🎤 THIS WEEK ON BEYOND THE CAP TABLE: Jen and Lizzie Carr, Investment Associate at January Ventures, shake up the format and discuss the January Ventures 5th Annual Early Stage Founder Sentiment Report. 

January’s research is the largest longitudinal study of early-stage founders, and our results were featured in TechCrunch and on NBC. In this last episode of Season Two, Jen and Lizzie dig into some of the insights and more, including:

💡 Why the results suggest that the early stage fundraising market might be stabilizing 

📘 Why finding and cultivating a strong founder community is the key to success in fundraising and company building 

❤️What’s ahead for venture and the outlook for 2024

🎤 …and so much more.

You can listen now on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or wherever you get your podcasts. Don’t forget to subscribe to Beyond the Cap Table so that you never miss an episode and keep the conversation going here and with your networks! 

To stay up to date on January Ventures and be the first to know when we return for Season Three, subscribe to our substack by clicking here.

Catch up on Season Two:

Jen has been joined by experts for riveting conversations on the state of and how to impact the future of venture. See below for highlights and links to listen!

Ed Zimmerman from First Close Partners (Listen on: Apple Podcasts | Spotify)

Brittney Riley Gavini, venture investor at Pivotal Ventures (Listen on: Apple Podcasts | Spotify)

Allison Baum Gates from SemperVirens (Listen on: Apple Podcasts | Spotify)

Priyanka Jain from Evvy (Listen on: Apple Podcasts | Spotify)

Jeremiah Gordon from CapitalG (Listen on: Apple Podcasts | Spotify)

Charles Hudson from Precursor Ventures (Listen on: Apple Podcasts | Spotify)

Mariela Salas from SomosVC (Listen on: Apple Podcasts | Spotify)

Roxanne Petraeus of Ethena (Listen on: Apple Podcasts | Spotify)

Shannon O’Leary from the Saint Paul & Minnesota Foundation (Listen on: Apple Podcasts | Spotify)

Sonia Kastner of Pano AI (Listen on: Apple Podcasts | Spotify)

Claude Grunitzky from Equity Alliance (Listen on: Apple Podcasts | Spotify)

You can find Beyond the Cap Table on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts!

🎤 THIS WEEK ON BEYOND THE CAP TABLE: Jen has a candid and thoughtful conversation with Ed Zimmerman, venture lawyer at Lowenstein Sandler and Co-founder of First Close Partners, a fund of funds investing in underrepresented fund managers. Ed is a venture veteran who has spent his career supporting and championing founders and funders. He chairs Lowenstein Sandler’s Emerging Companies & Venture Capital practice (fka, The Tech Group), which he and Anthony Pergola co-founded in the 1990s. Ed has been a growth company, startup and venture/M&A lawyer for 30 years.

In this episode, we touch on: 

💡 How to approach building a diverse network with an open and prepared mind

📘 Why he started angel investing and what he has learned about investing from sitting on the legal side of VC  

❤️ His personal motivation for championing social justice and diversity, and how he brings that unique perspective to venture capital 

🎤 …and so much more.

You can listen now on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or wherever you get your podcasts. Don’t forget to subscribe to Beyond the Cap Table so that you never miss an episode and keep the conversation going here and with your networks! 

To learn more about First Close Partners, click here.

Catch up on Season Two:

Jen has been joined by experts for riveting conversations on the state of and how to impact the future of venture. See below for highlights and links to listen!

