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Thrilled to announce BBG Ventures second institutional fund – a $60M early-stage fund backing overlooked founders who are building for the Polycultural Future of America. Thanks Emma Hinchliffe at Fortune for sharing the news: https://lnkd.in/gSwqpHpq We’ve spent the last few years observing the passage of the country from a monoculture to one where women were a bigger part of the story, to today - where identity and lived experience matter more than ever. We call this the Polyculture – a new status quo in which America is a mosaic of unique segments; where identity is multivariate and dynamic; and where individuals can identify with multiple communities at once. I began using this term over 2 years ago, as a cross-culture kid myself: the child of Indian immigrants, growing up in rural Australia - and now an immigrant in America. We wondered - how do Americans perceive identity, and how does that drive their most fundamental needs? We conducted research with +2000 Americans across equal cross sections of race, gender, age and income. Here’s what we found: 1. We have surprisingly common priorities, needs and concerns despite our unique identities. 2. The biggest areas of the economy are still on the table, with Americans highlighting huge areas of opportunity in health, work, financial security, climate safety, and the underserved. 3. But we need new, more nuanced-solutions and personalization considering the emerging majority minority generation, an aging population, widening wealth gaps and continued differences along gender lines. To that end, we’ve officially expanded our mandate to embrace this evolution, backing underestimated founders – female or diverse – addressing the biggest pain points for our polycultural population. Read the full report here: The Mind of Polycultural America - https://lnkd.in/gdtiFE7v We’re proud to partner with new LPs including Fairview Capital, Pivotal Ventures, The California Endowment in addition to our many returning partners like Illumen Capital, George Kaiser Family Foundation who believe as we do: when you make change, you make money. If you’re an early-stage founder working to move the world forward in health, work, financial security, climate safety or for the underserved - in B2B or B2C - we want to talk to you. Susan Lyne Claire Biernacki Drew Silverman Fennessy Carol Magalhães Isaacs, CFA Addison B. Marsh, Jr.

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Today, Two Chairs announces $72M of new funding to continue building a world where everyone has access to exceptional mental health care. Since late 2017, when Maveron led the Two Chairs Series A, the need for mental health services has grown considerably as our society has become lonelier and more isolated than ever. At the same time, our culture’s willingness to openly acknowledge these challenges is greater than ever. Sadly, the rapid growth of Two Chairs affirms the fact that our society is in desperate need of better mental health support. Two Chairs has built a business that believes clinical quality is the defining characteristic of success. Alex Katz has always emphasized the paramountcy of measurement-based clinical outcomes, which the team works tirelessly to achieve. In the process, Two Chairs has illustrated that embracing the ‘move fast and break things’ mentality doesn’t always work. Instead, Two Chairs opted for a different approach: they went slow to go fast. They built a proprietary algorithm that matches patients with the perfect therapist at the onset and hired a team of W2 clinicians oriented toward providing the highest quality care available. Even as the Two Chairs team has grown, their culture has remained small. This has enabled more intimate relationships within the team and between clients and clinicians. Reflecting on this milestone brings me back to the founding of Maveron and the values we hold dear. In 1998, my friend Howard Schultz and I founded Maveron to help entrepreneurs build companies that improve the lives of everyday people—their employees and their customers. There is perhaps no better example of this than Two Chairs. *** Thank you to TechCrunch's Marina Temkin, CFA for the great write-up. https://tcrn.ch/4aMt7yG

