Podcast
"Can't Be Done"
Hosted by Adam Draper · EN
Join Boost VC’s Founder & Managing Director Adam Draper, to learn about emerging technology from leading figures in the industry. Each episode we interview founders and investors to explore topics like startup strategy and venture capital, as well as incredible technology like bitcoin, virtual reality, AI, exoskeletons, drones, space and more.
14episodes
Episodes
Newest firstAll episodes
DeepTech Series Ep # 3: What to Look for in a Deep Tech Founder—with Greg Castle of Anorak Ventures
Jun 5, 202300:45:22Tap to summarizeDeep tech founders are either technically gifted or great at building a business. But it's seldom both, at least in the beginning. So, what should venture investors pay attention to when we’re choosing founders in these disruptive technologies? Greg Castle is Founder and Managing Director at Anorak Ventures, a firm that invests in early-stage deep tech startups. An entrepreneur and corporate marketer turned VC, Greg has invested in 120 companies, including Oculus, Flexport and Mux. On this episode of Boost VC, Greg joins us to explore how his view of venture investing has changed since he wrote his first check, explaining what he looks for in a founder and how he evaluates deep tech startups differently. Greg shares his mixed feelings about the VR market right now and how he benefits from having a partner to engage in conviction-based decision-making. Listen in for Greg’s advice on where to deploy capital in deep tech and learn how Anorak chooses founders who apply disruptive technologies to business problems in any industry. Topics Covered How Greg got into venture capitalCurious person who advocates for people he believes inGot lucky in first few personal investments, e.g.: Oculus The most important lessons Greg has learned as a VCWhat high-functioning teams and companies look likeNot to take it personally when things don’t go as planned What Greg pays attention to when he’s choosing foundersHow they interact with cofounders, react to feedbackPunctuality at meetings, preparedness and responsiveness The questions Greg asks himself before he invests in a startupDo I believe in the founder?Do I believe in the market? How Greg evaluates deep tech companies differentlyMove forward with presumption that anything’s possibleConsider if technically gifted person can build business Greg’s mixed feelings about the VR market right nowViable platform where developers make real moneyFrustrated by lack of competition, Meta fumbling the ball Greg’s thoughts on Apple entering the VR/AR market‘Nobody can make a product cool like Apple can’Not well-positioned in immersive gaming (primary use case) The Anorak investment thesisHandful of technologies will have outsized impact on futureFind teams leveraging those technologies, industry agnostic Greg’s advice on where to deploy capital in deep techAlways comes down to peopleBuild out ecosystem of investors, founders How Greg thinks about scale in venture investingFind great people in areas that are not your strengthsScale of funds = $15M to $25M per partner How Greg benefits from taking on a partnerNeed to explain yourself to thought partnerCan still move quickly when he needs to Greg’s biggest accomplishments before age 20Building group of friends in collegeStill works with many of them Greg’s definition of successConfident and comfortable in your own skinContent with what you have Connect with Greg Castle Anorak Ventures https://www.anorak.vc/Anorak on Medium https://anorakvc.medium.com/Anorak on Twitter https://twitter.com/AnorakVenturesAnorak on LinkedIn https://www.linkedin.com/company/anorak-ventures/Greg on LinkedIn https://www.linkedin.com/in/gregorycastle/Greg on Twitter https://twitter.com/gpcastle12 Resources Greg Castle on Boost VC EP001 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2PyO3LpZD9QGreg Castle on Boost VC EP089 https://open.spotify.com/episode/6qYRcDMoemjrMHDxKONu4AOculus https://www.meta.com/quest/GOLF+ https://www.golfplusvr.com/FitXR https://fitxr.com/Neverwhere by Neil Gaiman https://www.amazon.com/Neverwhere-Novel-Neil-Gaiman-ebook/dp/B000FC130ESnow