Lux Capital

One day it's so over. The next day we're so back. This is what it feels like gauging the AI boom right now. Everyone's looking for signs of some kind of slowdown and that investments aren't going pan out, but mostly, the dollar signs just keep piling up. And the AI winners like Nvidia, OpenAI, and Anthropic just keep seeing their market valuations rise. In the meantime, other AI players are seeing weird outcomes. Some promising startups aren't being sold, but rather their top talent is walking out the door, leaving other workers potentially in the lurch, while creating risk for venture capital bagholders. On this episode we speak with Josh Wolfe, co-founder and managing partner at the firm Lux Capital, which invests in a range of startups, many of which are in the AI space. He talks about the challenge of aligning incentives, what's overrated, what's underrated, why he thinks Nvidia may have run its course, and the threats to Silicon Valley's "social contract.” Odd Lots is coming to Chicago! Tickets on sale now. Only Bloomberg.com subscribers can get the Odd Lots newsletter in their inbox — now delivered every weekday — plus unlimited access to the site and app. Subscribe at bloomberg.com/subscriptions/oddlots See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Josh Wolfe

Co-Founder and Managing Partner

Lux Capital

Josh Wolfe, co-founder and managing partner at Lux Capital, is a master at quickly understanding complex, emerging technologies. In our conversation, Josh shared how he identifies the next big thing, his contrarian views on nuclear energy, biotech, and robotics, as well as his thoughts on the state of the venture capital market today. (00:00) Intro (01:02) Daily News Routine (05:28) Geopolitical Insights (07:03) Competitiveness and Curiosity (11:01) Investment Strategies and Risks (26:07) The Control Labs Story (33:48) The Founder’s Dilemma: Financial vs. Strategic Motivations (34:33) Geopolitical Concerns: Iran and Global Politics (36:31) Investments in Defense: Controversies and Convictions (37:36) The State of Society: Happiness and Social Dynamics (48:07) Artificial Intelligence: Trends and Predictions (01:02:22) The Future of Robotics: Beyond Humanoids (01:06:46) Ethical Implications of AI and Defense Technologies (01:11:29) Lux Capital’s Investment Strategy and LP Relations (01:12:43) ESG and Moral Impositions (01:13:30) Defense and Complex Moral Valences (01:14:19) Investment Ethics and Decision Making (01:16:46) Venture Capital Market Outlook (01:17:56) Challenges in Venture Capital (01:37:12) The Role of Storytelling in Venture Capital (01:43:20) Personal Reflections and Background (01:51:34) Partnership Dynamics and Trust (01:53:48) Conclusion and Final Thoughts Executive Producer: Rashad Assir Producer: Leah Clapper Mixing and editing: Justin Hrabovsky Check out Unsupervised Learning, Redpoint's AI Podcast: https://www.youtube.com/@UCUl-s_Vp-Kkk_XVyDylNwLA 🎥 Subscribe on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCugS0jD5IAdoqzjaNYzns7w?sub_confirmation=1 Follow on Socials 📸 Instagram - https://www.instagram.com/theloganbartlettshow 📱 X - https://twitter.com/loganbartshow 🎬 Clips on TikTok - https://www.tiktok.com/@theloganbartlettshow About the Show Logan Bartlett is a Software Investor at Redpoint Ventures - a Silicon Valley-based VC with $6B AUM and investments in Snowflake, DraftKings, Twilio, and Netflix. In each episode of The Logan Bartlett Show, we sit down with the people behind today’s most important startups and extract the tactics, lessons, and frameworks they’ve learned the hard way. Conversations span hiring to GTM, product, growth, fundraising and everything in between - collectively forming the ultimate playbook to make you a better CEO, investor or board member. Tap follow and enable notifications to stay ahead of the game.

