Venture Stories

Rebecca Kaden (@rebeccak46) recently joined Union Square Ventures in in her hometown of New York City as a partner. She and Erik (@eriktorenberg) talk about why she joined USV and the three “waves” of investment theses for the firm. They discuss the unique dynamics in a partnership versus a company. She talks about her recent investment in Nurx, a company that specializes in delivery of birth control to women who might otherwise not be able to access it. Rebecca also talks about why network effects apply to more than just social networks and what opportunities are opening up in the consumer healthcare space. They also discuss potential opportunities in fintech and insurance and why now, in the age of Amazon, it’s still a great time to create a consumer brand.If you like what you hear, please review us on your favourite podcast platform. Thanks!Check us out on the web at villageglobal.vc/podcast or on Twitter @villageglobal.

Erik talks to Keith Rabois (@rabois), Managing Director at Khosla Ventures and Jack Altman (@jaltma), CEO and co-founder of Lattice. Keith and Jack draw on their experience working at high-growth start-ups to explain how to attract the best people to your startup. They discuss how and when to hire and fire when you’re running an early stage company, the parallels between sports and work, and how to pick a co-founder. Jack says that he can tell a lot about a startup just by walking around the office and Keith tells us why a change in floor plan was the beginning of the end for his former company, Slide. Keith and Jack also discuss why “the best way to retain people is to win as a company.”If you like what you hear, please review us on your favourite podcast platform. Thanks!Check us out on the web at villageglobal.vc/podcast or on Twitter @villageglobal.

Kyle (@kylenakatsuji) talks to Erik about his company, Clearcover, which plans to offer a new way to buy insurance. Kyle has extensive experience in the insurance industry as an employee, investor and founder, and describes the ins and outs of the insurance industry to us. He explains why insurance companies spend such a big percentage of their revenue on advertising and the antiquated way that most insurance is sold these days. That leads to a discussion of how insurance companies and the industry in general might be disrupted. He tells us what a new kind of insurance company might look like and which companies he’s long or short on.If you like what you hear, please review us on your favorite podcast platform. Thanks!Check us out on the web at villageglobal.vc/podcast or on Twitter @villageglobal.

Selina Tobaccowala (@selinato) of Gixo and Holly Shelton (@hlshelton) of MoveWith join Erik for a discussion of the state of consumer fitness apps. The Gixo and MoveWith apps bring fitness to you. Selina and Holly break down the successes of a few other companies in the space and talk about what the business models look like for both online and offline fitness. Erik asks why it’s been so difficult to build a business in this space and they discuss the difficulty of behavior change and how to make fitness something you want to come back to again and again. Selina and Holly also talk about how VR/AR might affect fitness and why competition feels so good — even for non-competitive people. Check us out on the web at villageglobal.vc/podcast.

Erik talks to Sara Mauskopf (@sm) and Anne Halsall (@annekate) about Winnie, the “companion app for parents” which Erik calls the “most slept-on consumer social company today.” Sara and Anne tell us about Winnie’s unique combination of a community and a utility. They talk about how they bootstrapped the company to where it is today and their unique approach to company culture. They also discuss how they approach social media and play Long-Short, where Erik names a company and Sara and Anne say whether they’re long or short and why. They end with the advice Sara and Anne have for new founders. Check us out on the web at villageglobal.vc/podcast.

Erik talks to Tom McLeod (@tmcleod3) and Ryan Delk (@delk) of Omni about the future of access. Omni provides physical storage but is also a marketplace, allowing you to rent what you need on-demand or make extra money renting out the things you’re not using. Tom and Ryan recount their entrepreneurial journey so far and what their plans are for the company in the future. They talk about the changing patterns of consumption by millennials and how those may change consumer goods in the future. Tom explains his theory of the three types of entrepreneurs and why he says in the world of work and entrepreneurship, “everything is like selling t-shirts.”Disclosure: Erik is an investor in Omni. Check us out on the web at villageglobal.vc/podcast.

Erik and his co-host for this episode, Abie Katz of August Capital, interview Josh Elman (@joshelman), partner at Greylock Partners. Josh recounts the twists and turns of his career and how they led to him becoming a venture capitalist. He talks about the unique approach he takes when working with founders and how that has impacted the outcome of his investments. He tells us why you so infrequently find truly visionary founders and how Greylock thinks about their seed stage Discovery Fund. Josh also explains the candid candid career advice he would give to his younger self.Check us out on the web at villageglobal.vc/podcast.

