Welcome to The AFT podcast: At the Forefront of Transactions | Previously known as Fundraising Radio.!

Episodes

July 9, 2021

Fundraising rules and content generation. Mark Peter Davis

Mark Peter Davis Managing Partner at Interplay Ventures, podcast host at Innovation with Mark Peter Davis and an author of The Fundraising Rules talks about the fundraising rules, the lessons he learned from being a VC. We also spoke about who should try to create content and in what form this cont…

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July 1, 2021

Indicators of future growth. By Duane Good

Duane Good , Co-founder & President at Tribal Credit talks about some of the indicators of the future growth in companies, red flags that can be spotted in metrics of a company and how Tribal credit raised $43 million. Duane'...

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June 26, 2021

Joining an accelerator after selling a company. By Dana Loberg

Dana Loberg, Founder of Leo AR, co-founder of MojiLaLa and previously the co-founder of MovieLaLa that was acquired by Gifycat talks about her story of acquisition and the launch of a new company. We also spoke about who should join the accelerator and does it make sense to join an accelerator if y…

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June 24, 2021

Climate tech in Europe and US. By Heidi Lindvall

Heidi Lindvall, General Partner at Pale Blue Dot talks about investing in ClimateTech startups in Europe and US and about the major differences between startups in the US and Europe. We spoke about some successful exits in climate-tech and how founders get there and much more useful stuff that I fo…

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June 19, 2021

Investing in startups since 1999 and talking about the major changes …

Mike Dowdle, Founding Partner at Circadian Ventures shares his 22+ years of experience in the VC space, explains how it changed in the past decades and how it affects startup founders who are trying to raise. We also discussed the differences between funds, syndicates and solo angels as sources of …

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June 17, 2021

B-corps and when startup founders should work with lawyers instead of…

Shayn Fernandez , Corporate Attorney at Rockridge Venture Law talks about the use of the "B-corp" signature and how to obtain one and if it's even worth it obtaining it. We also discussed how startup founders should interact ...

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June 11, 2021

Working at big corporations VS working at startups with less than 20 …

Mayank Sanganeria, software engineer at Instagram talks about his experience at Instagram and at smaller startups. We discussed how can an early stage startup attract a veteran software engineer like Mayank without going broke and how they should reach out. Mayank also talked about some of the best…

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June 7, 2021

Spotting a Unicorn: Vik Sasi on Being One of the Earliest Investors i…

Vik Sasi, Partner at Dreamers VC—co-founded by Will Smith—talks about spotting unicorns, the epic takeoff of Clubhouse and about the ways founders can be sure that investors see their venture as a future unicorn. We also spoke about partnering up with celebrities (such as Will Smith) while being a …

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June 3, 2021

Getting Started in Startups and Reaching an Acquisition - Eddy Badrin…

Eddy Badrina, CEO of Eden Green, previously the Co-founder of Buzzshift talks about his transition to the startup world and the major lessons he learned along the way. We speak about his first time fundraising and some mistakes that Eddy made. We also speak about the acquisition of Buzzshift and ho…

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May 30, 2021

Startups in LatAm—How are LatAm Startups Different From Those in The …

Brian York, Co-Founder & CEO at Cubbo, and Founder and GP at Bassin Ventures talks about Latin America and how it differs from the U.S. startup ecosystem. We also talk about exits from LatAm and Brian shares his advice to founders trying to expand their network in a new country.

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May 26, 2021

Content Generation: What Does it Take and Who Should Try it? With Amo…

Amos Schwartzfarb, Managing Director at Techstars and Trevor Boehm, Venture Partner at Saturn Five, co-authors of LEVERS - The Framework For Building Repeatability into Your Business talk about writing a book together and their motivation behind it. We also talk about content generation in general …

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May 23, 2021

First-Time Founders—How To Give Investors the Right Signals - With Al…

Alex Luce, Partner at Creative Ventures, talks about investing in first-time founders, the mistakes they tend to make and the green flags that they can show investors. We also touch on some major red flags that Alex sees and how those can be avoided.

