Founder Friendly: Venture Capital | Startups | Tech

What is the new generation up to? Tune in as we invite Rex Woodbury, founder of Daybreak and the mind behind Digital Native, a digital newsletter with over 60,000 subscribers. From investing at TPG and Index Ventures to creating his venture fund, Daybreak, Rex brings a wealth of knowledge and advice to anyone looking to break into VC. Join us as we explore the founding rationale behind Daybreak, e...

Tune in to a special episode featuring Shiyan Koh, co-founder and General Partner at Hustle Fund, a firm that specializes in seed and pre-seed investments. We'll dive into Shiyan's impressive career journey, covering her investment roles at Institutional Venture Partners and Bridgewater, her pivotal role in scaling Nerdwallet from $1 million to $150 million in annual recurring revenue, and...

We are excited to host our first two-on-two episode this season with Varun Ramakrishnan and James Flynn from General Atlantic – a leading global growth equity investor. Both Varun and James graduated from University of Pennsylvania, and have diverse backgrounds. Varun previously held machine learning and software engineering roles at various startups, while James gained experience in growth-stage...

Join us in hosting Michael Dolbec, Managing Partner at Momenta Ventures, for our third episode this season. Michael, who boasts an extensive investing career with funds like Kleiner Perkins and Greylock and has led corporate venture capital at companies including IBM, LG Electronics, and General Electric, will share insights on the current state of AI in the industrial space. Tune in to hear a wid...

Join us in our second episode this season as we host Sanjana Basu from Radical Ventures. Transitioning from investment banking to venture capital, Sanjana offers a deep dive into the world of healthcare AI. Explore the types of AI companies, understand why a purely technical team doesn't guarantee success, and discover how Radical extends support to founders beyond just financial capital. Addi...

In the very first episode of our AI sprint, we're joined by Yousuf Khan, Partner at Ridge Ventures, specializing in early-stage B2B enterprise software. Yousuf imparts his expertise from various roles in managing, advising, and investing in software companies, providing a lens into his investment philosophy. Tune in as we discuss pragmatic insights on building AI companies for founders, strate...

Join us in this exciting special episode as we sit down with Nicole Ripka. Nicole, currently the Managing Partner of Dorm Room Fund and the Founder of GayJoy, brings a wealth of knowledge and experience to the table as an early-in-career VC. As a current MBA student at NYU Stern, her insights are a goldmine for anyone looking to break into the VC scene. In this captivating conversation, Nicole sha...

What does it take to be an early investor in Beyond Meat? Conviction. In this episode of our Food and Beverage Sprint, we sit down with Lisa Feria, the Managing Partner and CEO of Stray Dog Capital, to discuss her journey into food tech investing. In our discussion, Lisa discusses her early investment in Beyond Meat, one of the world's most successful plant-based meat companies, and how the co...

Why would VC invest in consumer brands? In the fifth episode of our Food and Beverage Sprint, Hayden Williams of BrandProject explains how consumer brands can generate venture returns. Tune in as we dive into the world of consumer packaged goods (CPG), and how BrandProject supports its portfolio companies to success. You won't want to miss Hayden's valuable insights into the world of CPG i...

Artist, accidental founder, accelerator director. Join us as we chat with Caroline Mak, Director of Big Idea Ventures, New York Accelerator, about the future of food and alternative proteins! 🌾 Caroline shares her journey from being an artist and a founder of an artisanal beverage company, to enabling founders and innovators to disrupt the food ecosystem. In this episode, we discuss the importanc...

Distilling alcohol in a lab!? In this third episode of our Food and Beverage Sprint, we sit down with Alec Lee of Endless West to explore the fascinating world of note-by-note alcohol and the science behind creating spirits at the molecular level. We also dive into the founder experience and the role that luck plays in being successful as an entrepreneur. Alec shares his insights on how he started...

How do you innovate mac and cheese? In the second installment of Founder Friendly's Food & Beverage sprint, we're diving into the world of comfort food and venture capital! Join us as we explore the secrets to delivering a mouthwatering product, with insights from industry expert Genevieve Gilbreath of Springdale Ventures.   Not only will you discover the three key factors that separate t...

In the first episode of our food and beverage sprint, we talk to Po Bronson, Managing Director of IndieBio, the world’s leading biotechnology accelerator. Join us as we explore the world of alternative foods and the investments behind them. Listen to learn about the importance of how startups deliver their product, the necessity of technical knowledge in the food industry, and the science behind w...

Today, we continue our Crypto/Web3 sprint and spoke with Dan Elitzer, the co-founder of Nascent, a global multi-strategy investment firm focused on crypto, DeFi, and open finance. Tune in to learn about the criteria investors look for in crypto startups, how social impact can be tied into this space in the coming years, and Dan's advice for students who are looking to break into this space.  ...

In the next episode in our Crypto/Web3 sprint, we spoke with Kevin Nielsen, the founder of Boardroom, a management platform for DAOs that helps members frictionlessly participate in governance. Listen to learn all about DAOs, what their use cases look like now and in the future, and how you can join one today to be a part of the crypto space!   Interested in learning more about DAOs after lis...

The first episode in our Crypto/Web3 sprint welcomes Clay Robbins, the crypto principle at Slow Ventures, a generalist fund that invests at the center of technology. In this episode, Clay tells us about where the crypto space is at right now, how he analyzes companies looking for investments from Slow, and how he broke into the crypto industry (and how you can, too!) Interested in learning more ab...

This week we spoke to Jonathan Goldberg, CEO and Founder of Caron Direct, to discuss both the investment and carbon management aspects of climate impact. Listen to hear the role financial institutions and governments can play in accelerating climate impact and learn about the future of the Voluntary Carbon Market.

To kick off our LegalTech sprint we invited Jacqueline Schafer, Founder and CEO of Clearbrief, to discuss robo-ethics. Listen to hear how Clearbrief can tell if you’re lying and helps David beat Goliath in the courtroom.

We invited Yee Lee, VP of Growth & Special Projects at Terraformation, to discuss all things reforestation. A four time founder and early employee of PayPal, Yee talks about how his new company, Terraformation, seeks to scale carbon capture, from seed to forest.

Founder Friendly returns! This week we talk climate and crypto with Paul Gambill, CEO and Co-Founder of Nori. Listen to hear about the Nori Token - a cryptocurrency designed to be the world’s universal market-driven reference price for carbon dioxide removal.

To resume our ClimateTech sprint we invited Max Nova, Co-Founder and COO of NCX, to discuss America’s Forest Carbon Market. Listen to hear about the value in NOT cutting down your trees.

To kick off our FinTech sprint we invited Christina Qi, CEO and Co-Founder of Databento, to discuss democratising financial market data. Listen to hear about the data-as-a-service industry, what it’s like to run a billion dollar HFT fund, alternative data, and how to handle rejection.

For this week’s ClimateTech episode we invited Sanchali Pal, CEO and Founder, of Joro to discuss spending sustainably. Listen to hear about changing social norms, driving collective action, and what it’s like to raise with Sequoia.

To continue our ClimateTech sprint we invited Tommy Ricketts, CEO and Co-Founder of BeZero Carbon, to discuss Voluntary Carbon Markets. Listen to hear how a trip to Japan and a tattoo led to the creation of a carbon credit ratings, data and analytics platform.

To continue our ClimateTech sprint we invited Markus Gilles, CEO and Co-Founder of Klima, to discuss simple climate action in the palm of your hand. He talks about how to estimate your carbon footprint and the importance of collective action, technology, and political action in combating climate change.