At our VC Fund, we didn’t aim to go to Canada, but ended up there anyway. We’re a New York based early-stage venture capital firm. I was formerly a Partner at ffVC. While I was there, we invested in four Toronto-based startups as well as one Ottawa-based company, out of 60 active companies in our...
[Continue Reading]How to lose fat and gain muscle with venture capital
Both founders and researchers in healthcare are spending far too much of their energy in areas where they’re not going to make maximum impact. Most health problems are self-inflicted, but the innovation economy doesn’t reflect the power of preventive healthcare. Dr. An Nguyen and I just completed an analysis of VC and research funding compared...
[Continue Reading]Venture capital superheroes
CB Insights just included ffVC in 13 Micro VCs We’re Watching, along with a (highly inaccurate) superhero graphic. CB Insights has become a very influential data source in the industry. In fact, I recently had dinner with a well-known VC who said that he was surprised to see the CB Insights database includes investments his...
[Continue Reading]How ff Venture Capital works with universities and students
I meet with a lot of people from the academic world, so I thought it would be helpful to summarize how ff Venture Capital works with universities. Our main goals are: to understand the cutting edge of new disciplines; meet potential founders/employees; and also to help the broader technology and research community. Currently, our relationship works along...
[Continue Reading]Ultimate pushup videos / ffMASSIVE conference at SXSW
We’re now gearing up for the 2015 version of ffMASSIVE, ffVC’s annual conference as part of SXSW. If you’d like to participate as a sponsor or in some other capacity, definitely please contact my colleague Katie Frankel, katie(at)ffvc.com ! Last year at ffMASSIVE, we held an on-stage pushup contest and Indiegogo fundraiser. All proceeds went...
[Continue Reading]Raise capital with the skin you’re in: blunt truth from Don Charlton, Founder, JazzHR
How do you raise capital for your company when you’re not in the traditional social circles of the money people? In particular, the VC industry is 76% white male and overwhelmingly straight; what if you do not fit into that bucket? I’m speaking on a panel this afternoon on fundraising for minority founders at the...
[Continue Reading]