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🌏 📊 Erica Kangas is an engineering leader, voracious learner, and feminist builder who seeks out the biggest levers to move the world. 📊🌏 It's W6 / Q2 / 2024 and this week in our MGMT Boston up & coming operator series we’ve got Annie Erica, part of a small but mighty team as the Head of Engineering at hyper curated investment connection & fundraising guidance platform Scroobious. Erica joined Scroobious as their Head of Engineering to help lead the technical efforts of this very early stage team shaping up capital markets culture for underrepresented founders. Erica is responsible for the entirety of their technical infrastructure. She is working every day to build out their marketplace product, making sure Scroobious Founders are having a smooth experience so they can effectively onboard their pitches onto the marketplace and connect with investors. Erica continues to spend time answering tough questions about the business and communicating effectively to equip founders with the resources they need to be successful. Scroobious’ founder community grew 75% in 2023 and is made up of 63% female founders. ✍ Cataloging Skills & Connecting the Dots 🔄 From nonprofits to startups, Erica has always cataloged her experiences. She keeps references & resources on hand from prior experiences to keep memorable frameworks from the earliest days of her career. Every time she embarks on a meaty project, the first question she asks is “what are our goals”? Then, what are we looking to accomplish? By having something to ground herself in, she can begin to move forward. That work has paid off in building a portfolio of experiences and an archive of resources. At Scroobious, she wants to understand the different attributes of founders and successful pitches to effectively connect founders with angels. For example, investors look for coachability as an attribute & trait, so she has thought back to her nonprofit days when they measured grit and growth in students and volunteers. It’s obviously a bit different but there are always overlapping threads to pull on. Problems Not Yet Solved Erica offered up three unsolved problems that drive her work as an invitation to think about and join in tackling these issues. Because learning never ends and we have a lot more to do in these areas! 🤖 How do we build AI that won’t just repeat the mistakes and mirror the worst facets of our past? 🤝 How do we continue to develop the field of software engineering such that it is sustainable, equitable, and accessible? 🤲 How do we effectively combat exclusionary systems when many of our institutions no longer have the appetite or have their hands tied from doing so? If you’d like to learn more about Erica’s career, the full post is linked in the comments. Go ahead and sign up for the newsletter to see the operator learnings we bring you in the weeks ahead too, will ya? #bostontech #operators #engineering

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"We're just going to steamroll you". So so many startups building new AI products (with hopes of becoming businesses) are just solving near-term obvious problems or filling gaps that they see in current generation AI platforms. The (vast?) majority of these are really just features that will be absorbed by the platforms as they mature. Or as Sam Altman comments in this video - it's not because we don't like you, it's because we have a mission and we're "just going to steamroll you". The insane pace of advancement in platforms at this market stage makes a time-to-market advantage a foolish thing to bet on. Go deeper with critical thinking on moats, customer-centered product experience, and always build ahead of today's models... https://lnkd.in/gXe5nTHf

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Some thoughts after spending some time with a handful of builders and investors in NYC this past week! 1. New York City is quietly fostering one of the most vibrant and underrated consumer founder communities in the country. This ecosystem is bursting with innovative energy, driven by founders who are deeply embedded in culture and consumer behavior. For those who haven’t tapped in yet, I strongly recommend paying attention—it’s a hotbed of potential that’s primed for growth. 2. Understanding and valuing consumer products demands more than just financial acumen; it requires a deep understanding of culture, trends, and human behavior. Many investors are stepping away, not because the space isn’t viable, but because they lack the nuanced taste and cultural insight necessary to identify and nurture truly impactful consumer products. This gap presents a massive opportunity for those who “get it” to dominate the market with culturally relevant investments. 3. In today’s world, a product or service that lacks a strong community component is missing the mark. Community isn’t just an add-on; it’s the foundation upon which modern consumer brands are built. Doubling down on building and nurturing a community around your product can create a powerful network effect, driving organic growth and fostering long-term loyalty. 4. The next wave of consumer social platforms won’t look like the traditional social networks we’ve become accustomed to. Instead, we’ll see social experiences seamlessly integrated into other aspects of daily life, such as fashion, education, and real-world interactions. This evolution will redefine how we connect, share, and engage, creating new opportunities for innovation at the intersection of technology and everyday life. 5. Simplicity wins — In a world overflowing with options and information, simplicity is the ultimate competitive advantage. Products and services that cut through the noise with straightforward, intuitive designs and clear value propositions will stand out. Complexity might seem impressive, but simplicity is what drives adoption and sustained success in the consumer market.

