LA Venture | Venture Capital | VC
TenOneTen
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We talk to Southern California VCs to get to know them, their funds, and their advice for entrepreneurs.
Hosted my Minnie Ingersoll from TenOneTen, an LA-based seed fund investing in b2b software.
Available episodes
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2 days ago
David Waxman -- TenOneTen
The one, the only, David Waxman!! David was the founder of three venture backed companies before he and Gil Elbaz started TenOneTen. David shares lessons learned from an IPO, a litigious board member and a couple decades in startups.
Feb 17, 2021
Megan Guy -- King River Capital
Megan is one of the founders of King River Capital, an LA-based fund investing in Series A and later companies.
They are investing out of a $100M Fund II. Megan shares how they are able to leverage their LPs for significant co-investment.
Feb 10, 2021
Jamie Montgomery -- March Capital
Fantastic chance to get to know Jamie Montgomery. Jamie shares how he's built such strong relationships, delivered outsized returns for March Capital, his approach to philanthropy and his high school fire extinguisher business. For more, tune in March 3rd and 4th to the 18th annual Montgomery Summit.
Feb 3, 2021
Kerry Bennett -- Upfront
Loved talking with Kerry about how startups should think about their marketing org and how that has changed. Also fun to hear about Upfront's brand and the brand of the partners at Upfront.
Jan 27, 2021
Zach White -- Sinai Ventures
Great talk with Zach White about managing Sinai Venture's $600M Fund II.
We talk about investing in Pinterest, buying secondary shares, and independent thinking in the venture business.
Jan 20, 2021
Sean Harper -- Westlake Village BioPartners
With their recently raised $500M, Westlake Village BioPartners is catalyzing the LA biotech ecosystem.
Sean Harper, former Head of R&D at Amgen, tells us about his focus on therapeutics to improve human lives and starting Westlake Bio with Beth Seidenberg.
Jan 13, 2021
Gil Demeter -- Pontifax AgTech
Great discussion about next gen robotics and next gen bioscience with Gil Demeter from Pontifax AgTech. With over $465M in AUM, Pontifax is one of the largest food and agtech funds in the world.
Jan 6, 2021
Shahin Farshchi -- Lux Capital
Lux invests in emerging science and technology ventures at the outermost edges of what is possible. Lux will write $10- 15M checks and they are not afraid to invest pre-product and sometimes pre-company.
Shahin has fascinating insight on automation, autonomous cars, AI and more.
Dec 31, 2020
LA Venture -- 2020 Highlights
When we started this podcast people asked if we'd run out of guests after a year of weekly episodes with LA VCs. Not even close.
Hope you enjoy a few highlights from LA venture and hope we get to see more of each other in 2021!
Dec 22, 2020
Tracy Gray -- The 22 Fund
Tracy shares insights on manufacturing, why exports matter, industry 4.0, and the state of diversity in venture today.
Dec 16, 2020
Scott Stanford -- ACME
Scott has invested in Uber, Facebook, Slack, Square, Robinhood and others... there was probably more than 30 mins worth of stuff I could have learned. Before starting ACME, Scott was the co-founder of Sherpa Capital and before that he was head of Internet investment banking at Goldman Sachs.
And now proudly part of the LA venture community!
Dec 9, 2020
Dan Zinn -- Rivonia Road
If you have any questions if debt can help your startup, feel free to give Dan Zinn a call. Dan's firm, Rivonia Road, provides a much more bespoke solution than traditional venture debt.
We also talk about how Dan built a billion dollar hedge fund and XPRS, a small business lender.
Dec 2, 2020
Nicole Quinn -- Lightspeed
Nicole Quinn says "you can't be called Lightspeed and move slowly" and explains how they can get a term sheet done in 2-3 days. Lots of insights on building an enduring brand that are applicable whether you are in the consumer space, or building an insurance company.
Nov 25, 2020
Marcos Gonzalez -- Vamos Ventures
Marcos Gonzalez is the managing partner at Vamos Ventures, a seed-stage venture fund investing in Hispanic and diverse founders.
Over half of LA county is Hispanic. Seems like a great time to be investing in this community!
