My Interview With StartupGrind (Nov 2013)

I have conducted close to 80 interviews where I am the interrogator, about 70 with TCTV and closing in on 10 with “Sunday Conversations.” While I will continue Sunday Conversations with two more releases this year (TBA) and then only tape with Keith Rabois (4-6 times in 2014), I am also making an effort to be on the other side of interviews more. The few people who know me may think of me through an overly-active Twitter feed or through longer-form writing here on my blog, but I enjoy public speaking, taking questions, and engaging in live conversations. I also feel that now, I might have some perspectives to share about startups, fundraising, mobile ecosystems, and investing that either aren’t often discussed or perhaps different given the alternate path I’m trying to go down. To that end, I’d be very grateful if you could either watch the video or listen to the audio via SoundCloud and give me any feedback — be brutal! I can take it.

In this conversation with Startup Grind’s Derek Anderson (thank you Derek, for having me!), here’s a short list of topics we go into detail on:

-overall investing landscape (angel to Big VC)
-overall mobile ecosystem (why app activity feels bubbly)
-my own personal path into Silicon Valley (quite brutal)
-tactical fundraising advice (what investors look for but don’t often say)
-discussion around angellist + equity crowdfunding
-fielding an audience question about Twitter as a public company (recorded on Twitter’s IPO day)
-how I think about relationship building (tactical)
-how writing on Quora and TechCrunch enabled me to ride out a difficult storm
-…and much more!