Origins: Inside Venture Capital – Détails, épisodes et analyse

Nick & Beezer go inside their recent conversation with Jason Shuman and Will Quist to discuss the right way to be a contrarian investor, how to do no harm as a VC, and dive into the answer to their burning question: do VCs actually add value?

Learn more about Sapphire Partners: https://sapphireventures.com/sapphire-partners/

Learn more about Notation Capital: https://notation.vc/

Learn more about Primary: https://www.primary.vc/

Learn more about Slow Ventures: https://slow.co/

What do Primary GP Jason Shuman and Slow Ventures Partner Will Quist have in common? At first glance, not much, given how differently their firms approach firm building and VC "platforms." At Primary, their Impact team outnumbers investors 2:1, while Slow consists of 3 GPs, and 3 GPs only. But in a surprising twist, they agree on more than one would expect. 

They both see non-consensus investing as carrying big risk but also big opportunity. They are both seed investors and their respective firms go to market in very different ways. They sit down with co-hosts Nick Chirls, GP at Notation Capital & Beezer Clarkson, LP at Sapphire Partners, to talk about zigging when the market zags, identifying truly disruptive companies on day zero, and how much impact VCs actually have on the companies they partner with.

Learn more about co-host Beezer and her firm at Sapphire Partners: https://sapphireventures.com/sapphire-partners/

Learn more about Notation Capital: https://notation.vc/

Learn more about Primary: https://www.primary.vc/

Learn more about Slow Ventures: https://slow.co/

Learn more about OpenLP: https://openlp.sapphireventures.com/ 

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Chapters:

00:00-Introduction & The Burning Question

06:06-Will & Jason Intros

09:13-Defining the S Curve

11:06-Positioning Your Firm to Win

15:08-Identifying Winners on Day Zero

18:31-Being Non-Consensus and Right

25:46-What is the Value Add of VCs?

32:43-Setting KPIs

35:36-”You Sell Something”

38:30-Outro

Origins is a podcast about the VC and LP ecosystem, co-hosted by Nick Chirls of Notation and Beezer Clarkson of Sapphire Partners. In this episode, we are joined by Atul Rustgi, managing partner of Accolade Partners, a top-performing venture capital, growth equity, and blockchain fund of funds. Prior to joining Accolade in 2007, Atul worked at McKinsey & Co., a leading strategy consulting firm, where he advised senior management on issues of strategy, organization, technology and operations. Before McKinsey, Atul worked at the Robin Hood Foundation, a venture philanthropy that funds and supports innovative poverty-fighting organizations in New York City. Atul holds an M.B.A. from Harvard Business School and a B.B.A. from the University of Michigan.

Follow us:

https://twitter.com/nchirls

https://twitter.com/beezer232

https://twitter.com/AccoladePrtnrs

Origins is a podcast about the VC and LP ecosystem, co-hosted by Nick Chirls of Notation and Beezer Clarkson of Sapphire Partners. In this episode, we are joined by Dr. Lan Xuezhao, founder and managing partner of Basis Set Ventures, an AI-focused seed firm based in SF. Lan is among the earliest investors in companies such as Scale AI, Quince, Path Robotics, Workstream, and Ergeon. She built and led the Corporate Development Strategy team at Dropbox during its most acquisitive time. She studied the human brain for her Ph.D and received an M.A. in Statistics, both from the University of Michigan.

Follow us:

https://twitter.com/nchirls

https://twitter.com/beezer232

https://twitter.com/xuezhao

Links referenced:

The Warm Intro Myth

Origins is a podcast about the VC and LP ecosystem, co-hosted by Nick Chirls of Notation and Beezer Clarkson of Sapphire Partners. On this episode, we dig into the history of Box Group and seed investing in NYC with David Tisch. Topics covered include Box Group's unique perspective and strategy on seed investing, staying true to one's strategy and mission, the decision behind Box Group raising outside capital, and the current state of the venture market.