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Want a front-row seat to the frontier of tech? We’ve got the role (or two) for you! We’re expanding our frontier-tech team at Blackbird by hiring a Frontier Tech Investments Associate and Foundry Fellows! Got questions? We've got answers... 1️⃣ What are the roles? 🧪 Associate = a full-time VC investment gig in our Blackbird Investments team, working directly with me. We’re looking for someone with a science and/or engineering background and more curiosity than they can handle. You’ll grow your own investment brand and practice, support our portfolio founders, and will help build Foundry, our early-stage frontier-tech accelerator. ✨ Foundry Fellow = a casual/contract gig in our Blackbird Investments team, ~15h per week for 3 months. The Fellowship is ideal for PhD students and ECRs who want to learn more about startups and VC. You’ll go deep on emerging areas relevant to your expertise (or curiosity!), get a front-row seat to groundbreaking companies in those areas, build out your non-academic network, and develop a solid writing practice. 2️⃣ Why are you hiring? We love frontier tech, and we’re ready to grow our team. 3️⃣ Wow, it’s so great that you’re starting to look at deep tech! Look, we get it: we don’t make a lot of noise about our frontier tech investing. Buuuut we’ve been deep-tech investors since we backed Tim Kentley-Klay to found Zoox back in 2014—we’ve been on incredible journeys with PsiQuantum (building the world's first utility-scale quantum computer right here in Australia!), Inventia Life Science (transforming drug discovery with high-fidelity cell models), Remedy Robotics (surgical robots for remote endovascular procedures), Opto Biosystems (minimally-invasive neural implants to treat cancer), and more. We believe that frontier technologies, and great frontier-tech investing, will be part of the solutions to the greatest problems humanity faces today. 4️⃣ When do applications close? May 31st at 11:59pm AEST. 5️⃣ I have more questions! I’m sure you do! Clare Birch and I are hosting an AMA to answer any and all questions about these roles. Want to know what a week in the life of our team looks like? What’s keeping us up at night? What our ideal candidate looks like? Come along and find out - registration link in the comments 👇 Apply for these roles: Associate - https://lnkd.in/gCfj4EUJ Foundry Fellowships - https://lnkd.in/gj6ATZVZ If you know anyone that we should meet, send me their details! Cameron Elise Ben Andrew Robin Joseph Adelaide James Olivia Lucinda Raghav Jesse Christie Mohamed Tom Amee Pablo Haya Loong Hon Joshua Benjamin Megan Harry Denzil Matthew Diana Daniel Tom Deanna Justin Amar Lilly Stone Thomas

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At BBG Ventures we continue to think about changing demographic shifts and the groups of overlooked Americans at the centre of those shifts. We ask: what are the opportunities to build something valuable for those groups across the biggest areas of the economy to drive prosperity, growth and wellbeing for all Americans, not just some. Future of Work and underserved workers is an arena we've long dug into. This summer, my partner Susan Lyne and investor Carol Magalhães Isaacs, CFA went deeper on Boomers - by 2030, Boomers will outnumber under 18s - living longer, working longer, spending longer - what will their Third Act be? How might AI supercharge their productivity? Check out their post below and share your thoughts with us. Longevity and Prosperity > Death and Decay. If you're building at the intersection of Aging x Work reach out!

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This San Franciscan has landed in the Big Apple for #NYTechWeek! Here’s why it was important to me to be out here this week and I view NYC as a sister city. ((scroll down for 2 events The Council is hosting today!)) 🏭🏥 Reminder: The Council Fund invests at Pre-seed in Software’s Third Act, the transformation of the essential economy. Our investments span healthcare and industrial sectors like manufacturing, logistics, construction. 🐂 I’m eternally bullish on NY & SF and hate how many pit the two cities against each other. The reality is that a lot of capital and talent flow back and forth between the cities. They need each other to thrive! 🗽🌁 Cities like NY & SF attract young and mid-career talent because of their population density, transient nature, beauty, and reputations as cities where someone new on the scene can make a name for themselves. For the areas we invest in, I’m *specifically* excited about NY because of: 🏗️ Closer proximity to industrial hubs which are scattered across the Midwest / Rust Belt 🏛️ Closer proximity to DC where a lot of regulation around VC, startups, healthcare, onshoring initiatives, and industrial sectors takes place 💰 Many of the large financial institutions that are backing hard tech focused funds and major healthcare initiatives are also headquartered here in NYC 🎯 We’ve got several startups here who are hitting it out of the park, like Dirac and Siena. This has further validated my belief in this ecosystem to support young companies! Today we are kicking off with 2 events on Day 1 of #NYTechWeek 👉 AI Demo Day: The Council, Next Wave NYC, Lynx Collective, Flybridge will host 8 founders and 200+ investors and founders for a pitch competition this evening! Luma: https://lnkd.in/gbdYiJMw 🔜 Can still join the waitlist! Small & Big VCs in Hard Tech: The Council joined General Catalyst, Lux Capital, Iron Prairie Ventures, AlleyCorp, House Of Ventures, Steel Atlas for 2 back to back panels on industrial innovation & collaboration across the capital stack Luma: https://lnkd.in/gj6D4-Au ⏰ Event has passed

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What does it take for a startup to succeed in music-tech? More than Product-Market fit -- you also need Industry Market fit and Investor Market fit. I wrote about these patterns https://lnkd.in/gF4wBSfX

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talking private companies all week in advance of the webinar on Thursday 4/25. here is a preview from one of the speakers. Vincent Alternative Investments #earnreturn

