No GPs Allowed ⚡ #8

AI is getting theatrical, Gen Z is right about everything, & Ticketmaster is still awful

Author

Zehra Naqvi
May 29, 2024

TLDR from Z

  1. By the end of May, I will have spoken to 93 founders this month, all of whom are building in consumer. My observations will be shared in Fan Behavior!

  2. After being an “early stage” VC for the past few months, I’ve come to the conclusion that the best stage for a new VC to invest in is Series A (imo). Just enough traction to supplement your thesis but not enough to dictate your entire decision-making process.

  3. When a founder has multiple term sheets, their choices ultimately come down to the partner/GP they like the most. Sometimes, a GP’s/Partner’s individual brand can outweigh the impact of the firm’s brand. That’s why, imo, personal brand-building in VC has become so important. It’s a true differentiator for founders when assessing various VC offers. Here are a few of my favorite GPs who each have their own unique brands:

    1. Founder (IPO’d) turned investor with a track-record for publicly supporting your portfolio companies online, like Alexis Ohanian

    2. Seasoned stellar investor like Hans Tung (who has been on the Midas List 11 times)

    3. Terri Burns has made it clear that she’ll invest in companies before anyone else in clearly defining her investment anti “heat” thesis

    4. Hugo Amsellem is so bullish on consumer and has made his conviction clear with his online presence that nearly every consumer founder I speak to knows who he is.

VC News

The SignalFire State of Talent Report: 2023 tech employee trends

Fundraising News

Consumer-Specific News

Niche Internet-Lore of the Week

Halley Kate, a popular NYC-based influencer, announced earlier last week that she recently purchased a house in the “hamptons” at 23 years old. Naturally, Gen Z had many thoughts with an outpouring of memes, spoken thought-pieces, and podcast all created in the past few days addressing this. The biggest takeaways on the internet:

  1. How much money do influencers make and are they all from the elusive brand deals? Halley made a tiktok herself addressing this.

  2. There shouldn’t be so much negativity towards young girls making money via influencing. A lot of folks point out that prior to influencing, lucrative deals like this weren’t always available to women without climbing a corporate ladder and years dedicated into lengthy careers.

Also, North West’s performance at the Hollywood Bowl has reignited an important conversation about nepotism + celebrity/influencer culture.

43North Offers $1M Investments for Seed-Stage Startups

43North, an accelerator program in Buffalo, NY is offering seed-stage founders $1 million investments in exchange for 5% equity for a limited time! Apply now for your chance to secure $1 million in funding, expert mentorship, and invaluable connections.

VC & Startup Theses (or tips)

  1. They’re Ignoring MrBeast’s Rules of YouTube, and Thriving: many creators bend over backward to optimize videos for the algorithm, but some are experimenting with another concept: trusting their audience.

  2. Jamie Dimon is right. The number of U.S. public companies is plummeting—and that’s bad news for the democratic component of the economy

  3. So You Want to Build in Consumer Social: A Manifesto

  4. The first person to sell their thoughts will be the result of trillions of dollars of startup value creation deep-tech thoughts courtesy of Matt Lewis

  5. The gamification of everything consumer-era (more from me soon)

Investor Feature: Lauren Lee

How and why did you want to become a VC? I grew up with a deep love for learning and storytelling. When I started college, I took a “hands on” approach to my learning: I’d enroll in a course on some time in history on some subculture (I studied material and historical culture), look at where the industry was innovating today and try to land an internship at a startup building in the space. By my third startup internship, I’d gotten exposure to the other side of the partnership and knew I wanted to jump ship to help more founders “improve the human condition through technology,” as FJ Labs likes to say.

What’s your investment philosophy in 5 words? Global marketplaces driving network effects. If you didn’t already know FJ’s strategy. :)

Strangest place you’ve met a founder? At a wellness retreat — the irony of PTO.

#1 tip for folks trying to break into VC & new VCs? Engage in more conversation (whether that be with founders/ managers/ friends/ mentors) and establish a writing drum beat, as Diana at Matrix recommended to me!

Investor you admire most? Bear with me…Abigail Adams. Yes that Abigail Adams. Abigail, the first recorded female investor in American history, helped grow the Adams’ wealth by investing in government bonds and securities returning 25% per year instead of 1% from farmland as John Adams had instructed. Abigail was a contrarian thinker and do-er as also an early advocate for women’s rights and women’s education. From your friendly History nerd.

Coming in June! 1 GP Allowed will be the monthly premium version of No GPs Allowed. As I teased above, these interviews are 1 hour long IRL meetings all on the record. Think of it like a New Yorker or Vogue feature. I’ll be photographing the GP & asking them for their favorite apps, products, and more. I do hours of research on the GP before I meet with them: I read as many of their tweets as possible, watch all their interviews, and listen to their podcasts. This is a deeply intentional, focused interview.

Break into VC: Jobs

Full-time Investor

Stripes is hiring a Consumer Investor. Apply here!

Compound is hiring an investor. Apply here!

Unshackled Ventures is hiring an Investment Analyst. 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!

Pear VC is hiring an Investment Associate - AI and Enterprise. Apply here!

Dragonfly is hiring an Investor. Apply here!

Entrepreneur First is hiring multiple Analysts/Associates. Apply here!

Full-time Platform

Cowboy Ventures is hiring a Chief of Staff. Apply here!

Union Heritage is hiring a Chief of Staff. 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. This section aims to act as: a reference for you as you negotiate your salary and to showcase just how different compensation is across fund size, titles, and more.

  • Title: Vice President

  • Fund Size: 50-100M

  • Base Salary: $135,000

  • Cash Bonus: none

  • Carry: 5%

Events (for VCs)

wednesday 5/29

monday 6/3

tuesday 6/4

wednesday 6/5

thursday 6/6

Resources: Discounts + Tools