Crash by Neal Stephenson https://www.amazon.com/Snow-Crash-Novel-Neal-Stephenson-ebook/dp/B000FBJCJE/Hyperion by Dan Simmons https://www.amazon.com/Hyperion-Cantos-Book-1-ebook/dp/B004G60EHS/Neuromancer by William Gibson https://www.amazon.com/Neuromancer-Sprawl-Trilogy-William-Gibson-ebook/dp/B000O76ON6/ Breakfast with Pops: A Venture Capital Handbook by Adam Draper & William Henry Draper, III https://www.amazon.com/Breakfast-Pops-Venture-Capital-Handbook/dp/B0C1JHXTQF‘Perception Is Reality’ Presentation https://www.anorak.vc/post/perception-is-reality-8-startup-marketing-principles Connect with Boost VC Boost VC Website https://www.boost.vc/Boost VC on Facebook https://www.facebook.com/boostvc/Boost VC on Twitter https://twitter.com/BoostVCBoost VC on Instagram https://www.instagram.com/boost_vc/
Transcribe →DeepTech Series Ep # 2: Thesis Development for Deep Tech—with Seth Winterroth of Eclipse Ventures
May 21, 202300:43:53Tap to summarizeHow does a venture firm approach investments in deep technology? Seth Winterroth is Partner at Eclipse Ventures, a VC firm that partners with exceptional entrepreneurs to build companies that redefine physical industries. Seth has nine years of experience in venture capital, serving as Associate at GE Ventures before he joined the team at Eclipse. On this episode of Boost VC, Seth joins us to explore how Eclipse thinks about investing in emerging technologies, explaining how the team engages with customers and leverages internal expertise to identify high-magnitude market opportunities. Seth shares his interest in robotics, discussing why the acquisition of Kiva Systems sparked his interest in this particular deep tech field and how he identified the opportunity to invest in 6 River Systems—the first deal he led at Eclipse. Listen in for Seth’s advice to young VCs on cultivating patience and responding to chaos with calm, engaging with founders in a way that’s rational and devoid of fear. Topics Covered The thesis at Eclipse VenturesSmall teams of engineers solving hard development problemsIndustries that operate in physical world (80% of global GDP) How Seth thinks about investing in emerging technologyStart with markets, customer pain pointsFind specialist to develop n-of-1 solutionAdd traditional engineers with experience scaling technology What gets Seth excited about roboticsKiva Systems acquisition by Amazon sparked interestSaw market trends driving adoption of autonomous systems The success of Seth’s first investment at Eclipse, 6 River SystemsRobotics company in supply chain logisticsAcquired for $500M by Shopify in 2019 How Seth identified the opportunity to invest in 6 River SystemsIdeal team profile and product differentiationGap in market to replace Kiva Systems Eclipse’s institutional process of thesis developmentEngage with customers, purchasing decision-makersInternal engineering expertise to identify gaps Eclipse’s internal venture equity programCases where did research but didn’t find right opportunity Engineer storm vs. wait for lightning to strike What Eclipse does to win dealsBuild relationships with foundersProvide evidence of value-added capital The part of a deal Seth is most excited aboutFind high-magnitude market opportunity to match worldviewGo to partners with conviction and say THIS ONE What Seth would tell his 25-year-old selfBe patient, don’t rush to have track record in ventureRespond to chaos with calm, be rational and devoid of fear What differentiates Eclipse from other venture firmsTackle category of economy traditional VCs shy away fromDeep involvement with companies to improve odds Seth’s biggest accomplishments before age 20Live on own and travel worldSpend meaningful time with and learn from grandfather Connect with Seth Winterroth Eclipse Ventures https://eclipse.vc/Eclipse on LinkedIn https://www.linkedin.com/company/eclipse-vc/Eclipse on Twitter https://twitter.com/eclipseventures Seth on Twitter https://twitter.com/SethwinterrothSeth on LinkedIn https://www.linkedin.com/in/sethwinterroth/ Resources Kiva Systems Acquisition https://techcrunch.com/2012/03/19/amazon-acquires-online-fulfillment-company-kiva-systems-for-775-million-in-cash/Willow