Best Funders Podcasts (2024)

1
14: First checks for dropouts, students, and deep tech sci-fi founders - Danielle Strachman, 1517 Fund 1:04:23

20d ago1:04:23

1:04:23

One day soon when you see a robot squirrel on a 10-foot unicycle, think of Danielle Strachman. These are the types of ideas Danielle Strachman sees and backs on a regular basis at her VC fund, 1517. The fund, which proudly backs “dropouts, students, and sci-fi,” has had several fund multipliers in their portfolio, including Loom (Acquired by Atlass…

1
13: Elizabeth Yin of Hustle Fund has seen over 50,000 companies and made 800 investments – usually in just 30 minutes 1:00:19

22d ago1:00:19

1:00:19

Elizabeth Yin realized she had a problem. She wanted to be a founder, but couldn’t think of a problem she wanted to spend decades of her life working on. After soul searching, she remembered the one thing she did care about: helping other founders. She took that passion and turned it into Hustle Fund, which focuses on offering capital, knowledge, a…

1
12: First checks building the future of cities since 2012 led to unicorn investments and $215M in AUM - Julie & Clara, Urban Innovation Fund 1:18:46

1M ago1:18:46

1:18:46

An ill-fated business school fashion show led to a venture capital fund with $215 million AUM. The duo met in 2010 at the MIT Sloan School of Management and soon after became research partners investigating why VCs were shunning startups in highly regulated spaces even though AirBnB and Uber were starting to reach venture scale very quickly. Tech-e…

1
11: How one of Arian Ghashghai’s virtual reality companies is on track to hit $20M in revenue after one round of funding 1:30:33

2M ago1:30:33

1:30:33

Have you ever played with an Oculus VR headset? You probably owe thanks to Arian Ghashghai. The former founder was working at Meta when someone in his network introduced him to an opportunity to invest in gummies. Yes, gummies. That’s far and away from Arian’s machine learning roots, it’s now one of his best investments to date. Arian has since gon…

1
10: How Amit Garg co-founded an AI-first seed fund before AI took off 1:11:06

2M ago1:11:06

1:11:06

Armed with an educational background in computer science and biomedical informatics, Amit Garg switched to venture capital after a long, successful career in the corporate world, which included stints at companies like Google and Samsung. And that’s just the way he never planned it. That’s right, the almost-doctor didn’t intend to get into venture …

1
FFF EP. 9 Josh Constine 53:50

3M ago53:50

53:50

On this episode, we are thrilled to welcome Josh Constine, a distinguished venture capitalist and former top tech journalist whose career has been defined by his deep understanding of technology and its impact on society. Josh’s journey began at Stanford, where he earned a master’s degree in Design and Cyber Sociology. He went on to become the Edit…

1
FFF EP. 5 Vinay Hiremath 1:03:41

3M ago1:03:41

1:03:41

On this episode, we are excited to welcome Vinay Hiremath, a visionary entrepreneur who co-founded Loom, a company that has transformed the way we communicate in the digital age. Vinay's journey began with a deep passion for technology and innovation, which led him to work at renowned tech companies like Yelp, Quora, and Medium. It was during a bra…

1
FFF EP. 6 Mark Peter Davids 36:14

3M ago36:14

36:14

In this episode, we are thrilled to welcome Mark Peter Davis, a seasoned entrepreneur and venture capitalist with a mission-driven approach to supporting startups. Mark, also known as MPD, is the founder of Interplay, a unique ecosystem that goes beyond traditional venture capital to empower entrepreneurs through incubation, foundry initiatives, an…

1
FFF EP. 7 Byron Ling 50:14

3M ago50:14

50:14

On this episode, we are excited to welcome Byron Ling, a visionary venture capitalist who has played a pivotal role in shaping the early-stage startup landscape. Byron’s journey into the world of venture capital began over a decade ago, where his keen eye for innovation and passion for supporting founders led him to become a partner at renowned fir…

1
FFF EP. 8 Russ Heddleston 57:19

3M ago57:19

57:19

Join us in this insightful episode featuring Russ Huddleston, a three-time founder best known as the co-founder and former CEO of DocSend, a successful document sharing platform acquired by Dropbox for $165 million. Russ shares his entrepreneurial journey, key lessons from his experience with DocSend, and his new venture, Distil, which utilizes AI …

1
09: Angels of Shopify investing collectively and lessons on following your gut - Atlee Clark, Angel 58:53

4M ago58:53

58:53

What do you get when you mix U.S. national security, angel investing, and kids’ pajamas? Atlee Clark. Proud Canadian Atlee took a hard pivot from the public sector to the tech world, first through a nonprofit called the C100, which supports entrepreneurs, and later at Shopify, focusing on 0 - 1 initiatives. Similar to other angel collectives emergi…

