Scale by Design - Venture Capital Show

In this podcast episode, host James Mackey and our guest Mark Sherman, Managing Partner at Telstra Ventures, explore the current state of the financing market and discuss some sectors that are seeing great investments. Our guest highlights the significant trends in artificial intelligence, climate tech, and cybersecurity. They explore the impact of tools like chat GPT on workforce planning and the potential for the redeployment of headcount to other activities that are less automatable. They also delve into the rise of climate tech and the opportunities it presents for the future. Lastly, they touch on the critical need for cybersecurity in our increasingly data-driven world and how the current market impacts cyber companies right now. Our host James Mackey, SecureVision CEO Listen to our full episode list here: https://www.scalebydesign.io/ Follow us: https://www.linkedin.com/company/scalebydesign/ Our YouTube channel: https://www.youtube.com/@securevision1677 #1 Rated Embedded Recruitment Firm on G2! https://www.g2.com/products/securevision/reviews Thanks for listening!

In this informative episode host, James Mackey sits down with Industry Leaders in the tech space and dives into the current economic environment and its impact on the tech industry, including recent layoffs and the state of tech industry health. Our guests share their insights and experiences with starting and running companies during a downturn, offering perspectives from both the VC side and the Founder, CEO side. They discuss strategies for fundraising in the current environment, the metrics VCs are prioritizing right now, and how to run lean organizations in a market downturn. Additionally, they explore how VCs are working alongside and advising portfolio companies in 2023 and how to determine which expenses to cut and which to double down on to achieve strong unit economics. Guest Panel: Doug Landis - Growth Partner at Emergence Capital Scott Barker - Partner and Co-Founder of GTM Fund Brandon Metcalf - Founder and CEO of Blueprint, Asymbl, and Place. Our host James Mackey, SecureVision CEO Listen to our full episode list here: https://www.scalebydesign.io/ Follow us: https://www.linkedin.com/company/scalebydesign/ Our YouTube channel: https://www.youtube.com/@securevision1677 #1 Rated Embedded Recruitment Firm on G2! https://www.g2.com/products/securevision/reviews Thanks for listening!

In this episode, host James Mackey, explores the story behind the founding of Crescent Fund, a micro VC fund focused on student startups in Southern California. We’ll hear from Gaurav Mehta, Managing Partner, and Co-Founder, about their background and the inspiration for the fund, as well as the path to raising capital and doing the first deals. They also discuss the markets and companies that students in the region are interested in starting and joining, and their career aspirations beyond college. Our host James Mackey, SecureVision CEO Listen to our full episode list here: https://www.scalebydesign.io/ Follow us: https://www.linkedin.com/company/scalebydesign/ Our YouTube channel: https://www.youtube.com/@securevision1677 #1 Rated Embedded Recruitment Firm on G2! https://www.g2.com/products/securevision/reviews Thanks for listening!

Raluca Mackey, Director of Talent at Vertex Ventures, joins host James Mackey to discuss the topic of employee engagement in light of the current economic downturn. The conversation covers various important aspects of engaging employees, such as how layoffs should be handled, ways to show employees that they are valued, the role of paid time off in driving engagement and performance, and the importance of having a minimum work-life balance policy. The discussion aims to provide insights and practical advice for managers and business leaders on how to maintain employee engagement in challenging times. https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/3-pillars-employee-engagement-amid-layoffs-economic-turmoil-mackey/ Our host James Mackey, SecureVision CEO Listen to our full episode list here: https://www.scalebydesign.io/ Follow us: https://www.linkedin.com/company/scalebydesign/ Our YouTube channel: https://www.youtube.com/@securevision1677 #1 Rated Embedded Recruitment Firm on G2! https://www.g2.com/products/securevision/reviews Thanks for listening!

