Kicking Off The StrictlyVC Insider Series

Late last year, in one of my many chats w/ Connie (who created StrictlyVC), we came upon the topic of “Hey, how could StrictlyVC be something more than it is today?” Big question. We batted around a ton of ideas. I was willing to help on whatever made sense, and Connie — juggling a daily newsletter and a bunch of other things — decided on a few live events for 2015. Thus, “The StrictlyVC Insider Series” was born.

Connie had her first event last week in San Francisco, and the turnout was great, all readers of her newsletter getting to meet live, in person, in the beautiful offices of Next World Ventures (which was also hosting an original Banksy — see pics below). We were lucky to book a star lineup — I kicked things off in conversation with Keith Rabois, then Mark Gainey (Strava founder), and the event closed out with Naval from AngelList & Connie in a 1:1 discussion. If you’re interested in the world of venture and you haven’t already signed up for StrictlyVC, take a look at Connie’s excellent post-event reporting which recapped the conversations about Strava, AngelList, and two separate posts (Part I & Part II) on all market insights from Keith Rabois. (Sign-up here for StrictlyVC.)

In particular, I want to highlight the discussion with Rabois (again) and would encourage you all to read through Connie’s synopsis. In the first part, Keith makes a more detailed case about why private companies should be going public in today’s environment, and why it’s unhealthy (and an excuse to avoid scrutiny) for the overall ecosystem. The full argument from Rabois is captured here, by Connie. In the second part, Keith and I discuss how larger VC firms can think about having a multistage strategy of investing at seed, traditional Series As and Bs, and then on to growth. I see more firms wrestling with this issue as company formation becomes quicker, cheaper, and flooded with micro- and crowd-based funds. See more of Part II here.

Finally, congrats again to Connie and her readership at StrictlyVC. What may look like a simple daily newsletter on the venture industry requires a ton of work, focus, and dedication. And, we are already planning the second event and talking to a few speakers. From what I see so far, it will be fantastic, and as soon as we know the date, time, and venue, you’ll want to pen this in your calendar.