1
08 Takeaways: Charles Hudson, Precursor Ventures: macro, team vs market, fund size vs. outcomes 20:32

4M ago20:32

20:32

Join Shaherose & Aamir as we reflect on our conversation with Charles Hudson of Precursor Ventures. Highlights: Don’t forget the macro: Government regulations can lead to massive opportunities or failures. We discuss case studies of companies like Samsara, Movtive (fka KeepTrucking), Republic, and Zum, showing how regulatory shifts led to category-…

1
08: From the CIA to Google to 400+ pre-seed investments, first and early to define pre-seed - Charles Hudson, Precursor 59:28

4M ago59:28

59:28

Hailing from Michigan, Charles developed an early obsession with the public markets in high school. Charles Hudson is now the Managing Partner at Precursor Ventures, a pre-seed venture fund that has defined and has become synonymous with “pre-seed”. Charles is known for his ability to identify and mentor early-stage companies that have the potentia…

1
FFF EP. 2 Hamilton Morris 52:01

5M ago52:01

52:01

On this episode, we are thrilled to welcome Hamilton Morris, a renowned journalist, documentarian, and scientific researcher. Hamilton is the creator and director of the acclaimed television series Hamilton's Pharmacopeia, where he explores the chemistry, history, and cultural impact of various psychoactive drugs. In September 2021, Hamilton transi…

1
FFF EP. 4 Ankur Nagpal 56:14

5M ago56:14

56:14

On this episode, we are thrilled to welcome Ankur Nagpal, a dynamic entrepreneur whose journey from Bombay to the U.S. has been marked by remarkable achievements. Ankur began his entrepreneurial career by building Facebook apps in his college dorm room, generating significant advertising revenue. After moving to New York, he started teaching market…

1
FFF EP. 3 Eugene Wei and Oana Olteanu 1:01:59

5M ago1:01:59

1:01:59

On this episode, we are delighted to host two distinguished guests, Eugene Wei and Oana Olteanu, whose expertise spans the realms of technology, investment, and innovation. First, we have Eugene Wei, a top voice in technology with an incredible background in product and investing. Eugene has had a remarkable career, starting at Amazon.com and later…

1
FFF EP. 1 Tobias Rose Stockwell 58:11

5M ago58:11

58:11

On this episode, we are excited to welcome Tobias Rose-Stockwell, a writer, designer, and technologist whose work has made significant impacts across various fields. Tobias's research has been featured in The Atlantic, WIRED, NPR, The BBC, CNN, and many others, and has influenced key interventions aimed at reducing toxicity and polarization within …

1
07: Angel in 100+ startups, focused on learning and catalyzing mission-first startups - Eric Ries, Creator Lean Startup, Founder, LTSE 1:10:12

5M ago1:10:12

1:10:12

Eric Ries has invested in over 100+ early-stage startups. He is best known as the author of The Lean Startup, a must-read for entrepreneurs worldwide. He also founded the Long-Term Stock Exchange (LTSE), a new stock exchange designed to support companies with long-term goals. He recently launched a new podcast discussing ways to re-think corporate …

1
06: Finding Alpha in Texas - Rajiv Bala, Clutch VC 1:12:19

6M ago1:12:19

1:12:19

Rajiv Bala, GP of Clutch VC, a pre-seed and seed-stage fund exclusively investing in Texas. Rajiv is committed and bullish on the region with a hands-on approach to investing, working with founders on product feedback, team building, and more to see initial customer validation before investing. Rajiv also embraces sub $500 million outcomes to drive…

1
05: Discovering hidden baseball talent to leading Sales at Stripe all applied to finding outliers in tech - Meka Asonye, First Round Capital 1:08:18

7M ago1:08:18

1:08:18

Meka Asonye, a Partner at First Round Capital, started angel investing in 2018 while working at Stripe and joined First Round in 2021. He has made dozens of Angel investments and 13 Venture investments, and he's just getting started! While he focuses on B2B SAAS, he has not shied away from investing in audacious founders, from modernizing 911 call …

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04: 3x tech founder turned seed VC brings a founder mindset to startup investing - Amit Kumar, Accel 1:01:48

8M ago1:01:48

1:01:48

Amit Kumar, former founder and angel investor, is a generalist venture capitalist at Accel focused on dev tools, healthcare, and fintech startups. Twitter acquired Amit’s third company, and it was then that he realized his true purpose was supporting startup founders, and he shifted to venture capital. Amit shares insightful stories and lessons lea…

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03: Angel vs VC, finding purpose and community in startup investing - Rachel Sheinbein 1:03:13

