How should founders approach pitching investors in today’s competitive market? What strategies are top investors using to identify and support promising startups? And how is generative AI reshaping the landscape for entrepreneurs and investors alike?
These are some of the questions explored in this episode of the Shift AI Podcast. Amy McCullough and Yuval Neeman, managing directors of Trilogy Equity Partners, discuss their unique investment thesis, the qualities they look for in entrepreneurs, and the transformative impact of AI on the future of work.
They also share their insights on building strong relationships with founders, the importance of authenticity in pitches, and the evolving dynamics of the startup ecosystem.
Listen below, and continue reading for highlights from their comments, edited for context and clarity. Subscribe to the Shift AI Podcast and hear more episodes at ShiftAIPodcast.com.
Impact of Gen AI on jobs: (Yuval) There’s a lot of talk about how Gen AI is going to take people’s jobs away. To some degree that will happen. Although I think it’s going to be more about Gen AI-based products taking the mundane work out of what people are doing, and people are going to be able to do more. But equally, I think it’s going to make services available to people who couldn’t afford them, or where there were just not enough people to provide them.
Building relationships with entrepreneurs: (Amy) From our perspective, the ability to partner with folks at that really early stage — and I’d underscore partner, capital “P” — that’s one of the things that we love most about the work that we’re doing. There is a really amazing working relationship you develop with your entrepreneurs over the course of that journey. As the earliest stage investor, typically writing that check, you get to be a part of that action from day one, and that’s a really special bond that you build with your entrepreneurs.
Trilogy’s investment thesis: (Yuval) We formed a strong thesis about a dozen years ago, around 2012, which was about focusing on seed stage. We saw seed rounds going from a quarter to half a million to two, three, four, five million and there wasn’t really anyone focusing and able to write checks for that in Seattle at the time. We decided that was to be our focus.
We also really believed in rolling up our sleeves and having our operational experience while working with the entrepreneurs. So it was about investing locally, and with the narrowing of the stage and the geography, we expanded from mostly being B2B to doing B2C. The thesis was simple, deceptively simple. We’re looking for exceptional entrepreneurs because this journey is super hard and you have to be exceptional to be able to be successful.
Advice for first time founders: (Amy) Always remember you’re just sitting across the table from normal people. And this is the beginning of, hopefully, a very personal and deep relationship. Approach it with that backdrop in mind. Meaning, you’re bringing your best self to that meeting and you’re bringing an authentic personality and who you are. Because, really, what are we screening for? Your idea might change three times before you go raise your next round? We are looking for the driving force for this individual that’s going to see them through the ups and downs of this business. Do they have a level of conviction and focus and drive and passion about what they’re doing to be able to go take this thing forward?
Early path to Trilogy: (Yuval) Indirectly, after 16 years at Microsoft, I felt like it was time for a change and I didn’t know what I was going to do. Maybe I retire. I was dabbling with startups here in Seattle and in Israel where I’m originally from, and two things happened: One, one of those Israeli startups, we ended up raising money from Trilogy. I didn’t know any of those folks and I kind of liked them and they were intriguing and they were like, “Well, we have the space you can come sit with us.” And also my daughter, who was then 13, said, “Dad, you’ve been at home long enough, maybe it’s time you get another job.”
Impact of first job: (Amy) My first job was bagging groceries at the local Safeway in Puyallup. And I’ll tell you, I went to Annie Wright school, which is a private school in Tacoma, on scholarship, and I was probably the only girl in my class who was working, maybe the only girl in the high school who was working. The eye-opening experience was that it was a union job. I started bagging groceries and then I started loading dairy coolers on Friday and Saturday nights with guys who had been weathered and working in grocery stores their whole career. And man, what a humanistic people experience that was at 16, and terrific in terms of exposure to all kinds of people.
Listen to the full episode of Shift AI with Trilogy Equity Partners Amy McCullough and Yuval Neeman here.
https://ift.tt/b1qI3J0 July 19, 2024 at 02:00PM GeekWire
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