In this episode of American Dreams, host Alan Olsen interviews Andrew Romans, a seasoned venture capitalist with a rich history in Silicon Valley. Andrew shares his journey from being a startup founder in the '90s to managing a successful venture capital fund today. The discussion delves into the evolution of private markets, the challenges of modern venture capital, and Andrew's unique approach to funding startups that are automating human workflows and leveraging data. Tune in to hear insightful perspectives on the current state of startup exits, the impact of global economic changes on the tech industry, and Andrew's vision for the future of 7BC Venture Capital.

Venture Capital & Today's Startups With Andrew Romans

Episode 348 of The VentureFizz Podcast, sponsored by Silicon Valley Bank, features Jonathan Bensamoun, Founder & CEO of Fi.

It’s crazy to think that The VentureFizz Podcast has been around since 2018 and I believe that I’ve only had one repeat guest and that founder was talking about a new company.

Thus, this is the first time I am doing a follow up episode and Jonathan was my guest for Episode 110 back in 2019.

I ran into Jonathan at the Lerer Hippeau summer party in NYC and as we were chatting about his business, it seemed very obvious that we needed to do a new interview.

What’s cool about this episode is the format, as it is different from most of my interviews. Since we already discussed his background story in the original episode, we were able to go deeper into Fi’s business and what has happened over the past 5 years.

If you are not familiar with Fi, they are the creators of the Fi Smart Dog Collar which not only has real-time location tracking, but the device also includes activity, sleep, and behavior monitoring. 

In this episode of our podcast, we cover:

* A brief overview of Jonathan’s background story and what was the inspiration behind Fi.
* The latest about the Series 3 product line, plus a demo and all the cool features.
* The importance of sleep tracking for your dog and how the movement to health tracking is a key piece of Fi’s strategy.
* Lessons learned from retail and why a straight direct-to-consumer model is the right fit for them at this point in time.
* Building out a company’s leadership team and Board of Directors.
* What the fundraising process has looked like through Fi’s journey.
* Creating a category and why more competition in the industry would be a good thing.
* And so much more.

More about our sponsor:

As a longtime champion of the local startup ecosystem, Silicon Valley Bank supports innovative companies with the solutions and financing they need through every stage of growth. With more than 1,500 bankers and relationship advisors, and $42B in loans as of Q2 2024 – SVB delivers the right people, service and resources to support your entire financial journey. Learn more at SVB.com.

Episode 348: Jonathan Bensamoun - Founder & CEO, Fi

David Hickson, part of the founding team at Founders Factory, joins us to give a bit of background on Founders Factory and why they are starting a new Pre-seed B2B SaaS programme and fund when so many others thought B2B SaaS was saturated.

David Hickson on Angel Insights

Today Madrona Managing Director Karan Mahandru and Scott Stephenson, Co-Founder and CEO of Deepgram, a foundational AI company building a voice AI platform providing APIs for speech-to-text and text-to-speech. From medical transcription to autonomous agents, Deepgram is the go-to for developers of voice AI experiences, and they're already working with over 500 companies, including NASA, Spotify, and Twilio. Today, Scott and Karan dive into the realities of building a foundational AI company, meaning they're building models and modalities from scratch. They discuss the challenges of moving from prototype to production, how startups need to out-fox the hyperscalers while also partnering with them, and, of course, how Scott went from being a particle physicist working on detecting dark matter to building large language models for speech recognition. This is a must-listen for anyone building in AI. Full Transcript:&nbsp;  Chapters:&nbsp;  (00:00) Introduction (01:15) From Particle Physics to Voice AI (03:16) The Birth of Deepgram (03:40) Building a Developer-Centric AI Company (06:11) Challenges and Early Decisions (09:49) Navigating the AI Market (13:33) OpenAI's Whisper and Deepgram's Response (17:30) The Future of AI and Speech Recognition (21:59) Deepgram's Real-World Applications (31:19) From Prototype to Production   &nbsp;

From Dark Matter to Voice AI with Deepgram Founder Scott Stephenson

Produced by Foundersuite (www.foundersuite.com), "How I Raised It" goes behind the scenes with startup founders and investors who have raised capital.

This episode is with Liza Rodewald of Instant Teams (www.instantteams.com) a talent marketplace that connects companies to military and veteran spouses.

In this episode, we discuss the challenges and advantages of being a veteran / ex-military entrepreneur, how she got over 80 warm intros to investors, what it was like pitching Tiger Global, tips for sending monthly investor updates, her advice for military founders and much more. 

