Next Unicorn: Searching for the Next Great Tech Startups: Recent Episodes

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Lars Leckie is a Managing Director at Aspenwood Ventures, a Silicon Valley venture capital firm specializing in early-stage enterprise software startups.

Aspenwood Ventures was rebranded from Hummer Winblad Venture Partners, the first-ever venture capital firm to specialize exclusively in software. Founded in 1989, Hummer Winblad Ventures was incredibly successful from its first fund and operated for over 30 years as a pioneer in the enterprise software space. 🚀

The video version of this episode is also available on our 🎥 YouTube Channel: https://youtu.be/ZPQ5GLAYB5Y?si=oK3imhlKvY05FyiZ

If you like this episode, I think you'd also like our other episodes too. Please check them out.

Follow Lars Leckie
🐦Twitter: @LarsLeckie
🔗 LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/larsleckie/
💻 Aspenwood Ventures Website: https://aspenwoodvc.com/team/

Follow Sasha Earnheart-Gold:
🐦 Twitter: @EarnheartGold
🔗 LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/sashaearnheart-gold/
📸 Instagram: @EarnheartGold
📬 Subscribe to the Next Unicorn email newsletter on Substack: https://nextunicorn.substack.com
💻 Next Unicorn Podcast website: https://www.nextunicornpodcast.com/

Episode Contents:
0:00:00 Teaser
0:00:58 Introduction
0:02:23 What Makes Aspenwood Ventures Unique
0:04:31 Definition of Enterprise Software
0:09:34 Successful Investment in MuleSoft ($0 to $9.8 Billion)
0:11:05 More Examples of Successful Aspenwood Ventures Investments
0:12:17 Aspenwood Ventures Investment Thesis
0:14:23 Inflection Points in the Market That Can Lead to Startup Successes
0:15:09 AI & Opportunity for Startups
0:22:29 AI Startups that Aspenwood Ventures is Investing in
0:27:58 Investing in Enterprise Software in a More Saturated Market
0:33:36 What Made Your Most Successful VC Investments Successful?
0:38:35 Being Non-Consensus and Right vs Timeframe for Others Agreeing Soon Enough
0:41:27 Strategically Timing Your Market Entry for Success, and to Maximizing Runway
0:42:50 How to Get Large Customers to Buy From an Early-Stage Startup
0:44:50 How to Find the Best Early-Stage Startups, Founders & Startup Ideas
0:46:49 How to Find the Best Early-Stage Enterprise Software Startup Founders
0:48:09 How to Think About a Market Map of The Enterprise Software Space
0:52:18 Additional Thoughts on How to Think About VC Investment Thesis
0:56:06 What Lars Has Learned About How to be a Great Venture Capital Investor
0:57:16 The Best Way to Contact Lars
0:58:17 Additional Thoughts on the Future of Investing in Enterprise Software & AI
1:00:23 Lars' Personal Career Background & How he Got to Where he is Today
1:04:23 An Unexpected Aspect of Lars' Career Journey
1:05:31 Bonus Round

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Credits:
Video/audio editor and engineer – Oleksii Kyrkach

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Ian Chiu is a Managing Director at Owl Ventures, the largest EdTech (education technology) venture capital firm in the world, with over $2 billion under management. Owl Ventures is stage-flexible, investing in EdTech startups from seed through growth. The firm is also international, investing in EdTech startups throughout the world. Ian received an MBA at the Stanford Graduate School of Business (GSB), as well as a BS and MS from Stanford University.

This is Next Unicorn Podcast episode 8. The video version of this episode is available on the Next Unicorn YouTube channel (Next Unicorn: The Next Great Startups & Founders). Just search for "Next Unicorn" on YouTube.