Nov 18, 2020
Arjan Schutte -- Core Innovation Capital
Great discussion with Arjan Schutte about democratizing prosperity and running Core Innovation Capital, a finTech fund that measures its impact on society and has invested in Ripple, NerdWallet, Synapse, Fundera and more.
Nov 11, 2020
Mark Suster -- Upfront Ventures
Mark Suster from Upfront explains why the best time to talk to founders about fundraising is 3-4 months after their last fundraise.
He was kind enough to share that framework and others this week on LAV. #longla
Nov 5, 2020
Petra Griffith -- Wedbush Ventures
One of my new favorite LA investors, Petra Griffith, joins to discuss Wedbush Ventures.
Petra talks about starting a new fund, how she's seen venture debt work well as non-dilutive funding, and lessons on the content business from Netflix and Yahoo.
Oct 28, 2020
Bruce Hallett -- Miramar Digital Ventures
Bruce's new $100M fund, Miramar Digital Ventures II, invests early in software and data. He explains why many VCs have gone back to preferring notes over SAFEs, and other insights on deal preferences and construction.
Oct 21, 2020
Buck Jordan -- WaveMaker Labs
Lots of insights on equity crowdfunding today from Buck Jordan. He's raising $50-100k/day (mostly on SeedInvest) for the cool robotics and food companies coming out of WaveMaker Labs. He also has great insights on corporate innovation and how seed stage companies can take advantage of corporate partners.
Oct 14, 2020
Andrew Glazier -- Defy Ventures
This is a pre-election must listen. Andrew Glazier is the CEO of Defy Ventures and runs an incredible entrepreneurship program for incarcerated entrepreneurs. We talk about developing an entrepreneurial mindset and the need for criminal justice reform.
Oct 7, 2020
Jim Andelman -- Bonfire Ventures
We talk with Jim Andelman about Bonfire's new $100M Fund II, the great team additions (Jennifer Richard, Tyler Churchill, Brett Queener), what good traction looks like nowadays, and a couple great resources on tech.
Sep 30, 2020
Z Holly -- Good Growth Capital
Super interesting guest (and person), Z Holly talks about university innovation, LA manufacturing, gracious professionalism, the LA River, and a parachute malfunction while skydiving...!
Sep 23, 2020
Mark Terbeek -- Greycroft
Mark is a leading B2B investor and on the board of Scopely, Icertis and more. He shares his current investment theses and explains how Greycroft operates as a seed to growth stage venture fund.
Sep 16, 2020
David Fleck -- FreeFlow
I deeply appreciate David's approach to life and work. He founded FreeFlow to invest in startups coming out of Caltech that have the potential to improve our world.
Sep 9, 2020
Brian Schwartz -- Canaan scout
Brian Schwartz is a hub of LA startup deals, a scout for Canaan Partners, the founder of SIZE advisors, SIZE capital, and an advisor to unicorn startup goPuff.
Sep 2, 2020
Alex Gurevich -- Javelin Venture Partners
Javelin's Alex Gurevich talks with us about investing in Masterclass, Thumbtack, Mythical Games and more. Alex also tells us why VCs should be getting performance reviews from their founders.
Aug 26, 2020
Eric Pakravan -- TenOneTen
Eric and I work together at TenOneTen! We talk about our partners, Lava Lab, AmplifyLA, Scopely, marketplaces and the sort of companies that thrive in LA.
Aug 19, 2020
Dan Abrams -- Cobalt Capital
Dan Abrams is a partner at Cobalt Capital. Prior to Cobalt, Dan (and the entire Cobalt team) was at CAA-affiliated Evolution Media. Cobalt leads Series B rounds, but likes to get to know founders earlier in their journey.
Aug 12, 2020
Hamet Watt -- Share Ventures
We had a chance to hear about Hamet's newly launched venture foundry, Share Ventures, focused on human performance. We talk about brain health, Hamet's role at Upfront, and insights on early stage innovation.