Brittney Riley Gavini, venture investor at Pivotal Ventures (Listen on: Apple Podcasts | Spotify)

Allison Baum Gates from SemperVirens (Listen on: Apple Podcasts | Spotify)

Priyanka Jain from Evvy (Listen on: Apple Podcasts | Spotify)

Jeremiah Gordon from CapitalG (Listen on: Apple Podcasts | Spotify)

Charles Hudson from Precursor Ventures (Listen on: Apple Podcasts | Spotify)

Mariela Salas from SomosVC (Listen on: Apple Podcasts | Spotify)

Roxanne Petraeus of Ethena (Listen on: Apple Podcasts | Spotify)

Shannon O’Leary from the Saint Paul & Minnesota Foundation (Listen on: Apple Podcasts | Spotify)

Sonia Kastner of Pano AI (Listen on: Apple Podcasts | Spotify)

Claude Grunitzky from Equity Alliance (Listen on: Apple Podcasts | Spotify)

You can find Beyond the Cap Table on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts!

🎤 THIS WEEK ON BEYOND THE CAP TABLE: Jen speaks with Brittney Riley Gavini, venture investor at Pivotal Ventures. Brittney Riley Gavini’s work focuses on driving capital to overlooked people and problems by making venture capital more equitable and effective. She has over a decade of experience focused on early-stage innovation, as an operator, investor, and LP. For the last five years, Brittney has been at Pivotal Ventures, an investment and incubation company founded by Melinda French Gates

Pivotal Ventures expands opportunity and accelerates equality in the United States through high-impact investments, partnerships, and advocacy. Pivotal Ventures focuses on areas where social progress has stalled—and where the organization can have the biggest impact. 

In this episode, we touch on: 

💡 Why she started Founderkind to help early stage entrepreneurs take the leap to start a business

📘 The case for investing in emerging managers and how to underwrite them before they have historical fund data  

❤️How Pivotal Ventures is reimagining the world for women in the US and why they believe the care economy is the place to start 

🎤 …and so much more.

You can listen now on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or wherever you get your podcasts. Don’t forget to subscribe to Beyond the Cap Table so that you never miss an episode and keep the conversation going here and with your networks! 

To learn more about Pivotal Ventures, click here. 

Catch up on Season Two:

Jen has been joined by experts for riveting conversations on the state of and how to impact the future of venture. See below for highlights and links to listen!

Allison Baum Gates from SemperVirens (Listen on: Apple Podcasts | Spotify)

Priyanka Jain from Evvy (Listen on: Apple Podcasts | Spotify)

Jeremiah Gordon from CapitalG (Listen on: Apple Podcasts | Spotify)

Charles Hudson from Precursor Ventures (Listen on: Apple Podcasts | Spotify)

Mariela Salas from SomosVC (Listen on: Apple Podcasts | Spotify)

Roxanne Petraeus of Ethena (Listen on: Apple Podcasts | Spotify)

Shannon O’Leary from the Saint Paul & Minnesota Foundation (Listen on: Apple Podcasts | Spotify)

Sonia Kastner of Pano AI (Listen on: Apple Podcasts | Spotify)

Claude Grunitzky from Equity Alliance (Listen on: Apple Podcasts | Spotify)

You can find Beyond the Cap Table on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts!

📣 HAPPY 2024! We’re kicking off the first Beyond the Cap Table episode of the year with Jennifer Neundorfer chatting with Allison Baum Gates, General Partner at early-stage venture capital fund SemperVirens and author of Breaking Into Venture: An Outsider Turned Venture Capitalist Shares How to Take Risks, Create Power, and Build Life-Changing Wealth.

Currently based in New York, Allison has lived and worked in San Francisco, Hong Kong, and Tokyo. She invests in technology transforming workforce, healthcare and financial services and previously worked on the trading floor at Goldman Sachs and co-founded Fresco Capital, a global seed fund. She was also an investor at Trinity Ventures.  

In this episode, we touch on: 

💡 The moment Allison realized she wanted to be a disruptor, not the disrupted

📘 Key lessons from her book Breaking Into Venture, which was informed by her own experience starting from scratch in the industry   

❤️Why 'leaning out' out of networks that don't work for you can be the answer to finding your way in a network-driven ecosystem

🎤 …and so much more.

You can listen now on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or wherever you get your podcasts. Don’t forget to subscribe to Beyond the Cap Table so that you never miss an episode and keep the conversation going here and with your networks! 

