Sean Seton-Rogers is a founding Partner at PROfounders Capital, a venture capital fund for entrepreneurs powered by entrepreneurs. Their investors and principals number some of the best-known players within the digital media space -- people who have built some of Europe's most successful companies. Prior to PROfounders, Sean has been investing in technology companies across both the US and Europe, when he was at both Balderton Capital and Commonwealth Capital Ventures in Boston. In addition to the PROfounders portfolio companies, he has in the past worked closely with others such as Bebo, Wonga.com, and ConstantContact.
In Today's Episode You Will Learn:
1.) How did Sean make his entry into the VC world at the peak of the first tech bubble?
2.) What was the biggest lesson Sean learnt from experiencing the bubble imploding?
3.) Why are we seeing this trend of US VC funds investing in Europe?
4.) What are the key drivers to the growth of the European tech ecosystem?
5.) Why is there a serious decline in the amount of Series C rounds, only 7 in Q2 2015?
6.) Is Sean concerned by the rise of Crowdfunding? Does Sean see it as a competing finance model to VC?
7.) Do investors on Crowdfunding platforms experience the same deal terms as VCs?
Items Mentioned In Today's Episode:
Sean's Fave Book: Robert Cialdini: Influence, The Psychology of Persuasion, Neal Stevenson: Cryptonomicon
Sean's Fave Blog or Newsletter: Benedict Evans Newsletter
Sean's Must Have Productivity Tools: Evernote, Google Apps
Sean's Most Recent Investment: Made.com
As always you can follow Harry, The Twenty Minute VC, Sean and PROfounders on Twitter right here!
For a more colourful view of Harry and maybe a few mojito sessions follow Harry on Instagram here!
Mattias launched Atomico in 2006 alongside Niklas Zennström. In that time, Mattias has been involved with exits including Supercell (sold a majority stake to SoftBank), 6Wunderkinder (acquired by Microsoft in 2015), The Climate Corporation (acquired by Monsanto for $1.1B in 2013), Xobni (acquired by Yahoo! in 2013). Mattias works closely with a number of portfolio companies on their expansion, including Truecaller, Klarna, Hailo, and ChemistDirect.
Carolina is Vice President @ Atomico, working on sourcing, evaluation and due diligence of investments. Carolina is based in London, however she travels frequently to Latin America to evaluate opportunities for Atomico to help companies in the region to scale. Prior to Atomico, Carolina started her career at Merrill Lynch's investment banking division before moving to private equity firm Madison Dearborn Partners.
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If you prefer a single guest click here!
In Today's Episode You Will Learn:
1.) How Mattias and Carolina made their way into the VC industry with Atomico?
2.) How important is it for VCs to have entrepreneurial backgrounds?
3.) What advice would Mattias and Carolina give to anyone looking to enter the VC industry?
4.) What is Atomico's selection criteria? Average cheque size? Round preference? Sector preference?
5.) Why is now the best time to be a European entrepreneur? What has changed?
6.) What does it take for a tech ecosystem to thrive and grow?
7.) What is required for startups to scale from small markets to mass market adoption?
Items Mentioned In Today's Show:
Mattias' Fave Book: The Girl Who Saved The King of Sweden by Jonas Jonasson
Carolina's Fave Book: Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil by John Berendt
Mattias' Fave Blog or Newsletter: Benedict Evans
Carolina's Fave Newsletter: The Skim, Dan Primack: TermSheet
Atomics's Most Used Productivity Tools: Wunderlist, Evernote, Pocket, SmartNews
Atomics's Most Recent Investments: TrueCaller, GymPass
As always you can follow Harry, The Twenty Minute VC, Carolina and Mattias on Twitter here!
For a more colourful image of Harry and maybe some mojito sessions, follow Harry on Instagram here!
Carl Waldekranz is the CEO and co-founder of Tictail. With the vision of creating the worlds most used and loved e-commerce platform Tictail has been called the Tumblr of e-commerce and been celebrated as one of Europe's hottest startups. The vibrant community now hosts more than 85,000 stores on their service. Due to this phenomenal growth Tictail recently closed a $22m Series B from Balderton, Acton, Thrive and Creandum.