Aug 5, 2020
Virginia Schmitt -- B Capital
Virginia Schmitt is a partner and CFO at B Capital. B Capital is a leading growth-venture firm and one of the largest with an LA office, investing $10-60M in series B-D companies. Virginia shares insights from being a CFO investing out of over $1B AUM.
Jul 28, 2020
D.A. Wallach -- Time BioVentures
One of LA's most fascinating investors, DA Wallach, tells us about touring with Blink 182, making a song with with Diddy, becoming an investor with Ron Burkle, and his current life science focus at Time BioVentures.
Jul 22, 2020
Rachel Springate -- Muse Capital
Great connecting with Rachel Springate about her path into VC, raising consumer-focused Muse Fund II, her partnership with Assia, and diversity in venture.
Jul 15, 2020
Clinton Foy -- Crosscut Ventures
Really fun talking with Clinton Foy about the gaming industry, founding Immortals, living in the metaverse, and who his favorite Crosscut partner is.
Jul 8, 2020
Eric Manlunas -- Wavemaker Partners
Eric Manlunas joins us to explain all the different things that Wavemaker is doing--starting with $250-500k seed checks, anchoring other funds like Wavemaker 360 and Thin Line and even building companies at Wavemaker Labs with Buck Jordan.
Jul 1, 2020
Tom McInerney -- TGM Ventures
Tom McInerney is a full-time angel investor with 120 angel investments. He shares how he gets into rounds like Clubhouse, Tala, Segment, his view of investing during Covid, and why he spends time hanging out in Clubhouse.
Jun 24, 2020
Adam Lilling -- Plus Capital
Adam Lilling probably has the coolest job. He's the founder and managing partner at Plus Capital, where he works with celebrities like Ellen and Portia who want to invest in growing companies (post-seed) that align with their values.
Jun 17, 2020
Deb Benton -- Willow
Today we chat with Deb Benton about her new fund, Willow, that she founded with Amanda Schutzbank. Deb is on the board of Carbon38, TomboyX, The Leaf Group and she has all sorts of insight on how to do consumer investing well and what sort of metrics to look for.
Jun 10, 2020
Don & David -- Global Founders Capital (GFC)
Don Stalter and David Resnekov are colleagues at GFC (Global Founders Capital), a $1.2B fund that will invest pre-product all the way through later growth rounds and will even lead multiple rounds for a company. Interesting, entrepreneurial approach to VC.
Jun 3, 2020
Brendan Wallace -- Fifth Wall
So interesting talking to Brendan Wallace about how he built Fifth Wall to $1.2B in 3.5 years. We talk about how the retail landscape is changing, how the work week will change and hopefully how the carbon impact of real estate will change.
May 27, 2020
Jason Schoettler -- Calibrate Ventures
Jason Schoettler started Calibrate Ventures where he invests in advanced automation (usually Series A). He and long-time partner Kevin Dunlap have made some really good investments (Ring, Dollar Shave Club) and some newer pretty cool looking ones (check out the Moxie video).
We talk about why he feels comfortable investing in hardware (when there's a subscription), how to be a good board member, and much more.
May 20, 2020
Dovi Frances -- Group11
Dovi Frances is the founder of Group11 VC, one of the nation’s top decile performing FinTech funds.
Group11 has led fintech investments into category defining companies such as Tipalti, Sunbit, TripActions and next insurance to name a few. (Series A sweet spot).
Dovi is a bold thinker who isn’t afraid to throw jabs at other venture capitalists for hosting too many lavish parties and yoga sessions. This one is a fun listen.
May 13, 2020
Ernst & Vaughn -- Blue Bear Capital
Blue Bear Capital invests in technologies for the energy sector ($1-4M first check). We talk with Ernst and Vaughn about the energy supply chain, the growth of renewables and what Ernst calls BroPEC.
May 6, 2020
Aditi Maliwal -- Upfront Ventures
One of the newest partners at Upfront, Aditi Maliwal, tells us about her path to partner, her investments in Chime, BetterUp, and her time in Google corp dev.
Apr 29, 2020
Ben Savage -- Clocktower Ventures
Ben Savage tells us about Clocktower Ventures. They are fintech specialists who invest stage-agnostically into financial services innovation ($250k - $2.5m).