Jason Radisson, Founder & CEO at Shift One (ex-Uber, McKinsey) discusses: Our host James Mackey, SecureVision CEO Listen to our full episode list here: https://www.scalebydesign.io/ Follow us: https://www.linkedin.com/company/scalebydesign/ Our YouTube channel: https://www.youtube.com/@securevision1677 #1 Rated Embedded Recruitment Firm on G2! https://www.g2.com/products/securevision/reviews Thanks for listening!

Asad Zaman, CEO of Sales Talent Agency, Inc. joins host James Mackey to discuss the state of the labor market, the impact on demand vs. supply of talent, hiring in a tough market, & more. Our host James Mackey, SecureVision CEO Listen to our full episode list here: https://www.scalebydesign.io/ Follow us: https://www.linkedin.com/company/scalebydesign/ Our YouTube channel: https://www.youtube.com/@securevision1677 #1 Rated Embedded Recruitment Firm on G2! https://www.g2.com/products/securevision/reviews Thanks for listening!

Eren Uman, Co-Founder, and Partner at Greenlight Partners join host James Mackey to discuss the impact of capital market uncertainty on early-stage funding, the unique industry of climate tech, the due diligence process for startups & more. Our host James Mackey, SecureVision CEO Listen to our full episode list here: https://www.scalebydesign.io/ Follow us: https://www.linkedin.com/company/scalebydesign/ Our YouTube channel: https://www.youtube.com/@securevision1677 #1 Rated Embedded Recruitment Firm on G2! https://www.g2.com/products/securevision/reviews Thanks for listening!

In this episode, Michael Benezra and Noah Ente of Erez Capital join James Mackey, CEO of SecureVision, to discuss investing in the BIPOC community, thoughts on the crypto crash, lack of innovation in many sectors, and a lot more. Our host James Mackey, SecureVision CEO Listen to our full episode list here: https://www.scalebydesign.io/ Follow us: https://www.linkedin.com/company/scalebydesign/ Our YouTube channel: https://www.youtube.com/@securevision1677 #1 Rated Embedded Recruitment Firm on G2! https://www.g2.com/products/securevision/reviews Thanks for listening!

David J. Neff, Partner at Ecliptic Capital, shares his experience breaking into the VC industry. He discusses the value add of non-traditional backgrounds in VC. And breaks down the enormous range of opportunities in ClimateTech. Our host James Mackey, SecureVision CEO Listen to our full episode list here: https://www.scalebydesign.io/ Follow us: https://www.linkedin.com/company/scalebydesign/ Our YouTube channel: https://www.youtube.com/@securevision1677 #1 Rated Embedded Recruitment Firm on G2! https://www.g2.com/products/securevision/reviews Thanks for listening!

Scott shares his founding story of GTMfund and the power of having an operator-led fund. He breaks down how every stage of the VC lifecycle is optimized at GTMfund and how this has contributed to almost all of their investments raising subsequent funds. Our host James Mackey, SecureVision CEO Listen to our full episode list here: https://www.scalebydesign.io/ Follow us: https://www.linkedin.com/company/scalebydesign/ Our YouTube channel: https://www.youtube.com/@securevision1677 #1 Rated Embedded Recruitment Firm on G2! https://www.g2.com/products/securevision/reviews Thanks for listening!

Michael Nogen, the Managing Partner of Overton Venture Capital, shares his thoughts on next-gen commerce, his investment philosophy, and how VCs and founders need to approach 2023. Our host James Mackey, SecureVision CEO Listen to our full episode list here: https://www.scalebydesign.io/ Follow us: https://www.linkedin.com/company/scalebydesign/ Our YouTube channel: https://www.youtube.com/@securevision1677 #1 Rated Embedded Recruitment Firm on G2! https://www.g2.com/products/securevision/reviews Thanks for listening!

Leen Kawas, the Managing General Partner of Propel Bio Partners, shares how her unique background as a pharmacist, entrepreneur, scientist, and investor has influenced her perspective on startups and the drug development lifecycle. Our host James Mackey, SecureVision CEO Listen to our full episode list here: https://www.scalebydesign.io/ Follow us: https://www.linkedin.com/company/scalebydesign/ Our YouTube channel: https://www.youtube.com/@securevision1677 #1 Rated Embedded Recruitment Firm on G2! https://www.g2.com/products/securevision/reviews Thanks for listening!