In Today's Episode You Will Learn:
1.) What were Carl's entrepreneurial origins and how did Tictail get started?
2.) What does Carl's idea creation process look like? How does Carl brainstorm?
3.) Tictail now sells 2m products on their platform but how did they get their first customers?
4.) At what moment in the Tictail journey was Carl the most worried or frightened?
5.) What would Carl say are the essentials for funding? How did Carl meet his investors? What is the difference between the different funding rounds for startups?
6.) Why did Carl pitch other startups before pitching VCs?
7.) Question from Daniel Waterhouse @ Balderton: How has Tictail maintained the magic company culture in Sweden, whilst expanding to NY?
8.) If Carl could start his time with Tictail again, is there anything he would have done differently?
Items Mentioned In Today's Show:
Carl's Fave Book: The Score Takes Care of Itself, My Philosophy of Leadership by Bill Walsh
Carl's Fave Blog or Newsletter: First Round Capital Blog
As always you can follow Harry, The Twenty Minute VC, Carl and Tictail on Twitter right here!
If you would like to see a more colourful side to Harry and a few mojito sessions, you can follow Harry on Instagram here!
Seth Levine is one of the most successful VCs on the planet having Co-Founded Foundry Group, Seth has made investments in the likes of Fitbit (IPO), Admeld (acquired by Google), Zynga (IPO) and Gnip (acquired by Twitter). The Foundry Group now has 5 funds, 4 early stage and 1 growth fund, totalling over $1bn in assets. Prior to Foundry Group, Seth started his career in venture with Mobius Venture Capital and lead the IPO of FirstWorld in 2000. Seth writes an awesome blog on technology, venture capital and colorado at www.sethlevine.com.
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In Today's Show You Will Learn:
1.) Where it all started for Seth and how he made his move into the technology and venture industry?
2.) Question from James Altucher: Do you have to be in Silicon Valley to get the best access to deal flow?
3.) How has Foundry group developed since 2006 as VC firm?
4.) Why are all funds raised by Foundry the same, $225m? How is VC fundraising the same as startup fundraising?
5.) Question from Elizabeth Kraus: How does Seth stay motivated having enjoyed so much financial success with Foundry Group?
6.) What areas of tech is Seth most excited about?
Items Mentioned In Today's Show:
Most Used Apps: Slack, Voxer, DarkSky
Seth's Fave Book: The Old Man and The Sea by Ernest Hemingway
Seth's Fave Blog or Newsletter: Hidden Brain
Seth Most Recent Investment: Sourcepoint
As always you can follow Harry, The Twenty Minute VC, Seth and Foundry Group on Twitter here!
For a more colourful view of Harry's world and maybe a few mojito sessions, check out Harry's Instagram here!
Brad Feld is one of the world's leading VCs having Co-Founded Foundry Group, Brad has made investments in the likes of Zynga, Makerbot and Fitbit, just to name a few. Brad is also Co-Founder of Techstars, one of the world's most prominent startup accelerators, whose portfolio companies have raised over $1.3bn in funding.
If that wasn't enough Brad is also a best selling author having co-athoured Venture Deals: Be Smarter Than Your Lawyer and VC, alongside Dick Costolo and Startup Communities: Building An Entrepreneurial Ecosystem In Your Community. In addition to his investing and writing, Brad has been active with several non-profit organizations and currently is chair of the National Center for Women & Information Technology and co-chair of Startup Colorado. Brad is a nationally recognized speaker on the topics of venture capital investing and entrepreneurship and writes the widely read blogs Feld Thoughts, Startup Revolution, and Ask the VC.
In Today's Episode You Will Learn:
1.) How Brad made his move from entrepreneurship to VC and later co-founding, The Foundry Group.
2.) Does Brad agree with the view that it is important for entrepreneurs to fail?
3.) Why did Brad turn Fitbit down on 1st opportunity and what changed the 2nd time?
