Greg Castle is the Founder & serves as Managing Partner at Anorak Ventures. He serves as the Advisor at UploadVR. Prior to Anorak, Greg was an active angel investor with 30 investments counting two exits including Oculus, which was acquired by Facebook for $2bln. With strong ties to the VR/AR community, Greg focuses much of his time investing in and mentoring startups in this sector. Previously, Greg led marketing for the popular game development company Scaleform and for Autodesk's Game Technology Group.
Rajat Bhageria
Investing in A.I. (& Big Data) • Robotics
San Francisco Bay Area, U.S.A.
Previous Investments
• Afore Capital:
• Chef Robotics:
• Kiwi:
(early stage)
• Prototype Capital:
(mid stage)
• Indiegogo:
(late stage)
• Kairos Society:
(late stage)
• Red & Blue Ventures:
(early stage)
• ThirdEye Technologies, Inc. (Acquired in 2017):
(early stage)
Roboticist, Founder, CEO at Chef Robotics (We're hiring!)
Roboticist, Founder, CEO at Chef Robotics (We're hiring!)
Founder @thirdeye • Managing Partner @prototype-capital • @forbes Contributor • Author of What High School Didn't Teach Me • Studied at @wharton-school
Dror Berman is a Co-Founding Partner at Innovation Endeavors. He is a Board Member of Vicarious Surgical. He is also a Board Member of Team8. Prior to joining Innovation Endeavors, he worked on global search products with Yahoo, spearheaded an R&D team at NICE Systems, and led business development for an Israeli CE retailer. Berman has an MBA from Stanford, and graduated cum laude in Computer Science and Bioinformatics from Ben Gurion University in Israel.
Three decades as an entrepreneur and hands on investor
Investor for 20 years in teams (@zynga, XenSource/CTRX @facebook, Datamirror/IBM, Fortinet/FTNT, Tango, @metaweb, D-Wave) solving hard problems for large markets.
Michael Kim
Investing in PropTech • FinTech (& Financial...
New York, U.S.A.
Previous Investments
• Silicon Valley Data Science:
$3100000 (Series A)
What I look for
Pre-product market fit companies making the world suck less by delivering magical-seeming solutions to important and difficult problems. And appeal to a rational economic buyer.
Founders who are customer domain experts with a formidable strategic understanding of, and an ambitious non-obvious take on, a fast growing market.
Companies benefiting from a massive fundamental trend. Ones where the market will continue to blossom over the next 10+ years. For example:
DataDog and DigitalOcean benefit from the incredible growth of new software developers,
Kepler benefits from the burgeoning space economy & software-defined satellites,
DataRobot benefits from the importance of ML and the desire to democratize it,
Coiled benefits from Python becoming the defacto language of data science/engineering,
Canvas benefits from the move to value-based health care, and
Vectra benefits from the rise of AI, the move to the cloud, and the increasing sophistication of security attacks.
Companies with audacious visions that can deliver an MVP and have many collisions with the market in the 12 months following our initial investment because distribution matters as much as product. Ones that can get to fast-growing, high-margin, scalable, and repeatable revenue within 18 months.
Companies that have a thesis about how they can be a 70%+ gross margin business with an accelerating advantage that enable them to capture the majority of the market and resulting economics.
Founders that display clarity, courage, & urgency (clarity of speech == clarity of thought). Ones who are relentlessly resourceful and can attract the talent to achieve the vision.
How I like to invest
Provide enough runway. 24+ months of capital (thoughts on burn and team size at the seed stage) to build team, product, demonstrate the irrefutable product-market fit needed to raise the next round from a great investor.
Have enough conviction to do the whole round. No lead investor should make founders scavenge to fill out the round.
Value great syndicate members over ownership. The right syndicate can change the complexion of a company. Bottom line is the founder has the final say as to the right raise and right syndicate — keeping in mind it’s in both our interests to have a small focused group of truly helpful investors.
Hold an additional amount in reserve from the outset in case the company needs a bridge to demonstrate product-market fit. This falls under the responsibility of a true lead investor.
Invest in only a handful of companies a year. New investments should never be “options” or “lottery tickets.” Every investment I make has the potential to change the world, be a legendary company, and return our fund many times over.
Keep it simple (e.g. post-money SAFE) and expect that the time from signed term sheet to money in the bank will be less than 2 weeks.
