Young Leaders of the Americas Initiative

DECEMBER 4, 2019

Many themes came up, such as overcoming issues with funding, navigating unstable governments, expanding your business, and dealing with competition. Here are Michael’s expanded answers to the most asked questions about these issues, including links to some of our past articles to help elaborate on these themes. .

advice 240

advice entrepreneurship entrepreneurs networking 240

This is going to be BIG.

MAY 16, 2024

What if you could draw that same-sized opportunity around a different set of criteria—not a vertical, but a theme that affects multiple verticals? When Roger Ehrenberg set out to professionalize his angel investing into a fund, he used “Data” as the theme. He wasn’t only investing in businesses that sold data.

VC 243

VC angel investing networking pitching 243

Revolution

MARCH 10, 2025

When we first invested in Cambium, we were drawn to the clarity of the teams vision: create a transparent and traceable logistics operating system that takes local, fallen trees (that would otherwise end up in landfills) and turns them into high-quality, lower carbon building materials.

construction 130

construction sustainability disruption board 130

Both Sides of the Table

MARCH 3, 2013

Let me start by saying that Clayton is one of the most influential people on my thoughts about markets that led to both the concept behind my first startup and my main theses in investing. VC can’t don’t invest in these kinds of companies because they can’t get out (no liquidity event). No minority shareholder.

education 403

education disruption entrepreneurship venture capital 403

A VC: Musings of a VC in NYC

DECEMBER 15, 2020

This is a theme I have come back to many times over the last decade but in the wake of all of the headlines about high profile founders, VCs, and companies leaving the bay area, I thought I would return to it. In the first decade of USV, the 2000s, we mostly invested in NYC and Silicon Valley. We already have.

VC 279

VC entrepreneurship board investment 279

Both Sides of the Table

OCTOBER 26, 2020

The core of the investing job of course is investing dollars into startup companies and helping as a mentor, advisor and board member on the companies in which you’ve invested. Instead he championed our investment themes into sustainability and food technologies having invested in companies like Apeel Sciences and Ynsect.

ventures 361

ventures leadership mentorship venture capital 361

Both Sides of the Table

JANUARY 8, 2014

Most associates need some entrepreneurial experience before actually making investments. Jordan joined us a couple of years ago from Fox Filmed Entertainment where he worked in corporate strategy and he previously had worked for GCA Savvian in investment banking. I think there are two reasons for this: 1.

investment 365

investment investing VC board 365

This is going to be BIG.

DECEMBER 2, 2013

If I was going to start a venture capital fund around a theme, I''d pick something a little different. Tinybop , a company my fund invested in, calls its products the "toys of tomorrow", and it''s first app, the Human Body , doesn''t have a way to win, but it does have a handbook for parents. Forget Enterprise, or Mobile.

education 281

education venture capital VC board 281

Entrepreneurs' Organization

MAY 3, 2024

Keep making bigger investments into smaller rooms, where the people in those rooms are making bigger impacts. That allows me to make the biggest investment in the smallest room – my family – where I can make the most impact. They look at opportunities only as “investments” and never, ever as “costs.” They live in full abundance.

networking 208

networking collaboration entrepreneurs opportunity 208

This is going to be BIG.

AUGUST 25, 2023

A recurring theme in a lot of my BSList posts is that, if an investor thinks they can make a boatload of money with you, they’ll go to all sorts of lengths to invest. That includes investing way earlier than they would normally, investing outside of scope, investing with their personal capital outside of the fund, etc.

founder 364

founder VC board pitching 364

Both Sides of the Table

SEPTEMBER 15, 2022

Even then private market investors can paper over valuation changes by investing at the same price but with more structure so it’s hard to understand the “headline valuation.” No blog post about how Tiger is crushing everybody because it’s deploying all its capital in 1-year while “suckers” are investing over 3-years can change this reality.