To learn more about Allison, click here. 

Catch up on Season Two:

Jen has been joined by experts for riveting conversations on the state of and how to impact the future of venture. See below for highlights and links to listen!

Priyanka Jain from Evvy (Listen on: Apple Podcasts | Spotify)

Jeremiah Gordon from CapitalG (Listen on: Apple Podcasts | Spotify)

Charles Hudson from Precursor Ventures (Listen on: Apple Podcasts | Spotify)

Mariela Salas from SomosVC (Listen on: Apple Podcasts | Spotify)

Roxanne Petraeus of Ethena (Listen on: Apple Podcasts | Spotify)

Shannon O’Leary from the Saint Paul & Minnesota Foundation (Listen on: Apple Podcasts | Spotify)

Sonia Kastner of Pano AI (Listen on: Apple Podcasts | Spotify)

Claude Grunitzky from Equity Alliance (Listen on: Apple Podcasts | Spotify)

You can find Beyond the Cap Table on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts!

THIS WEEK ON BEYOND THE CAP TABLE: Jennifer Neundorfer is joined by Priyanka Jain, co-founder and CEO of Evvy. With us, Priyanka explores her groundbreaking approach to women’s health and her drive to uncover much needed answers for women.  

Priyanka has always been passionate about leveraging data to improve outcomes for women. During her four years as Head of Product at pymetrics, she focused on building algorithms to make hiring more fair, efficient, and transparent. Priyanka is also a spokesperson for the United Nations Foundation's Girl Up Campaign, Chair of the Acumen Fund's Junior Council, and on the Innovation Board for the XPrize Foundation. 

In this episode, we touch on: 

💼 How Priyanka moved from being a product expert to a CEO, and why she made that choice

📈 Why she gave herself a deadline during the initial exploration period of starting Evvy and how that helped her uncover a hidden massive market opportunity

❤️How Evvy is redefining the standard of care for women’s health

🎤 …and so much more.

You can listen now on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or wherever you get your podcasts. Don’t forget to subscribe to Beyond the Cap Table so that you never miss an episode and keep the conversation going here and with your networks! 

To learn more about Evvy, click here.

Catch up on Season Two:

As we head into the holiday season, we’d love to give you the opportunity to catch up on what you might have missed this season on Beyond the Cap Table!

Jen has been joined by experts for riveting conversations on the state of and how to impact the future of venture. See below for highlights and links to listen!

Jeremiah Gordon from CapitalG on why building a tribe is crucial to success in VC, why Alphabet invested $100M in Black-led funds and startups, and how to make a venture fund a viable franchise (Listen on: Apple Podcasts | Spotify)

Charles Hudson from Precursor Ventures on how to build and scale a VC fund from the ground up, what makes founders successful, and how investors can actually move the needle for their portfolio (Listen on: Apple Podcasts | Spotify)

Mariela Salas from SomosVC on why now is the time for Latino/a funders and founders, how build your personal brand and ‘take up space’, and the power of data in creating change. (Listen on: Apple Podcasts | Spotify)

Roxanne Petraeus of Ethena on transitioning from the military to tech, turning customers into evangelists, and building a company culture that matters (Listen on: Apple Podcasts | Spotify)

Shannon O’Leary from the Saint Paul & Minnesota Foundation on how diversity drives top decile returns, what stands out in diligence, and how to land institutional LPs (Listen on: Apple Podcasts | Spotify)

Sonia Kastner of Pano AI on the massive opportunity for climate tech, raising early stage capital, and cracking enterprise sales (Listen on: Apple Podcasts | Spotify)

Claude Grunitzky on building Equity Alliance, shifting culture in venture capital, and cultivating an authentic network (Listen on: Apple Podcasts | Spotify)

You can find Beyond the Cap Table on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts!