Josh Wolfe

Co-Founder and Managing Partner

Lux Capital

Renegade Partners co-founders Renata Quintini and Roseanne Wincek have seen it all in their careers — notably over the past four years when they launched their first fund as the COVID pandemic took hold and navigated the economic roller coaster that followed.  Now, with a second $128 million fund — and a plan to write checks of up to $10 million into 20 startups — Quintini and Wincek join TechCrunch editor Kirsten Korosec on Equity to discuss those early days of their first fund, what they look for in a startup and what’s driving the shift away from megafunds. Equity is TechCrunch’s flagship podcast, produced by Theresa Loconsolo, and posts every Wednesday and Friday. Subscribe to us on Apple Podcasts, Overcast, Spotify and all the casts. You also can follow Equity on X and Threads, at @EquityPod. For the full episode transcript, for those who prefer reading over listening, check out our full archive of episodes over at Simplecast. Credits: Equity is produced by Theresa Loconsolo with editing by Kell. Bryce Durbin is our Illustrator. We'd also like to thank the audience development team and Henry Pickavet, who manages TechCrunch audio products. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Renata Quintini

Partner

Lux CapitalRenegade Partners

Roseanne Wincek

Investor

Renegade PartnersIVP

More about Josh Wolfe and Lux Capital here. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Josh Wolfe

Co-Founder and Managing Partner

Lux Capital

Josh Wolfe, the co-founder of Lux Capital, joins Scott to discuss the sectors he’s most excited about and those he thinks are overhyped. We also hear his thoughts on the Magnificent Seven and where the crypto market is seeing new life. Follow Josh on X, @wolfejosh.  Scott opens by giving his thoughts on the protests on college campuses, specifically UCLA.  Algebra of Happiness: the circles of masculinity.  Follow our podcast across socials @profgpod: Instagram Threads X Reddit Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Josh Wolfe

Co-Founder and Managing Partner

Lux Capital

Over the last year or so, probably every venture capitalist has become interested in artificial intelligence. So people are still figuring out what types of business models actually work, and who will end up making money in the space. Josh Wolfe has been at it for a long time. As a co-founder and managing partner at Lux Capital, he's been involved in a number of deals in the space, and is already looking at what's next after the wave of excitement for chatbots since ChatGPT was released. On this episode, we talk to Josh about what he's excited about right now, including robotics, biotech, and maintenance. He tells us that just as ChatGPT opened everyone's eyes to the power of chatbots, a similar moment is coming in the robotics space. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Josh Wolfe

Co-Founder and Managing Partner

Lux Capital

We're in the midst of an AI mania of sorts. In public markets, investors are placing bets on the companies perceived as being the winners of this new wave of computing. Companies that aren't even in "tech" are touting their AI bonafides. And of course, in private markets, every venture capitalist suddenly seems to be pivoting to AI in some way or another. But who will actually win? Will it be the big incumbents? Can those incumbents be disrupted? Will it be the companies who have access to unique datasets? Or will it be whoever has the most computing power? On this episode, we speak with Josh Wolfe, co-founder of Lux Capital, who has been investing in the space for several years, long before it was trendy. He talks about where he's placing his bets and how he's thinking about identifying winners. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Josh Wolfe