Jason Webber, Principal and Co-Founder at Sustainable Conversion Ventures joins host James Mackey on Scale by Design - Venture Capital Show. Jason Webber explains how many great innovations will die on the vine with the growing shortfall of semi-commercial fermentation capacity. Not necessarily capacity for the multi-billion dollar markets (food/proteins) so much as those getting squeezed out in the sub-billion dollar markets that could be most disruptive. These are typically too small for strategics to care about but ripe for innovation due to stagnation. Our host James Mackey, SecureVision CEO Listen to our full episode list here: https://www.scalebydesign.io/ Follow us: https://www.linkedin.com/company/scalebydesign/ Our YouTube channel: https://www.youtube.com/@securevision1677 #1 Rated Embedded Recruitment Firm on G2! https://www.g2.com/products/securevision/reviews Thanks for listening!

Vikram Chaudhery and Paul Conley join host James Mackey to discuss their vision as Founding Partners at General Inception. The conversation flows from how General Inception is changing the game by partnering with scientific founders to provide technical and GTM strategy. As well as rolling up their sleeves with founders to work with partners, customers, and VCs. Vikram and Paul then provide their insight on current market conditions and how General Inception and its founders are positioned to thrive. As well as which industries currently show the most promise for investors, the convergence of BioTech with other industries, and the opportunities therein. Our host James Mackey, SecureVision CEO Listen to our full episode list here: https://www.scalebydesign.io/ Follow us: https://www.linkedin.com/company/scalebydesign/ Our YouTube channel: https://www.youtube.com/@securevision1677 #1 Rated Embedded Recruitment Firm on G2! https://www.g2.com/products/securevision/reviews Thanks for listening!

Daniel Hoffer, Managing Director at AutoTech Ventures, joins host James Mackey on the Scale by Design - Venture Capital Show. Daniel dives into the importance of hiring top talent, organizational planning, and different ways to compensate early-stage employees. The negative impact of convincing talent to join a startup by providing an inflated title. Our host James Mackey, SecureVision CEO Listen to our full episode list here: https://www.scalebydesign.io/ Follow us: https://www.linkedin.com/company/scalebydesign/ Our YouTube channel: https://www.youtube.com/@securevision1677 #1 Rated Embedded Recruitment Firm on G2! https://www.g2.com/products/securevision/reviews Thanks for listening!

Elizabeth Edwards is the Founder and Managing Partner of H Venture. Elizabeth focuses on early-stage science-based consumer brands at the convergence of CPG and BioTech. She discusses advice to early-stage founders on how to navigate current market conditions, capital efficiency, unit economics, and supply chain impact on margin. She also provides insight into defining a path to profitable growth through unit economics at scale and revenue milestones. Our host James Mackey, SecureVision CEO Listen to our full episode list here: https://www.scalebydesign.io/ Follow us: https://www.linkedin.com/company/scalebydesign/ Our YouTube channel: https://www.youtube.com/@securevision1677 #1 Rated Embedded Recruitment Firm on G2! https://www.g2.com/products/securevision/reviews Thanks for listening!

Jen Spencer, CEO at SmartBug Media joins host James Mackey on the Scale by Design show to discuss capacity planning, capacity utilization, when it makes sense to scale existing staff versus when it makes sense to hire externally, how you keep great people engaged & more! https://www.linkedin.com/in/jenspencer/ Our host James Mackey, SecureVision CEO Listen to our full episode list here: https://www.scalebydesign.io/ Follow us: https://www.linkedin.com/company/scalebydesign/ Our YouTube channel: https://www.youtube.com/@securevision1677 #1 Rated Embedded Recruitment Firm on G2! https://www.g2.com/products/securevision/reviews Thanks for listening!