VC 416

VC strategy investment investing 416

Both Sides of the Table

DECEMBER 12, 2016

Why Invest? And while my relationship with Chuck was critical to my investment, so too was the leadership of Trevor Templar , the Chief Revenue Officer. In all my time investing I have never seen such a senior revenue officer join a company at this stage. Why Invest?

real estate 244

real estate leadership board investment 244

A VC: Musings of a VC in NYC

AUGUST 11, 2020

I’ve written a bit about our portfolio company Nurx since we made the investment back in 2016. At USV we believe that technology can expand access and reduce the cost of healthcare at the same time and we have been investing in that theme for the last six or seven years. Technology makes all of this possible.

technology 258

technology networking investment investing 258

Both Sides of the Table

SEPTEMBER 18, 2014

The only conclusion one can draw from this is that if you start your investment analysis at a YC Demo Day, you are perhaps best reminded of t he famous quip about PT Barnum. And when I’m asked – as I invariably am every time – “What are you looking to invest in?” Which means we’re doing our job.” .

peer-to-peer 317

peer-to-peer pitching VC accelerator 317

This is going to be BIG.

JUNE 26, 2012

I'm way early in my career, so I won't say I've perfected anything yet, but after 8 years on the investing side and 3 in startups, I've come up at least one thing: Be open. They've been through a half of one investment cycle and they think it will always been this good. In venture capital, you say "no" a lot.

VC 371

VC pitching venture capital creativity 371

Both Sides of the Table

FEBRUARY 20, 2012

One of the things I like the most about Tracy’s businesses is that she is focused on volume & deflationary economics ( which is my main investment thesis as I covered in this post ). So this business plays right into the theme of peer-to-peer marketplaces that has seen so much success over the past several years.

peer-to-peer 363

peer-to-peer entrepreneurs startup entrepreneurship 363

Both Sides of the Table

JANUARY 11, 2011

In the video I describe how to best play this meeting and why, without a champion going into the meeting, you’re unlikely to get an investment. You can vary from this but these are the key themes are the ones you need to cover. If you don’t, make sure you follow up and ask for feedback. Potential future exit possibilities.

VC 340

VC venture capital leadership pitching 340

American Entrepreneurship

MARCH 21, 2025

With the theme Transformation Agenda, the forum aims to move beyond discussion and into action. In just two years, it has invested nearly $1 million in small businesses and now connects over 26,000 members nationwide. It seeks to solve one of the most pressing challenges for entrepreneurs today: access to capital.

entrepreneurs 75

entrepreneurs mentorship entrepreneurial ecosystem pitching 75

Both Sides of the Table

JUNE 27, 2021

In short: Access to great deals, ability to be invited to invest in these deals, ability to see where value in a market will be created and the luck to back the right team with the right market at the right time all matter. So if you truly want to be great at investing you need all the right skills and access AND a diversified portfolio.

sustainability 294

sustainability board construction strategy 294

This is going to be BIG.

DECEMBER 21, 2017

What we found is that while most of the people turned down the invite, most of the people who showed up invested. The truth is, it doesn't matter--that you can very easily get caught up in positioning, but at the end of the day, an investor who really wants to invest is going to invest. Would we pitch Series A players?

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pitching VC investment investing 230

Entrepreneurs' Organization

OCTOBER 4, 2023

“Latinos: Driving Prosperity, Power, and Progress in America” is the theme of the 2023 US Hispanic Heritage Month. Should Latino companies simply bide their time, hoping for the winds of investment to bring economic growth their way? Latin American organizations cannot simply wait for foreign investments to fall into their laps.

leadership 38

leadership culture economic growth education 38

Entrepreneurs' Organization

APRIL 2, 2021

Contributed By Susan Michel, EO New Jersey member and founder and CEO of Glen Eagle Advisors , which provides investment management and financial planning advice. Consider letting your child invest their money in the stock market: You can let them pick the stock the money is invested in.

education 196

education board financing finance 196

Both Sides of the Table

OCTOBER 6, 2012

I had been trading emails & Tweets with venture capitalist John Frankel and we were to meet in person in March 2011 at SxSW to talk about Klout and other investments he had made. Other people were convinced including Kleiner Perkins who lead their $30 million fund raising in 2012 (they had previously also invested in 2011).

venture capital 303

venture capital VC ventures capital 303

Both Sides of the Table

FEBRUARY 7, 2013

I’m super excited to announce that GRP Partners led the investment in Ethan Anderson’s new company MyTime (link has LA-based merchants but will give you a good feel for the product). I told him that this had been a big theme for me for some time. Let me not bury the lede.

