana Capital Partners, which, at its peak, managed the $125 million Insana Capital Partners "Legends Fund." With a background i...