Ex-500 Startups partners launch their own fundTwo former 500 Startups partners, Elizabeth Yin and Eric Bahn, are raising up to $50 million for a new venture capital effort called Hustle Fund, according to an SEC filing. A source tells Axios that the fund will back pre-seed startups. Backstory: Yin and Bahn left 500 Startups earlier this summer after several women accused founder Dave McClure of sexual harassment (he also resigned from the organization). Prior to 500 Startups, both founded startups and worked at Google and Facebook, respectively. Hustle Fund declined to comment. [ Axios ] This Venture Capitalist Wants To Transform The Silicon Valley MindsetJames Joaquin of Obvious Ventures, one of Silicon Valley’s profit-meets-purpose venture capital funds, says that there is a definite lack of values and lack of moral compass in Silicon Valley. In fact, Joaquin tells me in a recent phone interview that the Valley’s culture is a popular topic of discussion at their offices. Turns out, technology, Silicon Valley’s so-called meat-and-potatoes, may not be the answer to social problems -- especially not on its own. [ Forbes ] Private equity's woman problem Women comprise less than 18% of all employees in the private equity industry, and just 9% of senior private equity executives, according to industry research firm Preqin. It's the most skewed gender imbalance within the alternative asset space, although not by too much.
Fred Wilson’s five lessons for budding venture capitalists are also pretty good life and work lessonsIf you want to be a venture capitalist, get out your pom-poms. “A VCs most important role is that of a cheerleader,” says Fred Wilson, co-founder and managing partner of Union Square Ventures (USV), one of the most successful venture capital firms on the planet. “I know that seems like nothing. How hard is it to be a cheerleader? But it is everything. And very few venture capitalists do it.” [ QZ ] Relay Ventures expands its team, promotes Jake Cassaday to Associate PartnerEarly-stage investor Relay Ventures has expanded its team. New additions include Spiros Michalakis, Professor of Quantum Physics at Caltech as Professor-in-Residence; Jessica Tsoong, co-founder of WiFiSLAM, an indoor mapping startup funded by Relay and acquired by Apple, as Entrepreneur-in-Residence; and Kady Srinivasan, Global Head of Digital Marketing at Dropbox, as Venture Advisor. The firm also promoted Jake Cassaday, who has been with the firm since 2015, to Associate Partner. With Venture Capital In Digital Health Sloshing Around, Startups Should Choose Investors CarefullyAri Tulla was looking for an investor with deep connections in the health insurance industry. The founder of San Francisco-based BetterDoctor, which maintains a doctor directory, had already raised $12.6 million, with the bulk coming from NEA three years ago. But, Tulla decided he had to change his focus from consumers to health plans. Unlike consumers, insurers were willing to pay for an up-to-date directory of physicians and dentists in their network. [ Forbes ] |