Clocktower never leads rounds and Ben suggests that VCs often dont make for the best board members anyhow.
Clocktower Ventures:
https://www.clocktowerventures.com/
Pasadena VC/founder event:
https://bit.ly/35e5Kxc
Apr 23, 2020
Steph Janson -- OCV
Steph Janson joins to tell us about OCV, a $260M LA fund investing into companies that have $5M+ ARR. He also shares some great stories about Israel's startup ecosystem and his time at OurCrowd.
Apr 14, 2020
Jesse Draper -- Halogen Ventures
Halogen Ventures invests ($250k - $1M) in consumer tech companies led by women (The Skimm, Carbon38). Jesse Draper shares her perspective of growing up 4th gen VC, how she learned to be fearless, and much more.
Apr 8, 2020
Matt Kozlov -- Techstars Space
Our guest Matt Kozlov is the managing director of Techstars Space and ran Techstars Health for 3 years before that.
We chat about launching toaster sized objects into space for a couple million bucks, getting non-dilutive grant money, and of course Techstars ($120k and a great program)!
Apr 2, 2020
Dinesh Moorjani -- Comcast Ventures
Today's episode is with Dinesh Moorjani, managing director of LA-based Comcast Ventures. Comcast's sweet spot is a Series A check ($3-20M) but they are flexible. Dinesh explains how Comcast operates, tells us about the early days of Tinder, his experience of private equity, and much more.
Mar 26, 2020
Minnie Ingersoll -- TenOneTen
It was really hard to do a podcast about myself on my own podcast, but my dear friend Steph Hannon was kind enough to interview me. I tried to give the basics of TenOneTen ($500-$1M into seed rounds), but mostly felt like we chatted about my background and this podcast.
Mar 17, 2020
Elaine Russell -- Albertsons Fund & Greycroft
Elaine recently joined Greycroft to co-lead the Albertsons Fund, a $50M fund investing into the future of retail.
The Albertsons Fund (ACI Fund) is investing with Greycroft's core fund $2-6M into Series A or seed companies that are redefining the future of retail.
Mar 10, 2020
Brian MacMahon -- Expert Dojo
We talk about how Brian has evolved Expert Dojo into a really interesting international accelerator ($100k checks), how lean startup can be misapplied, and how women are better than men :)
Totally worth checking out--both the Dojo and this episode!
Mar 3, 2020
Michael Stoppelman -- Angel, scout, friend
Michael is one of the most sought after and prolific angel investors in LA. One year he invested in 50 companies... and that was before joining a prominent scout program. We also talk about growing Yelp with his brother Jeremy Stoppelman.
Feb 24, 2020
Courtney Reum -- M13
M13 is a $200M LA-based brand development and venture capital firm. Courtney is a co-founder of M13 and an investor in Pinterest, Ring, Lyft and much more. This is a fun one!
Feb 18, 2020
Noramay Cadena -- MiLA Capital
Founder of MiLA Capital, Noramay Cadena, talks with me about the intersection of tech and manufacturing. Along with partners Carmen Palafox and Shaun Arora, Noramay is writing first checks ($100k-$1M) into "tech you can touch". Shout out to creator, collaborator Z holly and Make it in LA
SoCal Alliance report on SoCal innovation
Kauffman fellows
Feb 10, 2020
Michael Tam -- Craft Ventures
Great chat with Michael Tam about Craft Ventures ($1-$15M), vertical labor marketplaces, Uber, his partners David Sacks, Bill Lee, Jeff Fluhr, Sky Dayton, and Michael's path into venture.
David Sacks posts: https://medium.com/@davidsacks
Feb 5, 2020
Derek Norton -- Watertower Ventures
We caught up with Derek Norton about Watertower ($100-500k checks with his partner Jeremy Milken), micro M&A, advantages(?) of a hard fundraise, media as IP, and how great we are here in LA :)
Jan 28, 2020
Peter Goldberg -- PLG Ventures
Great episode if you like entertaining guests. Peter invests up to $250k initial checks out of PLG Ventures and is not afraid to invest super-early (pre-product, pre-revenue). He helps his portfolio companies on all things organizational behavior, but was formerly CEO of AmTrust, the largest privately held bank.