THIS WEEK ON THE POD: Jennifer Neundorfer is joined by Jeremiah Gordon, General Counsel at CapitalG. Jeremiah shares insights on why he thinks now is a great time to build a company, his unique take on the VC industry, and more!

Jeremiah joined CapitalG in 2011 and has been its General Counsel and Chief Compliance Officer since its inception. He was instrumental in Google's initiative to invest $100M in investments to Black-led investment firms, startups and organizations supporting Black entrepreneurs. 

We touch on: 

📝 Jeremiah’s unique take on the VCl industry from legal, LP, and angel investor viewpoints

✅ What role affinity groups play in supporting diverse founders

🤝 Why venture capital is a team sport

🎤 …and so much more.

You can listen now on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or wherever you get your podcasts. Don’t forget to subscribe to Beyond the Cap Table so that you never miss an episode and keep the conversation going here and with your networks! 

To learn more about CapitalG, click here. 

Catch up on Season Two:

As we head into the holiday season, we’d love to give you the opportunity to catch up on what you might have missed this season on Beyond the Cap Table!

Jen has been joined by experts for riveting conversations on the state of and how to impact the future of venture. See below for highlights and links to listen!

Charles Hudson from Precursor Ventures on how to build and scale a VC fund from the ground up, what makes founders successful, and how investors can actually move the needle for their portfolio (Listen on: Apple Podcasts | Spotify)

Mariela Salas from SomosVC on why now is the time for Latino/a funders and founders, how build your personal brand and ‘take up space’, and the power of data in creating change. (Listen on: Apple Podcasts | Spotify)

Roxanne Petraeus of Ethena on transitioning from the military to tech, turning customers into evangelists, and building a company culture that matters (Listen on: Apple Podcasts | Spotify)

Shannon O’Leary from the Saint Paul & Minnesota Foundation on how diversity drives top decile returns, what stands out in diligence, and how to land institutional LPs (Listen on: Apple Podcasts | Spotify)

Sonia Kastner of Pano AI on the massive opportunity for climate tech, raising early stage capital, and cracking enterprise sales (Listen on: Apple Podcasts | Spotify)

Claude Grunitzky on building Equity Alliance, shifting culture in venture capital, and cultivating an authentic network (Listen on: Apple Podcasts | Spotify)

You can find Beyond the Cap Table on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts!

THIS WEEK ON THE POD: Jennifer Neundorfer is joined by Charles Hudson, Managing Partner of Precursor Ventures as he shares strategies on the rewards & risks of pre-seed, betting on founders with unique insight, the secrets to landing top LPs for an "unconventional" strategy, and more!

Having enjoyed a multifaceted career and worn many hats en route to founding Precursor Ventures, Charles’ insights on strategy, portfolio construction, and team building are not to be missed.

We touch on: 

📝 How Charles built Precursor Ventures from the ground up and transitioned from an emerging to an established fund

✅ The secrets to landing top LPs for an "unconventional" strategy

🤝 Productivity hacks to scale yourself and your impact

🎯 How to qualify investors, whether you’re a founder or a GP

🎤 …and so much more.

You can listen now on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or wherever you get your podcasts. Don’t forget to subscribe to Beyond the Cap Table so that you never miss an episode and keep the conversation going here and with your networks! 

To learn more about Precursor Ventures, click here. You can also find Charles’ Substack here.

Season Two Recap

As we head into the holiday season, we’d love to give you the opportunity to catch up on what you might have missed this season on Beyond the Cap Table!

Jen has been joined by experts for riveting conversations on the state of and how to impact the future of venture. See below for highlights and links to listen!

Mariela Salas from SomosVC on why now is the time for Latino/a funders and founders, how build your personal brand and ‘take up space’, and the power of data in creating change.