Pay my own legal fees.
How I like to work with companies
Earn the trust of founders. Founders who believed in me enough to let me invest in their company.
Do no harm. The singular focus of a seed-stage company is finding irrefutable product-market fit. Investors can and do help, but most important is to ensure they don’t randomize founders. Founders know their business better than anyone.
Be an accountability partner. This has an outsize effect on success.
Be aligned. Every round of funding is an experiment. It is important to be explicit about, constantly assess, and evolve the hypotheses that are being tested. The company and its investors must be aligned prior to an investment. I’ve found that the best way to achieve this is for the founders and investors to explicitly define and agree upon the hypotheses being tested with this round of funding (here is an example of a hypothesis document ). That is not to say things won’t change, but it’s much easier when both parties are starting from a place of mutual understanding.
How I like to communicate
Be open. Send me anything you think is helpful or useful. When in doubt, send it. I read every email — if I have something of value to say I’ll respond, if not I won’t. The more information we share, the better we can work together.
I’ve found that the best entrepreneurs send out monthly updates.
Be candid. If I’ve done something that you want me to stop doing, keep doing, or start doing — let me know. I’d rather you be honest with me and tell me I screwed up than keep it to yourself. It makes me better and builds trust between us.
I’m your investor. I believe in you. I want you to succeed. I’ve seen it all (ducks!). You don’t need to market to me.
What I hope for
While each company has its own path to success, patterns do stand out. Generally, within 18 months after our initial investment, the best companies have built the right team, have the product in market and have demonstrated conclusive and irrefutable product-market fit (if you are not sure you have it, you likely don’t).
Once a company has demonstrated product-market fit, actively help raise the next round. Work closely with companies to refine the pitch (here is some great advice). Introduce them to the best VCs.
Invest my pro-rata in subsequent rounds of those companies that have demonstrated success. On average we invest somewhere between $6 and $10M over the life of the best companies in our portfolio. And those companies return 10x++ our total investment.
Jerry Yang
Investing in Software (Web Marketplace Saas..) &b...
Jerry Yang serves as Founding Partner at AME Cloud Ventures. Yang also serves as Special Partner at Neotribe Ventures. He serves as Investor of BirdEye. He also serves as an Independent Director at Workday and Advisor at Radius. He is the Founding Partner at AME Cloud Ventures. He serves as Board Observer and Senior Advisor at Didi Kuaidi. Since March 2012, he has worked with and invests in technology entrepreneurs as the founding partner of AME Cloud Ventures, his innovation investment firm. He is also a co-founder of Yahoo! Inc., where he served as a director from March 1995 to January 2012, and as Chief Executive Officer from June 2007 to January 2009. He also led Yahoo!'s investments in Yahoo Japan and Alibaba Group Holding Limited, and he is a currently a director of Alibaba Group, where he has served on the board from October 2005 to January 2012 and from September 2014 to the present. He is also a director of Lenovo, Inc. where he has served on the board since November 2014. From July 2000 to November 2012, he was a member of Cisco Systems, Inc.'s Board of Directors, and he was a director of Yahoo! Japan from January 1996 to January 2012. He also is a director of various private companies and foundations. He received a B.S. and M.S. in Electrical Engineering from Stanford University, where he served as Vice Chair of the Board of Trustees from June 2005 until September 2016. He is also an Angel Investor. He serves as Board Member at Docker
Managing Director @ Obvious Ventures | Adjunct @ Stanford
Nan Li serves as Managing Director at Obvious Ventures. He also is an Angel Investor. He formerly served as Principal. Previously he worked at Bain Capital Ventures, where he joined in 2010. He has spent the majority of his time in the emerging consumer media and tech space, which includes web services, ad tech, social media, and analytics. Prior to Bain Capital Ventures, Li spent a number of years at Bain & Company in Chicago working on various strategic and operational issues in the consumer technology, renewable energy, healthcare, industrial, and non-profit sectors. He has been involved in several startups since his time at the University of Michigan. Li received a BSE in Computer Science Engineering, magna cum laude, from The University of Michigan. He also serves as Board Observer at Recursion Pharmaceuticals.
Patent Attorney | Investor
Patent Attorney. Stanford Professor. First investor @twilio. Early investor @cruise-automation.