Jan 22, 2020
Erik Rannala -- Mucker
We got a chance to catch up with Erik about Honey's $4B exit, his new partner Omar, his decision-making process and all things Mucker ($100k - $1.5M checks and a lot of elbow grease).
Jan 14, 2020
Mike Palank -- MAC Ventures
MAC is a $100m fund writing $500k - $1.5m checks. David and I didn't talk much because Mike had so many great stories. He tells us about his partners Adrian Fenty, Marlon Nichols, Charles King and some of the cool stuff in interactive media today.
Lil Miquela : https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zE1J9JxqhFo
... makes our podcast guest list look a little dry
Jan 7, 2020
Kelly Perdew -- Moonshots Capital
Kelly is founding partner of Moonshots Capital where he invests $500k - $1.5M with conviction into extraordinary leadership with a heavy emphasis on leaders with a military background. We enjoyed talking with him about his experience running a syndicate and winning Season 2 of the Apprentice and working with Donald Trump.
Dec 31, 2019
Robert Mai -- Scopus Ventures
Robert Mai joins us to talk about Scopus Ventures, an early stage fund focused on B2B enterprise software (initial checks $250-$1M). Scopus is active in LA and Israel. Robert also educates us on family office investing.
Dec 16, 2019
Brian Lee -- BAM Ventures
Brian is the founder of BAM Ventures, ShoeDazzle, LegalZoom, the Honest Company and more. We talked to him about investing out of BAM Ventures where he's not afraid to invest early--$250-500k into a great entrepreneur and an idea.
Also really interesting to learn his approach to launching a brand, shopping at CVS, and whats going on today at BAM labs.
Dec 10, 2019
Jay Goss -- Wavemaker 360 Health
Jay is a partner at Wavemaker 360 Health, a healthcare fund with a liberal definition of what a healthcare company is. They do seed investing ($100-$500k first check). Jay is very thoughtful about everything from how he leverages his LPs to the implications of value-based care.
Dec 3, 2019
Meredith Finn -- March Capital Partners
Meredith is a partner at March Capital Partners where she leads investments into enterprise B2B companies raising Series A, B and C. Prior to March, Meredith was at Salesforce Ventures.
I'd want Meredith on my board if I were running a later stage enterprise business!
Nov 25, 2019
Eric Schiffer -- Tech Coast Angels
Eric is the president of Tech Coast Angels, but we definitely got caught up talking about his prior experience as CEO of 99c only stores. This one is a great listen if you're at all interested in selling consumer goods or scaling operations.
Nov 18, 2019
Miki Reynolds -- Grid110
Grid110 is a fantastic free accelerator program in DTLA (no cost, no equity). Miki started Grid110 in 2014 with a focus on fashion tech, but now Grid110 is open to early stage entrepreneurs in all sectors. Miki's awesome and what's not to love.
Nov 12, 2019
Laurent Grill -- Luma Launch
Laurent Grill is lead investor at Luma Launch, an LA pre-seed fund that does both B2B and B2C, with a particular interest in storytelling. In addition to funding (average check size $250k), Luma provides great mentors and services for it's teams. Laurent explains why Luma (and others) have moved away from the accelerator model.
Nov 4, 2019
Peter Lee -- Embark Ventures
Peter is a founder and managing partner at Embark Ventures, one of the very few deep tech/frontier tech focused investors in town. They write $500- $1M checks into pre-product companies with important science behind them.
Peter is full of interesting thoughts on robotics, brain computer interaction and tech transfer out of universities.
Oct 24, 2019
Alex Rubalcava -- Stage Venture Partners
Alex is an early-stage enterprise B2B investor, typically writing checks $300-$600k into rounds of ~$1-3M. He is full of interesting insights and convictions. I could have talked to him for a long time.
Oct 18, 2019
Dana Settle -- Greycroft
Dana is a Founding Partner at Greycroft and heads the west coast office. She invests in seed, series A and out of the Greycroft growth fund. We talk to her about tracker funds, acquirers, her relationship to email and other interesting things.