Co-Founder and Managing Partner

Lux Capital

Lux Capital’s Josh Wolfe joins to discuss startups in the current market, and the long-awaited release of the crypto debate between Zach Weinberg and Slow Venture’s Sam Lessin that got so heated we weren’t sure we could publish it. (0:00) - Intro (1:27) – Welcome Josh Wolfe (3:10) – Market updates (13:21) – Anti-bubble (16:28) – Consolidation (19:57) – Everything times pi (22:35) – Welcome Sam Lessin (25:43) – NY tech founders in ‘07 (30:44) – Slow Ventures (33:12) – The crypto debate begins (41:57) – On chain real estate (49:19) – Legal protections (1:03:10) – Does it hold up in court? (1:09:52) – Final walk through (1:14:42) – Bearer bonds (1:19:58) – Zach’s reasons against crypto (1:31:37) – Zach’s point (1:33:51) – Carta for your DAU (1:37:11) – Back to liquidity (1:41:24) – Why is it not awesome? (1:45:17) – Users (1:52:40) – Unsettled case law (2:00:29) – Final arguments (2:04:10) – The boiling point (2:06:59) – Maybe we can publish this part (2:12:15) – Zach ending (2:22:08) - Outro   Mixed and edited: Justin Hrabovsky Produced: Andrew Nadeau and Rashad Assir Executive Producer: Josh Machiz Music: Griff Lawson   🎙 Listen to the show Apple Podcasts: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast... Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/5WqBqDb... Google Podcasts: https://podcasts.google.com/feed/aHR0...   Follow on Socials 📸 Instagram - https://instagram.com/cartoonavatars 🐦 Twitter - https://twitter.com/cartoonavatars 🎬 Clips on TikTok - https://www.tiktok.com/@cartoonavatars   About the Show A Saturday morning podcast hosted by Logan Bartlett (Partner and Managing Director at Redpoint Ventures) covering the tech news with his friends and other people with industry expertise. Executive Producer: Rashad Assir Producer: Leah Clapper Mixing and editing: Justin Hrabovsky Check out Unsupervised Learning, Redpoint's AI Podcast: https://www.youtube.com/@UCUl-s_Vp-Kkk_XVyDylNwLA 🎥 Subscribe on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCugS0jD5IAdoqzjaNYzns7w?sub_confirmation=1 Follow on Socials 📸 Instagram - https://www.instagram.com/theloganbartlettshow 📱 X - https://twitter.com/loganbartshow 🎬 Clips on TikTok - https://www.tiktok.com/@theloganbartlettshow About the Show Logan Bartlett is a Software Investor at Redpoint Ventures - a Silicon Valley-based VC with $6B AUM and investments in Snowflake, DraftKings, Twilio, and Netflix. In each episode of The Logan Bartlett Show, we sit down with the people behind today’s most important startups and extract the tactics, lessons, and frameworks they’ve learned the hard way. Conversations span hiring to GTM, product, growth, fundraising and everything in between - collectively forming the ultimate playbook to make you a better CEO, investor or board member. Tap follow and enable notifications to stay ahead of the game.

Josh Wolfe

Co-Founder and Managing Partner

Lux Capital

Sam Lessin

Partner

Slow VenturesFin AnalyticsFin

My guests today are Josh Wolfe and Chris Power. Josh will be a familiar voice to many of you and is the co-founder and General Partner of Lux Capital. Chris is the founder and CEO of advanced manufacturing start-up, Hadrian. Most of our discussion centers on the need to modernize the factories that supply our space and defense industries. But given the current market environment, we also talk about capital conditions and the responsibility to build products that really matter. Please enjoy this conversation with Josh Wolfe and Chris Power.   For the full show notes, transcript, and links to mentioned content, check out the episode page here.   -----   This episode is brought to you by Tegus. Tegus streamlines the investment research process so you can get up to speed and find answers to critical questions on companies faster and more efficiently. The Tegus platform surfaces the hard-to-get qualitative insights, gives instant access to critical public financial data through BamSEC, and helps you set up customized expert calls. It’s all done on a single, modern SaaS platform that offers 360-degree insight into any public or private company. As a listener, you can take Tegus for a free test drive by visiting tegus.co/patrick. And until 2023 every Tegus license comes with complimentary access to BamSec by Tegus.   -----   Today's episode is brought to you by Brex, the integrated financial platform trusted by the world's most innovative entrepreneurs and fastest-growing companies. With Brex, you can move money fast for instant impact with high-limit corporate cards, payments, venture debt, and spend management software all in one place. Ready to accelerate your business? Learn more at brex.com/best.   -----   Invest Like the Best is a property of Colossus, LLC. For more episodes of Invest Like the Best, visit joincolossus.com/episodes.    Past guests include Tobi Lutke, Kevin Systrom, Mike Krieger, John Collison, Kat Cole, Marc Andreessen, Matthew Ball, Bill Gurley, Anu Hariharan, Ben Thompson, and many more.   Stay up to date on all our podcasts by signing up to Colossus Weekly, our quick dive every Sunday highlighting the top business and investing concepts from our podcasts and the best of what we read that week. Sign up here.   Follow us on Twitter: @patrick_oshag | @JoinColossus   Show Notes [00:02:40] - [First question] - An overview of the precision manufacturing industry writ large [00:08:28] - Why the manufacturing sector has so many great investment opportunities [00:12:58] - Anduril Breakdown; What Hadrian in its final form will unlock for manufacturing [00:16:08] - What the demand side looks like for manufacturers in its current state today  [00:18:29] - How the nature of demand will shift for this style of manufacturing in the future [00:22:51] - Important rare earth materials, supply chain constraints, and the revival of commodities  [00:27:55] - The key set of jobs being done by mom and pop shops that could be innovated on and done within a Hadrian factory  [00:30:35] - What is going on inside of a Hadrian factory and how they will evolve over time  [00:32:10] - Prosecuting diligence on someone's ability to execute on their behalf [00:37:14] - The PhD arrogance trap and how a Hadrian machine will be better in five years from now [00:48:08] - Breadth of ability versus focus and selling parts to buyers early on [00:50:42] - Lessons learned and advice for understanding the focus problem  [00:56:39] - Fat startup vs. lean startups and making the hardest irreversible decision during Hadrian’s early days [00:58:31] - Enduring more schlep work than less being a good signal [00:59:06] - Chris’ thoughts on the future of Hadrian and defining the exciting and scary edges of the spectrum of outcomes [01:03:36] - Josh’s thoughts on the future of Hadrian and defining the exciting and scary edges of the spectrum of outcomes [01:07:22] - The kindest thing anyone has ever done for Chris