Roxanne Petraeus of Ethena on transitioning from the military to tech, turning customers into evangelists, and building a company culture that matters

Shannon O’Leary from the Saint Paul & Minnesota Foundation on how diversity drives top decile returns, what stands out in diligence, and how to land institutional LPs

Sonia Kastner of Pano AI on the massive opportunity for climate tech, raising early stage capital, and cracking enterprise sales

Claude Grunitzky on building Equity Alliance, shifting culture in venture capital, and cultivating an authentic network

You can find Beyond the Cap Table on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts!

This week, Jennifer Neundorfer is joined by Mariela Salas, Executive Director of SomosVC, a group of experienced venture investors focused on growing and supporting the Latino/a venture capital ecosystem. With nearly 20 years of experience in the entrepreneurship, finance, infrastructure, and technology sectors, Mariela has held executive leadership positions in various corporations and non-profits.

Why are we excited about Mariela? Through her commitment to increasing the representation of Latinx professionals in venture capital, Mariela has spearheaded the creation of networks, summits, community, research, and resources in service of lifting the next generation of diverse founders and funders.

Mariela joins us to reflect on:

• What SomosVC is doing to grow and support the Latino/a venture capital ecosystem

• What Mariela learned from being the only Latina in the room and why she is now determined to ‘take up space’

• How Mariela’s doctorate research on the intersection of Latinx identity, DEI, and venture capital shapes her approach to building SomosVC

• Why data is so important for increasing representation in VC and key insights from the SomosVC annual report

• How to build an authentic community and then activate that community for change

• Why the first annual SomosVC Summit proved now is the time for Latino/a investors

Listen to the episode with Mariela Salas on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts.

To learn more about SomosVC, click here.

Stay tuned for a new episode next Tuesday. If you like what you hear, make sure to follow, rate, and subscribe!

ICYMI

Previous episodes from Season Two of Beyond the Cap Table:

Why are we excited about Roxanne? Roxanne has been a part of the January Ventures family since we first invested in Ethena’s pre-seed round back in 2019. Her experience as a founder and leader is nothing short of inspiring and we’re so happy that we can share more of her story with you. We chat about:

• What she learned bootstrapping her first company and how it shaped her discipline when starting Ethena

• How her experience in the military prepared her to be a founder and CEO

• The secret to building and maintaining strong co-founder partnerships

• How to find internal champions and why they are critical for enterprise sales

• What founders should know about building relationships with prospective investors

• How to transition to a multi-product company, and why customer feedback is so important in that process

• How to build an outstanding internal culture within your organization

Listen to the episode with Roxanne Petraeus on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts.

You can learn more about Ethena here.

Stay tuned for a new episode next Tuesday. If you like what you hear, make sure to follow, rate, and subscribe!

ICYMI

Previous episodes from Season Two of Beyond the Cap Table:

Listen Spotify | Apple Podcasts | Castbox

Why are we excited about Shannon? Shannon is a visionary CIO who has delivered best-in-class returns while staying true to her belief in the power of investing in diversity. Shannon’s track record demonstrates that diversity is not concessionary. We are excited to share her refreshing, honest, and thought provoking takes, including:

• Her strategy for the Foundation’s $1.7B investment portfolio

• How she delivers top decile returns by investing in diversity

• What actually stands out in a diligence process, and why an “edge” is overrated

• What emerging managers can do to land their first institutional LPs

• Why she assesses funds on DEI and what it tells her about prospective managers

• What emerging fund managers can do to derisk themselves

Listen to the episode with Shannon O’Leary on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts.

You can learn more about the Saint Paul & Minnesota Foundation here: www.spmcf.org.

Stay tuned for a new episode next Tuesday. If you like what you hear, make sure to follow, rate, and subscribe!

Listen Spotify | Apple Podcasts | Castbox

Why are we excited about Sonia? As a founder, Sonia speaks candidly and honestly from the other side of the cap table. She brings decades of operating experience, team building, and company scaling to reflect on the experience of building Pano. In this episode, Sonia discusses:

• How she structured the initial idea generation stage for Pano and built conviction to go all in on this opportunity.

• Why she believes now is the time to build and invest in climate tech.

