Today, I am joined by Ben Lerer, the Managing Partner at Lerer Hippeau, an early stage venture firm based in New York that invests in iconic companies that rattle the status quo. Ben shares insights into his journey from founding digital media company Group Nine Media, including the creation of Thrillist, to transitioning into full-time investing a…

In today's episode, Missy Oei, winner of the BGV winter break college essay contest and senior at the University of Dayton studying entrepreneurship & marketing, shares her journey from realizing the significant impact of fast fashion on her generation to aspiring to break into venture capital with a focus on impact investing. Missy’s winning essay…

In today's episode, we discuss the transformative world of Multimodal AI, an advanced form of artificial intelligence that integrates and processes multiple data types—text, images, audio, and video—to emulate human-like perception. Unlike text-based AI models such as ChatGPT, which specialize in generating text-based responses, Multimodal AI offer…

In today's podcast, I'm thrilled to share insights from the Behind Genius Ventures winter break college essay contest, which I launched in December. We received 20 diverse essays from schools like Cornell, Georgia Tech, UNC, SDSU and more. The prompt asked students to explore impactful problems in 1800 words or fewer, engaging the audience with exp…

Today, I am joined by Cam Doody, the Co-founder & General Partner at Brickyard, a first-round venture capital firm and residency. In this episode, we explore Cam's transition to the venture side, raising ~ 115 million dollars, his principles on investing, and insights into founder residencies. Cam emphasizes the grind of entrepreneurship and the ab…

Today, I am joined by Jasper Stephens, a leadership coach specializing in working with CEOs and executive teams of Seed Series A and Series B companies. In this episode, the focus is on the role of executive and leadership coaches in the growth journey of founders and CEOs of early-stage startups. Jasper and I explore common questions founders may …

In today's podcast, I am thrilled to announce the Behind Genius Ventures winter break college essay contest for college students. Drawing from my own experience of funding education through essay scholarships, I recognize the need for a platform that allows students to explore their passions. As the founder of a venture capital fund, I'm eager to h…

Today, I am joined by Lloyed Lobo, Co-Founder of Boast.AI & Traction, and Wall Street Journal Bestselling Author of "From Grassroots to Greatness." In this episode, Lloyed shares the 4 things he did to make his book a Wall Street Journal Bestseller. The podcast also explores the technical aspects of community-led growth, touching on Lloyed's journe…

Today, I am joined by Rishi Taparia, Managing Partner of Garuda Ventures, who enthusiastically discusses the accomplishment of securing a $31 million fund. Rishi sheds light on the challenges of fundraising, providing insights into Garuda's journey from a nights-and-weekends passion project in 2018 to a full-time firm that successfully fundraised i…

In today’s podcast, I talk about the “Spotify Playlist” method, discussing how the approach of naming playlists and creating the right mix extends beyond music curation to impact various aspects of business and content creation. I also explore using my playlisting methods to build an investment portfolio in the context of investment, highlighting h…

In today’s podcast, I talk about returning from an amazing two-week trip to Guatemala with my mom, thanks to Local Hope and Art Ambassadors for a Colorful World. During the trip, I had the incredible opportunity to contribute to art classes, witness a breathtaking sunrise hike in Tikal, and visit a fascinating ceramic studio by Lake Atitlan. These …

In today’s podcast, we're diving deep into the world of venture capital and pitch deck mastery. Over the last three years, I've assessed thousands of pitch decks and made 39 investments at the pre-seed and seed stage. Today’s episode features a candid discussion with a close friend about the nuances of raising venture capital as an early-stage foun…

Today, I'm joined by Deepak Sekar, Co-Founder and CEO of Prof Jim, bringing content to life with Generative AI. Prof Jim transforms books, websites, and other text into interactive videos — at scale. Deepak has been granted 200+ patents, making him one of the more prolific inventors in the world today. Previously, Deepak was the Founder and CEO of …

Today, I'm joined by Dhaval Patel, Founder and CEO of Lotus, a Techstars portfolio company, that makes a wearable ring to control objects at home by pointing. Unlike traditional smart home tech - no rewiring, no app, no internet. Lotus' mission is to build tech that is usable by everyone, by optimizing for disability. Previously, Patel was the VP o…

In today’s podcast, I talk about AI’s power to automate, optimize, and revolutionize, making AI a goldmine for opportunities. However, because of the rapidly accelerating pace of AI innovation, what seems like a cutting-edge investment today could be outdated in a few short years or even months or weeks. The excitement about the potential of AI, al…

Today, I'm joined by Kristen Wiley, Founder of Statusphere, a influencer marketing platform that helps brands earn authentic micro-influencer posts at scale in a fraction of the time. With Statusphere, brands save 98% of the time they’d typically spend on influencer marketing while securing dozens, hundreds or thousands of guaranteed posts. With St…

Today, I'm joined by Anthony Privitelli, Founder of Creator Testing, on-demand creator-focused feedback and insights. Essentially, Creator Testing was built for teams and individuals who want to get creator feedback, whether it's podcasters, short-form video creators, long-form video creators, live streamers, bloggers, writers, etc. Previously, Ant…