4.) What gets Brad excited in a startup? What areas are Brad most interested in?
5.) What is the main characteristic that makes the Foundry Group the huge success it is?
Items Mentioned In Today's Episode:
Brad's Fave Business Books:
1.) Zen And The Art Of Motorcycle Maintenance by Robert Pirsig
Brad's Fave Blog or Newsletter: Fred Wilson's Blog, Dan Primack: TermSheet, MatterMark Daily
Brad's Most Recent Investments: GlowForge: The 3D Laser Printer, Sphero
As always you can follow Harry, The Twenty Minute VC, Brad and Foundry Group on Twitter here!
Sarah Schupp is the CEO and founder of UniversityParent. UniversityParent is the #1 site for college parents to find everything they need to help their children succeed. The company, which began with a single print guide for the University of Colorado Boulder, now prints parent guides for more than two hundred colleges, features information for 3,000 colleges and universities on its website, and distributes a weekly e-newsletter. In May 2014, UniversityParent celebrated its 10th anniversary and was named to the Mercury100, BizWest’s ranking of the 100 Fastest-Growing Private Companies in Boulder Valley.
Sarah has been named one of Inc. Magazine's Top 30 Entrepreneurs Under 30, Businessweek's top 25 Entrepreneurs under 25, and one of the Denver Business Journal's Top Women Under 40. She’s been named a "Player to Watch" by the Gates Foundation, and was recognized by the White House and the United Nations as one of the country's top young entrepreneurs.
In Today's Show You Will Learn:
How the idea for UniversityParent came about?
How did Sarah manage to juggle a growing business with a University degree?
How individuals can leverage their university network to grow their business?
How important is it for entrepreneurs to be surrounded by like minded entrepreneurs?
In what circumstances should founders confide and not confide in their team?
How does Sarah as a leader show her support for her team?
How has Sarah found the fundraising process and what would Sarah change if she could start over?
Items Mentioned In Today's Show:
Harry's Fave Book: The Hard Thing About Hard Things by Ben Horowitz
Sarah's Fave Book: The Alchemist by Paolo Coehlo
Sarah's Fave Newsletter or Blog: Think With Google
As always you can follow Harry, The Twenty Minute VC and Sarah on Twitter here!
Nick Beim is a Partner @ Venrock where he focuses on internet, mobile, SaaS, big data and fintech investments. Nick blogs on the economics of innovation at www.nickbeim.com. Nick led the initial venture investments in a number of pioneering consumer internet companies including the Gilt Groupe, and Care.com (IPO). He also led the initial investments in a number of today’s leading big data innovators including Dataminr and Intent Media. Prior to joining Venrock, Nick was a General Partner at Matrix Partners and worked in the technology groups at McKinsey and Goldman Sachs. Nick’s primary passion outside of venture investing is international development, in particular accelerating international development through entrepreneurship. Nick serves on the board of Endeavor, a non-profit organization dedicated to supporting entrepreneurs in developing countries that Tom Friedman has called “the best anti-poverty program of all.”
In 2011, Forbes named Nick one of the “Elite 8″ to watch in Venture Capital.
In Today's Episode You Will Learn:
Items Mentioned in Today's Show:
Nick's Fave Book: Man's Search For Meaning by Viktor Frankl
Nick's Fave Newsletter or Blog: Reid Hoffman, Essays on Entrepreneurship
Ezra Galston is a VC @ Chicago Ventures, where he focuses on consumer facing and marketing tech investments and is actively involved with Blitsy, BloomNation, Kapow Events, Luxury Garage Sale, Shiftgig, SpotHero, and Zipments. Ezra’s thoughts on startups, have been published in the Wall Street Journal, TechCrunch, VentureBeat and Re/code.
Prior to Chicago Ventures, Ezra was a Young Entrepreneur at Foundation Capital. Before business school, Ezra served as the Director of Marketing for CardRunners Gaming – the parent company of CardRunners, Hold’em Manager and DraftDay – and before then earned a living as a professional poker player. If that wasn't enough he is also the author of one of our fave VC blogs www.breakingvc.com.
