The Road Untraveled: VC Perspectives with Brian Hollins

Jamin Ball, Redpoint Ventures Key Takeaways: 1. Productivity tools, remote collaboration and cloud security are three areas seeing momentum due to the move to remote during the pandemic. 2. Net revenue retention and GM adjusted CAC Payback are two metrics he watches to see if a company has what it takes to succeed in public markets. 3. Don't underestimate the value of the day to day relationships...

Crystal Widjaja, Startup Advisor & Sequoia Scout Key Takeaways: 1) Spending time operating before venture helps you better understand the drivers of growth in a company, and it's helpful when you sit on the other side because it helps you identify founders who really understand the journey. 2) As you begin scout investing, develop your thesis around team specific product experiences. Some team...

Semil Shah, Managing Partner, Haystack VC Key Takeaways: 1) LP's struggle to deploy capital without face to face opportunities, so emerging managers are not being funded as quickly as they hoped. On the flip side, many LP's are excited about the pending reset in asset prices from a downturn, and funding may pick up sooner than expected as they search for improved returns over the next decade. 2) T...

Olivia and Justine Moore, CRV Key Takeaways: 1. Sourcing: college students are often the first adopters of next gen consumer platforms, and being around the college campus is a great way to get involved. 2. Finding trends: follow a diverse range of creators outside of your friend community to see what new products and apps are gaining traction.  3. Value add VCs: spending time with founders a...

Courtside VC, Founding Partners (Vasu Kulkarni + Deepen Parikh) Key takeaways: 1. Sports is a global gateway, and there is a lot of pent up demand for it. It's not a matter of if, but when, and there will be significant momentum when it can finally return. 2. 75% of betting in Europe is in game betting, while only 25% in the US. There is a lot of technology that goes into making that possible, and...

Nnamdi Okike, Founder & Managing Partner, 645 Ventures Key Takeaways: 1. Deals today can be more efficiently identified outside of the traditional technology hubs. In part because software companies today require less upfront capital, but also because and the technical talent needed to scale them is more distributed than ever before. 2. Founders should recognize whether their company (and cate...

Rob Go, General Partner, NextView Ventures Key Takeaways: 1. E-com businesses that have subscription-like unit economics will begin to be treated more favorably as this crisis unlocks a new consistent consumer base. 2. Dislocation between economic realities and public markets exists, but early stage company valuations are still predominantly driven by their competition. 3. Reference checks are a c...

Brendan Wallace, Founder and Managing Partner, Fifth Wall Key Takeaways:  1. Emerging manager needs to be able to clearly articulate their edge in the market and what makes them win vs other new funds, especially in times where capital is harder to raise. 2. 90% of US retail still happens offline, and we don't know when they will open or how people will react when they do. Ecommerce has the o...

Jules Maltz, General Partner, IVP Key takeaways: 1. Companies don't go out of business because the idea fails, they go out of business because they run out of money. Protecting your resources allows you to pivot and weather the storm. 2. Building in "degrees of freedom" that allow the business to sustain revenue decline/downturns is critical and should be part of the scenario testing process. 3. F...

Key Takeaways: 1.  A great way to be a helpful ally is not to shift the burden and ask how you can help, but ask what programs and organizations they care about and donate your time and money to help those causes grow. 2. Warning systems fail because they don't tell us when they are no longer going to warn us. Whether within a company or out in society, all warning systems are only as reliant...

Nihal Mehta, Founding General Partner, Eniac Ventures Key Takeaways: 1. "Time spent on media" vs "ad dollars going to media" are not directly tied. Consumer business models are not designed to succeed in recessions, and many will need to adjust rapidly to survive. 2. Construction, real estate, insurance, health care are large components of GDP transforming very quickly, presenting new opportu...

Sheel Tyle, Founder and CEO, Amplo Key Takeaways: 1. Public market run up is a result of investors struggling to find good places to deploy capital. Low interest rates and an increase in trading volumes can create false rallies, and don't necessarily suggest strong fundamentals. 2. Advice to Founders: Hope for the best and plan for the worst.  3. Treat employees like partners, not commod...