disruption 359

disruption VC entrepreneurs strategy 359

A VC: Musings of a VC in NYC

NOVEMBER 18, 2019

It was the beginning of our effort to invest in the transformation of the education sector. Today she wrote a blog post on USV.com featuring the big themes of her annual meeting presentation. Back in March 2009, USV hosted an event called Hacking Education. That may also be a useful reference, maybe at the start of the presentation.

education 139

education accelerator enablement technology 139

Both Sides of the Table

MAY 5, 2011

It’s why my investment philosophy is called, “ the entrepreneur thesis.&#. Every region has its advantages and while not limiting innovation to local themes it seems to make sense to at least consider local advantages. And I think about the “Seattle issue&# as a metaphor for startups and business in general.

communities 317

communities VC innovation entrepreneurs 317

Both Sides of the Table

JULY 27, 2016

The investment thesis for me combines my belief in computer vision as a next-gen I/O (3) along with my thesis that The Innovator’s Dilemma or Deflationary Economics drive all of the largest success on the Internet (4). At the earliest stages when I invest my decision is 70% team / 30% market (5). How I Invest ? Why Density?

media 225

media data collection investment investing 225

Dream It

FEBRUARY 14, 2020

Matt Murphy and Grace Ge, Menlo Ventures Which trends are you most excited about in construction robotics from an investing perspective? We are active in construction with investments such as HOVER and Fieldwire and believe the entire sector is right for a digital and automation overhaul. About 10 percent of our time.

construction 259

construction investment investing opportunity 259

Startup Grind

AUGUST 10, 2018

Tight money and the lure of investing in unnecessary “money-holes” sometimes take over many out there. For many start-up owners, it may feel like every small investment, every new system, software product, or basically, any other type of investment, is a burden. Invest in a strong company culture. The burden.

investment 186

investment investing culture communities 186

Both Sides of the Table

MAY 19, 2016

We have have been funding agriculture technologies, water conservation, wireless electricity, aquaponics and so forth in addition to our standard investment themes in software, data, video and retail innovation.

board 207

board ventures innovation founder 207

American Entrepreneurship

APRIL 9, 2024

M aniv touts its track record as one of the first institutional investors to establish a global, early-stage investment strategy on the intersection between mobility, transportation, and energy. The second theme is the tipping point occurring in the market-driven decarbonization of transportation due to private sector incentives.

transportation 96

transportation ventures energy venture capital 96

Both Sides of the Table

FEBRUARY 9, 2016

But Magic spoke about how hard it was to raise money in the early days after leaving basketball because many investors weren’t used to investing in urban neighborhoods so he had to prove that not only did he know how to make money investing but also that urban markets could be very profitable. The story was nearly universal.

culture 263

culture pitching communities entrepreneurs 263

Both Sides of the Table

FEBRUARY 18, 2013

I first wanted to invest in this trend by backing a company called Filmaka. I didn’t end up investing but I always loved the concept. The other theme I’ve been playing around with in my head (and in the numerous debates with media execs who aspire to do startups) I’ve started calling MMOV. The music industry.

peer-to-peer 380

peer-to-peer media creativity disruption 380

This is going to be BIG.

MAY 22, 2016

That's why the consistent theme among the very worst pitches I take are the ones where the entrepreneur asks me what I think--about everything. You're the one investing all your time into it. You should know way more about this than I ever could. That's not my job.

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pitching entrepreneurs opportunity founder 184

The Seraf Compass

APRIL 22, 2021

Seraf co-founders Ham Lord and Christopher Mirabile, along with seasoned investor Joe Mandato, were interviewed by Sal Daher of Angel Invest Boston to discuss their new book, The Entrepreneur’s Journey, and how it came about.

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angel investing startup investment investing 130

Tomasz Tunguz

OCTOBER 28, 2024

Here are some of the themes & predictions from the group. In the last 10 years, investments in big data have become increasingly expensive & focused on very large data volumes. Continuing this theme, I’ll be revealing my predictions for the Post Modern Data Stack at the Monte Carlo IMPACT event on November 14.

incumbents 99

incumbents disruption collaboration enablement 99

Both Sides of the Table

JANUARY 17, 2011

I apply visual thinking for nearly everything I do: preparing for important phone calls (I imagine my opening lines, I imagine the responses), writing keynote presentations, deciding whether or not to invest in a company, preparing for board meetings – you name it. I roll up metaphors into a narrative or theme that has coherence.

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creativity frameworks media innovation 356