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RETHINKING RETIREMENT We've been investing in the Future of Work since we launched BBG Ventures, targeting underserved segments like deskless workers (Anthill, OX) and solopreneurs (Topline Pro). Over the summer we spent time digging into another deeply underserved segment of the workforce: Boomers. By the end of this decade, the entire generation will have hit retirement age and, for the first time, Americans 65+ will outnumber those under 18. This has huge implications for every aspect of society, and it mandates that we start thinking differently about retirement. The question for all of us is this: Can we re-focus healthy Americans 60+ on a new phase of productivity, a “third act” that enables them to keep learning, keep earning, keep socially-engaged and contributing to the nation’s economic growth? And what role can AI play in helping every senior identify their unique skill set and personal priorities — and connect them with the right opportunities? We have some thoughts on how to make this happen, and we'd love you to give it a read, add your feedback, forward it to a founder who's working in this arena (or who you think might be intrigued), and share it! AgeTech has been too focused on death and decay; it's time we embrace longevity and give older Americans a way to keep working -- on their terms. cc: Carol Magalhães Isaacs, CFA Nisha Dua, Claire Biernacki, Drew Silverman Fennessy

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As we’ve begun building Oversubscribed Ventures, we’ve learned that the world of venture capital is way too mysterious and insular. We wanted to crack it wide open and make it accessible to everyone. So, we launched a new podcast, with Phil Schwarz. Some of you may already listen to our World’s First Podcast (and if you do, thank you!). The Oversubscribed Podcast takes a lot of what makes World’s First Podcast great and focuses on the business world. This is a business podcast for anyone and everyone who is curious about stories of success, failure, recovering from rejection, pivoting, and more. Why launch a new podcast? - The lessons that come out of talking to founders, executives, etc can apply to everyone, whether they’re starting a company or not; - We could add something to the (way too few but super impressive) female voices in the startup and venture world; and - We could inject our own personality and - admittedly - often inappropriate humor into the conversations (iykyk). We hope our Oversubscribed Podcast does all of this and more. Link below, and of course you can find it anywhere you can listen to podcasts. More to come! Link: https://lnkd.in/e2E6kynn

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Ep. 007 of The Feedback Loop is here! It's the first half of startup pitches from New York Tech Week, and from an almost-all-AI batch of companies. Joining me on this episode: returning fan-favorite, Jenny Fielding of Everywhere Ventures! For those not familiar, every week, a guest venture investor joins me to give granular and unfiltered feedback to founders on their storytelling and their concept. It's all about helping founders construct a better narrative for their move-forward -- because across fundraising, sales, recruiting, and company-building, it's the core narrative and pitch that can often hold startups back. And Jenny currently holds the tenure jacket as my guest co-host, with this being her 4th time on stage delivering quick insights and context you just can't find anywhere else. Massive shout-out to the founders featured: Matt Shenker building MatterMore, Karl White building Wroom, Trista V. building Nunchi, and Jeremy Da building Acrylic! Relevant links below.

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Impactful Biz, Ops & Investment Roles at Early Startups & VCs: • Chief of Staff to Ex. Head of Product at Google • Founding GTM at the most YC product used by other YC companies in the past four years • Chief of Staff to a Partner at a Top-Tier VC Fund • Head of Platform of a NY State Backed Accelerator • Investment Associate at a Seed Stage Fund Investing in Category-Defining Companies • Partner at a Defense-Focused VC Fund • Chief Revenue Officer of a New Space Company in El Segundo • Venture Capital Analyst at a fund investing in overlooked geographies • Investment Associate at a Spirit-Focused Fund • Strategy & Ops Lead at a Company Focused on Helping Improve Autism • Senior Product Manager at a Company Focused on Building Shopify for Content Creators • Program Manager for a Space Security Company • Open-ended Investment Position at a Top-Tier Accelerator • Biz & Ops Lead for One of the Most Loved Digital Consumer Products 💸 All companies are well-funded and backed by top-tier investors. ⬇ You can find links to the roles above, plus many more, in the comments.

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Had a great conversation with Jacquelyn Miller and Christina Farr on the ins and outs of the direct communication method for startups. They had lots of great advice, which you can check out at the blog. My big takeaway, personally, is that there's truly no substitute for authentic expertise: Founders eat, breathe, and sleep their startup's market, giving them the kind of nuanced, insightful perspective that nobody else can provide. You don't need to be a professional writer or a seasoned on-camera personality to shine; you just have to give your real thoughts on the topic.

