1Mby1M AI Investor Forum: Piyush Kharbanda, General Partner at Vertex Ventures (Part 1)

Piyush Kharbanda, General Partner at Vertex Ventures, discusses his firm’s AI investment thesis.

Best of Bootstrapping: Pre-Seed Fundraising is a Low Probability Game

For our Seed Capital series of podcasts, I’ve interviewed hundreds of investors, especially micro-VCs and angels who play an important role in the early-stage game. The toughest round of funding an entrepreneur will seek to raise is Pre-seed. How do you increase your odds?

Pre-seed has the lowest probability of success. Over 99% of the entrepreneurs who seek financing are rejected. Read more about the Probability of Pre-Seed Funding.

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1Mby1M AI Investor Forum: Mark Phillips, Founder and Managing Partner at 11 Tribes Ventures (Part 7)

Sramana Mitra: I’m sure you are seeing that category of entrepreneurs in the geographies that you’re catering to. That is a true statement. They’re benefiting from the fact that the ultralight startup trend is really taking off right now because of AI.

1Mby1M AI Investor Forum: Mark Phillips, Founder and Managing Partner at 11 Tribes Ventures (Part 6)

Sramana Mitra: The founders that are prized are founders who bring that kind of deep domain knowledge with which to build something differentiated.

1Mby1M AI Investor Forum: Mark Phillips, Founder and Managing Partner at 11 Tribes Ventures (Part 5)

Sramana Mitra: So, tell me a little bit about fund two. What are you expecting to see? I’m sure you have some sort of a pipeline and deal flow that’s already built up as you are starting to divest your second fund. What is happening in the geographies you are interested in? Tell us more about what’s happening in the tech enabled services work.

1Mby1M AI Investor Forum: Mark Phillips, Founder and Managing Partner at 11 Tribes Ventures (Part 4)

Sramana Mitra: What size checks do you write?

Mark Phillips: Out of fund two, we’re writing a $1-$1.5 million check into  to portfolio companies over the course of the next two to three years.

1Mby1M AI Investor Forum: Mark Phillips, Founder and Managing Partner at 11 Tribes Ventures (Part 3)

Sramana Mitra: Yes. Most VCs and certainly Andreessen Horowitz are operating with a unicorn chasing mindset. This particular fundraise by Andreesen Horowitz is absurd because to give returns to limited partners on a $20 billion fund makes no sense.

1Mby1M AI Investor Forum: Mark Phillips, Founder and Managing Partner at 11 Tribes Ventures (Part 2)

Sramana Mitra: Let me just comment on what you said. The problem with the venture capital model that we have arrived at this point over the last, let’s say 30 years, is that it is all consuming. The investors expect the entrepreneur to put everything aside except for making the venture a success; and that success must be success that makes the investors money. Otherwise, it’s not considered a success. If the investors don’t make money, the founder’s not going to make any money at all.