Today, I'm joined by Max Echeverria, Founder & CEO of Eskuad, a field data platform built specifically for operations and compliance. Eskuad transforms the way you work in the field — whether you operate by yourself or with a team. Easily organize your work, collect data, and generate reports. In the office, gain instant real-time visibility into y…

Today, I'm joined by Mar Hershenson, Managing Partner at Pear VC, where seed specialists partner with founders at the earliest stages to turn great ideas into category-defining companies. Pear VC founded 10+ companies and invested early in startups now worth over $50B. In just 9 years, Pear VC has seeded 7 companies currently valued at over $1B and…

In today’s podcast, I talk about my focus on the Gen Z market, which is values-focused and seeks to connect with brands that align with their ideals. I provide three key strategies for SaaS founders to reach the Gen Z market: standing for something and promoting company values, leveraging storytelling and authenticity in customer communications, an…

Join me in today's podcast as I dive into 22 of my favorite off-script podcast questions and reminisce about previous inspiring guests. Highlighting Ashley Flucas, Halle Kaplan-Allen, Nik Sharma, Beezer Clarkson, Meagan Loyst, Judith Dada, Charles Hudson, Jamie Rhode, Emily Herrera, Elana Dickman, Jaclyn Hester, Gale Wilkinson, Julia Lipton, Moniqu…

Today, I'm joined by Courtney Leimkuhler, Founding Partner at Springbank Collective, investing in the infrastructure serving the long-overlooked needs of women and working families. It’s a $1 trillion opportunity hiding in plain sight. Courtney spent 20 years in the financial services industry on both the capital formation and risk management sides…

Today, I'm joined by Ariana Thacker, Founding Partner at Conscience VC, an early-stage investment firm investing in science empowering humanity. Conscience VC was founded with the mission to generate a positive and scalable impact on the world by partnering with technical founders. Early in Ariana’s career, she fell in love with early-stage startup…

Today, I'm joined by Itamar Novick, Managing Partner at Recursive Ventures, a San Francisco based Micro VC fund investing in US Pre-seed and Seed Tech Startups disrupting industries through use of Data and Artificial Intelligence. Itamar has been supporting entrepreneurs since 2010 (50+ investments). He is also a Business insider Top 100 Global see…

Today, I'm joined by Molly Mielke, Founding Partner at Moth Fund, an early-stage-focused venture capital firm that aims to increase the agency of exceptional individuals using both investment dollars and grants. Her fortes are: storytelling (ex-Stripe/Figma/Notion), early-career talent recruiting, and dot-connecting within the venture ecosystem (fo…

In today’s podcast, I have an exciting announcement to make. I also wanted to share a bit of context on where I am at with building Behind Genius Ventures and the direction that I want to take Seed to Harvest in the future. Connect with Paige 🌱💜 Behind Genius Ventures blog | https://www.behindgeniusventures.com/ Personal Blog | https://paigefinndoh…

Today, I'm joined by Arkady Kulik, Founding Partner at rpv, a DeepTech Venture fund focused on early stage, scientifically intensive ventures. Arkady believes the alliance between entrepreneurs and scientists is the key to unlocking humanity's transition to an advanced civilization. His mission is to help both parties succeed across multiple indust…

Today I wanted to tell you a little bit about how memes on Twitter led me to manage millions of dollars. Through my journey with memes on Twitter, I feel that as I've gotten more comfortable as a venture firm manager and running my business, I'm starting to realize the magic of what I do is that I am informal and do not take things too seriously. A…

Today, I'm joined by Rachel Braun, Gen Z Tech & VC Producer & Researcher. Rachel is currently the founder and host of Braun & Brains, an agency specializing in producing social media content, events, and podcasts focusing on tech, business, and venture capital. She was previously the producer and correspondent for This Week in Startups, a weekly sh…

Today, I'm joined by Anna Barber, Investing Partner at M13, which is an LA based Series A venture fund focused on investing in the future of consumer technology. Understanding the future of consumer behavior is M13’s obsession, and it is why their funds have demonstrated repeatable success. After making early investments in direct-to-consumer brand…

Today I wanted to talk about one of my favorite subjects: cold outreach. At this point in my life, I am pretty much a professional at cold outreach. Cold outreach is really what built the foundation of my career, whether that was an email, Twitter DM, or LinkedIn message. I will be addressing my five P's of cold outreach: perspective, purpose, proc…

Today, I'm joined by Niki Scevak, Co-founder of Blackbird, a $2.5 billion Australia based venture firm, investing across Australia and New Zealand at the early stage and beyond. Blackbird backs generational ambition with generational ownership by raising funds, investing in the best startup companies all the way through their journey from idea to b…

Today, Im joined by Yasmine Lacaillade, the Founding Partner of Sinefine. We talk a little bit about the SVB situation that happened recently and it's broader impact on the ecosystem. Yasmine built Sinefine because she saw a growing need in the market for emerging manager aggregation and platforms. Having sat at Drive Capital for a decade and being…

Today I'm going to talk about our portfolio at Behind Genius Ventures and some of the industry trends in 2023 and beyond. I am one of the youngest fund managers in the world. I founded Behind Genius Ventures in 2021. Our debut fund was $5 million and we invest in pre-seed and seed stage companies building within the future of work and the future of…