If you like this episode, I think you may also like episode 7 (Top Startup Accelerator Reveals How it Helps Startups Succeed), an interview with Ajay Kamat, the head of PearX, one of the top startup accelerators in the San Francisco Bay Area. The YouTube version of that episode is available at: https://youtu.be/SNbS7mTW2PE?si=TysiEHVFgmKZSf8y

Follow Ian Chiu:
🐦Twitter: https://x.com/OwlVC

Follow Sasha Earnheart-Gold:
🐦Twitter: https://x.com/EarnheartGold
📸Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/earnheartgold/
📬Subscribe to the Next Unicorn email newsletter on Substack: https://nextunicorn.substack.com
💻Next Unicorn website: https://www.nextunicornpodcast.com/

Video Contents:
0:00:00 Teaser Clip
0:00:58 Introduction
0:01:46 How Owl Ventures is a Unique EdTech VC Firm
0:04:36 Owl Ventures Investment Thesis around EdTech
0:05:53 Types of EdTech Startups Owl Ventures is Currently Focused on
0:06:50 Examples of EdTech Startups in the Owl Ventures Portfolio
0:09:41 The Future of Education – will Education in 10-20 Years Look Dramatically Different?
0:22:23 Does Remote Learning Really Work? What Did we Learn During Covid about Remote Learning?
0:28:21 Use of Remote Learning and EdTech vs. Socialization, Emotional Growth, and Mental Health
0:32:33 How to Think About a Market Map of EdTech
0:35:20 The Most Intriguing Areas of EdTech for Aspiring Founders to Focus on Right Now
0:40:23 How Will AI Change Education? And How Can AI Improve Education?
0:44:50 Avoiding the Dystopian Vision of AI in Education
0:51:19 How Does Education Need to Change to Prepare Students for a World Where AI is Very Present?
0:54:02 How LLMs (Large Language Models), like Chat GPT, are Affecting Owl Ventures' Investment Decisions
0:58:52 The Best Opportunities for AI EdTech Startups Right Now (Given the Strength of LLMs)
1:03:15 The Most Intriguing Areas for AI in EdTech for Aspiring Founders & Most Interesting Kinds of AI EdTech Startups Right Now
1:08:02 Final Thoughts on the Future of EdTech
1:13:13 Ian's Personal & Career Journey
1:17:41 An Unexpected Aspect of Ian's Career Path
1:21:29 Bonus Round

Credits:
Video/audio editor and engineer – Oleksii Kyrkach

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Ajay Kamat is a Partner at Pear VC, where he runs PearX, one of the top startup accelerators in the San Francisco Bay Area. Pear VC has been an early investor in many successful startup companies. In this episode, we talk about the PearX method of startup success, and how the team at PearX helps startup founders avoid common mistakes, find product-market fit, land their first hires, find venture capital funding, and quickly scale into successful unicorn companies. Later in the interview, we discuss Ajay’s personal career background, his time as a founder, and how he became the head of PearX. Also, stick around to the end of the interview, because Ajay participates in the Next Unicorn Podcast bonus round!

This is Next Unicorn Podcast episode 7. The video version of this episode is available on the Next Unicorn YouTube channel:

If you like this episode, I think you'd also like episode 5 (Are Startup Accelerators Worth It For Founders?), an interview with the former head of Techstars startup accelerator's San Francisco Bay Area location. The YouTube version of that episode is available at: https://youtu.be/sGBS8w0iLv0?si=8pb0dzPJqVeBZXPA

Follow Ajay Kamat:
🐦Twitter: @ajaykam

Follow Sasha Earnheart-Gold:
🐦Twitter: @EarnheartGold
📸Instagram: @EarnheartGold
📬Subscribe to the Next Unicorn email newsletter on Substack: https://nextunicorn.substack.com
💻Next Unicorn website: https://www.nextunicornpodcast.com/

Timestamps:
0:00:00 Teaser Clip
0:00:11 Introduction
0:00:20 Pear VC, PearX, & the difference between the two
0:02:18 How PearX is different than other startup accelerators
0:05:55 What PearX looks for in startups
0:07:13 How PearX evaluates and selects startup teams
0:09:01 Geographic locations of PearX startup teams & their market focus
0:10:12 At what stage is PearX most effective for startups?
0:12:11 The PearX method of startup success
0:15:22 How PearX helps B2B vs B2C startups
0:19:05 How to know when it's time for a startup to pivot
0:20:55 PearX startups that pivoted & became successful
0:23:33 The most successful PearX startups & what made them successful
0:27:30 How the PearX approach has changed over time
0:29:00 AI startup opportunities & changes in PearX startups
0:32:45 How to avoid common startup mistakes
0:35:52 What made PearX one of the top startup accelerators?
0:38:59 Additional comments about PearX and Pear VC
0:40:45 Ajay's personal career journey
0:47:37 Bonus round