Miriam Rivera, Founder & Managing Partner, Ulu Ventures Key Takeaways: 1. Role models and resources can change the trajectory of a student's professional journey. Find ways to take a chance on students who may not look like you, and drive the diversity you want to see in the World. 2. Founders should evaluate the spectrum of capital available when deciding to raise money.  3. A renewed em...

Kiki Mills Johnston, Managing Director, DRIVE by DraftKings Key takeaways: 1. Companies are trying to identify ways to engage fans when they aren't able to bring them into the stadium (VR, competitions, fantasy, etc) 2. A new light is being shed on e-sports, but we still need to ask "is this a means to an end or a new norm once all this settles". 3. Switch up your information sources to avoid info...

Marlon Nichols, Founder & Managing Partner, MaC Venture Capital Key Takeaways: 1. Companies that can thrive in this environment: health tech space, remote work, collaboration, government/reg tech. 2. Companies will have to make hard changes, but need to keep an eye on how the business is performing and whether you are still achieving the short term goals you set out to accomplish. 3.  Div...

Courtney Reum, Founder, M13 1. Double down on transparency and communication with your investors and employees. 2. Consumer companies will have to bridge the frustrations in delivery lag by creating unique messaging and a sense of community to capture customers. 3. Founders should think hard about how to not self-isolate during these lonely times. Expand your ecosystem, bring on founders and other...

Amy Wu, Partner, Lightspeed Venture Partners Key Takeaways: 1. Teams should think about stress-testing for both "COVID impact" as well as "recession impact". 2. Great companies are founded & funded in times like this. Funds will continue to search for high quality opportunities to add to their portfolio. 3. Industries with potential tailwinds: gaming, online grocery, productivity, tele-medecin...

Breton Birkhofer, Principle, Prologis Ventures Key Takeaways: 1. Companies should think critically about the total cost of layoffs, as they also should include the cost of hiring and retraining. 2. The depth and length of the demand shock is still unclear, and it is hard to know just how severe the knock on effects across the supply chain will be for some time. 3. The theory of nice to have v...

Matt Higgins, CEO @ RSE Ventures / Vice Chairman @ Miami Dolphins Key Takeaways: 1. Every conversation should start "how can I help you". Investors should think about ways they can relieve their teams of items that have long lead times. 2. The future belongs to the content creators. Build a community and build empathy to your end customer. 3. Teams should look for opportunities to play offens...

Ann DeWitt, General Partner, The Engine Key Takeaways: 1. This pandemic is highlighting the importance of "tough tech" companies and accelerating their ability to reach milestones and engage customers.  2. Global issues have been localized as a result of COVID19, and the resulting collaboration of teams working to solve issues like climate change will have a positive long term impact on socie...

Nikhil Basu Trivedi, Managing Director, Shasta Partners Key Takeaways: 1. There are a number of behavioral changes that are happening through this environment that will shape the strategy of companies born in the near future. 2. The health of your employee base should be of paramount focus. That includes ensuring that founders monitor themselves. 3. New leaders will be accelerated into leadership...

Jim Mawson, Founder and CEO  Key Takeaways: 1. Corporate VC's can be instrumental in helping their portfolio companies not only have the funding to get through, but a perspective of a customer on how to engage during these times. 2. Debt may become a more compelling financing instrument if equity and VC funding becomes more expensive. 3. In the short term we may see Nationalization and more d...

Jeff Cherry, CEO, Shift Ventures Key Takeaways: 1. There is opportunity to invest in short term solutions that get us through the times, but it's also important to focus on "the next big things", and those companies are still being built. 2. Try to get your founders focused on solving the little things- with so much on their plates, paralysis can set in and lead to a lack of execution. 3. Have aut...

Shawn Merani, Founder and Managing Partner, Parade Ventures Key lessons for founders and emerging managers that are preparing to fight COVID19. Key Takeaways: 1. Bolstering the balance sheet and identifying opportunities to extend runway is one of the most important things a founder can do right now. 2. This process (and pending layoffs) will likely make teams more disciplined, and more aware of w...

Andrea Hoffman, Founder and CEO, Culture Shift Labs Andrea Hoffman and Culture Shifting Labs, among other things, is committed to the success of the Black and Latinx VC community. Through these tough times, she and her partners (including Denmark West) are working to identify the LP's and allies that want to continue and even accelerate this work. Key Takeaways 1. Founders should be sensitive to t...