• How she raised over $45M for Pano and what she’s learned about running a successful fundraising process at various stages.

• Why her background in operations and supply chain give her a unique perspective as a founder and CEO. 

• How to build a team from Day 0 and her creative secret to finding early hires.

• How to tackle enterprise sales at the early stage and the key to landing Pano’s first customer.

• Her approach to recruiting mentors and leveraging them both personally and professionally.

Listen to the episode with Sonia Kastner on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, Castbox or wherever you get your podcasts.

Thanks for tuning in. New episodes will be coming your way each Tuesday. Make sure to follow, rate, and subscribe!

We’re thrilled to unveil Season 2 of our podcast aimed at demystifying venture capital and highlighting the next generation of innovators.

We’re back for a new season under a new name: Beyond the Cap Table. Hosted by Jen Neundorfer, Co-founder & Managing Partner of January Ventures, this season promises to be an exhilarating journey through the heart of the venture world.

What to Expect in Beyond the Cap Table:

Join us as we venture into the minds of founders, GPs, LPs, and operators from the January community and beyond. We're here to demystify the world of venture capital and shine a spotlight on the innovators who are shaping our future, redefining venture and tech, and building the networks to enable the new establishment.

We've got an incredible lineup to help us do that. Here's a taste of the themes we'll be exploring:

• Spotlighting the architects of new tech and VC networks.

• Highlighting visionary founders building our future.

• Exploring non-traditional allocators, be it LPs or GPs.

• Investigating innovation in venture - networks, platforms, products, and more.

• Delving into the power of diversity as a driver of returns.

• Sharing advice for leaders looking to build in a different mold and champion new models in venture

Our First Episodes:

To kick off Season 2, Jen is speaking to Claude Grunitzky, CEO and Managing Partner at The Equity Alliance. The Equity Alliance is a New York-based fund that invests in venture capital firms and early-stage ventures led by women and people of color.

Why are we excited about Claude? As the founder of two media companies, an active angel investor, and an LP, Claude has deep experience on both sides of the cap table. In this episode, Claude shares his insights on:

• Why he started Equity Alliance to invest in venture capital firms and early-stage ventures run by women and people of color.

• How he built a top media company and got Goldman Sachs to lead his Series A.

• How he successfully raised capital for Equity Alliance and turned his wishlist of LPs into a reality.

• How he does diligence on funds, and what makes a manager stand out.

• How he activates his network and makes it work for him and his portfolio companies.

• Why being less transactional is actually the key to success in venture.

Listen to Season 2, Episode 1 with Claude Grunitzky on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, or Castbox now!

In the second episode of Season 2, Jen speaks with Sonia Kastner, Co-Founder and CEO of Pano AI. Pano, a January Ventures portfolio company, is the leader in actionable intelligence for wildfire management.

Why are we excited about Sonia? As a founder, Sonia speaks candidly and honestly from the other side of the cap table. She brings decades of operating experience, team building, and company scaling to reflect on the experience of building Pano. In this episode, Sonia discusses:

• How she structured the initial idea generation stage for Pano and built conviction to go all in on this opportunity.

• How she raised over $45M for Pano and what she’s learned about running a successful fundraising process at various stages.

• Why her background in operations and supply chain give her a unique perspective as a founder and CEO. 

• How to build a team from Day 0 and her creative secret to finding early hires.

• How to tackle enterprise sales at the early stage and the key to landing Pano’s first customer.

• Her approach to recruiting mentors and leveraging them both personally and professionally.

Listen to Season 2, Episode 2 with Sonia Kastner on Apple Podcasts or Castbox now!

Join us for these two engaging episodes, and many more to come. You can listen to the episodes now on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or wherever you get your podcasts.

Get ready for a season that will bring you closer to the innovators who are shaping the future of venture. New episodes will be coming your way each Tuesday. Subscribe to "Beyond the Cap Table" now, and don't miss a moment of this exciting journey!