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Great discussion about next gen robotics and next gen bioscience with Gil Demeter from Pontifax AgTech.  With over $465M in AUM, Pontifax is one of the largest food and agtech funds in the world.

Lux invests in emerging science and technology ventures at the outermost edges of what is possible. Lux will write $10- 15M checks and they are not afraid to invest pre-product and sometimes pre-company.   Shahin has fascinating insight on automation, autonomous cars, AI and more.

When we started this podcast people asked if we'd run out of guests after a year of weekly episodes with LA VCs.  Not even close.   Hope you enjoy a few highlights from LA venture and hope we get to see more of each other in 2021!

Tracy shares insights on manufacturing, why exports matter, industry 4.0, and the state of diversity in venture today.

Scott has invested in Uber, Facebook, Slack, Square, Robinhood and others... there was probably more than 30 mins worth of stuff I could have learned. Before starting ACME, Scott was the co-founder of Sherpa Capital and before that he was head of Internet investment banking at Goldman Sachs.     And now proudly part of the LA venture community!

If you have any questions if debt can help your startup, feel free to give Dan Zinn a call. Dan's firm, Rivonia Road, provides a much more bespoke solution than traditional venture debt.   We also talk about how Dan built a billion dollar hedge fund and XPRS, a small business lender.

Nicole Quinn says "you can't be called Lightspeed and move slowly" and explains how they can get a term sheet done in 2-3 days. Lots of insights on building an enduring brand that are applicable whether you are in the consumer space, or building an insurance company.

Marcos Gonzalez is the managing partner at Vamos Ventures, a seed-stage venture fund investing in Hispanic and diverse founders.     Over half of LA county is Hispanic. Seems like a great time to be investing in this community! 

Great discussion with Arjan Schutte about democratizing prosperity and running Core Innovation Capital, a finTech fund that measures its impact on society and has invested in Ripple, NerdWallet, Synapse, Fundera and more.

Mark Suster from Upfront explains why the best time to talk to founders about fundraising is 3-4 months after their last fundraise.     He was kind enough to share that framework and others this week on LAV.   #longla

One of my new favorite LA investors, Petra Griffith, joins to discuss Wedbush Ventures.  Petra talks about starting a new fund, how she's seen venture debt work well as non-dilutive funding, and lessons on the content business from Netflix and Yahoo.

Bruce's new $100M fund, Miramar Digital Ventures II, invests early in software and data.  He explains why many VCs have gone back to preferring notes over SAFEs, and other insights on deal preferences and construction.

Lots of insights on equity crowdfunding today from Buck Jordan.  He's raising $50-100k/day (mostly on SeedInvest) for the cool robotics and food companies coming out of WaveMaker Labs. He also has great insights on corporate innovation and how seed stage companies can take advantage of corporate partners.

This is a pre-election must listen.  Andrew Glazier is the CEO of Defy Ventures and runs an incredible entrepreneurship program for incarcerated entrepreneurs. We talk about developing an entrepreneurial mindset and the need for criminal justice reform.

We talk with Jim Andelman about Bonfire's new $100M Fund II, the great team additions (Jennifer Richard, Tyler Churchill, Brett Queener), what good traction looks like nowadays, and a couple great resources on tech.

Super interesting guest (and person), Z Holly talks about university innovation, LA manufacturing, gracious professionalism, the LA River, and a parachute malfunction while skydiving...!  

Mark is a leading B2B investor and on the board of Scopely, Icertis and more.  He shares his current investment theses and explains how Greycroft operates as a seed to growth stage venture fund.

I deeply appreciate David's approach to life and work. He founded FreeFlow to invest in startups coming out of Caltech that have the potential to improve our world.

Brian Schwartz is a hub of LA startup deals, a scout for Canaan Partners, the founder of SIZE advisors, SIZE capital, and an advisor to unicorn startup goPuff.

Javelin's Alex Gurevich talks with us about investing in Masterclass, Thumbtack, Mythical Games and more.  Alex also tells us why VCs should be getting performance reviews from their founders.