Series F - Issue #2: The Future of Venture Capital

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šŸ‘‹šŸ» Thanks for joining us for our second edition, looks like we'll be securing that Partner meeting so
Revue
March 26 - Issue #2

Series F

The Future of Venture Capital

šŸ‘‹šŸ» Thanks for joining us for our second edition, looks like we’ll be securing that Partner meeting soon.
With not one single unsubscribe from our first edition, our customer retention rate is through the roof. šŸ“ˆ

Now we’re moving our attentions to our CAC, help me keep it low by forwarding this to a colleague or sharing on social media šŸ™šŸ»

Raising the Ratio šŸ™‹šŸ¾
In YC’s Winter 2017 batch 8.6% of the companies had a black founder, with 4.3% of the startups having a Latinx founder. Despite being a low %, this is an improvement on recent batches, with diversity something that Sam Altman has specifically stated as a strong focus for YC right now ~>Ā Y Combinator’s quest for diversityĀ 
Costanoa Ventures have started a fellowship to help women take their first steps in venture capital ~>Ā Costanoa Access Fellowship
Depressing stats on how all male founders raised more than 50x more VC money than women in 2016 ~>Ā Venture Capital’s funding gender gap is actually getting worse
Interesting read on the struggles that came with pitching a female-focused product to a male dominated industry ~>Ā Ida Tin’s battle to build Clue, a period-tracking app
Damien Hooper-Campbell shares how he believes we can humanise diversity and inclusion in tech ~>Ā eBay’s first Chief Diversity Officer on humanizing diversity and inclusion
Emerging Markets šŸŒ
Abdulrahman Tarabzouni is back in his native Saudi Arabia with a mission to bring the country’s national phone carrier, Saudi Telecom Co., into technology investing ~>Ā Ex-Google Executive wants Saudi Telecom to be the next Softbank
Square Peg Capital has officially closed on a $US180 million raise for its first fund, in another sign of the revival of the venture capital asset class in Australia ~>Ā Square Peg has $US180m to invest in tech start-upsĀ as 500 Startups also sense the opportunity down-under ~>Ā Silicon Valley accelerator 500 Startups launches in Melbourne
The London-based accelerator showcased the 12 startups of its inaugural Singapore cohort in an Investor Day at the Google APAC headquarters ~>Ā Entrepreneur First unveils the 12 startups of its inaugural Singapore cohort
Upsetting the apple cart šŸŽ
Fight for the Future is an organisation offering to fund activism with $15,000 for one month’s backing of a project that makes a positive impact on the world’s future ~>Ā Terrified about Trump? Quit your job, start an A-Team. We’ll fund it.Ā 
Family offices making acquisitions asĀ Providence Equity sells scuba certifier PADI for $700 million
Vertically speaking ā™Øļø
Right now, there are multiple sectors that you could make a strong case for ā€œbeing the next internetā€. As an investor, should you be a generalist and try and keep track of all of them, or should you pick one now and double down? This is a great post from Stefano Bernadi on ~>Ā The accelerating pace of innovation and what it means for startup investors
Y Combinator Partner Daniel Gross announced that the accelerator-turned-venture-fund will offer its first ā€œverticalā€ track ~>Ā Y Combinator has a new AI track, and wants startups building ā€˜robot factory’ tech to apply
Subscriber Nathan Benaich’s excellent presentation on the AI opportunity ~> So, you want to found an AI startup?
Compelling Visions šŸ”®
Build karma, be an altruist ~>Ā VC attitude: Altruism by default
How should companies think about strategy in a world awash in money ~>Ā Strategy in the age of superabundant capital
Know more about your space than anyone else - and prove it constantly ~> Why Venture Capitalists don’t do marketing like the rest of us
Steve Schlafman, a VC in NYC with RRE Ventures elaborates on why he is in VC ~>Ā Why I Invest
A timely reminder for those of us who deal in the long-term ~>Ā Everything always takes longer than you think
Substituting debt for growth equity is a risky bet but doesn’t mean it shouldn’t be done, Fred Wilson explains ~>Ā Using debt like growth equity
There’s an easier way to sell companies ~>Ā The Berkshire Hathaway of the internet
Figuring out theĀ Return The Fund (RTF) percentage ~>Ā Why your startup idea isn’t big enough for some VCs
Practical lessons from 3 years of putting capital to work ~>Ā The Future of family office investing
Always Be Closing šŸ“•
Thanks to everyone who provided me with feedback following the first edition last week, I implemented a lot of it into this issue.
A couple of you asked me the best way to bring posts to my attention (either by yourself or by others), so here is a reminder of my email: neil@thenordicweb.com and Twitter: @neilswmurray
Have a great Sunday and don’t forget to help me with my CAC (I really should see a doctor about that…) 😜
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