Leo Polovets: Think Seed Like Susa Ventures

This week we’re having tea with Nick Tommarello, founder and CEO at Wefunder, a crowdfunding platform that allows anyone—customers, users, fans—to invest as little as $100 in companies they love. Nick is an alumni of Y Combinator (W13) and Techstars (Boston '10). In this episode, Nick and Immad discuss:How the law changed on crowdfunding optionsWhy founders might choose to raise funds on WefunderThe benefits of having distributed ownershipThe future of Wefunder and crowdfundingLinks:Nick TommarelloWefunder

Join Immad Akhund with Pilot CEO and Co-founder, Waseem Daher, and Ramp's Chief Business Officer, Colin Kennedy, as they discuss the acquisition process for startups.

This week we’re having tea with Mike Miller and Michael Ma, Partners at Liquid 2 Ventures. Before joining Liquid 2, Mike founded Cloudant (now IBM’s Cloud Data Services) and raised $18M before getting acquired by IBM. Michael Ma was the COO & Founder of TalkBin, acquired by Google, and then served as a Product Manager for Google. In this episode, Mike and Michael share: - Areas they’re excited about investing in - What Liquid 2 looks for in a great team - The most common mistakes founders make when pitching

This week we’re having tea with Leo Polovets, co-founder and General Partner at Susa Ventures. Before joining Susa Ventures, Leo was the second engineering hire at LinkedIn and built the first versions of products like LinkedIn Jobs and LinkedIn Groups. In this episode, Leo shares: 06:50: Tips for sending a cold intro 18:44: How founders can think about and pitch valuations 50:29: If seed-stage founders should pay themselves a salary

This week we’re having tea with Scott Orn, COO at Kruze Consulting, a startup CFO consulting firm. Prior to joining Kruze, where he runs the Venture Debt consulting practice, Scott was a Partner at Lighthouse Capital and has been part of deals like Upwork, Impossible Foods, and Freshbooks.

This week we’re having tea with Alex Bouaziz, Founder of Deel. Prior to founding Deel, Alex Bouaziz was Founding Partner at Sarona Ventures and Co-founder at Lifeslice, a mobile app for creating collaborative videos. In this episode, Alex shares: 03:50: How to create serendipity between remote employees 14:20: Choosing between independent contractors vs. salaried employees 18:40: How to think about cost-of-living and salary adjustments Want to hear more? Like the episode? Send us a note at [email protected].

This conversation was recorded live on Clubhouse. In this episode, Kanyi and Steve share:- How many companies Kindred invests in per year- What makes a cold email stand out- If Kindred invests in companies from other countries Want to hear more? Like the episode? Send us a note at [email protected].

This conversation was recorded live on Zoom. In this episode, Sahil shares:- Should CEOs be running funds on the side?- Is there a base level qualification you need before you’re ready to start a rolling fund?- What is a syndicate? Do they work alongside rolling funds?-  How Sahil thinks about warm intros vs cold outreachWant to hear more? Like the episode? Send us a note at [email protected].

This conversation was recorded live on Zoom. In this episode, Jamie shares:- Mistakes founders make when thinking about growth- The best process for experimenting with a new channel- How to approach growth for products with a high learning curve- Attributes to look for in a good growth hireWant to hear more? Like the episode? Send us a note at [email protected].

This conversation was recorded live on Clubhouse. In this episode, Hunter and Satya share:20:14: Should entrepreneurs favor more involved lead investors?29:01: How to pitch Homebrew: cold emails vs lukewarm intros 49:33: Is equity crowdfunding a turnoff to future investors? Want to hear more? Like the episode? Send us a note at [email protected].