8M ago1:03:13

1:03:13

Rachel Sheinbein is an angel investor with over 250 startup investments. She shares her insights on angel investing and how it allows her to work with founders “even before the seed stage,” writing $25k checks into technology startups through her vehicle Very Serious Ventures. Later, Rachel discusses how building a community drives her investing st…

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02: 300 startup investments, 500 LPs, sharp elbows - Jenny Fielding, Everywhere Ventures 1:07:14

9M ago1:07:14

1:07:14

Jenny Fielding, a pre-seed investor and angel with 300 early-stage startup investments, discusses investing in FinTech, hard tech, and consumer spaces over the past decade. From studying law to working in finance to leaving it all to found not just one but two startups, Jenny brings a founder-operator mindset to her fund, Everywhere Ventures. She w…

1
01: State of Venture Capital 2024 with Arjun Arora 43:32

10M ago43:32

43:32

We're all discussing current market conditions - valuations, AI hype, fundraising challenges... Before we kick off our planned interview series on First Funders, we sat down with our friend Arjun Arora to discuss the Trends in Venture Capital 2024. As investors, we always look ahead, making this a great way to start 2024. Highlights from our discus…

1
About the Hosts: How they got into Seed and Angel Investing 6:36

10M ago6:36

6:36

Before you dive into our archives or the next episode, learn about First Funders and its hosts, Shaherose Charania and Aamir Virani. You'll hear about Shaherose's background as a startup builder turned VC who started as a product marketer and how she started Women 2.0, a startup ecosystem, and Founder Labs, a tech incubator. She also reviews her ti…

1
Coming Soon - a podcast for Angels and Venture Capitalists who write first checks 0:40

10M ago0:40

0:40

Coming soon. First Funders is a podcast for the Angels and Venture Capitalists who write first checks. Co-hosted by Shaherose Charania, startup builder turned VC. And Aamir Virani, founder turned angel investor. In each episode, you'll hear from angel and seed-stage VCs who wrote the first checks into startups that made it. How did these investors …

1
Brian Gormley Discusses The Evolution Of Venture Capital 22:04

1+ y ago22:04

22:04

Brian has been with Dow Jones and The Wall Street Journal for almost 17 years, and has a Bachelor's degree from UMass Amherst and a Master's in Journalism from Boston University. He began his career writing for local newspapers in the Boston area, and then moved on to writing for business pages. He then went to work for a publishing company that pr…

1
Founders, Funders & Followers 0:43

1+ y ago0:43

0:43

Founders, funders, and followers is a podcast about the people who give life to early-stage companies and their innovations. We aspire to inspire through conversation with notable entrepreneurs and investors, and those who follow them. Find out more at Acumen. Follow us on LinkedInBy Acumen Strategies

1
The Business of Building a Brand with Dagne Dover, Of Mercer, and Idea Farm Ventures 50:19

5y ago50:19

50:19

This podcast is a recording of a panel discussion of the business of building a brand and our first event in New York. Thanks to 3L Capital for hosting! On the panel is Erum Hasnain, partner at Idea Farm Ventures, Melissa Mash, founder & CEO of Dagne Dover, and Dorie Smith, co founder of Of Mercer. We discuss their customer, what their brands stand…

1
Talking seed stage statups and diversity debt with Phin Barnes, First Round Capital 59:33

5y ago59:33

59:33

This podcast is a recording of a fireside chat with Phin Barnes, partner at First Round Capital. In this podcast:-Phin explains why First Round focuses on seed investments, what they look for, and how they structure their deals. -He also explains the concept of “diversity debt” and why it’s important to focus on building a diverse team from the beg…

1
The 25-year overnight success of Oatly, with co-founder Bjorn Oste 24:22

5y ago24:22

24:22

Bjorn Oste the co-founder of Oatly, the popular brand of oat milk, discusses his 25 year "overnight success." The first patent related to oatmilk was filed in 1994. Bjorn and his brother cataloged the genome of 2800 varieties of oats in Sweden. They shared their creation with the head of the Swedish dairy association—who spit it out. The brothers h…

1
Binti - Reinventing foster care and adoption with Felicia Curcuru 27:25

5+ y ago27:25

27:25

Hi Everyone! In this episode of the Female Founders and Funders podcast I speak with Felicia Curcuru, the founder and CEO of Binti, a company that is reinventing the foster care and adoption process. She started the company in 2014 after seeing firsthand how hard it was for her sister to adopt and has experienced the ups and downs of building a com…

1
The Mom Project - Connecting moms with flexible work 27:24

5+ y ago27:24

27:24

In this interview, Elaine speaks with Allison Robinson, founder and CEO of The Mom Project. After having her son Asher in 2015, Allison identified how universally challenging it can be for American mothers to juggle the demands of motherhood with a full-time career and decided to tackle the issue on a national scale. Prior to founding The Mom Proje…

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