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📈 Curious about the startup scene in Massachusetts? Explore our detailed funding list featuring startup names, HQ locations, and investor info. Perfect for investors and entrepreneurs alike! Check it out: https://lnkd.in/dAp3xj-Q #startup #startups #venturecapital #funding #vc #managementconsulting

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"You're an oversharer, I can tell... you overshare because you want to explain and be helpful. Try not to do that, they don't necessarily like that." That was after 45 minutes of conversation with a VC I've been following for a half decade and finally warmed up to the idea of reaching out. Fair. In equal fairness, I was looking for advice, so felt like I needed to provide as much context as I could to get the most useful advice from them. I've been reflecting on that sentiment (along with other conversations I've had these past few weeks) for a while, and I've got three reflections that have crystallized during my ruminations: =========== 1. Oversharing--and being burned/humiliated by it--is a big reason why I cut back on my social media posting years ago. I still think we haven't figured out how to make social media technology that beneficially enhances our social capacity and satisfies our social needs. I could (and likely will) say more on this, after some deeper research. For now, I'm sticking with just trying to post in LinkedIn with stories that I think are helpful for others in my professional network and in other networks at large, with the hope and goal that it will reciprocate back to me in some way, shape, or form. Likely, I'll occasionally overshare 😅 =========== 2. Signal to noise ratio. What the VC was saying, without saying it directly, was that I was flooding them with noise and asking them to find the signal from it. A better approach likely would have been to provide a bit of signal, and let them do their thing that they seem to be very good at- pattern matching and curious question asking to arrive at the recommendations. I'll be trying to carry this advice with me in all sorts of contexts... mentor/coaching sessions, therapy, conversations with friends, sales and partnership conversations. Basically, I should pause the flood and let them breathe, and guide/ask. Will report back with findings 😂 =========== 3. Building relationships takes time. Part of my tendency to overshare is a bit of my natural inclination to just be vulnerable so that others feel like they can be vulnerable with me in return. I'm not here to say showing vulnerability is bad. But I think I can get carried away with it with the goal of trying to form a deeper relationship in a 30 minute (ish) window. Bad move. Alright, this was mostly a share for my own reflection and to come back to later. Anyone else an oversharer? What insights have you had, being so inflicted?

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Today I'm launching Asylum Ventures, a new venture firm dedicated to the creative act of building companies. Asylum's first $55 million fund is an embodiment of my belief that founders are artists, not assets. In 2007, I was a trader at Lehman Brothers. It sucked. I didn’t know it then, but Lehman’s bankruptcy in ‘08 was a gift, and I left in search of a calling. A year later, I was fortunate to stumble upon a young, passionate group of creative misfits that folks were calling “founders.” Founders felt more like artists than assets, more obsessives than executives. I was in love with their fringe eccentricity, extraordinary craftsmanship, and wild ambition. For the next 15 years, I dedicated my life to founders in New York, first at betaworks, and then with three funds at Notation Capital with my partner Alex Lines. We did well serving founders. But a lot has changed. The startup ecosystem has gone from cottage industry outsider to institutional insider. Simultaneously, the creative act of making startups has turned into a credentialing factory, and the environment today feels eerily similar to the one I left on Wall Street. I’ve always believed the best founders have more in common with artists than executives. They’re obsessive about new and beautiful things, they're compelled to bring creation into the world, and they're often misunderstood for very long periods of time–even lifetimes. Our belief is that building businesses is its own form of creation–its own form of art. We look for founders that are building the unique, the misunderstood, and the courageous. When my partners Jonathan (Love) Wu, Mackenzie Regent and I sat down to think about what we stood for, we we tried to answer the question: What if we treated founders like artists rather than assets on a balance sheet? We think it means: A firm that’s small by design, making a handful of investments per year, eschewing board seats and administrative control. A team of partners moving mountains to help when asked and otherwise getting out of the way. A place where true craftspeople can tune out the noise and focus on making something truly great. A source of calm, trust, and support for founders manifesting beauty through one of the hardest things you can do: starting a company. The fund is raised and we're actively meeting founders. If this sounds appealing to you, reach out at [email protected] or from our website asylum.vc. Finally, we're hiring an analyst or associate who is obsessive about supporting founders. If you want to join a small team dedicated to the art of venture rather than the business of banking, contact us at [email protected]. Read Erin Griffith's coverage from the New York Times here: https://lnkd.in/eyy-xqMR

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