Our recording setup:
-Pro webcam used to film this episode: https://amzn.to/3NZNOhH
-Mid-tier webcam option: https://amzn.to/3KPrntv
-Cheaper version of the webcam (if you just want to level up your Zoom calls): https://amzn.to/3Sb4QMe
-USB-C microphone used to film this episode: https://amzn.to/3Sf9o40
-Roost laptop stand to bring the webcam up to eye level (also alleviates back pain from bad posture and hunching over your computer): https://amzn.to/3XrYqvj

Credits:
Video/audio editor and engineer – Oleksii Kyrkach

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Nick Kateris is a Postdoctoral Researcher at Stanford University, where his research is focused on new battery technology, and computer modeling to help develop new types of battery technology, as well as on detonation engines. (Recently, along with colleagues from Stanford and Dartmouth, Nick developed a new type of lithium-sulfur battery that performs much better than any lithium-sulfur batteries developed previously.) In this episode we talk about the future of new battery technology innovation and how it will change the world. Nick completed his PhD at Stanford University, and his bachelor's and master's degrees at Cambridge University in the UK. He is originally from Athens, Greece.

Next Unicorn podcast episode 6. The video version of this episode is available on the Next Unicorn YouTube channel: https://www.youtube.com/@nextunicorn

Follow Nick Kateris
🐦Twitter: @NickKateris

Follow Sasha Earnheart-Gold:
🐦Twitter: @EarnheartGold
📸Instagram: @EarnheartGold
📬Subscribe to the Next Unicorn email newsletter on Substack: https://nextunicorn.substack.com
💻Next Unicorn website: https://www.nextunicornpodcast.com/
🎥Next Unicorn YouTube channel: https://www.youtube.com/@nextunicorn

Video Contents:
0:00:00 Introduction
0:00:41 The Most Exciting Areas of Battery Technology
0:01:25 How New Battery Technology Could Dramatically Reshape Our Economy
0:02:45 The Most Exciting Battery Technology Startups Today
0:03:55 Step Change in New Battery Technology
0:06:26 How Does a Battery Work?
0:09:38 Energy Density and Efficiency in Battery Technology
0:12:05 The Different Types of New Battery Technology
0:30:03 Will Future Electric Vehicles Have a Much Longer Range?
0:31:29 Will Airplanes Become Electric?
0:33:50 What Are Detonation Engines and Why Are They Useful?
0:37:39 Why Are Batteries So Important for Storing Energy for the Electric Grid?
0:48:50 Environmental Issues with Lithium-Ion Batteries
1:01:28 Use of Computer Modeling to Develop New Battery Technology
1:08:01 Why is Political Will Important For New Battery Technology?
1:15:16 What is a Quantum Battery?
1:16:26 What is a Super Battery?
1:18:12 Nick's Personal and Career Background
01:19:09 Nick's Lab Research
01:20:59 An Unexpected Turn in Nick's Career Path
01:23:14 Bonus Round

Our recording setup:
-Webcam used in this episode: https://amzn.to/3NZNOhH
-Cheaper version of the webcam (if you just want to level-up your Zoom calls): https://amzn.to/3Sb4QMe
-Microphone used in this episode: https://amzn.to/3Sf9o40

