Investors · new episode 14 Oct 2026
Venture Unlocked
Hosted by Samir Kaji
How venture firms are built: raising a fund, LPs, portfolio construction. The GP's side of the table.
Follow on Apple PodcastsThe regulars
Investors named as guests in the most episode titles on Venture Unlocked.
Every episode 163 · page 1 of 6
- 163Oren Zeev on why to stay small and solo, and the nature of AI investing today.14 Oct 2026 · 44 minOren ZeevZeev Ventures▶Show page
About this episode
Follow me @samirkaji for my thoughts on the venture market, with a focus on the continued evolution of the VC landscape. Welcome back to another episode of Venture Unlocked, the podcast that takes you behind the scenes of the business of venture capital. In this episode, I have the pleasure of welcoming back Oren…
- 162Wins Above Replacement: The New Way to Judge Founders9 Sept 2026 · 55 minCarter Reum▶Show page
About this episode
Follow me @samirkaji for my thoughts on the venture market, with a focus on the continued evolution of the VC landscape. Welcome back to another episode of Venture Unlocked, the podcast that takes you behind the scenes of the business of venture capital. In this episode, I sit down with Carter Reum, Co‑Founder of…
- 161From the early days of Facebook and learning from Zuck to building a $2B+ VC franchise w/South Park Commons11 Aug 2026 · 55 minSouth Park CommonsAditya AgarwalMark Zuckerberg▶Show page
About this episode
Follow me @samirkaji for my thoughts on the venture market, with a focus on the continued evolution of the VC landscape. Welcome back to another episode of Venture Unlocked, the podcast that takes you behind the scenes of the business of venture capital. In this episode, I sit down with Aditya Agarwal of South Park…
- 160Has venture capital lost the plot?28 Jul 2026 · 48 minFounder CollectiveSamir KajiMicah Rosenbloom▶Show page
About this episode
Follow me @samirkaji for my thoughts on the venture market, with a focus on the continued evolution of the VC landscape. Welcome back to Venture Unlocked, the podcast that takes you inside the business of venture capital. I’m your host, Samir Kaji. My guest today is Micah Rosenbloom, Managing Partner at Founder…
- 159Deep Tech Gold Rush: Smart Boom or Future Bust?4 Jun 2026 · 54 minGuy PerelmuterNate WilliamsSunil Nagaraj▶Show page
About this episode
Follow me @samirkaji for my thoughts on the venture market, with a focus on the continued evolution of the VC landscape. Welcome back to another episode of Venture Unlocked, the podcast that takes you behind the scenes of the business of venture capital. In this episode, I’m joined by three deep tech investors and…
- 158Betting on Founders Who Build the Real World3 Dec 2025 · 38 minLior Susan▶Show page
About this episode
Follow me @samirkaji for my thoughts on the venture market, with a focus on the continued evolution of the VC landscape. Welcome back to another episode of Venture Unlocked, the podcast that takes you behind the scenes of the business of venture capital. In this episode, I sit down with Lior Susan from Eclipse to…
- 157Unpacking "A Crisis Moment In Seed"12 Nov 2025 · 39 minNextView Ventures▶Show page
About this episode
Follow me @samirkaji for my thoughts on the venture market, with a focus on the continued evolution of the VC landscape. Welcome back to another episode of Venture Unlocked, the podcast that takes you behind the scenes of the business of venture capital. Today, I sat down with Rob Go , Co-Founder and Partner at…
- 156Platform Shifts, AI, and the Future of Consumer Investing24 Sept 2025 · 48 minMercedes Bent▶Show page
About this episode
Follow me @samirkaji for my thoughts on the venture market, with a focus on the continued evolution of the VC landscape. Welcome back to another episode of Venture Unlocked, the podcast that takes you behind the scenes of the business of venture capital. In this episode, I had the pleasure of speaking with Mercedes…
- 155The GP of 2030: AI, Automation, and the Future of Capital Formation20 Aug 2025 · 48 minAlex Robinson▶Show page
About this episode
Follow me @samirkaji for my thoughts on the venture market, with a focus on the continued evolution of the VC landscape. Welcome back to another episode of Venture Unlocked, the podcast that takes you behind the scenes of the business of venture capital. In this episode, I had the pleasure of speaking with Alex…
- 154Jack Altman on the transition going from building a Unicorn with Lattice to starting a venture firm30 Jul 2025 · 45 minJack AltmanAlt Capital▶Show page
About this episode
Follow me @samirkaji for my thoughts on the venture market, with a focus on the continued evolution of the VC landscape. Welcome back to another episode of Venture Unlocked, the podcast that takes you behind the scenes of the business of venture capital. In this episode, I sit down with Jack Altman, Managing…
- 153How to win in seed stage investing today16 Jul 2025 · 52 minNakul Mandan▶Show page
About this episode