Linked In Description:
Purpose :: Over the last 20 years, I have supported 10 early stage nonprofits, funded 100 early stage startups, crafted patent applications for 500 early stage startups, taught 750 engineering students at Stanford University, and advised the Center for Entrepreneurship at the University of Michigan which provides experiential learning for 1000s of engineering students. It took me an embarrassingly long time to connect all of these dots, but I now understand that my purpose on this planet is quite simple: to empower entrepreneurs. Gratitude :: I am incredibly grateful to Diana Lin (my partner in Schox Patent Group), Reilly Brennan (my partner in Trucks Venture Capital), and Kate Schox (my partner in — literarily — everything). ---------------------- Bio :: Jeffrey Schox is the founder of Schox Patent Group, a boutique patent firm focused on startups, and a general partner at Trucks Venture Capital, which funds the entrepreneurs building the future of transportation. Previously, Jeff worked as an engineer on the original electric vehicle at General Motors and as a patent attorney for two of the largest patent law firms before starting his own law firm. Schox Patent Group has prepared and filed 1000+ patent applications and has guided 500+ startups through the due diligence process (resulting in $5B+ raised from venture capital). Trucks Venture Capital, which is now on their second fund, has made 30+ investments, including nuTonomy (acquired), Nauto, Zendrive, Starsky Robotics, May Mobility, SkyRyse and Joby. Jeff has made 100+ angel investments in startups, including Twilio (first investor, IPO) and Cruise (early investor, acquired by GM for a reported $1B). As a Lecturer for Stanford University, Jeff teaches the course "Patent Law and Strategy for Innovators and Entrepreneurs.” He is also the Advisory Board Chair for the Center for Entrepreneurship at the University of Michigan.
Tony Corbin
Investing in BioTech • Businesses Solutions ...
Menlo Park , San Fran..., U.S.A. - Israel - Europe: Germany, United Kingdom, France, Italy, Spain, Poland, Romania, Netherlands, Belgium, Czech Republic, Greece, Portugal, Sweden, Hungary, Austria, Switzerland, Denmark, Finland, Slovakia, Norway, Ireland, Luxembourg, Malta, Icelan
Previous Investments
• Vayyar Imaging:
$109000000 (Later stage VC)
• VDOO:
$57000000 (Later stage VC)
• Cloudleaf:
$26000000 (Later stage VC)
• Fakespot:
(Series A)
• Fakespot:
$4000000 (Series A)
• Sumatra:
$2000000 (Seed)
• MRGN:
(Pre Seed)
• MRGN:
(Pre-Seed)
• Ash Wellness:
$3000000 (Seed)
• Ash Wellness:
(Seed+)
• AppliedXL:
$4000000 (Seed)
• AssetDash:
(Pre Seed)
• Tabula:
$3000000 (Pre Seed)
• Naya:
$6000000 (Seed)
• Thorium Data:
$100000 (Pre Seed)
• OpenAxis:
$2000000 (Pre Seed)
• CACTIVATE:
(Pre Seed)
• Grin Gaming:
(Seed)
• Grin Gaming:
(Seed)
• Docket:
(Seed)
• Ask Vera:
(Seed)
• UrsaLeo:
(Seed+)
• Cactivate:
(Pre-Seed)
• Clearforce:
(Seed)
• Paragon Intel:
(Seed+)
• Intrro:
(Seed)
• Bazze:
(Pre-Seed)
• Asset Dash:
(Pre-Seed)
• Extend:
$16000000 (Series A)
• OneCell Diagnostics:
$16000000 (Series A)
• Finicast:
$13000000 (Seed)
• Very Good Ventures:
$3000000 (Series A)
• Very Good Ventures:
$3000000 (Series A)
• Prellis Biologics:
$35000000 (Series C)
• Prellis Biologics:
$15000000 (Series B)
• Biomason:
$65000000 (Series C)
• Home Delivery Service (HDS Global):
$5000000 (Series Unknown)
• Rizzle:
$17000000 (Convertible Note)
• EnTribe:
$3000000 (Seed)
• Atonarp:
$50000000 (Series D)
• Atonarp:
$2000000 (Series B)
• Atonarp:
$4000000 (Series A)
• Boom Supersonic:
$50000000 (Series C)
• Extend, Inc.:
$16000000 (Series A)
• Quartic.ai:
$2000000 (Seed)
• Globality:
$27000000 (Series B)
• Globality:
$10000000 (Series A)
• BangDB:
(Seed)
• Reaction:
$10000000 (Series A)
• Reaction:
$2000000 (Seed)
• Shipster:
(Seed)
• H2O.ai:
$9000000 (Series A)
• Trove:
$5000000 (Series A)
• FUTR Corp.:
$5000000 (Seed)
• Yellowsmith:
$850000 (Seed)
• Printi:
$1000000 (Series A)
• GoPro:
$88000000 (Series A)
Tony Corbin