Josh Wolfe

Co-Founder and Managing Partner

Lux Capital

Chris Power

CEO

Hadrian

Chris Sacca is the Founder and Chairman @ Lowercase Capital, one of the best performing funds in the history of venture capital with a portfolio including Uber, Stripe, Twitter, Instagram, Twilio, Docker and many more. Why does Chris believe we have bred a generation of asshole kids? What is the right way to negotiate with children? How has that impacted how he manages his team? Anne Wojcicki is the Founder & CEO @ 23andMe, offering DNA testing with the most comprehensive ancestry breakdown, personalized health insights, and more. How did having kids change Anne's approach to time allocation and risk? Harley Finkelstein is the President of Shopify. Over the last 12 years, Harley has partnered with Tobi to the tune of building Shopify's revenue to over $4.6BN in 2021 and the team to over 10,000 employees. Does Harley believe he has always been a good father? What changes has Harley made to be more present and there for his children? Why does Harley advise couples therapy as early in a relationship as possible? Deena Shakir is a Partner at Lux Capital, one of the leading firms investing in emerging science and technology ventures at the outermost edges of what is possible. What specific negotiation tactics from parenting can be applied to business? How can a parent show their children they listen, they understand and are there for them? Why does Deena believe children make you more productive and more efficient? Eric Liaw is a General Partner @ IVP, one of the leading later-stage venture capital and growth equity firms of the last decade with $8.7 billion of committed capital and a 40-year IRR of 43.1%. What have been the biggest challenges for Eric of managing family and work? What have been some of Eric's biggest lessons in terms of how he communicates about his work to his family? Scott Dietzen is Vice Chairman of the Board of Pure Storage and served as the Company's CEO from 2010 to 2017. Under his leadership, Pure grew to thousands of employees and completed an IPO in 2015. What can parents learn from nature programs? What core elements of parenting are directly transferrable to management?