Today I am going to be sharing the six books that have really impacted the way that I write. I am the author of the book Seed to Harvest. Seed to Harvest is a children's book about venture capital, which I am really passionate about. I am sharing why I think venture is so unique and interesting with folks who might not come from traditional backgro…

Today, I’m joined by Fernando Pontaza, Co-Founder and General Partner at Invariantes Fund. Fernando is a self-taught, multi-asset class portfolio manager with a track record of outperformance and solid risk metrics. After over 10 years in finance and a decade of managing portfolios, he has learned an enormous amount about the power of creating weal…

Today, I’m joined by Wes Panek, Principal at Screendoor Partners. Screendoor Partners focuses on supporting underrepresented venture capitalists, enabling founders and teams (both of whom are more likely to be underrepresented themselves) to back and build new companies, and creating a more inclusive venture capital and technology ecosystem. Previo…

Today, I’m joined by Mercedes Bent, an investor on the early stage team at Lightspeed with a focus on consumer fintech/crypto in LATAM and the USA. She is an investor in Forage, Stori, Flink, Outschool, Beek, Magic Eden, Hawku, Fan Controlled Sports, and more. Mercedes co-leads Lightspeed’s LATAM region and the Scout Fund (angel fund). In 2016, she…

Today, I’m joined by Erin Harkless Moore, who leads the fund and direct investment program for Pivotal Ventures, an investment and incubation company created by Melinda French Gates to advance social progress in the United States. With over a decade and a half of investment experience, building and managing customized portfolios for endowed institu…

In this special episode, I talk about how I built trust on Twitter, got Forbes 30U30, and raised $5 million at 23. I share tips to prevent mistakes that emerging managers make raising their first fund. I will be answering questions concerning interactions on Twitter, demographics of LPs, managing how to network and build relationships with founders…

Welcome back to Seed to Harvest, a podcast with founders, creators, and investors about their stories, frameworks and tactics. Today, I’m joined by Sara Zulkosky, Managing Partner at Recast Capital. Prior to co-founding Recast, Sara served as a Venture Partner at Greenspring Associates, a venture capital platform with over $12B in assets under mana…

Today, I’m joined by Kelli Fontaine, Partner at Cendana Capital who previously served as Director for Trinity Capital Investment. Cendana Capital invests globally in very early stage funds, and now manages over $2.2B. They are our anchor investor for Fund 2, and I could not be more excited to have Kelli on the show today. Seed to Harvest is a podca…

Today, I’m joined by Monique Woodard, the Founding Partner and Managing Director of Cake Ventures. Cake Ventures is a pre-seed and seed venture capital firm investing in companies that touch areas of demographic change including aging and longevity, the increased spending power of women, and the shift to majority-minority. A Forbes article publishe…

Today, I’m joined by Sydney Thomas, the Founding Partner of Impressionism Capital. She invests in early stage startups, specifically focusing on investing in real people. Since becoming the first hire at Precursor VC, Sydney has built a community of over 400 co-investors along with intuitive systems that scale small to midsize teams. She is a proud…

Today, I’m joined by Ann Bordetsky, a Partner at New Enterprise Associates (NEA). Ann has helped build some of Silicon Valley's most iconic technology companies, such as Rival Inc, which was acquired by Ticketmaster in 2020 and has served in operator roles at Uber, Twitter, and several mobility startups. She uses her operator superpowers to help vi…

Today, I’m joined by Julia Lipton, the Founding Partner of Awesome People Ventures. She was previously the first business hire and Director of Marketing at Quixey in 2011. Julia was also the Head of Growth at Rise and the Head of Virtual Visits at One Medical Group. Furthermore, she founded Soundboard, which offers high touch advising for venture-b…

Seed to Harvest is a podcast focused on stories & tactics from a diverse array of investors, founders, and creators, hosted by Paige Finn Doherty, a founding partner at Behind Genius Ventures and author of Seed to Harvest, an illustrated children's book for adults. Today, I’m joined by Jana Iris. She’s a coffee lover, start-up advisor and investor.…

Seed to Harvest is a podcast focused on stories & tactics from a diverse array of investors, founders, and creators, hosted by Paige Finn Doherty, a founding partner at Behind Genius Ventures and author of Seed to Harvest, an illustrated children's book for adults. In this episode, I’ll share the inspiration, our process, the reason behind our podc…

Seed to Harvest is a podcast focused on stories & tactics from a diverse array of investors, founders, and creators, hosted by Paige Finn Doherty, a founding partner at Behind Genius Ventures and author of Seed to Harvest, an illustrated children's book for adults. Today, I’m joined by Gale Wilkinson, General Partner at Vitalize VC. After graduatin…

Seed to Harvest is a podcast focused on stories & tactics from a diverse array of investors, founders, and creators, hosted by Paige Finn Doherty, a founding partner at Behind Genius Ventures and author of Seed to Harvest, an illustrated children's book for adults. Today, I’m joined by Jaclyn Hester, Partner at Foundry Group. At Foundry, Jaclyn lea…