EVCA Newsletter | October Edition - Tons of Jobs, Events, and More!
An emerging yet seldom discussed trend has been picking up steam in recent months: the rise of the “solo VC.” The solo VC is an individual who typically serves as the sole general partner of his or her fund and is the only member of the investment team. Solo VCs invest across all stages of a company’s life and can write large checks, often leading or co-leading rounds by themselves. Unlike hedge funds and mutual funds, which have attracted a great degree of fear and ire for potentially precipitating “the end of venture capital as we know it”, solo VCs have not garnered the same level of public notoriety. Yet their participation has often had the same effect: solo VCs drive up round valuations; as one-man teams, they can make deals at warp speed; and, because they tend to have strong brands as individuals, founders are oft inclined to work with them over institutional investors.
While some particularly scrutinizing persons have begun contemplating whether solo VCs are the biggest new threat to VC firms, the bulk of the fear remains centered on the competition posed by the emergence of hedge funds and mutual funds in VC. The reality is that whether it’s hedge funds, mutual funds, or even solo VCs, the specter of an upcoming venture capital doomsday certainly isn’t coming anytime soon. The industry is merely evolving, and we’re all just going along for the ride.
And with that bit of introductory fanfare, welcome back to the October edition of the EVCA newsletter!
EVCA Spotlight: From Aerospace Engineer to Partner at Bessemer Venture Partners, Tess Hatch Shares Her Origins Story and Lessons on Life
We had the chance to interview Tess Hatch, who is a Partner at Bessemer Venture Partners, one of the most reputed and oldest venture capital firms in the world. Tess shares with us her origins story—from working at NASA’s jet propulsion laboratory, integrating satellites with the Falcon 9 rocket at SpaceX, and finally, rising the ranks from associate to partner at Bessemer in a record four years. Through her story, Tess shares her lessons on life and career.
Featured Investors
This month we highlight Russell Yue of H.I.G. Capital and Sophia Yu of Foothill Ventures as our featured investors of the EVCA community.
Russell Yue is an investor with H.I.G. Capital and joined the firm to help start its new late-stage venture and growth investment practice. Prior to H.I.G., Russell was an investor on the growth stage investment team at Greycroft and previously worked in financial planning & analysis at Fastly. Russell also co-leads the growth vertical at EVCA.
Sophia Yu is an associate at Foothill Ventures, a $150M fund that bets on technical, very early stage B2B companies. She is on the software team where she focuses on investments in AI/ML applications and enterprise SaaS. Before joining Foothill Ventures, she graduated from Yale School of Management with an MBA degree. She was born and raised in China and studied Economics and Finance at Tsinghua University.
EVCA Leadership Spotlight: AI/ML Vertical Leads, Kenn So of Shasta Ventures and Arjo Mozumder of Point72 Ventures
This EVCA Leadership Spotlight Series is intended to help the broader community get to know what's going on behind the scenes at the EVCA, as well as highlight the valuable contributions of the roughly 50 individuals across the venture capital industry who make the EVCA possible.
Kenn So is an investor at Shasta Ventures where he focuses on machine learning and quirky/sleepy/boring SaaS applications, just like a lot of other VCs. What's different is he moved to the US only a few years ago where he learned about venture and fell in love with it. Growing up in a family of restaurateurs in the Philippines, he's a foodie. Naturally, he gained weight going through quarterly food phases with DoorDash during the quarantine. One quarter it'll be pizza, another quarter it'll be acai bowls.
Arjo Mozumder is an investor on the Deep Tech team at Point72 Ventures, the venture arm of the multi-strategy hedge fund. Arjo's core focus is on the automation and disruption of legacy industries, with an emphasis on emerging applications of AI/ML. Over the past 4 years, he has made investments across several industries including manufacturing, e-commerce, real estate, and professional services. Arjo studied Finance and Applied Statistical Modeling at the University of Texas at Austin, having grown up in Dallas. Outside of the job, Arjo is involved with non-profit work in the arts and urban policy, and he spends his off-hours dedicated to music and travels.
What We’re Reading
Securing the API Economy - Zain Rizavi of Pelion Ventures provides a primer on the API Security Market
Hiring undervalued talent in an overpriced world - Sean Stuart of Aura Ventures shares insights on ways to capture undervalued talent
The Italian tech ecosystem — an international VC perspective. Did Italy finally wake up? - Federico Wengi of Paua Ventures examines the trends within the Italian tech ecosystem
Indus Valley: the Global Capital of EdTech - Mujtaba Wani of GSV Ventures examines the India EdTech market and why it is valued higher than EdTech companies in the US
I Boiled Down Hundreds of Successful VC Pitches to One Winning Formula - Donna Griffit a Corporate Storyteller, utilizes her seventeen years of experience to describe her winning formula for pitch decks
Events
Virtual: 7th Annual Bay Area Columbia Alumni Demo Night | October 13 | Hosted by Columbia Venture Community
Raising Capital through Insurance | October 13 | Hosted by NVCA
UnDemo Day® Fall 2021 | October 13 | Hosted by Renaissance Venture Capital
Oktobermixer in Open Space | October 13 | Hosted by DTCP, Deutsche Telekom, Bosch Venture Capital, and Munich Re Ventures
OnRamp Manufacturing Conference | October 14 | Hosted by OnRamp
Gener8tor AgTech 2021 Premiere Night | October 14 | Hosted by Gener8tor
HLTH Conference 2021 | October 17-20 | Hosted by HLTH
ARENA 24: 24-Hour Virtual Pitch Event | October 19 | Hosted by KiwiTech
Jobs
Investing role in San Francisco, CA at Sierra Ventures. If interested, message Adam Dawkins on Slack
Senior Associate Role in San Francisco, CA at Upfront Ventures. If interested, email your resume to Molly O’Shea at molly@upfront.com
Associate Role in San Francisco & San Mateo, CA at Emergence
Principal Role in San Francisco & San Mateo, CA at Emergence
Senior Associate, VP, and/or Principal Role in San Francisco, CA at Sorenson Capital. If interested, reach out to Danel Dayan on Slack
Connect with us: EVCA, Sam, Adam, and Isaac
Do you have something to share with the EVCA community? Submit your writings, announcements, events, and asks for future newsletter publications by clicking on the button below!