Credits:
Video/audio editor and engineer – Oleksii Kyrkach

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Collin Wallace is the Former Head of Techstars Silicon Valley (one of the top startup accelerators), co-teaches the Startup Garage accelerator class at the Stanford Graduate School of Business (GSB), and is a partner at Lobby Capital (formerly August Capital), a Silicon Valley venture capital firm. Previously, as a repeat founder, he also was a participant in Techstars and Y Combinator (YC is, of course, also a top startup accelerator). One of the startups that he founded (FanGo) was acquired by Grubhub pre-IPO, where he became Head of Innovation. In this interview, we talk about startup accelerators, how they've changed, and whether they are worth it for founders. We also talk about how much equity startup accelerators take, the amount of funding they provide, and some details regarding SAFEs and other startup accelerator financing terms, as well as differences between startup accelerators. We also talk about the types of problems startup accelerators are especially good at helping founders solve. In addition, we discuss the differences between accelerators: Y Combinator vs Techstars vs Pear VC, etc. Collin has invested in over 80 early-stage companies, including PayJoy, Landed, Mosaic Voice, Postscript, and Vellum. He has a BS from Georgia Tech, and an MBA from the Stanford Graduate School of Business. In addition, he speaks Mandarin Chinese.

🎥 Watch the video version of this episode on the Next Unicorn YouTube channel: https://youtu.be/sGBS8w0iLv0?si=2Sb8FhmMX_fnrZyy

Follow Collin Wallace
👥LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/collin-wallace/
🐦X: https://twitter.com/pithyprof
💻Lobby Capital: https://lobby.vc/

Follow Sasha Earnheart-Gold
👥LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/sashaearnheart-gold/
🐦X: https://twitter.com/EarnheartGold
🎥Next Unicorn YouTube channel: https://www.youtube.com/@nextunicorn
📬Subscribe to the Next Unicorn email newsletter on Substack: https://nextunicorn.substack.com
💻Next Unicorn podcast website: https://www.nextunicornpodcast.com/

Interview Contents:
0:00 Intro
1:07 What are startup accelerators and why are they important?
5:05 Differences between startup accelerators: YC vs Techstars vs Pear
9:32 Are startup accelerators worth it for founders?
13:38 Why speed is so important for startups
19:38 Startup accelerator funding and equity details
26:29 Startup problems that can be solved in an accelerator
31:33 Stanford GSB's Startup Garage
36:15 How to find user empathy
38:42 If Collin started a new type of accelerator today...
41:32 Techstars' partnerships with big companies
47:17 Lobby Capital
1:02:15 How to get into venture capital
1:07:14 Career advice: finite and infinite games
1:09:49 Something unexpected in Collin's career
1:11:31 Bonus round!

Books mentioned in this episode:
📖 The Innovator's Dilemma, by Clayton M. Christensen: https://amzn.to/3TS2N0H
📖 Finite and Infinite Games, by James Carse: https://amzn.to/41RR0lc

Our recording setup:
-Webcam used in this episode: https://amzn.to/3NZNOhH
-Cheaper version of the webcam (if you just want to level-up your Zoom calls): https://amzn.to/3Sb4QMe
-Microphone used in this episode: https://amzn.to/3Sf9o40

Credits:
Video/audio editor and engineer – Oleksii Kyrkach

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Ali Abouelatta is the author of the First 1000 newsletter on Substack (with over 85,000 subscribers at the time of publishing this episode), which is about just that! It also contains all kinds of tips, tricks, and hacks relating to getting your first 1,000 customers and beyond, including: pricing, product design, product management, growth hacks, startup stories, and much more. By day he is a product manager at the popular language learning app Duolingo, and by night he is the author of the popular email newsletter First 1000. Originally from Egypt, he received his bachelor's degree from NYU, and his Master's degree from Cornell Tech. He's worked in a wide range of roles from product management to venture capital.

