1Mby1M Virtual Accelerator Investor Forum: With Daniel Cohen, General Partner at Viola Ventures (Part 1)

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Daniel Cohen, General partner at Viola Ventures, discusses AI, PaaS, and deep tech investments.

Sramana Mitra: We have known each other for ten years. We have observed the industry for a very long time. We often have guests with whom we’ve had long relationships.

We work with a large network of people. I had a wonderful experience yesterday and I want to share this with you. There is a blog post on this on our website and on LinkedIn. I got to know a company through 1Mby1M 15 years ago.

This entrepreneur has been doing this company for 22 years. He started in 1998. His name is Sharat Sharan and he runs a company called ON24. This company went public yesterday. It is a successful IPO. I wanted to show this story to start today’s session because it is a story about persistence.

Length of commitments matters in what you choose to do and how persistent you are in executing against your conviction. I am a big believer in persistence, length of commitment, and also the length of the relationship.

Let’s catch up on what you have been up to since we last spoke. What is happening with Viola? 

Daniel Cohen: In today’s market, which is such a bull market where everything goes up and up, sometimes we don’t give enough attention to people that are persistent. These people are persistent, and it may be taking a while for them to create value.

It’s nice to hear someone that has been at it for over 20 years. For us at Viola, it has been a great year like everybody else. I told someone yesterday that April 2020 was a replay of 2008 all over again because the markets were so bad. Six months later, we felt it was 2000 all over again because the market is up high.

It has been quite bipolar. It has been a fantastic year for us on the business side. I wouldn’t say so much on the personal side because of being at home the entire time. We can talk about what is happening in Israel. That market is booming. Our startups are doing great stuff. The valuations and exits are there. It’s been a good year. 

Sramana Mitra: What funds of Viola are you on right now? Is it the second fund?

Daniel Cohen: No. We are investing in our fifth fund. We started in 2000. We have been raising every four or five years. We are just finishing up on our fifth fund which is about $200 million. 

Sramana Mitra: You were with Viola all along?

Daniel Cohen: No, I was with Gemini which is another Israeli fund. I was with Gemini for 12 years and then I moved to Viola 8 years ago. 

This segment is part 1 in the series : 1Mby1M Virtual Accelerator Investor Forum: With Daniel Cohen, General Partner at Viola Ventures
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