- No GPs Allowed
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- No GPs Allowed ⚡ #5
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TYSM to those of you who joined me in SF this past week! Excited to be back in June :)
BTW if we’ve never met and you invest in consumer (CPG, commerce, marketplaces, social, apps, b2b2c, creator, etc.) reply to this email. I want to send you deal flow (seed to Series A oppts).
VC News
The most important news imo: VCs are getting comfortable writing big checks again, judging by April deal activity +General Catalyst, a16z capture 44% of US VC fundraising in 2024
Max Altman has launched a VC firm, Saga Ventures, with ex-Flexport exec Ben Braverman and 2x founder Thomson Nguyen. Altman, the third bro with Sam and Jack, tells Forbes he wants to back startups building for "every American," not other techies.
Inside the ‘cold war’ at Techstars as CEO Maëlle Gavet hires, fires, fights to force change
OpenAI’s new tool can detect images created by DALL-E 3. The company said the tool correctly identified images created by DALL-E 3 about 98% of the time in internal testing.
Scale AI has closed an Austin office of its contract workers and also cut the number of its contract staff in Dallas and San Francisco. The company works with thousands of contractors to help power its data-labeling machine.
VCs are firm-hopping: from Connie Chan to Ethan Kurzweil, venture capitalists continue to play musical chairs
The “Inside Story of Chime: America’s Biggest Digital Bank” folks are theorizing this story is part of a “IPO ready” campaign
HubSpot co-founder Brian Halligan joined Sequoia as a senior advisor
Global crypto firms turn to Hong Kong for refuge — and opportunity
Riding the continuation fund trend in venture capital: historically rare in venture capital, they've been getting more attention recently as firms look for new ways to navigate the market downturn and ongoing lack of liquidity.
NBA champion Kyle Kuzma looks to bring his team mentality to Scrum Ventures
How Shruti Gandhi, a solo venture capitalist with 15 exits in 5 years, went from underestimated to unstoppable
New VC firm formed by a16z, Bessemer, and Index vets
ICONIQ Growth raises $5.75B seventh flagship fund
They thought they were joining an accelerator — instead they lost their startups: how Newchip’s bankruptcy threatened the cap tables of thousands of startups
The Seed 100: The best early-stage investors of 2024 & The Seed 40: The best women early-stage investors of 2024
Fundraising (Startup) News
India’s Oyo, once valued at $10 billion, seeks new funding at 70% discount
‘Wallet-as-a-service’ startup Ansa raises $14 million with female investors leading the way
beehiiv attracts $33M to make its newsletter publishing platform more sticky (shoutout to my friends at NEA who worked on this & I’m excited to now be an angel investor)
Tiger Global-backed Innovaccer in talks to raise $250M in new funding, sources say
Self-driving startup Wayve just raised $1 billion from Nvidia, SoftBank, Microsoft and more
Consumer-Specific News
Spotify now reportedly has a monthly limit on lyrics if you don’t have Spotify Premium. Every time you view the lyrics of a song, it will count towards your limit.
Airbnb’s new Icons feature lets you book a stay in pop culture’s most famous locations
The Simply Good Foods Company to acquire Only What You Need (OWYN) for $280M
Reddit kicks off its first-ever earnings call in a very Reddit way, answering questions from users
Delivery app Getir’s rise and fall fueled by billions of dollars and strategy conflicts
YouTube superstar MrBeast is breaking up with his talent manager
TikTok’s Boss Goes From Reserved Tech Exec to Met Gala Chair: with the company facing a ban in the U.S., Shou Chew is expected to join Zendaya, Bad Bunny and Anna Wintour on the red carpet.
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VC/Startup Theses
April Trends + Observations Recap
New section! At the end of each month, I’ll aggregate observations/trends that I’ve observed from the companies I’ve spoken to in the past month.
I spoke to 84 consumer founders 60% seed, 15% series A, 25% pre-seed)
gen z will monetize anything
data-tracking: more consumer social apps are leaning on unfiltered consumption tracking (vanity & stalking)
"close friends" consumer social: most new consumer social apps are optimized for your 20-30 real friends/relationships
next-gen fan platforms are centered on the individual more than community
gamification is everywhere
a fair amount of consumer social companies are going through A16Z’s speedrun this summer
If you want to read more of my thoughts on consumer in greater depth you can subscribe to Fan Behavior here.
Investor Feature: Alex Chung
How and why did you want to become a VC? Steve Jobs said, “you can’t connect the dots looking forward; you can only connect them looking backward.” When I was 13 years old, my love of Maroon 5 and passion for the creator economy drove me to create an Adam Levine Twitter fan page. My Twitter following, which was 25K+ strong, led to Levine giving her his guitar during a concert, and later reaffirmed my desire to explore the creator economy – first through my startup, and now through my work at Chai Ventures. I have always been passionate about early-stage start-ups, especially companies building at the intersection of consumer and technology, and about empowering the entrepreneurs that I believe will play a significant role in shaping the future.
What’s your investment philosophy in 5 words? Risk, return, innovation, scalability, diversification.
Strangest place you’ve met a founder? 1) at a wedding, 2) on social media – Clubhouse (during COVID), Instagram, LinkedIn, TikTok, and Twitter, and 3) in a workout class.
#1 tip for folks trying to break into VC & new VCs? Build your personal network, treat every conversation as an opportunity to learn something new, and always offer to help people (even if you think you can’t!) vs. asking for favors and introductions.
Investor you admire most? In addition to the amazing investors that I have had the pleasure of working with at Decibel and Chai Ventures, I would say Kirsten Green – she has a visionary approach to consumer investing, often identifying emerging trends and market opportunities before they become mainstream. Her ability to anticipate shifts in consumer behavior and invest in companies (like Warby Parker, Glossier, and Dollar Shave Club) that address evolving needs is something that I hope to emulate in my career!
Break into VC: Jobs
Full-time Investor
Stripes is hiring a Consumer Investor. Apply here!
Commerce Ventures is hiring a Senior Associate. Apply here!
Fin Capital is hiring an Investment Analyst. Apply here!
Fin Capital is hiring an Investment Associate. Apply here!
Capital Factory is hiring an associate. Apply here (Dallas)
Flourish Ventures is hiring an investment associate. Apply here!
Alumni Ventures is hiring a Principal. Apply here!
Full-time Platform
Draper University is hiring for multiple platform roles. Apply below!
Cowboy Ventures is hiring a Chief of Staff. Apply here!
Techstars is hiring a Program Associate. Apply here!
First Round is hiring an Events Coordinator. Apply here!
Internship
Expanding Capital is hiring an intern. Apply here!
igniteXL Ventures is hiring a Summer Analyst. Apply here!
My fund Headline Ventures’ is bringing on scouts for our consumer team! If you’re interested apply here.
VC $$$
You can drop your salary details here (anonymously) to be shared in future editions. VC compensation is an exceptionally opaque part of the “breaking into VC” process.
Title: Principal
Fund Size: 50-100M
Base Salary: $175,000
Cash Bonus: $30,000
Carry: 10%
Events (for VCs)
friday 5/17
Female GP's - Emerging Manager Brunch ✨
for who: femme emerging managers
tuesday 6/4
Early Stage VC & Investors Coffee Mixer with Antler & Headline at NY #TechWeek
for who: early stage investors