Patrick Hudgins, Founder & CEO at Delegate, joins host James Mackey on the Scale by Design show to discuss the nuances of moving up or down from your ICP, why founders & CEOs should consider standing up a function prior to hiring someone to run it, cold email outreach best practices and more! Episode Chapters 00:21 Who is Patrick Hudgins? 01:45 Companies buy technology but don’t understand what to do with it 04:05 Marketing is a huge challenge 08:01 Looking at sales and marketing talent in terms of what bucket of revenue they thrive in 09:15 How to onboard new sales people 12:15 Founder magic on sales calls 15:02 Challenges with moving up from your ICP 18:46 Enterprise sales motions are different 22:15 How to show clients that work is being done 22:53 Standing up a department before making a hire 26:15 Financing challenges and options 33:12 What Q4 hiring could look like 38:45 Email marketing best practices 45:35 Wrap up https://www.linkedin.com/in/patrickhudgins/ Our host James Mackey, SecureVision CEO Listen to our full episode list here: https://www.scalebydesign.io/ Follow us: https://www.linkedin.com/company/scalebydesign/ Our YouTube channel: https://www.youtube.com/@securevision1677 #1 Rated Embedded Recruitment Firm on G2! https://www.g2.com/products/securevision/reviews Thanks for listening!

Ross Wolfe, Founding Partner & Managing Director of Diab Venture Partners, joins host James Mackey on the Scale by Design show to discuss Dragons vs Unicorns, how venture capital firms are deploying staff into the trenches with portfolio companies, different stock classes and incentive strategies, valuations, and a lot more! 00:25 Who is Ross Wolfe? 02:15 What is a “dragon”? 04:10 VCs are now more on the ground with their portfolio companies 04:45 Breakdown of different stock classes and incentive strategies 10:58 Fair-market value considerations 16:55 Trends in the venture capital and fundraising market 20:31 The downside of high valuations 22:57 What drives such large valuations 25:45 Is the VC market actually contracting? 27:45 Expansion in global investment 36:05 Wrap up https://www.linkedin.com/in/rjwolfe/ Our host James Mackey, SecureVision CEO Listen to our full episode list here: https://www.scalebydesign.io/ Follow us: https://www.linkedin.com/company/scalebydesign/ Our YouTube channel: https://www.youtube.com/@securevision1677 #1 Rated Embedded Recruitment Firm on G2! https://www.g2.com/products/securevision/reviews Thanks for listening!

Lio Slama, CEO at AskNeo, joins host James Mackey to discuss how sales and marketing teams have lost the human touch, breaking down internal silos to usher in the next evolution of personalized customer engagement, fundraising tips, startup accelerator tips and more! Episode Chapters 00:25 Who is Lio Slama? Former architect, painter (Instagram @arynewyork), and serial entrepreneur. 01:45 How the pandemic impacted AskNeo 03:15 How the pandemic impacted SecureVision 04:45 Have sales and marketing teams lost the human touch? 06:57 Paradigm shift towards collaboration and 1 on 1 communication 09:58 How AskNeo is helping evolve personalized customer engagement 13:23 What’s next for AskNeo? 14:52 Fundraising advice 16:25 Benefits to Techstars startup accelerator 17:56 Benefits to Newchip startup accelerator 20:27 How much equity do you give to an accelerator? 22:15 What are VCs looking for in a founder/CEO? 25:45 How previous failures can help your next startup 28:52 Hiring advisors to help accelerate your company 31:02 Core metrics have a way of evolving 40:12 Data is key 41:02 Wrap up https://www.linkedin.com/in/lioslama/ Our host James Mackey, SecureVision CEO Listen to our full episode list here: https://www.scalebydesign.io/ Follow us: https://www.linkedin.com/company/scalebydesign/ Our YouTube channel: https://www.youtube.com/@securevision1677 #1 Rated Embedded Recruitment Firm on G2! https://www.g2.com/products/securevision/reviews Thanks for listening!