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May 19, 2021

Investing in impact startups: Claudine Emeott Discusses Salesforce Im…

Claudine Emeott, Senior Director at Salesforce Impact Fund talks about investing in impact startups and what qualifies one. We narrow in on what founders of impact startups should and shouldn’t do to benefit the most from their unique position.

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May 14, 2021

Investing in Apps since the First iPhone was Released - With Benjamin…

Benjamin Narasin, Venture Partner at New Enterprise Associates talks about changes he’s seen in the VC space over the last decade+, and about the process of taking one of his companies public. We also discussed alternatives to the pitch decks and ways founders can speed up their fundraising process.

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May 11, 2021

Proptech: Investing in Rent-tech Startups - With John Helm.

John Helm, Managing Director at Real Estate Technology Ventures talks about investing in proptech, and details the emerging market of rent-tech. John spoke about the future of this field and where he sees rent-tech going in the U.S. as the pandemic reaches its end. We also spoke about the two compa…

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May 7, 2021

Making a Career Pivot Smoothly: Lee Greene of Stairway to CEO and Wea…

Lee Greene, former founder and CEO of WearAway and current creator & host of the Stairway to CEO podcast talks about making the pivot from startups to airwaves. We also spoke about the acquisition of WearAway and the company got to that point.

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May 5, 2021

Landing BIG customers while being a small startup - story of Telesign…

Stacy Stubblefield, Co-Founder and CIO at TeleSign that was acquired by BICS in 2017 talks about them lending their first large customers and that leading to a chain reaction that brought even more large customers. We spoke about marketing your startup by implying what large customer you are workin…

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May 3, 2021

Fundraising Without Pitching—Why Not? A New Way to Raise Money: CAFE.…

Thibauld Favre, co-founder and CEO of Fairmint talks about a new way to raise money from your customers on an ongoing basis. CAFE stands for Continuous Agreement for Future Equity—continuous being the key word—and this new form of fundraising is on the rise.

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April 28, 2021

Choosing Between Small Law Firms, Big Ones, and Automated Alternative…

Anil Advani, founder and managing partner at Inventus Law and founding member and legal advisor at Excelerate talks about choosing the legal support that best suits your startup. We compare pricing of small and big law firms and some automated software that can help startups avoid working with lawy…

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April 26, 2021

Corinne Riley on the Importance of an Investment Thesis

Corinne Riley, Investor at Greylock talks about how an investment thesis strengthens a VC fund and a founder’s ability to pitch to that fund effectively. We discuss how much time you should spend trying to fit into an investment thesis and if you can expect a fund to make an exception to their thes…

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April 23, 2021

Validation Capital—What is it, and Who Needs it? - With Emily Zheng

Emily Zheng, Growth Investor at Brookfield Technology Partners, Proptech Vertical lead at EVCA and Board member at Nittany Lion Fund talks about what validation capital is and what it means to raise validation capital. We also discuss late-stage investing and the difference between growth investing…

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April 21, 2021

“Broccoli in your teeth” How Do You Choose the Right Partners? - With…

Andrew Unger, Founder and Managing Partner at High Slope and Co-Founder of Better.com talks about early-stage fundraising, and how Better.com has managed to raise so much money. Andrew also speaks about finding the right partners for your venture and what qualifies a good partner.

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April 19, 2021

Venture Debt, the Los Angeles Ecosystem, and Big vs. Small Firms in E…

Petra Griffith, Founder & Managing Director at Wedbush Ventures talks about venture debt as an alternative to venture capital, key resources that founders can utilize in their ecosystem, and about Wedbush and what they invest in. Petra also explains staying ‘focused on the product’ and her own expe…

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April 16, 2021

Selling his Company, Starting a New One, and Becoming an Investor - A…

Armando Biondi is the Co-founder and CEO at BreadcrumbsIO and has invested in 150+ startups. Previously he served as Co-founder and COO of AdEspresso which has since been acquired by Hootsuite. In this episode he spoke about his experience with AdEspresso and how his approach to building a company …

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