Sramana Mitra: Tell me more about the business model. A large percentage of enterprise software is sold via the subscription business model. So is that your business model?
Sonali Vijayavargiya: Exactly. Most of our companies have a subscription business model. Investors value the recurring model. I feel that products don’t walk by themselves. You have to get engagement.
>>>Julianne Zimmerman: I never aspired to be in the venture capital world. I started off as an aerospace engineer. I went to MIT when I was 16 because I had wanted to be an astronaut since I was 12.
I thought that that’s how you became an astronaut. It’s not the worst idea, but it’s a bit naive. This was the way I thought about it. I double majored in Literature.
>>>Responding to a popular request, we are now sharing transcripts of our investor podcast interviews in this new series. The following interview with Sonali Vijayavargiya was recorded in July 2020.
Sonali Vijayavargiya, Founder and Managing Partner at Augment Ventures, discusses her firm’s investment approach, including early exits.
>>>Sramana Mitra: Given your target audience, where do you source deals from? What is the strategy that gets you face to face with such entrepreneurs?
Julianne Zimmerman: This pertains to one of the fundamental myths at the heart of the current incarnation of the venture sector. We have this deeply-rooted pernicious myth that there’s a shortage of investable talents. You’ve probably heard VCs complaining about pipeline problems.
>>>Responding to a popular request, we are now sharing transcripts of our investor podcast interviews in this new series. The following interview with Julianne Zimmerman was recorded in July 2020.
Julianne Zimmerman is Managing Director at Reinventure Capital, a firm focused on minority founders.
>>>Sramana Mitra: What is your modus operandi? You have a small fund. Are you looking for unicorns? Are you looking for early exits?
Dan Roselli: We know that we will still have a relatively high failure rate. When you look at the failure rate of companies in general, you get less of that in the Series B stage. At the seed stage, you’re still trying to figure out if the company is going to make it.
>>>Sramana Mitra: What does the company need to have by way of proof point to qualify for your funding?
Dan Roselli: I’ll start by saying what’s next and then work backwards. Series A investors want to see about $100,000 in monthly recurring revenue.
>>>Responding to a popular request, we are now sharing transcripts of our investor podcast interviews in this new series. The following interview with Dan Roselli was recorded in July 2020.
Dan Roselli is Founder and Managing Partner at CFV Ventures, a North Carolina firm focused on FinTech and InsureTech.
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