In Today's Episode You Will Learn:
Items Mentioned In Today's Episode:
Ezra's Fave Book: The Little Prince
Ezra's Fave Blog or Newsletter: Stratechery by Ben Thompson, Carpool.vc
Ezra's Fave Productivity Tools: Rapportive, Bitmoji
Ezra's Most Recent Investment: Luxury Garage Sale, Attendant
Bill Gurley: 10 Factors To Consider When Evaluating Digital Marketplaces
HungryRoot: Charlie O'Donnell, Brooklyn Bridge Ventures
As always you can follow Harry, The Twenty Minute VC and Ezra on Twitter right here!
Pierre Valade is Co-Founder and CEO @ Sunrise, the beautiful calendar app, acquired by Microsoft for $100m in February 2015, where he now works on Outlook Mobile for Microsoft. Prior to Sunrise, Pierre worked as a UX designer @ Foursquare following a successful hackathon in which he built an app in 6 hours, called Agora. Agora impressed Foursquare Founder, Dennis Crowley to the extent that Pierre was hired in the same month. As a result of Pierre's success he was named on the Innovators Under 35.
In Today's Episode You Will Learn:
Items Mentioned In Today's Episode:
Pierre's Fave Book: Zero To One: Peter Thiel
Pierre Most Impactful Purchase: iPhone 6
Pierre's Fave Newsletter or Blog: Stratechery by Ben Thompson
Fede Pirzio-Biroli is Founder @ Playfair Capital, a leading investor in seed level, technology based startups. Fede founded Playfair Capital from his first investment in December of 2010 and the portfolio quickly grew to 20 investments by the end of 2012, including the likes of Duedil, AppearHere and On Device Research. During this period, Fede was an angel in residence at White Bear Yard. After working closely with Passion Capital, he built the Playfair Capital team and moved into Warner Yard, Playfair's current home. Prior to Playfair, he spent several years in Africa working for the UN, Oxfam and PharmaSecure, after which he lobbied government and large aid organisations to increase the transparency of aid flows.
In Today's Episode You Will Learn:
1.) How Fede made his move into angel investing and then transitioned to form his own fund?
2.) What is the mission at Playfair? What is the average ticket size? Does Playfair have any preferred sectors?
3.) What do startups need to have to get the Playfair stamp of approval? What are Playfair looking for?
4.) How has Fede seen the seed funding environment change in London?
5.) How does Fede and Playfair stave off competition for the 'hot' startups looking to raise VC money?
6.) What benefits do founders get for working in a co-working space? How important is it for VCs to offer this service?
7.) How does Fede create a united company culture in a co-working space with so many different companies?
Items Mentioned In Today's Episode:
Fede's Fave Book: The Circle by David Eggers
Fede Fave Newsletter or Blog: Dojo, AngelList
Fede's Most Recent Investment: Knytton (Techstars London W14)
As always you can follow Harry, The Twenty Minute VC and Fede on Twitter right here!
Roxanne Varza is currently the startup lead for Microsoft in France, running both Microsoft Ventures Paris and Bizspark. Prior to Microsoft, Roxanne was Editor of TechCrunch France and has been a guest author for the likes of The Telegraph and Business Insider. Roxanne is also the Co-Founder of Tech.eu, one of the few publications to cover the European tech industry as a whole, with the brilliant Robin Wauters. If that wasn't enough Roxanne is also the Co-Founder of Girls In Tech both in Paris and London, which aims to raise the visibility of women in technology,entrepreneurship and innovation though monthly events, leadership programmes and much more. Roxanne has won a range of accolade including Top 30 Women Under 30 In Tech, Coolest 25 Women in Tech and 10 Women Shaking Up Tech In Their 30s.
P.S. If you are looking for an amazing new podcast on the Tech Scene in Europe, check out Tech.eu's new show here: Tech.eu Podcast #4
In Today's Episode You Will Learn:
Items Mentioned in Today's Show:
Roxanne's Fave Book: The Picture of Dorian Gray by Oscar Wilde
Roxanne's Reading Material: News.me: Digg
Fred Wilson: Investing In Startups In Europe
Microsoft Ventures Alumni: Zocdoc: Find a Doctor, Xobni: Your Smarter Address Book Is Waiting
As always you can follow Harry, The Twenty Minute VC and Roxanne on Twitter right here!