Follow me @samirkaji for my thoughts on the venture market, with a focus on the continued evolution of the VC landscape. Welcome back to another episode of Venture Unlocked, the podcast that takes you behind the scenes of the business of venture capital. In today’s episode, we are joined by Nakul Mandan , who is…
- 152What is happening in VC today and the role of wealth management in growing the private markets?13 Jul 2025 · 1h 42mTurner Novak▶Show page
About this episode
I recently joined Turner Novak on The Peel for a conversation about the current state of private markets and the realities facing fund managers and investors today. We discussed why fundraising is particularly difficult right now for both emerging and established venture funds, and examined some of the structural…
- 151Navigating growth stage investing in today's AI driven market with Logan Bartlett of Redpoint18 Jun 2025 · 51 minLogan BartlettRedpointBattery Ventures▶Show page
About this episode
Follow me @samirkaji for my thoughts on the venture market, with a focus on the continued evolution of the VC landscape. In this episode, I sat down with Logan Bartlett , Managing Director of Redpoint Ventures . We explore the evolving landscape of venture capital and startup investing and dive deep into the…
- 150The New World of VC and Building a Durable Firm with Category Ventures' Villi Iltchev4 Jun 2025 · 44 minVilli IltchevAugust CapitalTwo Sigma▶Show page
About this episode
Follow me @samirkaji for my thoughts on the venture market, with a focus on the continued evolution of the VC landscape. Welcome to another episode of Venture Unlocked. In this episode, I had the pleasure of welcoming Villi Iltchev , founder and managing partner of Category Ventures. Villi has had a long history in…
- 149The Benchmark Way: Running of an Iconic firm with Victor Lazarte19 Mar 2025 · 45 minVictor Lazarte▶Show page
About this episode
Today, I sat down with Victor Lazarte , a Benchmark partner who transitioned from founding a billion-dollar mobile gaming company in Brazil to becoming a venture capitalist in Silicon Valley with Benchmark in 2023. Victor shared Benchmark's unique investment philosophy, which focuses on deep, meaningful partnerships…
- 148Tomasz Tunguz on where we are in the AI S-Curve and the Evolving Investment Landscape5 Mar 2025 · 36 minTomasz TunguzRedpointTheory Ventures▶Show page
About this episode
Follow me @samirkaji for my thoughts on the venture market, with a focus on the continued evolution of the VC landscape. Had a great conversation recently with Tomasz Tunguz Founder and General Partner at Theory Ventures. We dug into how AI is reshaping venture capital and everyday life, from the rapid advancements…
- 147The Solo GP Playbook: Zal Bilimoria on Fundraising, Portfolio Strategy, and Founder Relationships19 Feb 2025 · 47 minZal BilimoriaAndreessen HorowitzGoogleRefactor Capital▶Show page
About this episode
Follow me @SamirKaji for my thoughts on the venture market, with a focus on the continued evolution of the VC landscape. We recently had the pleasure of hosting Zal Bilimoria , Co-Founder of Refactor Capital . Zal has had a fascinating career from building products at Microsoft, Google, Netflix, and LinkedIn to…
- 146The Evolution of building a legacy firm at Venrock with Brian Ascher5 Feb 2025 · 44 minBrian AscherVenrock▶Show page
About this episode
Follow me @samirkaji for my thoughts on the venture market, with a focus on the continued evolution of the VC landscape. Today I had the pleasure of speaking with Brian Ascher , a veteran venture capitalist at Venrock , a firm with a storied history dating back to 1969 as part of the Rockefeller family office.…
- 145Evolving Venture Liquidity Solutions with Gaurav Mathur of Pinegrove Capital Partners22 Jan 2025 · 47 minGaurav MathurBrian Laibow▶Show page
About this episode
Follow me @samirkaji for my thoughts on the venture market, with a focus on the continued evolution of the VC landscape. In this episode, I have the pleasure of conversing with Gaurav Mathur , Partner at Pinegrove Capital Partners . Together, we dive into the evolving venture capital landscape, focusing on liquidity…
- 144The blueprint for starting a new firm with Chemistry Ventures, including the work needed before choosing your partners and non-consensus decision making.30 Oct 2024 · 43 minAndreessen HorowitzEthan KurzweilKristina Shen▶Show page
About this episode
Follow me @samirkaji for my thoughts on the venture market, with a focus on the continued evolution of the VC landscape. Today I’m excited to speak with the founding team of Chemistry , a new venture firm led by Kristina Shen , Ethan Kurzweil , and Mark Goldberg , who recently spun-out of blue chip firms Andreessen…
- 143Meet the Expert: Venture Fund Banking with Sam Heshmati and Vincent Timoney of Citizens Private Bank16 Oct 2024 · 48 min▶Show page
About this episode
Follow me @samirkaji for my thoughts on the venture market, with a focus on the continued evolution of the VC landscape. In this episode, Sam Heshmati and Vince Timoney from Citizens Private Bank stop by to talk about all things venture banking and how the industry is recovering from the 2023 regional…
