LAUNCH Angel Summit: Top VC Brian Singerman Founders Fund (fmr Google)shares best of portfolio In under a decade, Founders Fund has become what many people would consider to be in the Top 5 in the venture capital space. Filmed live on stage at the 2017 LAUNCH Angel Summit in Napa Valley, Jason interviews Founders Fund’s top VC Brian Singerman. In this special episode of TWiST, Brian shares highlights from portfolio investments, the criteria for a Founders Fund investment, AI predictions, and more. Plus, find out the 3 parts to Brian’s approach to early stage investments and working with angel investors. [ This Week In Startups ] AngelList co-founder Babak Nivi out ‘for my own reasons’“Mr. Nivi has no role at the company” AngelList COO Graham Jenkin told TechCrunch in response to questions regarding the curious absence of the investment platform’s co-founder. It’s atypical for the creator of such a high-profile company to seemingly disappear without any form of announcement. Nivi still lists himself on LinkedIn as presently working at AngelList as a co-founder. When TechCrunch asked Nivi about his departure from AngelList, he responded, “That’s right, I have no role at the company and left recently for my own reasons, to work on something new.” When asked “Were there any claims of misconduct related to your departure?,” Nivi replied “I’ve also heard about some of the rumors at TC. They’re not true. Any implication that I left for related reasons is not true.” A request for clarification about what rumors he was referring to received no on-the-record response, though TechCrunch has received allegations from three sources about Nivi’s behavior. [ Tech Crunch ] Y Combinator is reportedly raising a $1 billion fund Silicon Valley startup accelerator Y Combinator is raising up to $1 billion for a new venture capital fund, Axios is reporting. The fundraising comes less than two years after YC announced the close of its first big investing vehicle, a $700 million growth fund called the Y Combinator Continuity fund that it hired Ali Rowghani to oversee. Rowghani was once the COO of Twitter; he also served earlier in his career as the CFO of Pixar. We’re still waiting on confirmation from YC, but given the pace of the firm’s investments, and the broader, more recent shift by venture investors to raise funds in two-year cycles, the move doesn’t surprise. [ Tech Crunch ] 5 years ago, 2 roommates launched TheSkimm, a newsletter now read by 5 million people and former presidents — here's how they hustled to successTheSkimm launched five years ago, on July 21 2012. Business Insider wrote the first article on the company ever. We sat down with founders Carly Zakin and Danielle Weisberg a few months ago to catch up on their last few years. They explained (the incredibly hard) way they launched and grew the company. Carly Zakin and Danielle Weisberg cofounded theSkimm, an email newsletter sent to 5 million subscribers every day at 6 a.m. TheSkimm picks the most important new stories of the day and tells readers what they need to know in a conversational tone that's full of millennial lingo. Loyal subscribers include Oprah and Hillary Clinton's former campaign manager, John Podesta. [ Business Insider ] SoftBank's Son Finally Explains How All Those Deals Fit Together
Questions swirl as ‘advisers’ say they never worked for Chicago investment firmNin Desai, CEO of Chicago-based Nin Ventures, is on the defensive after two men she listed as advisers to her company have denied their involvement, leading to broader questions about the firm. Dr. Sunil Patel and Gurbaksh Chahal say they aren’t involved in Nin Ventures. Both men have said they sent cease-and-desist letters to Nin Ventures and Desai. Nin Ventures is an LLC in good standing, according to the Illinois Secretary of State’s website, but stories in Axios and Fortune have raised questions about the truthfulness of claims about its staff and advisers. Desai briefly defended herself to Blue Sky Wednesday before declining to comment further. Desai has described her company as a hybrid between crowdfunding investment portals and a traditional venture capital fund. On its website, Nin Ventures touts the company as “a unique web-based opportunity for ‘accredited investors’ to invest in a venture capital fund with a minimum amount of $100,000. Why it is BS that you never regret paying a high price to get into a good company, Jason Pressman, Managing Director @ Shasta VenturesJason Pressman is a Managing Director @ Shasta Ventures who have made investments in the likes of Nest, Dollar Shave Club, Smule, Class Dojo and more. With 10 portfolio company investments under his belt, Jason invests in both enterprise and consumer, currently serving on the boards of Crittercism, subscription billing unicorn Zuora, as well as Nextdoor and mobile music platform Smule. Prior to joining Shasta, Jason was Vice President, Strategy and Operations at venture-backed Walmart.com, where he took the online retailer from zero to large scale revenue in five years. [ 20 VC ] The RealReal’s CEO says the company’s goal is to IPOThe RealReal CEO Julie Wainwright tells TechCrunch in a video interview that she’s preparing the luxury consignment e-tailer to go public someday. “That’s the goal,” she said when asked about IPO plans. “We really aren’t in the mood to sell the business, we’re in the mood to go public at some point in the future.” It makes sense that a startup that’s raised $173 million in funding would be expected to provide liquidity for its investors eventually. Just last month, the company announced a round of $50 million led by private equity firm Great Hill Partners. Previous investors include Canaan Partners and Greycroft Partners. [ Tech Crunch ] The 52 most powerful people in enterprise tech in 2017Businesses spend a huge wad of cash every year on tech. They'll dole out $3.5 trillion in 2017 alone, according to Gartner. 2017 has seen a dramatic increase in cloud spending and the rise of new technologies in the work place like artificial intelligence and the Internet of Things. It's seen a crop of new public companies, and some startups that are leading the way in their areas. At the same time, powerhouses like Cisco, Oracle and Microsoft still dominate their respective markets. And with that kind of money comes power and lots of it. [ Business Insider ] The fabulous life of Airbnb's Brian Chesky, one of the youngest and richest tech founders in AmericaLA Tech Map: The Most Well-Funded Tech Startups By City In Greater LAThe Quickest Way To Estimate How Much Your Startup Needs To Raise |