Menlo Park - San Francisco Bay Area - California, U.S.A. - Israel - Europe: Germany, United Kingdom, France, Italy, Spain, Poland, Romania, Netherlands, Belgium, Czech Republic, Greece, Portugal, Sweden, Hungary, Austria, Switzerland, Denmark, Finland, Slovakia, Norway, Ireland, Luxembourg, Malta, Icelan
Riverwood Capital is a globally-focused private equity firm that invests in high-growth businesses in the technology and services industries, across a variety of verticals and geographies. Riverwood has offices in Menlo Park, CA and New York, NY and currently has more than 20 investments in North America, Latin America and Asia. The firm's current fund has $780 million of committed capital. The final fund close was in April 2011. Riverwood invests in mid-market technology and technology enabled products and services. The firm defines mid-market as approximately $100-$500 million in revenue for product companies, and approximately $25-$150 million in revenue for software and services. Riverwood occasionally invests outside these ranges. Riverwood invests on a global basis, having already invested in the U.S., Israel, Argentina, Chile, and Brazil. The firm's normal investment size ranges from $25-75 million.
Joanne Chen
Investing in Software (Web Marketplace Saas..) &b...
Software (Web Marketplace Saas..) • Media • Energy • Sales (& Marketing) • Entertainment (& Sports) • A.I. (& Big Data) • Web Security (& Privacy) • Advertising • Future Of Work • Impact • Robotics • Aerospace (& Defense) • Woman Focused • Film Production (& Distribution)
Description
Startup founder coach
Startup founder coach
Most Interested In
Raising a first fund right now, pre-seed and seed focus, looking at world-class product and technical teams out of Australia and New Zealand when the fund comes online. See http://m8.ventures
Not Interested In
Anything relying on an addictive pathway to build growth, engagement or sales.
Growth at @BlueChilliGroup • founder @TheNewAgencyAU • Worked at @yahoo, @microsoft • Charter investor in @startmate @pollenizer @blackbird-ventures
How to connect with Angel Investors in the Robotics industry?
In the Robotics industry, angel investors such as Elon Musk, Steve Jurvetson, and Tim Ferriss are significant figures. These investors focus on startups offering innovative solutions in robotics technology, automation, and artificial intelligence. Elon Musk, CEO of Tesla and SpaceX, invests in robotics startups that have the potential to revolutionize industries with advanced automation. Steve Jurvetson, a co-founder of Future Ventures, looks for companies that leverage robotics to create groundbreaking products and services. Tim Ferriss, an author and entrepreneur, seeks out startups with scalable and impactful robotics solutions. To connect with these investors, attend robotics conferences, tech expos, and networking events such as RoboBusiness, IROS, and Automate. Utilize platforms like AngelList and LinkedIn to identify and reach out to potential investors. When pitching, emphasize how your robotics solution addresses key challenges, such as improving operational efficiency, enhancing automation, or reducing costs. Highlight any traction you’ve gained, such as partnerships with manufacturing companies, successful pilot projects, or positive feedback from clients. Building relationships through initial informal meetings or discussions at industry panels can help establish trust with these investors. Demonstrating the impact of your technology through case studies or pilot programs can also add credibility. Personalize your outreach by referencing the investor’s previous investments and explaining how your venture aligns with their interests. Demonstrating a sustainable business model with clear revenue streams, such as product sales, licensing, or service contracts, will further strengthen your pitch. Leveraging endorsements or case studies from robotics experts can also enhance your credibility.
Case Studies: Successful Funding Rounds with Angel Investors on Angels Partners
Exotic Orange & Angels Partners: Turning Financial Simplicity Into Investment Success