- 142Saga Ventures on key lessons on raising a Fund I, building healthy partnerships, and winning in a competitive seed market26 Sept 2024 · 48 minSaga VenturesBen BravermanMax Altman▶Show page
About this episode
Follow me @samirkaji for my thoughts on the venture market, with a focus on the continued evolution of the VC landscape. This week we welcome the three co-founders of Saga Ventures : Ben Braverman, Thomson Nguyen, and Max Altman. Saga Ventures is a seed-stage investment firm that recently closed its first fund of…
- 141Building a firm to last, lessons from nearly three decades of investing, and the path to hiring great venture teams with Glenn Solomon of Notable Capital (FKA GGV Capital)28 Aug 2024 · 41 minGlenn SolomonGGV CapitalNotable CapitalGranite Asia▶Show page
About this episode
Follow me @samirkaji for my thoughts on the venture market, with a focus on the continued evolution of the VC landscape. Today we're thrilled to be joined by Glenn Solomon , managing partner at Notable Capital . Along with Granite Asia , Notable Capital was one of two groups to emerge from GGV Capital, which…
- 140Doing a successful GP led secondary in Venture Capital, Why seed funds can scale, and what a good VC platform team looks like8 Aug 2024 · 52 minBen Sun▶Show page
About this episode
Follow me @samirkaji for my thoughts on the venture market, with a focus on the continued evolution of the VC landscape. In this episode, we are thrilled to be joined by Ben Sun , co-founder of Primary , a seed-stage fund based in New York. Ben shares his journey from investment banking to startup founder, and…
- 139Investing in USV Fund I, lessons learned as a LP, and why Emerging Managers are so important1 Aug 2024 · 1h 3mIA VenturesUnion Square VenturesLindel Eakman▶Show page
About this episode
Follow me @samirkaji for my thoughts on the venture market, with a focus on the continued evolution of the VC landscape. This week I'm excited to sit down with Lindel Eakman from Foundry . Lindel has been an investor in funds and companies since the early 2000s when he started at UTIMCO. In our conversation, Lindel…
- 138The great startup reckoning event of 2023 and 2024, but why startups should now start going back on offense featuring Tom Loverro of IVP17 Jul 2024 · 36 minTom Loverro▶Show page
About this episode
Follow me @samirkaji for my thoughts on the venture market, with a focus on the continued evolution of the VC landscape. Tom Loverro, General Partner at IVP is our guest as part of our Venture Unlocked Shorts series intended to go deep on a single topic. We revisit Tom’s Twitter post from early 2023, which spoke to…
- 137Finding greatness in non-consensus startups, the story of Twitch from Justin.TV, and why great companies need insights and inflection points with Mike Maples10 Jul 2024 · 48 minMike MaplesFloodgate▶Show page
About this episode
Follow me @samirkaji for my thoughts on the venture market, with a focus on the continued evolution of the VC landscape. We're re-joined by Mike Maples, Jr. of Floodgate , this time to discuss his just released new book "Pattern Breakers." Mike was first on the pod in 2021 and it was great to catch up again, this…
- 136TX Zhuo’s of Fika Ventures on raising a Fund I, evolving decision making frameworks, and what founder first means to them27 Jun 2024 · 41 minFika VenturesInnovation EndeavorsKarlin Ventures▶Show page
About this episode
Follow me @samirkaji for my thoughts on the venture market, with a focus on the continued evolution of the VC landscape. We're joined by TX Zhuo , Co-Founder and General Partner of Fika Ventures . His tech career began in college when he started an online textbook marketplace. After working at McKinsey and as a CFO…
- 135Limited Partner Unlocked: Michael Kim Cendana Capital on the Emerging Manager landscape, fundraising, and the need for liquidity5 Jun 2024 · 51 minMichael KimCendana CapitalLerer Hippeau▶Show page
About this episode
Follow me @samirkaji for my thoughts on the venture market, with a focus on the continued evolution of the VC landscape. We are back with another LP-focused episode with Michael Kim , Founder of Cendana Capital . Michael shares how he started Cendana around his thesis (at the time very early) of backing small,…
- 134Amy Saper of Uncork Capital on how startups should embrace constraints to foster creativity, and her learnings from being at Accel, X, Uber, and Stripe15 May 2024 · 49 minAmy SaperAccelUncork Capital▶Show page
About this episode
Follow me @samirkaji for my thoughts on the venture market, with a focus on the continued evolution of the VC landscape. We are back with Amy Saper , partner at Uncork Capital . Amy shares her journey from Silicon Valley operator at Twitter and Stripe to venture capitalist. She talks about Uncork’s strategy,…
Who the show talks about
Firms named in its episodes, and people named in descriptions: talked about, rather than on the show.
