What’s Inside Why the role of platform teams in VC is getting more strategic How AI is changing startups and venture firms What founders should ask before taking an investor’s money Venture firms have long offered more than just checks, but the rise of platform roles in the last decade+ has turned that “extra” into […]
What’s Inside The growing role of marketing in venture Why AI is helpful but is not a replacement for real storytelling What still works in a noisy content landscape Talking about venture, PR and content in a hotel cafe. Not long ago, I met up with Matthew Quint and Patrick Whitmarsh at a hotel café […]
What’s Inside Why AI needs to do more than just filter content for kids How AngelQ is building protective agents for online safety What Tim Estes learned from tackling child trafficking at scale In this episode of The AI Cognitive Shift, I talk with Tim Estes, founder of AngelQ, about why kids are at increasing […]
Thoughtful leadership and being purposeful with decision-making were recurring themes at the Euda Roundtable. I recently moderated a panel at the Euda Roundtable, an off-the-record gathering of founders and investors hosted at San Jose State University, in partnership with SJSU SpartUp! By the way, SJSU is my alma mater. We covered a lot during the […]
Providing platform services used to be a nice-to-have at VC firms. Now it’s a must-have strategic edge. In this episode of The Venture Variety Show, I talk with Cherae Robinson, Head of Platform and Marketing at Flybridge, about what founders actually want from their investors and how platform roles are shifting to meet that need. […]
Spotlight the team in pitch decks. Investors are watching and asking questions. I’ve covered venture capital since the mid-1990s — before Netscape went public — and one thing hasn’t changed: investors back people. Sure, markets shift. Technologies evolve. Buzzwords come and go. RIP “Web 2.0.” But when it comes to raising early-stage financing, the single […]
The internet is noisier than ever. AI-generated content is everywhere. But when someone shares a real and thoughtful story from experience, it can still cut through the noise. That’s what we talked about in this episode of The Venture Variety Show with Tony Stubblebine, CEO of Medium. Tony’s seen the writing platform world evolve, from […]
As AI transforms how software is designed, delivered, and deployed, a new generation of tools is emerging to power what comes next. Much of the money flooding into AI has gone to chatbots, copilots and eye-catching applications. But behind the demos, a different race is unfolding: Who will build the infrastructure that makes the AI […]
There’s been no shortage of headlines about AI replacing jobs, building leaner companies, or the mythical one-person startup valued at $1 billion. But the more interesting story happening inside companies today is more complicated and far more compelling. Founders aren’t just adopting AI agents. They’re rethinking how teams are structured entirely. Silos are breaking down. […]
The venture landscape keeps evolving. And increasingly, the people launching funds are building them with the same entrepreneurial mindset as the startups they back. As Braughm Ricke, founder and CEO of Aduro Advisors, explains: “These are naturally entrepreneurial people investing in entrepreneurial people. Building a firm is very much a startup in and of itself.” […]
