# Venture Unlocked: the investor podcast, by episode > Venture Unlocked: How venture firms are built: raising a fund, LPs, portfolio construction. The GP's side of the table. Source: https://millionrounds.com/podcasts/venture-unlocked (Millionrounds; every figure on the page links to its filing or article) 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 PodcastsBrowse the episodes **163** episodes **107** investors heard as guests **45 min** an average episode 7 in the last 12 months ## The regulars Investors named as guests in the most episode titles on Venture Unlocked. [CD *3* **Chris Douvos** Ahoy Capital](https://millionrounds.com/person/chris-douvos)[GP *3* **Guy Perelmuter** GRIDS Capital](https://millionrounds.com/person/guy-perelmuter)[MR *3* **Meghan Reynolds** Jazz Venture Partners](https://millionrounds.com/person/meghan-reynolds)[MM *2* **Mike Maples** Floodgate](https://millionrounds.com/person/mike-maples)[NW *2* **Nate Williams** Union Labs](https://millionrounds.com/person/nate-williams)[OZ *2* **Oren Zeev** Zeev Ventures](https://millionrounds.com/person/oren-zeev)[SP *2* **Satya Patel** Homebrew](https://millionrounds.com/person/satya-patel)[TT *2* **Tomasz Tunguz** Theory Ventures](https://millionrounds.com/person/tomasz-tunguz)[AP *1* **Alex Pall** MANTIS Venture Capital](https://millionrounds.com/person/alex-pall)[AS *1* **Amy Saper** Accel](https://millionrounds.com/person/amy-saper)[AM *1* **Andrew McCormack** Valar Ventures](https://millionrounds.com/person/andrew-mccormack)[AM *1* **Apurva Mehta** Summit Peak Investments](https://millionrounds.com/person/apurva-mehta) ## Every episode 163 · page 1 of 6 - 163 **Oren Zeev on why to stay small and solo, and the nature of AI investing today.** 14 Oct 2026 · 44 min [Oren Zeev](https://millionrounds.com/person/oren-zeev)[Zeev Ventures](https://millionrounds.com/fund/zeev-ventures) 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… ▶Show page - 162 **Wins Above Replacement: The New Way to Judge Founders** 9 Sept 2026 · 55 min [Carter Reum](https://millionrounds.com/person/carter-reum) 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… ▶Show page - 161 **From the early days of Facebook and learning from Zuck to building a $2B+ VC franchise w/South Park Commons** 11 Aug 2026 · 55 min [South Park Commons](https://millionrounds.com/fund/south-park-commons)[Aditya Agarwal](https://millionrounds.com/fund/aditya-agarwal)[Mark Zuckerberg](https://millionrounds.com/fund/mark-zuckerberg) 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… ▶Show page - 160 **Has venture capital lost the plot?** 28 Jul 2026 · 48 min [Founder Collective](https://millionrounds.com/fund/founder-collective)[Samir Kaji](https://millionrounds.com/fund/samir-kaji)[Micah Rosenbloom](https://millionrounds.com/person/micah-rosenbloom) 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… ▶Show page - 159 **Deep Tech Gold Rush: Smart Boom or Future Bust?** 4 Jun 2026 · 54 min [Guy Perelmuter](https://millionrounds.com/person/guy-perelmuter)[Nate Williams](https://millionrounds.com/person/nate-williams)[Sunil Nagaraj](https://millionrounds.com/person/sunil-nagaraj) 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… ▶Show page - 158 **Betting on Founders Who Build the Real World** 3 Dec 2025 · 38 min [Lior Susan](https://millionrounds.com/person/lior-susan-3) 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… ▶Show page - 157 **Unpacking "A Crisis Moment In Seed"** 12 Nov 2025 · 39 min [NextView Ventures](https://millionrounds.com/fund/nextview-ventures) 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… ▶Show page - 156 **Platform Shifts, AI, and the Future of Consumer Investing** 24 Sept 2025 · 48 min [Mercedes Bent](https://millionrounds.com/person/mercedes-bent) 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… ▶Show page - 155 **The GP of 2030: AI, Automation, and the Future of Capital Formation** 20 Aug 2025 · 48 min [Alex Robinson](https://millionrounds.com/person/alex-robinson) 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… ▶Show page - 154 **Jack Altman on the transition going from building a Unicorn with Lattice to starting a venture firm** 30 Jul 2025 · 45 min [Jack Altman](https://millionrounds.com/fund/jack-altman)[Alt Capital](https://millionrounds.com/fund/alt-capital-5) 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… ▶Show page - 153 **How to win in seed stage investing today** 16 Jul 2025 · 52 min [Nakul Mandan](https://millionrounds.com/person/nakul-mandan-2) 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… ▶Show page - 152 **What is happening in VC today and the role of wealth management in growing the private markets?