Garage https://www.businessinsider.com/a-look-back-at-willow-garage-2016-2DARPA Grand Challenge https://www.darpa.mil/about-us/timeline/-grand-challenge-for-autonomous-vehicles6 River Systems https://6river.com/Bright Machines https://www.brightmachines.com/BrightInsight https://brightinsight.com/Foxglove Studio https://foxglove.dev/Kevin Kelly’s Blog ‘You Are Not Late’ https://medium.com/message/you-are-not-late-b3d76f963142Richard Hamming’s Talk ‘You and Your Research’ https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=a1zDuOPkMSwTeam of Rivals: The Political Genius of Abraham Lincoln by Doris Kearns Goodwin https://www.amazon.com/Team-Rivals-Political-Abraham-Lincoln/dp/0743270754Lincoln https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0443272/ Connect with Boost VC Boost VC Website https://www.boost.vc/Boost VC on Facebook https://www.facebook.com/boostvc/Boost VC on Twitter https://twitter.com/BoostVCBoost VC on Instagram https://www.instagram.com/boost_vc/
Transcribe →DeepTech Series Ep # 1: Making Global-Scale Impact Through Deep Tech—with Ian Rountree of Cantos
May 15, 202300:41:09Tap to summarizeWhat inspires a venture firm to focus on deep tech? Ian Rountree is Founder and General Partner at Cantos, a venture fund that invests in potentially world-changing deep tech startups. Cantos focuses on hardware and bio investing at the intersection of climate and industrials, life sciences and AI, aerospace and defense, and next-generation computing. On this episode of Boost VC, Ian joins us to share his definition of deep tech and explain why he underwrites technical risk rather than market risk. Ian discusses the value of founder empathy, challenging VCs to see the entrepreneur as their customer and LPs as shareholders in the portfolio. Listen in to understand what drives Ian to make a global-scale impact, backing founders who tackle climate change, disease, armed conflict, poverty and existential risk. Topics Covered Ian’s biggest accomplishment before age 20Getting Vanderbilt to accept him off waitlist Refused to take NO as answer Ian’s take on who is the customer in venture capitalFounder = customerLP = shareholder What inspired Ian to focus on deep techTackle big problems, e.g.: climate change, povertyDeep tech startups outperformed rest of portfolio How losing his father early informs Ian’s workFeels hard deadline to career and lifeWants to play small role in changing world The criteria Ian uses to decide if a startup is ‘important’Nonzero chance of global-scale impactTackles climate, disease, armed conflict or poverty How Ian defines deep techTaking technical risk rather than market riskCantos specializes in hardware and bio investing How Ian thinks about growing the Cantos organizationFrom solo GP to 4 equal partners‘Fire’ himself by age 55 What’s behind Benchmark’s equal partnership structureSet up for generational turnover from jumpMay also be consequence of early success Why a deep tech VC doesn’t need to be technicalAsk expert if violation of physics involvedStartups that change world challenge status quo What differentiates software investing from deep techSoftware involves market risk, easy to pivotDeep tech involves technical risk, hard to pivot Ian’s diligence criteriaSize of market, potential margins at scaleFounder who understands their WHY Connect with Ian Rountree Cantos https://cantos.vc/Cantos on Twitter https://twitter.com/cantosIan on Twitter https://twitter.com/ianrountreeIan on LinkedIn https://www.linkedin.com/in/ianrountree/Near Frontier Podcast https://nearfrontier.castos.com/ Resources Fred Wilson’s Blog ‘The VC’s Customer’ https://avc.com/2005/11/the_vcs_custome/Fred Wilson’s Blog ‘The VC’s Customer (Continued)’ https://avc.com/2009/07/the-vcs-customer-continued/Radiant https://www.radiantnuclear.com/Tim Urban’s TED Talk on Procrastination https://www.ted.com/talks/tim_urban_inside_the_mind_of_a_master_procrastinator/cBenchmark https://www.benchmark.com/eBoys: The First Inside Account of Venture Capitalists at Work by Randall E. Stross https://www.amazon.com/eBoys-Inside-Account-Venture-Capitalists/dp/0812930959Benchmark Part I on the Acquired Podcast https://www.acquired.fm/episodes/benchmark-capitalBenchmark Part II on the Acquired Podcast https://www.acquired.fm/episodes/benchmark-part-ii-the-dinnerUnion Square Ventures https://www.usv.com/Cerebras https://www.cerebras.net/Eric Vishria on Twitter https://twitter.com/ericvishria Connect with Boost VC Boost VC Website https://www.boost.vc/Boost VC on Facebook https://www.facebook.com/boostvc/Boost VC on Twitter https://twitter.com/BoostVCBoost VC on Instagram https://www.instagram.com/boost_vc/