Erik interviews Ash Fontana (@ashfontana) of Zetta Venture Partners with his co-host for this episode, Abie Katz of August Capital. They talk about how Ash got his fund started and how and why he structured it the way he did. They discuss how to manage growth in a venture fund and the relative importance of being a recognizable brand in the space. They ask Ash what he looks for in a machine learning startup and Ash explains why sometimes it’s better to stay small. He also talks about how and why to be intellectually honest about your investing decisions. Check us out on the web at villageglobal.vc/podcast.

Erik and his co-host for this episode, Abie Katz of August Capital, interview Amitt Mahajan (@amittm) of Presence Capital. He talks about the future of both VR and AR, what kinds of companies he’s been investing in and the many novel applications of VR in the enterprise setting. He tells us whether he thinks AR or VR will have a bigger impact on the world and tells us about some of the more interesting advances in the technology as well as what might be coming in the future. He also discusses the possible social implications of VR and AR.Check us out on the web at villageglobal.vc/podcast.

Erik (@eriktorenberg) sits down with Donnie Dinch (@donnie), Michael Galpert (@msg) and Greg Isenberg (@gregisenberg) to discuss the state of consumer social today. They talk about why people call them crazy to try to build something in this sector today and why it’s like “walking up a downward escalator.” They dissect the uneasy relationship between the big players and the smaller companies in the space and why you need to “build with one eye over your shoulder.” They also discuss the emerging trends in consumer social, particularly as they relate to young people.Check us out on the web at villageglobal.vc/podcast.

This episode is all about the state of biotech, with Dylan Morris of Charles River Ventures and Cain McClary of KdT Ventures. They discuss the difference in incentives when investing in biotech compared to more traditional venture capital investments and why the timelines for investments in biotech are so different compared to when most venture capitalists expect a return. They explain their respective investing theses and talk about what kinds of opportunities there are for startups in the space. Plus, they speculate on what the future might hold based on what’s happening in biotech today.

Erik talks with Malay Gandhi and Christine Lemke about the state of innovation in healthcare today, why it’s so difficult to build a company in the space, the blind spots that entrepreneurs and investors from outside the sector have, how to truly change behavior and what opportunities in healthcare Malay and Christine see. Malay Gandhi is an active angel investor in early stage, health-focused startups and advises a number of leading health tech companies. He serves as an EIR at Greylock Partners and is partner with Christine at Ensemble Labs.Christine Lemke is co-founder and President at Evidation Health, a company that helps individuals and healthcare companies understand and influence the behaviors that create better health outcomes using data. She is also partner with Malay at Ensemble Labs.

This episode is all about the future of music. Erik sat down with Parker Thompson, Aston Motes and Ed Aten to discuss how music has been regulated in the past and how that might change in the future, the argument for why copyright is a good thing for music, how blockchain might change the industry, why streaming music is a terrible business and what the music industry might look like ten years from now. Ed is CEO of Merchbar, Parker is partner at AngelList and 500 Startups and Aston was the first employee at Dropbox and is now part of UnitedMasters, Steve Stoute’s new company.

In this episode, Erik interviews Balaji Srinivasan (@balajis) on cryptocurrencies, the web, building a company, identity, government, and the future in general. They explore the implications of cryptocurrencies on a variety of industries and talk about how society and the world of work might be transformed. Balaji Srinivasan is CEO and co-founder of Earn.com and Board Partner at Andreessen Horowitz. He has two Master's degrees and a PhD from Stanford, where he occasionally teaches.Check us out on the web at www.villageglobal.vc/podcast.

Ryan Hoover, CEO and founder of Product Hunt and David Spinks, CEO and founder of CMX Media talk all things community with Village co-founder and partner, host Erik Torenberg (@eriktorenberg). They talk about creating a business around a community, the differences between communities online and in real life, the pitfalls that have befallen some online communities and how to keep a company focused on its community as it expands.Ryan Hoover (@rrhoover) is founder of Product Hunt (sold to AngelList) and investor at Weekend Fund. He was formerly an EIR at Tradecraft and has also written over 150 essays, many of which have been featured in TechCrunch, Forbes, Pando, Fast Company and The Next Web.David Spinks (@davidspinks) is founder and CEO of CMX Media and above all else, seeks to help and empower community builders. He's been studying and building online communities since he was 13 years old. Before CMX, David co-founded an online cooking school called Feast (part of 500 Startups) and BlogDash, a platform to he