Venture Unlocked: The playbook for venture capital managers

Mar 05 2025 148 ep. 44 mins 115
Venture Unlocked: The playbook for venture capital managers Podcast artwork

Venture Unlocked is the playbook for starting, operating, & scaling a successful venture capital firm. Samir Kaji, Host of Venture Unlocked has +20-years of experience assisting & advising startups and venture firms. Listen for VC fund guidance.

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Tomasz Tunguz on where we are in the AI S-Curve and the Evolving Investment Landscape

Mar 05 2025 35 mins  
Follow me @samirkaji for my thoughts on the venture market, with a focus on the continued evolution of the VC landscape.Had a great conversation recently with Tomasz Tunguz Founder and General Partner at Theory Ventures. We dug into how AI is reshaping venture capital and everyday life, from the rapid advancements in the space to what it all means for startups and the broader marke

The Solo GP Playbook: Zal Bilimoria on Fundraising, Portfolio Strategy, and Founder Relationships

Feb 19 2025 47 mins  
Follow me @SamirKaji for my thoughts on the venture market, with a focus on the continued evolution of the VC landscape.We recently had the pleasure of hosting Zal Bilimoria, Co-Founder of Refactor Capital. Zal has had a fascinating career from building products at Microsoft, Google, Netflix, and LinkedIn to making the leap into being a VC. His story is one of relentless curiosity

The Evolution of building a legacy firm at Venrock with Brian Ascher

Feb 05 2025 44 mins  
Follow me @samirkaji for my thoughts on the venture market, with a focus on the continued evolution of the VC landscape.Today I had the pleasure of speaking with Brian Ascher, a veteran venture capitalist at Venrock, a firm with a storied history dating back to 1969 as part of the Rockefeller family office. Brian, with nearly 30 years in the industry, shared his journey from produc

Evolving Venture Liquidity Solutions with Gaurav Mathur of Pinegrove Capital Partners

Jan 22 2025 47 mins  
Follow me @samirkaji for my thoughts on the venture market, with a focus on the continued evolution of the VC landscape.In this episode, I have the pleasure of conversing with Gaurav Mathur, Partner at Pinegrove Capital Partners. Together, we dive into the evolving venture capital landscape, focusing on liquidity solutions and the rise of secondary markets. Gaurav shares insights f

The blueprint for starting a new firm with Chemistry Ventures, including the work needed before choosing your partners and non-consensus decision making.

Oct 30 2024 43 mins  
Follow me @samirkaji for my thoughts on the venture market, with a focus on the continued evolution of the VC landscape.Today I’m excited to speak with the founding team of Chemistry, a new venture firm led by Kristina Shen, Ethan Kurzweil, and Mark Goldberg, who recently spun-out of blue chip firms Andreessen Horowitz, Bessemer, and Index Ventures, respectively. The firm just an

Meet the Expert: Venture Fund Banking with Sam Heshmati and Vincent Timoney of Citizens Private Bank

Oct 15 2024 47 mins  
Follow me @samirkaji for my thoughts on the venture market, with a focus on the continued evolution of the VC landscape.In this episode, Sam Heshmati and Vince Timoney from Citizens Private Bank stop by to talk about all things venture banking and how the industry is recovering from the 2023 regional banking crisis.Sam and Vince, both of whom have extensive experience in the bankin

Saga Ventures on key lessons on raising a Fund I, building healthy partnerships, and winning in a competitive seed market

Sep 26 2024 47 mins  
Follow me @samirkaji for my thoughts on the venture market, with a focus on the continued evolution of the VC landscape.This week we welcome the three co-founders of Saga Ventures: Ben Braverman, Thomson Nguyen, and Max Altman. Saga Ventures is a seed-stage investment firm that recently closed its first fund of $125M.The conversation dives into their experiences in raising their fi

Building a firm to last, lessons from nearly three decades of investing, and the path to hiring great venture teams with Glenn Solomon of Notable Capital (FKA GGV Capital)

Aug 28 2024 40 mins  
Follow me @samirkaji for my thoughts on the venture market, with a focus on the continued evolution of the VC landscape.Today we're thrilled to be joined by Glenn Solomon, managing partner at Notable Capital. Along with Granite Asia, Notable Capital was one of two groups to emerge from GGV Capital, which recently split into two groups with Notable based in Silicon Valley, New York,

Doing a successful GP led secondary in Venture Capital, Why seed funds can scale, and what a good VC platform team looks like

Aug 08 2024 52 mins  
Follow me @samirkaji for my thoughts on the venture market, with a focus on the continued evolution of the VC landscape.In this episode, we are thrilled to be joined by Ben Sun, co-founder of Primary, a seed-stage fund based in New York. Ben shares his journey from investment banking to startup founder, and eventually to co-founding Primary, which has backed companies like Coupang

Investing in USV Fund I, lessons learned as a LP, and why Emerging Managers are so important

Aug 01 2024 63 mins  
Follow me @samirkaji for my thoughts on the venture market, with a focus on the continued evolution of the VC landscape.This week I'm excited to sit down with Lindel Eakman from Foundry. Lindel has been an investor in funds and companies since the early 2000s when he started at UTIMCO.In our conversation, Lindel talks about being one of the first investors in Union Square Ventures,