Oct 10, 2019
John Waller -- Okapi Ventures
John is a gem. He is also a partner at Okapi Ventures. Before Okapi he was a founder (twice), he worked at Idealab and in corporate M&A. As he says, he has sat on all 10 sides of the table.
Oct 3, 2019
Brian Garrett -- Crosscut Ventures
Brian is one of the founders of Crosscut. Crosscut has been doing seed investing in LA since 2007. Brian explains their portfolio construction ($1.5-3M is "typical" but they stretch in both directions), the personalities of the Crosscut team and how they think about their reputation and the ecosystem they have been a part of growing for the past decade.
From the episode: Nick Kim's post on Platform as a Product.
Evolution coaching: https://www.evolution.team/
Sep 25, 2019
Peter Pham -- Science
Peter Pham is the co-founder of Science. Science is a startup studio here in Santa Monica that partners with founders at the earliest stage of company-creation. Peter educates me and David on D2C margins and radiation-preventing underwear over tallboys of Liquid Death.
Join us at Innovate Pasadena with great upcoming guests and a podcast if you can't join us in person.
Sep 19, 2019
Paul Bricault -- Amplify LA
Paul is founder and managing partner at Amplify. Amplify started as an accelerator, they still have the great office space, but now Paul describes Amplify as "pre-seed with benefits". They have a heavy LA focus to their investments ($250-500k) but not funding LA companies exclusively. Paul is also a venture partner at Greycroft and a nice person.
Sep 12, 2019
Adam Struck -- Struck Capital
Adam Struck is an LA seed investor from Struck Capital (checks $1-1.5M) who challenges any other VC to put in more sweat equity per dollar than he does. He also thinks VCs should be weirder. I already feel like I'm busting my butt so I will accept the weird challenge.
Sep 5, 2019
Kara Nortman -- Upfront Ventures
Kara is a partner at Upfront, a founder, and one of the most prominent investors in LA. Kara shares about the Upfront partnership (8 different UIs with the same backend), advice for founders, and her own areas of interest.
Sep 2, 2019
Stender Sweeney -- Pasadena Angels
With over 100 members, Pasadena Angels is one of the largest angel investor networks in LA. Stender Sweeney is chair of the Pasadena Angels and explains how their process works, what size check to expect ($250-750k) and what it means to be "more than the money".
Aug 22, 2019
Anna Barber -- Techstars LA
Techstars is a 90-day mentorship-driven accelerator program with three programs in LA: Techstars Music, Techstars Space and Techstars LA. Today we talk to Anna Barber, Managing Director for Techstars LA, about the mentorship, investment ($120k) and network that Techstars LA provides.
Aug 16, 2019
Eva Ho -- Fika Ventures
Fika invests in enterprise, B2B SAAS and data-oriented solutions. Fika is usually writing checks in the $750k to $1.2M range and Eva tells us how check size and round size have changed over time. Eva is an extremely thoughtful investor about everything from data ethics to building stronger communities. We're glad Eva is part of the LA community!
Leave us a review, let me know, and I'll send back my gratitude.
Aug 9, 2019
Mark Mullen -- Bonfire Ventures
Mark talks with us about what sort of traction he looks for when doing B2B seed investing, what sort of questions he asks founders, and his direct personal style.
Aug 2, 2019
Will Hsu -- Mucker Capital
Will talks to us about Mucker Capital, the early stage venture fund that he and Erik co-founded as well as Mucker Labs, his very well-respected LA accelerator.
Jul 28, 2019
Dustin Rosen -- Wonder Ventures
Dustin Rosen is the founder and managing partner at Wonder Ventures, a pre-seed fund here in LA.
Jun 29, 2019
Britt Danneman -- Alpha Edison
Britt talks about venture debt, Alpha Edison's investment thesis and how trust is created.
Jun 26, 2019
Eytan Elbaz -- Angel investor, man of mystery
Eytan is a multiple time co-founder (Social Native, Render Media, Scopely), venture partner at TenOneTen, and full of insights on angel investing.