Nick Bortot is the Founder & CEO at Bux, Europe's largest mobile trading platform with an incredible 175,000 active users. In his former life he was one of the driving forces behind the Dutch market leader in online brokerage, BinckBank. There he held several commercial positions before he was elected member of the executive board. After having spent five years in the boardroom, Nick started dreaming about a new company that would make the financial markets both fun and exciting. This dream turned into BUX. Bud has attained many incredible mentions and awards including being named on the Fintech50 2015. You can also check out their first TV add right here!
In Today's Episode You Will Learn:
Items Mentioned in Today's Episode:
Nick's Fave Book: Elon Musk: Tesla, SpaceX, and the Quest for a Fantastic Future, Steve Jobs: The Exclusive Biography
Nick's Fave Newsletter or Blog: VICE News
Nick's Fave App: BRAINTOSS: Toss your thoughts straight into your inbox
As always you can follow Harry, The Twenty Minute VC, Nick and Bux on Twitter right here!
Mike Jones is the Founder and CEO at Science Inc. a disruptive media, marketing and commerce company that creates, invests, acquires and scales successful digital businesses. Their incredible portfolio includes the likes of Medium, DollarShaveClub and DogVacay and their leadership is responsible for an astonishing 12 acquisitions and over $1bn in exits. Prior to Science Inc, Mike was the CEO at Myspace, where he was responsible for the relaunch, one of the most high-profile turn-around challenges in the industry, before selling MySpace to SpecificMedia on behalf of NewsCorp. Mike is also an active early stage investor having personally invested in over 30 startup businesses including Klout, Betterworks, Formspring, ShoeDazzle to name a few.
In Today's Episode You Will Learn:
1.) How Mike began his entrepreneurial career, how MySpace came about then how Mike made the move to Science Inc?
2.) What is the mission at Science, what does Science provide and how do they differ from the likes of YC and Techstars?
3.) Science have a specific methodology to identify the best startups and the best sectors. What is involved in this methodology? Has it changed since the start of Science?
4.) What can a startup founder do or show you to impress you? Are there any real red flags for you when meeting startup founders? What are the commonalities of the great founders?
5.) What is Science's involvement with the companies, what are their key value adds at Science?
6.) On Twist Mike said ‘growth is the most important thing, without growth there is no money’? So what at Science how do they approach growth and what are the challenges posed by this need for growth?
Items Mentioned in Todays Episode:
Mike's Fave Book: The Power of Habit: Why We Do What We Do by Chris Duhigg
Mike's Fave News Source: FlipBoard
Arteen Arabshahi is a VC at Karlin Ventures, where he specialises in enterprise software, commerce platforms, and marketplaces. Prior to Karlin Ventures, Arteen spearheaded the launch of Built In LA, an online community for digital entrepreneurs and innovators. However, his passion for startups flourished while helping run operations at Excelerate Labs, now Techstars Chicago. In today's incredible interview we delve into the best strategies for contacting any VC you want, how to make the approach, how to deal with the emotional and psychological pressure of starting a company and the rise of marketplaces. When not with startups, Arteen sits on the board of TEDxVenice Beach and is a supporter of TWLOHA, a non-profit raising awareness and support for those struggling with mental health.
As always you can follow Harry, The Twenty Minute VC, Arteen and Karlin Ventures on Twitter right here!
In Today's Episode You Will Learn:
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Matt Williams is Founder and CEO of Pro.com. Prior to Pro.com, Matt served as entrepreneur-in-residence at Andreessen Horowitz, following his time at Digg where he led the complete overhaul of Digg which he joined as CEO in 2010 to rebuild the site from the ground up and contributed to its successful acquisition by Betaworks in 2012. Before Digg, Matt spent 12 years at Amazon where he managed Amazon’s Auctions and Marketplace, Community and Cross Merchandising, Tech Alliances, Web Store, and Consumer Payments divisions. Prior to Amazon, Matt founded and was the CEO of Livebid, which was acquired by Amazon in 1999.