** 13 Jul 2025 · 1h 42m [Turner Novak](https://millionrounds.com/person/turner-novak) 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… ▶Show page - 151 **Navigating growth stage investing in today's AI driven market with Logan Bartlett of Redpoint** 18 Jun 2025 · 51 min [Logan Bartlett](https://millionrounds.com/person/logan-bartlett)[Redpoint](https://millionrounds.com/fund/redpoint)[Battery Ventures](https://millionrounds.com/fund/battery-ventures) 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… ▶Show page - 150 **The New World of VC and Building a Durable Firm with Category Ventures' Villi Iltchev** 4 Jun 2025 · 44 min [Villi Iltchev](https://millionrounds.com/person/villi-iltchev)[August Capital](https://millionrounds.com/fund/august-capital)[Two Sigma](https://millionrounds.com/fund/two-sigma) 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… ▶Show page - 149 **The Benchmark Way: Running of an Iconic firm with Victor Lazarte** 19 Mar 2025 · 45 min [Victor Lazarte](https://millionrounds.com/person/victor-lazarte) 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… ▶Show page - 148 **Tomasz Tunguz on where we are in the AI S-Curve and the Evolving Investment Landscape** 5 Mar 2025 · 36 min [Tomasz Tunguz](https://millionrounds.com/person/tomasz-tunguz)[Redpoint](https://millionrounds.com/fund/redpoint)[Theory Ventures](https://millionrounds.com/fund/theory-ventures) 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… ▶Show page - 147 **The Solo GP Playbook: Zal Bilimoria on Fundraising, Portfolio Strategy, and Founder Relationships** 19 Feb 2025 · 47 min [Zal Bilimoria](https://millionrounds.com/person/zal-bilimoria)[Andreessen Horowitz](https://millionrounds.com/fund/andreessen-horowitz)[Google](https://millionrounds.com/fund/google-assistant-investments)[Refactor Capital](https://millionrounds.com/fund/refactor-capital) 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… ▶Show page - 146 **The Evolution of building a legacy firm at Venrock with Brian Ascher** 5 Feb 2025 · 44 min [Brian Ascher](https://millionrounds.com/person/brian-ascher)[Venrock](https://millionrounds.com/fund/venrock) 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.… ▶Show page - 145 **Evolving Venture Liquidity Solutions with Gaurav Mathur of Pinegrove Capital Partners** 22 Jan 2025 · 47 min [Gaurav Mathur](https://millionrounds.com/person/gaurav-mathur)[Brian Laibow](https://millionrounds.com/person/brian-laibow) 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… ▶Show page - 144 **The 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 min [Andreessen Horowitz](https://millionrounds.com/fund/andreessen-horowitz)[Ethan Kurzweil](https://millionrounds.com/person/ethan-kurzweil)[Kristina Shen](https://millionrounds.com/person/kristina-shen) 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… ▶Show page - 143 **Meet the Expert: Venture Fund Banking with Sam Heshmati and Vincent Timoney of Citizens Private Bank** 16 Oct 2024 · 48 min 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… ▶Show page - 142 **Saga Ventures on key lessons on raising a Fund I, building healthy partnerships, and winning in a competitive seed market** 26 Sept 2024 · 48 min [Saga Ventures](https://millionrounds.com/fund/saga-ventures)[Ben Braverman](https://millionrounds.com/person/ben-braverman)[Max Altman](https://millionrounds.com/person/max-altman-2) 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… ▶Show page - 141 **Building 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 min [Glenn Solomon](https://millionrounds.com/person/glenn-solomon)[GGV Capital](https://millionrounds.com/fund/ggv-capital)[Notable