The Company most recently raised a $13 million Series A funding round led by Tiger Global. Other investors include Plug and Play Tech Center, The Veteran's Fund, Squadra Ventures, Brick Capital Ventures, Blue Tree Fund and Frontier Capital.

How I Raised It is produced by Foundersuite, makers of software to raise capital and manage investor relations. Foundersuite's customers have raised over $17 Billion since 2016. 

If you are a startup, create a free account at www.foundersuite.com. 

If you are a VC or investment banker, check out our new platform, www.fundingstack.com

Ep. 287 How I Raised It with Liza Rodewald of InstantTeams.com

Ik ben Thomas Mensink, CEO en investeerder bij Golden Egg Check, en in deze aflevering spreek ik met Peter van Gelderen, General Parnter bij ClimateTech venture capital fonds Icos Capital. 

Icos Capital investeert in Series A en B rondes in Europese bedrijven die actief zijn in Food tech, chemie & materialen en decarbonisatie.

In deze aflevering vertelt Peter over het geduld dat nodig is om te investeren in climate tech, over het inschatten van momentum en market pull en hoe ze daar industrie en corporates bij gebruiken. 

Deze aflevering is mede-mogelijk gemaakt door de NVP.

#71 Peter van Gelderen (Icos Capital): ‘We investeren als er market pull is naar duurzame producten’

Episode 349 of The VentureFizz Podcast features Chris Gardner, Partner at Underscore VC.

One time, could be luck.  Two times, ok… maybe you are on to something… but in the case of Chris, he has been part of several acquisitions, so there is something deeply there in terms of his ability to pick the right company to join or company to help co-found.  There is no denying it, based on his track record as an operator, there is an obvious translation to his current position as a venture capitalist.

This episode is another fun walk down Boston tech memory lane, as we talk about some legendary companies that were acquired like edocs (an early e-billing and customer self-service applications), M-Qube (early mobile messaging and content services company), ExtendMedia (white label video platform), and Paydiant (an early mobile wallet tech company that powered payment apps for Subway, Harris Teeter supermarkets, Capital One, MCX, and many more).

What I also find really interesting is how Chris’ background spans across both product and marketing, where he led both entities at companies. Perhaps I’m wrong, but it is a skillset that I haven’t seen too often.

Chris is currently a Partner at Underscore, a firm that is investing in pre-Seed and Seed B2B software founders. The firm recently announced a new $58M Fund III.

In this episode of our podcast, we cover:

* Chris’ background story and how he got into the tech industry.
* The stories and his role in the companies previously mentioned including being a co-founder of Paydiant, their impact on mobile wallets, and the company’s acquisition     by PayPal and what he learned there.
* How Chris became a VC and the details on what he is targeting in terms of investments at Underscore.
* Pitch advice for startups and the importance of storytelling.
* How you need to think about compensation structure as a company scales.
* And so much more.

Episode Sponsor:

As a longtime champion of the local startup ecosystem, Silicon Valley Bank supports innovative companies with the solutions and financing they need through every stage of growth. With more than 1,500 bankers and relationship advisors, and $42B in loans as of Q2 2024 – SVB delivers the right people, service and resources to support your entire financial journey. Learn more at SVB.com.

Episode 349: Chris Gardner - Partner, Underscore VC

In the newest episode of the Space Capital Podcast, the team at Space Capital, including our former intern Tycho Bogdanowitsch, discusses the significant impact of SpaceX's Starship on the space economy, emphasizing its unprecedented capabilities and the challenges it presents. The conversation highlights how Starship's ability to launch massive payloads could revolutionize space exploration and infrastructure, while also posing regulatory, technical, and market challenges that need to be addressed. The episode underscores the importance of forward-thinking strategies and innovation in harnessing the full potential of this groundbreaking technology. Show Notes   Check out and download &nbsp;to learn more!   Buy  wherever you buy books to learn more!   With over 150 LPs, portfolio CEOs, and industry leaders in attendance, the 2024 Space Capital Summit tackled important topics like the role of AI in leveraging geospatial data and the coming impact of SpaceX's Starship. Here are links to replay the .   Unlock the future of space technology with "The Race for Space Superiority." This report explores the critical role of innovation and investment in maintaining national security and driving economic growth. .

The Next Giant Leap

These are uncertain days for technology executives looking to secure venture capital. The sky-high valuations from the pandemic have tumbled and macroeconomic factors, ranging from high interest rates to runaway inflation, have cooled public and private investment markets.

This dramatic change in venture capital is captured in a recent report from BDC Capital. The report indicates the number of VC-backed deals in 2023 dropped by 13 per cent, when compared to the previous year. Worse yet, when measured in dollars, venture capital is down 34 per cent compared to 2022.