Follow us:

https://twitter.com/nchirls

https://twitter.com/beezer232

https://twitter.com/davidtisch

Origins is a podcast about the VC and LP ecosystem, co-hosted by Nick Chirls of Notation and Beezer Clarkson of Sapphire Partners. On this episode, we dig into current market dynamics with our guest Kanyi Maqubela of Kindred Ventures. Topics covered include the current state of the venture market, how LPs and VCs are modifying their investment strategy, the future state of seed funds, and how to manage psychology through downturns.

Follow us:

https://twitter.com/nchirls

https://twitter.com/beezer232

https://twitter.com/km

Links referenced in the show:

https://www.newcomer.co/p/new-angellist-data-shows-startup

https://hunterwalk.com/2023/01/17/death-of-the-generalist-seed-vc/

https://techcrunch.com/2023/01/13/sequoia-capitals-alfred-lin-in-his-first-public-interview-since-the-implosion-of-ftx-video/

On this episode of Origins, we sit down with Beezer Clarkson of Sapphire Partners to discuss the current state of the VC and LP markets, given recent dislocations. We cover what Beezer is seeing on the ground, where we might be in the current cycle / downturn, how VCs can respond both strategically and tactically, as well as her outlook for what's to come. Beezer leads Sapphire Partners‘ investments in venture funds domestically and internationally. Prior to joining Sapphire in 2012, Beezer managed the day-to-day operations of the Draper Fisher Jurvetson Global Network, which then had $7 billion under management across 16 venture funds worldwide. In 2016, Beezer led the launch of OpenLP, an effort to help foster greater understanding in the entrepreneur-to-LP tech ecosystem.

Austin Clements is a co-founder and managing partner at Slauson & Co., an early-stage venture capital firm whose mission is to democratize access to entrepreneurship by bridging the gap between untapped founders and the right capital and resources required to create sustainable equity & economic inclusion. Austin is a former Principal at TenOneTen Ventures where he played a role in investing in 50+ companies across two funds, and also the founding Chairman for PledgeLA, a city-wide initiative that promotes diversity, equity, and inclusion in Tech. In this episode, we cover a wide range of topics, including Austin's early experience as a founder, joining TenOneTen and learning and growing as a junior VC, and finally teaming up with his partner Ajay and launching and building Slauson from the ground up. We dive deep into the LA ecosystem, what it means to be a truly inclusive firm in 2022, and the impact that they hope to have on LA and beyond in the years to come.

In this special episode of our #OpenLP podcast miniseries, Sapphire Partners’ Laura Thompson chats with Jaclyn Hester, Partner at Foundry Group, about how LPs pick funds, what good performance looks like and how everything is changing with the shift in today’s markets. Laura Thompson invests in technology-focused venture funds domestically and internationally. She is passionate about partnering with established and emerging firms to advance the thinking in the limited partner space. Before joining Sapphire Partners in 2018, Laura worked as part of the investment team at Horsley Bridge Partners, where she helped the team make hundreds of millions of fund commitments. Jaclyn Hester joined Foundry in 2016 and is active across their portfolio of startup companies and venture funds. She helped launch Foundry's partner fund strategy and works closely with partner fund managers, while also spending time on direct investments. Prior to joining Foundry, Jaclyn practiced corporate law at Perkins Coie LLP and earned a JD/MBA from University of Colorado, Boulder.

On this episode of Origins, Aram Verdiyan, partner at Accolade Partners, hosts Santiago Santos, one of the most well-respected crypto and NFT investors in the world. The discussion is far-ranging, from Santiago's discovery of Bitcoin and Ethereum many years ago, to his decision to go full-time into crypto, to current market conditions today, and themes that he's most excited about. This was a rare look into how the best crypto native investors approach investing in this unique asset class. Aram Verdiyan is a Partner at Accolade focused on venture capital and crypto. Previously, he worked on the investment team at Andreessen Horowitz. He holds an M.B.A from the Stanford Graduate School of Business (GSB) and a B.S. from the George Washington University. Santiago Santos, aka punk #9159, is one of the top crypto and NFT angel investors in the world, and is a core member of PleasrDAO. Previously, he was a partner at Parafi Capital, a leading crypto-native investment and technology firm founded in 2018, focused on token, venture, and quantitative strategies.