Next Unicorn podcast episode 4. Watch the video version of this episode on the Next Unicorn 🎥YouTube channel: https://youtu.be/0tKLOpylbNY?si=Tp5OBN71nCLp4XIV

Follow Ali Abouelatta
👥 LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/ali-abouelatta/
🐦 X: https://twitter.com/abouelatta_ali
💻 First 1000: https://read.first1000.co/

Follow Sasha Earnheart-Gold
👥 LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/sashaearnheart-gold/
🐦 X: https://twitter.com/EarnheartGold
🎥 Next Unicorn YouTube channel: https://www.youtube.com/@nextunicorn
📬 Subscribe to the Next Unicorn email newsletter on Substack: https://nextunicorn.substack.com
💻 Next Unicorn podcast website: https://www.nextunicornpodcast.com/
Resources mentioned in this episode:

❤️⭐️ One of Ali's favorite issues of the First 1000 newsletter: 53 ideas to get your first customers: https://read.first1000.co/p/53-ideas-to-get-your-first-customers

Books mentioned in this episode:
📖 Meditations by Marcus Aurelius (the greatest emperor of Rome): https://amzn.to/3vtFeBf

Credits:
Video/audio editor and engineer – Oleksii Kyrkach

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Damir Vrabac is the Co-Founder & COO of Valar Labs, an AI startup that analyzes cancer tissue samples and predicts which type of cancer treatment (surgery, radiation, chemotherapy, etc.) would be most successful for each individual cancer patient. Until now, this has been a very difficult thing for oncologists to predict. This incredible application of AI has the potential to have a life-saving impact on the lives of so many people. The Valar Labs founding team is out of Stanford. Their seed round was led by the venture capital firm Andreessen Horowitz (a16z). Other keywords: Medtech / healthtech / healthcare / digital pathology / medicine / future of medicine.

🎥 Watch the video version of this episode on the Next Unicorn YouTube channel: https://youtu.be/GW99Xn1Zx_s?si=bLS_vmT3SOycMdCw

Follow Damir Vrabac:
👥 LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/dvrabac/
🐦 X: https://twitter.com/dvrabac
💻 Valar Labs: https://www.valarlabs.com/

Follow Sasha Earnheart-Gold
👥 LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/sashaearnheart-gold/
🐦 X: https://twitter.com/EarnheartGold
🎥 Next Unicorn YouTube channel: https://www.youtube.com/@nextunicorn
📬 Subscribe to the Next Unicorn email newsletter on Substack: https://nextunicorn.substack.com
💻 Next Unicorn podcast website: https://www.nextunicornpodcast.com/
Resources mentioned in this episode:

🎥 Watch the full episode video version on YouTube: https://youtu.be/GW99Xn1Zx_s

Credits:
Video/audio editor and engineer – Oleksii Kyrkach

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An interview with Leeor Mushin, Principal at Floodgate Fund, a leading early-stage venture capital (VC) firm in Silicon Valley. An inside look at how one of the original early-stage venture capital firms makes investment decisions about which startups and founders to back.

Follow Leeor:
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/leeormushin/
Twitter: https://twitter.com/lmushin
Floodgate Fund Website: https://www.floodgate.com/

Follow Sasha:
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/sashaearnheart-gold/
Twitter: https://twitter.com/EarnheartGold

Follow Next Unicorn:
TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@nextunicorn
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/nextunicornpodcast
Facebook Reels: https://www.facebook.com/NextUnicornReels

Check out the Next Unicorn website: https://www.nextunicorn.vc/

Watch the full episode on YouTube:

Interview Notes:

Intro
Leeor Mushin is a principal at Floodgate, an early-stage venture capital firm in Silicon Valley. Floodgate has been an early investor in such iconic companies as Lyft, Twitter, Okta, Twitch, Task Rabbit, and many others. Leeor attended the University of Texas at Austin, and more recently graduated with an MBA from the Stanford Graduate School of Business (the GSB). He previously worked in the energy sector, and also founded a digital marketing company. While at Stanford, he co-founded the GSB 2020 Fund, a venture capital fund that invest in startups founded by his classmates, which was the first such fund at the GSB, and which has been repeated by each subsequent class. Since graduating, Leeor been working as a principal at Floodgate Fund, alongside the founding partners, Mike Maples and Ann Miura-ko.

Questions:

Personal
• Leeor’s personal and career journey
• An unexpected aspect of Leeor’s career path

The GSB 2020 Fund
• What was the concept? How did he get the idea? And how did he manifested it?
• How can students at other business schools, or engineering programs, or computer science departments, etc., can launch their own similar funds?

