Sramana Mitra: Well, I think what you’re seeing around the world is a lot of concept arbitrage; concepts that have been tried in different places are being applied to different markets.
Then you have big categories like cyber security that have been very active fund draws for a very long time, so there’re a very large number of cyber security companies out there. AI is the new attraction area for investors. So now, there aren’t that many wide open opportunities, so there are several niche opportunities. I’m very much in favor of niche opportunities. You can build very nice businesses for small amounts of capital around these niche opportunities, and I think those are very interesting opportunities. >>>
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Responding to a popular request, we are now sharing transcripts of our investor podcast interviews in this new series. The following interview with Amir Banifatemi was recorded in October 2017.
Amir Banifatemi is the Founder and Managing Partner of K5 Ventures, a fund focused on pre-seed, seed, post-seed, and early-stage investments from Southern California. Amir is also a Board Member and former President of Tech Coast Angels, a group of 340 angel investors from Southern California.
John Frankel, Partner at ff Venture Capital, discusses the firm’s investment thesis as well as key trends in the industry.
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Mohit Gulati, Founder and CIO of Altius Ventures, which recently changed their name to ITI Growth Ventures, discusses the Indian startup eco-system.
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Alastair Mitchell, Partner at EQT Ventures, talks about the European Startup Funding trends.
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Eva Ho, General Partner at Fika Ventures, discusses their investment thesis.
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During this week’s roundtable, we had as our guest John Frankel, Partner at ff Venture Capital, and we discussed that firm’s investment thesis as well as key trends in the industry.
Genneve
As for the pitches, first, Jill Angelo from Seattle, Washington, pitched Genneve, a well thought-through Web 3.0 concept for middle-aged women and their healthcare needs. It has elements of Content, Community, Commerce, and Personalization. The company is already in revenue.
If you are an entrepreneur looking for capital to fund your startup venture, you can start by prioritizing a list of qualities you are looking for in an investor as you search for your perfect match (or matches). Over the past few months, I’ve asked dozens of VCs and Angel investors the questions entrepreneurs should be considering while researching investors: What types of ventures are you focusing on? Industry sector? B-to-B/B-to-C? Stage? How big is your fund? What size investments do you make? Geography preferences? Current portfolio? Since investors are also looking for their perfect matches, you will find they are quite candid and specific in answering these questions as you listen to my most recent investor conversations, shared below as 30-minute podcast interviews. Follow along carefully to the conversations to first determine whether or not your venture is in fact ready for financing.
Ken Elefant, Managing Director, Sorenson Capital, discusses at length the investment thesis of his firm.
Greg Sands, Founder and Managing Director, Costanoa Ventures, shares his investment focus.
Raj Singh, Founder and Executive Director, Singh Ventures, offers a window into his firm’s investment thesis.
Anirudh Suri, Founding Partner, India Internet Fund, about the funding trends in the Indian startup market.
Photo credit: www.SeniorLiving.Org/Ken Teegardin/Flickr.com.