In Today's Episode You Will Learn:
1.) How Matt made his way into entrepreneurship and then later the VC world?
2.) How did LiveBid come about when Matt was only 23 and how did he build the product and the initial user base?
3.) What was the hardest aspect of the entire LiveBid journey and how did Matt overcome it?
4.) How did Matt's life and work change moving from your own startup to working in a massive organization like amazon? What would Matt advise founders who have sold or are thinking of selling their companies to large corporations?
5.) Following a number of years at Amazon. How did you attempt to turn Digg around as CEO and was their anything you would have done differently?
6.) As EIR at Andreessen Horowitz what was it like, for Matt, working at a16z? Was there anything that surprised Matt about the move to venture?
7.) What would Matt say was the biggest lesson from working at these tech titans was? How has that affected how Matt runs Pro.com today?
David Wu is a General Partner at Maveron, which he joined in 2012 to help identify new investments in Web companies that have the potential to become leading consumer brands. He sourced and led Maveron's investment, Eargo and Darby Smart, also serving on their board. David is very much founder focussed and you’ll often find him coaching entrepreneurs at top Bay Area incubators such as Y Combinator, AngelPad, 500 Startups, and Stanford’s StartX and was previously EIR at Redpoint Ventures. His close ties to the Silicon Valley entrepreneurial community have led him to invest personally in over 30 start-ups, including Practice Fusion, Postmates, Tile, Jaunt VR, and SeatMe.
In Today's Episode You Will Learn:
Items Mentioned In Today's Show:
As always you can follow Harry, David, The Twenty Minute VC and Maveron on Twitter right here!
Did you know: The name Point Nine Capital originates from the 0.9 version of a product that is early but has great potential.
Nicolas Wittenborn is a VC at Point Nine Capital, one of the leading seed funds in Europe. Prior to Point Nine, Nicolas worked for the Team Europe Seed Fund. You can follow Nicolas' incredible blog here, which include my favourite ever blog post, outlining the exemplar pitch deck that startups should follow!
In Today's Episode You Will Learn:
Items Mentioned in Today's Episode:
As always you can follow Harry, Nicolas, The Twenty Minute VC and Point Nine Capital right here!
Similarly if you want to see Harry in a more colourful light, head over to Instagram for copious amount of mojitos!
Mutaz Qubbaj is Founder @ Squirrel, a financial wellbeing platform that allows employees to regain control of their financial lives. Mutual has celebrated much recent success with Squirrel having been named winner of WIRED 2014 and Pitch @ The Palace. Mutaz is also an expert on all things accelerator having been an alum at Barclays Techstars London with Squirrel, which you may remember from our interview with Greg Rogers, where Greg named Squirrel the next company to disrupt an industry. Prior to Squirrel, Mutaz has had a financial career that includes an LBS Masters in Finance and more than a decade at Morgan Stanley, Credit Suisse and PIMCO as a trader, strategist and marketer.
In Today's Episode You Will Learn:
Items Mentioned in Todays Show:
As always you can follow Harry, The Twenty Minute VC and Squirrel on Twitter here!
Quote of the Day: 'Invest in people who do what they say they are going to do and have done what they said they would do'. Guy Turner, 20VC
Guy Turner is a Partner at Hyde Park Venture Partners where he focuses on fast growing companies run by ambitious entrepreneurs with disruptive ideas. All of his incredible findings can be found through his blog at vcwithme.co. Guy joined Hyde Park Venture Partners in 2011 from Boston Consulting Group where he focused on corporate strategy across a variety of industries; he started his investing career as an Associate and then actively investing Member of Hyde Park Angels in 2009. Guy has led investments in numerous B2B software companies and is a Director at Geofeedia, InContext Solutions and Iris Mobile. Guy is also a Siebel Scholar, Kauffman Fellow and a co-inventor on two US Patents.
