1Mby1M Virtual Accelerator AI Investor Forum: Yanev Suissa, SineWave Ventures (Part 1)

Yanev Suissa, Managing Partner and Founder at SineWave Ventures, discusses changes in Venture Capital and his firm’s investment thesis.

Sramana Mitra: We’re going to start with Yanev Suissa from SineWave Ventures. Yanev has been here before. Attendees who come regularly know that we often have investor guests who provide context and overviews of what’s happening in the industry, as well as mentor entrepreneurs with me. Yanev, welcome back. Great to see you again and looking forward to the discussion.

Yanev Suissa: It’s good to see you too. I’m excited.

Sramana Mitra: All right. Tell me what’s been going on and how you’re interpreting what’s happening around us.

Yanev Suissa: Things are moving much faster these days. Startups are growing faster. Business needs are changing faster. Tech is moving faster. Outcomes are bigger, which is exciting. The venture industry and the tech industry have both changed significantly. We’re very thesis-driven at SineWave, and our thesis has been consistent, so I’m happy about that. We’ll stay focused on what’s new and coming down the pipeline.

Sramana Mitra: Let me start double-clicking on that overview. First, how do you see changes in the venture capital industry? How is venture changing?

Yanev Suissa: We’ve always had the big funds—Andreessen, Greylock, Accel, Sequoia. I came from NEA before starting SineWave. These funds have become less like venture funds and more like asset managers. General Catalyst even filed as an asset manager recently. They’re taking in large amounts of capital and deploying it quickly—$10 to $15 billion funds invested in a year or two at very high prices. They’re looking for more moderate returns, not alpha. They’re serving pension funds looking for 10% returns.

Then you have funds like ours, focused on thesis, price discipline, and driving big outcomes. The ecosystem is shifting—who the true venture players are is changing. But those big firms will always be around the table.

Sramana Mitra: What is your fund size right now?

Yanev Suissa: We manage about half a billion in assets. Our current fund is $160 million, and we invest from that along with a $250 million opportunity vehicle.

Sramana Mitra: We’ve talked about your fund size and the very large funds. How do you view the lower end of the spectrum? The market is full of solo GPs and small funds—$10 million, $25 million, sub-$50 million. How do you see them, and what’s changing in their world?

Yanev Suissa: I think many people are excited about venture and coming in with expertise, trying to invest thoughtfully. But if you look at the market, it’s very hard to do a Series A today. That stage is difficult because valuations are high with few proof points.

Seed and pre-seed—where the smaller funds operate—are attractive because you can invest at reasonable prices and earlier stages. Those funds—$25 to $50 million, often run by solo GPs—bring expertise or strong networks in specific areas.

Then you have medium-sized funds like ours. We still do early-stage when it fits our thesis, but we’re also doing later A, B, or C rounds. At those stages you can see momentum, and those deals are powerful in a fast-changing environment.

Sramana Mitra: Another major development is that entrepreneurs are bootstrapping effectively and very early, with no outside capital. They’re showing serious traction and fast growth. When founders like that enter a fundraising process, valuations are extremely high.

Yanev Suissa: That’s true, but I’d argue many of those valuations are extremely high—sometimes ridiculously high. One rule in venture is that when you get ahead of yourself on valuation, it always comes back to bite you. I’ve never seen it not happen.

One Million by One Million (1Mby1M) is the first global virtual accelerator in the world, founded in 2010 by Silicon Valley serial Entrepreneur Sramana Mitra. It offers a fully online entrepreneurship incubation, acceleration and education resource for solo entrepreneurs and bootstrapped founders working on tech and tech-enabled services ventures. 1Mby1M does not charge equity, offers an AI Mentor available 24/7 in 57 languages, and offers a compelling alternative to Y Combinator and other equity accelerators.

The Accelerator Conundrum is a multipart series that challenges the prevailing wisdom of the tech startup ecosystem that entrepreneurs should Blitzscale out of the gate. Written by Sramana Mitra, the Founder and CEO of One Million by One Million (1Mby1M), the world’s first global virtual accelerator, it emphatically argues that a better strategy is to Bootstrap First, Raise Money Later, focus on customers, revenues and profits. 1Mby1M’s mission is to help a Million entrepreneurs reach a million dollars in annual revenue and beyond. Sramana’s Digital Mind AI Mentor virtually mentors entrepreneurs around the world in 57 languages. Try it out!

This segment is part 1 in the series : 1Mby1M Virtual Accelerator AI Investor Forum: Yanev Suissa, SineWave Ventures
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