But it’s not all bad news in Canada’s tech sector. Many companies are pursuing deep tech ventures, including everything from artificial intelligence to quantum computing. This deep tech has big potential.

In this episode of Techopia Live, Ottawa Business Journal publisher Michael Curran speaks with Sumita Banerjee and Thomas Park of BDC to explore venture capital trends and what BDC is doing to foster deep tech ventures.

Techopia Live: What’s happening with venture capital? | Episode 269

Middle East AI News Minute - an artificial intelligence news roundup - brought to you by OnDemand - Turbocharged AI Product Development and Integration. In this podcast: Tsinghua Unigroup to launch $300m Egypt tech fund; EDB launches internal AI knowledge programme; CST Co-Innovation Award registration opens.

Visit Middle East AI News for more news, podcasts and weekly shows:
https://www.middleeastainews.com

#MiddleEastAINews

Tsinghua Unigroup to launch $300m Egypt tech fund

The Middle East AI News Minute gives you a daily one-minute daily briefing on the top AI-related stories coming out of the Middle East. If you are a busy technology, business or government leader who want to get a quick update, then this is the podcast for you.

Angel Insights takes you inside the world of angel investing. Join our host Tom Britton as he chats with the world's most successful investors, to understand their investment strategy, approach to due diligence, and tips that can dramatically improve your approach to investing. 

Angel Insights is created by SyndicateRoom:
https://www.syndicateroom.com

Alan is managing partner at Greenstein, Rogoff, Olsen & Co., LLP, (GROCO) and is a respected leader in his field. He is also the radio show host to American Dreams.

Alan's CPA firm resides in the San Francisco Bay Area and serves some of the most influential Venture Capitalist in the world. GROCO's core competency is advising High Net Worth individual clients in tax and financial strategies.

Alan is a current member of the Stanford Institute for Economic Policy Research (S.I.E.P.R.) SIEPR’s goal is to improve long-term economic policy.

In 2009 and 2010, Alan chaired the Friends of Scouting campaign which was successful in raising over $1 million for Bay Area Scouts. In January 2010, he was be award the Silver Beaver award by the Boy Scouts of America.

In October 2008, his firm was recognized as one of the Top 25 Best Managed CPA firms in the USA by Inside Public Accounting.

In March 2009, GROCO was recognized as one of the fast growing companies in the San Francisco Bay Area by the San Francisco Business Times.

In April 2009 GROCO was named by CPAWealth Provider as one of the Ten Best Financial Planning Firms in the USA.

In May 2009, GROCO placed in the top 5 as a Best Place to Work in the SF Bay Area.

Alan has more than 25 years of experience in public accounting, and develops innovative financial strategies for business enterprises.

Alan also serves on President Kim Clark's BYU-Idaho Advancement council. (President Clark lead the Harvard Business School programs for 30 years prior to joining BYU-idaho.

As a specialist in income tax, Alan frequently lectures and writes articles about tax issues for professional organizations and community groups.

The VentureFizz Podcast is the flagship podcast of VentureFizz.com, the leading authority for jobs & careers in tech. In this podcast, VentureFizz Founder Keith Cline interviews the top founders and investors in the tech industry.

Produced by Foundersuite.com, makers of the leading software stack for raising capital: Investor CRM + VC/Angel database + Pitch Deck Hosting + Investor Update tools. Used by startups to raise > $2.5 Billion.

In de At The Money podcast van Golden Egg Check ga ik, Thomas Mensink, in gesprek met ondernemers die op het punt staan om groeikapitaal op te halen, of dat recentelijk hebben gedaan, en met investeerders die in dat soort startups en scale-ups investeren.

The Ottawa Business Journal is the leading source of business news and information Canada's national capital region. CEOs and business leaders turn to OBJ for the business news they can't find anywhere else – unique and relevant content tailored to business managers, owners, professionals and executives.

With a number of media platforms available to reach our audience, Ottawa Business Journal has something for every advertiser. OBJ's scope includes its monthly newsmagazine, the largest business news website in Ottawa, OBJToday daily e-newsletter, active social media channels, a YouTube channel with hundreds of videos, multimedia industry projects and some of Ottawa's premier business events.

Space Capital Podcast, the playbook for investing in the space economy, is hosted by Chad Anderson, founder and Managing Partner of Space Capital, the world’s leading seed-stage venture capital firm investing in the space economy. Listen for unique insights into startup activity and investment trends from the founders and innovators at the forefront.

New tracks tagged #venture capital