Floodgate Fund
• What differentiates Floodgate in the world of early-stage VC firms?
• In what ways is Floodgate evolving and changing?

Learnings
• What makes a great VC investor?
• What are some of the biggest lessons Leeor has learned about how to be successful as a VC?
• What are some of the biggest lessons Leeor has learned about working with startup founders?
• What makes a great startup founder?
• What are some important pitfalls or mistakes that founders often make, that should be avoided?
• What have been some of the most challenging parts of being a VC for Leeor, and how has he overcome them?
• What Leeor wished he had known before becoming a VC
• What does Leeor think many VCs are doing wrong that he does differently?

Investment Selection
• What are some of the most important considerations when evaluating a potential early-stage VC investment?
• What are some of the most important considerations when evaluating an early-stage founding team?
• What is the "thunder lizard" approach to VC investing?
• What's the best way for founders to reach out to Leeor?

Bonus Round
• What's something about Leeor that most people wouldn’t expect?
• Were there any very different career paths that Leeor was drawn to?
• What would he like to be doing in 5 or 10 years?
• Does Leeor have a view on something that most people don’t agree with him about?
• What advice would Leeor would give his younger self?
• When he’s gone from this earth, what would Leeor liked to be remembered for?

Credits:
Video/audio editor and engineer – Oleksii Kyrkach

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Can this clean hydrogen startup disrupt the energy industry, and solve the climate crisis? Is hydrogen the future of renewable energy? An interview on hydrogen and climate tech / green tech, with Caleb Boyd, Co-Founder of Molten Industries | E1

Intro
Caleb Boyd is a co-founder of Molten Industries. Molten is commercializing breakthrough technology to produce the lowest-cost, cleanest hydrogen to decarbonize heavy industrial sectors such as steel, fertilizer, fuels, and plastics. He attended UC Berkeley for his bachelor’s, and then graduated from Stanford with a PhD in materials science and engineering. After graduating, he moved to Germany and become a venture capitalist in Munich, working with UVC partners, an early-stage deep tech VC firm. Eventually, he moved back to the San Francisco Bay Area to co-found Molten Industries. Recently, he was named a 2023 Forbes 30 under 30. Caleb and his co-founder, Kevin Bush, were also recently named as two of Bill Gates’ 2022 Breakthrough Energy Fellows.

Personal
• Caleb’s personal and career journey
• An unexpected aspect of Caleb’s career path
• What does Molten Industries do, what’s the vision, and what's the problem they’re solving?
• How did he meet his co-founder? How did they come up with the startup idea? How did they launch the company?
• What’s the larger competitive landscape of hydrogen and related technologies? How is Molten different, and why is Molten's approach best?
• What lessons did he learn from his time working as a venture capitalist (VC) that were helpful when founding a startup?
• Tips and advice for quickly closing a first financing round
• What’s the big vision for Molten Industries? Sector
• How much of the climate change solution can hydrogen become? What’s the potential scale?
• What are currently some of the most exciting areas, most compelling untapped opportunities, in climate tech?
• Is climate tech venture capital (VC) ready to have its heyday? Is this the moment?
• What challenges do climate tech VCs and founders face and how can those challenges be overcome?
• What are the most unexpected things about climate tech today?

Learnings
• What are some of the most important attributes of startups and startup founders that can help make them successful?
• What have been some of the most challenging parts of being a founder and how has he overcome them?
• What were some of the most challenging parts of being a VC, and how did he overcome those?
• What does Caleb wish he had known before founding a startup?
• Molten is hiring mechanical and chemical engineers!

Lighting Round
• What’s something about you that most people wouldn’t expect?
• Did he always want to be a founder, or a VC, or an engineer?
• Does he hold a view on something that most people don’t agree with him about?
• What’s some advice he would give his younger self?
• When he’s gone from this earth, what would he like to be remembered for?

Credits:
Audio editor and engineer – Oleksii Kyrkach