Capital](https://millionrounds.com/fund/notable-capital)[Granite Asia](https://millionrounds.com/fund/granite-asia) 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… ▶Show page - 140 **Doing a successful GP led secondary in Venture Capital, Why seed funds can scale, and what a good VC platform team looks like** 8 Aug 2024 · 52 min [Ben Sun](https://millionrounds.com/person/ben-sun-taiwan-global-angels) 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… ▶Show page - 139 **Investing in USV Fund I, lessons learned as a LP, and why Emerging Managers are so important** 1 Aug 2024 · 1h 3m [IA Ventures](https://millionrounds.com/fund/ia-ventures)[Union Square Ventures](https://millionrounds.com/fund/union-square-ventures)[Lindel Eakman](https://millionrounds.com/person/lindel-eakman) 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… ▶Show page - 138 **The great startup reckoning event of 2023 and 2024, but why startups should now start going back on offense featuring Tom Loverro of IVP** 17 Jul 2024 · 36 min [Tom Loverro](https://millionrounds.com/person/tom-loverro) 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… ▶Show page - 137 **Finding greatness in non-consensus startups, the story of Twitch from Justin.TV, and why great companies need insights and inflection points with Mike Maples** 10 Jul 2024 · 48 min [Mike Maples](https://millionrounds.com/person/mike-maples)[Floodgate](https://millionrounds.com/fund/floodgate) 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… ▶Show page - 136 **TX Zhuo’s of Fika Ventures on raising a Fund I, evolving decision making frameworks, and what founder first means to them** 27 Jun 2024 · 41 min [Fika Ventures](https://millionrounds.com/fund/fika-ventures)[Innovation Endeavors](https://millionrounds.com/fund/innovation-endeavors)[Karlin Ventures](https://millionrounds.com/fund/karlin-ventures) 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… ▶Show page - 135 **Limited Partner Unlocked: Michael Kim Cendana Capital on the Emerging Manager landscape, fundraising, and the need for liquidity** 5 Jun 2024 · 51 min [Michael Kim](https://millionrounds.com/person/michael-kim-2)[Cendana Capital](https://millionrounds.com/fund/cendana-capital)[Lerer Hippeau](https://millionrounds.com/fund/lerer-hippeau) 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,… ▶Show page - 134 **Amy Saper of Uncork Capital on how startups should embrace constraints to foster creativity, and her learnings from being at Accel, X, Uber, and Stripe** 15 May 2024 · 49 min [Amy Saper](https://millionrounds.com/person/amy-saper)[Accel](https://millionrounds.com/fund/accel)[Uncork Capital](https://millionrounds.com/fund/uncork-capital) 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,… ▶Show page ## Who the show talks about Firms named in its episodes, and people named in descriptions: talked about, rather than on the show. [**Google** *12*](https://millionrounds.com/fund/google-assistant-investments)[**AngelList** *6*](https://millionrounds.com/fund/angellist)[**Andreessen Horowitz** *5*](https://millionrounds.com/fund/andreessen-horowitz)[**Redpoint** *5*](https://millionrounds.com/fund/redpoint)[**Altimeter** *4*](https://millionrounds.com/fund/altimeter-capital)[**Battery Ventures** *4*](https://millionrounds.com/fund/battery-ventures)[**Founders Fund** *4*](https://millionrounds.com/fund/founders-fund)[**Kleiner Perkins** *4*](https://millionrounds.com/fund/kleiner-perkins)[**Uncork Capital** *4*](https://millionrounds.com/fund/uncork-capital)[**Accel** *3*](https://millionrounds.com/fund/accel)[**Founder Collective** *3*](https://millionrounds.com/fund/founder-collective)[**GGV Capital** *3*](https://millionrounds.com/fund/ggv-capital) ## More shows like this - [**The Twenty Minute VC** Harry Stebbings 1,526 episodes](https://millionrounds.com/podcasts/20vc) - [**Invest Like the Best** Patrick O'Shaughnessy 602 episodes](https://millionrounds.com/podcasts/invest-like-the-best) - [**No Priors** Sarah Guo and Elad Gil 185 episodes](https://millionrounds.com/podcasts/no-priors) - [**BG2Pod** Brad Gerstner and Bill Gurley 45 episodes](https://millionrounds.com/podcasts/bg2pod)