Transcribe →DeSci Ep # 7: How DeSci Bridges Academia and the Startup World—with Niklas Rindtorff of LabDAO
Dec 13, 202200:38:07Tap to summarizeMany independently minded, young scientists are too ambitious for academia… But the startup world isn’t quite right for them either. How might decentralized science provide a space for these innovators to do their work? Niklas Rindtorff is the classical scientist behind LabDAO, an online home for inventors that builds open tools for scientific research. Niklas coauthored his first paper before the age of 20, and he has expertise in CRISPR and cancer research. On this episode of Boost VC, Niklas joins us to explain how classical science emerged after World War II and explore the problems with the NIH grant funding process. Niklas shares his open-access approach to consuming scientific media and describes how DeSci is experimenting with different ways to measures the importance of new science. Listen in to understand how decentralized science can serve as the bridge between research organizations and science startups, building an ecosystem for inventors who don’t fit into the nonprofit or for-profit world. Topics Covered How Niklas defines scienceFormal knowledge generation processFishing at edge of what is known How World War II changed the way we do scienceConflict won because of US sophisticated techNIH funding created class of full-time scientistsSystem doesn’t always maximize progress How the importance of new science is determinedMeasured by citations vs. marketsDeSci experiments with different accounting How Niklas consumes scientific mediaUsed to use few free, open-access journalsNow leverage Twitter bookmarks, preprints What LabDAO does for scientistsProvide tools to work wherever they areCurrent focus on computational biology What inspired Niklas to build LabDAOExperience with inventions stuck in bureaucracyMeasure number of patients treated vs. citations The age distribution of NIH grant recipientsAges with scientists who were firstNo market discipline, don’t answer to public How we might equalize the demographic of NIH winnersCreate more NIHsPrivate funding agency with philanthropic match How we might invest in a portfolio of scienceCharge higher fee to run research-oriented fundOnline collectives do research sponsorships How LabDAO itself is fundedNonprofit governed by tokenPrivate investors buy token for stake on projects The relationship between academia and DeSciConnective tissue among existing organizationsInventors who don’t fit in academia or startups Niklas’ definition of successStrive toward personal valuesInvent cool stuff Connect with Niklas RIndtorff LabDAO https://www.labdao.xyz/LabDAO on Discord https://discord.com/invite/labdaoLabDAO on GitHub https://github.com/labdaoLabDAO on Snapshot https://snapshot.org/#/labdao.ethLabDAO on Medium https://medium.com/@labdaoLabDAO on Twitter https://twitter.com/lab_daoNiklas on Twitter https://twitter.com/niklas_tr Resources Broad Institute https://www.broadinstitute.org/‘Science the Endless Frontier’ 1945 Report to Congress https://www.nsf.gov/od/lpa/nsf50/vbush1945.htmNational Institutes of Health https://www.nih.gov/Public Library of Science https://plos.org/bioRxiv https://www.biorxiv.org/New Science https://newscience.org/VitaDAO https://www.vitadao.com/ Connect with Boost VC Boost VC Website https://www.boost.vc/Boost VC on Facebook https://www.facebook.com/boostvc/Boost VC on Twitter https://twitter.com/BoostVCBoost VC on Instagram https://www.instagram.com/boost_vc/
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