In Today's Episode You Will Learn:
Items Mentioned in Today's Show:
Quote of the Day: 'Advisors are the most crucial element to success for the young generation'. Jonathon Triest, 20 Min VC
Jonathon Triest is the Founder and Managing Partner of Ludlow Ventures and Sandwich Fund. Prior to launching Ludlow, Jonathon worked as creative director for New York’s Discovery Productions. He founded and operated Triest Group, a design firm with a deep UI/UX focus. In addition to his role at Ludlow, Jonathon is a Kauffman Fellow and a mentor at numerous technology accelerators including Silicon Valley’s Up West Labs, Cincinnati’s The Brandery, and San Francisco’s Highway 1. He is board member of The Trico Foundation and Venture for America.
In Today's Episode You Will Learn:
Items Mentioned In Todays Show
Jonathon's Fave Book: The Thief of Always by Clive Barker
Jonathon's Most Recent Investment: Rapify
Will Sacks is Co-Founder and CEO at Kindara, the fertility awareness app that provides tools to understand fertility and be in control of their own body. Kindara has achieved phenomenal success having significant press in the likes of Buzzfeed, Huffington Post, New York Times and Forbes. Their first product Kindara Fertility for iPhone has been ranked #1 on the App Store Medical Charts. In this incredibly diverse conversation our talk ranges from wire framing and programming to vasectomies and uterus', it's a must listen!
In Today's Episode You Will Learn:
Items Mentioned in Today's Show:
Quote of the Day: 'A great entrepreneur has the ability to bend the world to their will'. David Pakman, 20VC
David Pakman is a Partner at Venrock, having spent the past 12 years as an internet entrepreneur. This includes David's appointment as CEO of eMusic, the world’s leading digital retailer of independent music, second only to iTunes. Prior to joining eMusic, David co-founded Myplay in 1999, which he later sold, in 2001, to Bertelsmann’s ecommerce Group. Before Myplay, he was Vice President at N2K Entertainment, which created the first digital music download service. If that wasn't enough David is also the co-creator of Apple Computer’s Music Group.
In Today's Episode You Will Learn:
Items Mentioned in Today's Episode:
As always you can follow Harry, David, The Twenty Minute VC and Venrock on Twitter here!
Quote of the Day: 'Keep an open mind from an early age'. Jonathan Libov, 20VC
Jonathan Libov joined the investment team at Union Square Ventures in September of 2014. Jonathan hails from New York but has lived for the last few years in Tel Aviv, where he most recently worked as a Product Manager at Appsfire. He's a graduate of Vassar College with a degree in Cognitive Science and began his career in neuroscience research. He designs and codes, with Fifty among his side projects.
In Today's Show You Will Learn:
Items Mentioned in Today's Show:
Favourite Book: The Structure of Scientific Revolutions
OB1: Making Trade free for everyone, everywhere
Phil Jacobson is Co-Founder At PumpUp, a community for healthy and active living, with over 2m users. Phil leads the operations, finance, marketing, business development and external relations for PumpUp, with great success having accumulated over 220,000 Instagram followers! Prior to PumpUp, Phil held brand management positions at Unilever and PepsiCo.
In Today's Episode You Will Learn:
Items Mentioned In Today's Show:
As always you can follow Harry, Phil, The Twenty Minute VC and PumpUp on Twitter here!
A new one recommended by Phil, click here to follow the awesome Instagram pages of Harry and PumpUp!
Ari Helgason is a VC at Dawn Capital in London and a former entrepreneur with operational experience in both London and New York. Prior to Dawn, Ari founded SaaS sales and workflow management system World on a Hanger and ecommerce clothing marketplace Fabricly.com. More recently, he launched ecommerce sites for fashion and luxury brands in London and New York. Ari is an alumnus of the Y Combinator startup accelerator and he regularly visits Silicon Valley where he has extensive relationships.
In Today's Episode You Will Learn:
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As always you can follow Harry, Ari and The Twenty Minute VC on Twitter here!