Chris Sacca

Investor

Lowercase CapitalLowercarbon Capital

Harley Finkelstein

President

Shopify

Deena Shakir

Partner

Lux Capital

Anne Wojcicki

CEO and Co-founder

23andMe

(00:00) Introducing Josh Wolfe (02:41) Elon Musk Buys Twitter Because No One Told Him He Can Buy Other Stuff (39:58) Bolt, Katara, and the World’s Greatest Time to be a Law Firm (56:53) Introducing Scott Belsky (57:18)  Trying to Explain Twitter (67:55) Algorithms and Free Speech   Follow the show: https://twitter.com/cartoonavatars https://www.instagram.com/cartoonavatars/ https://www.tiktok.com/@cartoonavatars   Follow the hosts: https://twitter.com/loganbartlett https://twitter.com/wolfejosh https://twitter.com/scottbelsky   Mixed and edited: Justin Hrabovsky Produced: Andrew Nadeau and Rashad Assir Executive Producer: Josh Machiz Music: Griff Lawson   Musk buys Twitter: https://www.nytimes.com/2022/04/25/technology/twitter-employees-elon-musk.html Sam Lessin article: https://www.theinformation.com/articles/elon-musk-is-silicon-valleys-new-hero-for-better-or-worse Jack Dorsey’s tweet on Musk’s purchase: https://twitter.com/jack/status/1518772753460998145?s=20&t=njyqUGHJChL4oAQdEkkTCw Bolt Sued by Forever 21: https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2022-04-26/forever-21-parent-authentic-brands-sues-bolt-startup Katera sues ex-CEO: https://www.theinformation.com/articles/bankrupt-startup-that-blew-2-billion-from-softbank-sues-ex-ceo-board-directors-over-self-dealing Softbank cuts spending: https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2022-04-25/softbank-cuts-back-spending-leaving-startups-desperate-for-cash Executive Producer: Rashad Assir Producer: Leah Clapper Mixing and editing: Justin Hrabovsky Check out Unsupervised Learning, Redpoint's AI Podcast: https://www.youtube.com/@UCUl-s_Vp-Kkk_XVyDylNwLA 🎥 Subscribe on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCugS0jD5IAdoqzjaNYzns7w?sub_confirmation=1 Follow on Socials 📸 Instagram - https://www.instagram.com/theloganbartlettshow 📱 X - https://twitter.com/loganbartshow 🎬 Clips on TikTok - https://www.tiktok.com/@theloganbartlettshow About the Show Logan Bartlett is a Software Investor at Redpoint Ventures - a Silicon Valley-based VC with $6B AUM and investments in Snowflake, DraftKings, Twilio, and Netflix. In each episode of The Logan Bartlett Show, we sit down with the people behind today’s most important startups and extract the tactics, lessons, and frameworks they’ve learned the hard way. Conversations span hiring to GTM, product, growth, fundraising and everything in between - collectively forming the ultimate playbook to make you a better CEO, investor or board member. Tap follow and enable notifications to stay ahead of the game.

Josh Wolfe

Co-Founder and Managing Partner

Lux Capital

Scott Belsky

Chief Product Officer

AdobeBenchmarkBehance

Deena Shakir is a Partner at Lux Capital, one of the leading firms investing in emerging science and technology ventures at the outermost edges of what is possible. Deena has led a number of investments including in Maven Clinic, Mos, Ramp, Alife and SteadyMD to name a few. Before joining Lux, Deena was a Partner at GV and previously led product partnerships at Google for early-stage products in healthcare, AI/ML and search at Google. Before tech and venture, Deena was an aspiring anthropologist, journalist, diplomat, aid worker and was a Presidential Management Fellow at the U.S. Department of State under Secretary Clinton. There Deena helped launch President Obama's first Global Entrepreneurship Summit in 2010. In Today's Episode with Deena Shakir You Will Learn: 1.) Origins into Venture: How Deena made her way from journalism and the world of politics to rockstar healthcare investor? What were Deena's biggest takeaways from seeing her parents build a new life in the US? 2.) Competition in Venture: Why should founders not take multi-stage fund money at seed? What problems does it cause? How do VCs try and justify it? What red flags should founders look for? How does Deena advise her companies when it comes to pre-emptive rounds? When should they take them? When should they not take them? 3.) Deena Shakir: The Person How has becoming a parent changed Deena's operating mentality? Why does Deena believe she has never been better as an investor post becoming a mother? Why does Deena feel so many questions around parenting are wrong? In what ways would she like those questions of female operators and investors to change? 4.) Diversity and Inclusion: We Should Be Optimistic Why is Deena optimistic about the future of diversity and inclusion in tech and venture? What drives her optimism? What remains a cause for concern for Deena on this topic? What more can both companies and venture funds do to improve the landscape? Item's Mentioned In Today's Episode with Deena Shakir Deena's Favourite Book: The Power Law: Venture Capital and the Art of Disruption Deena's Most Recent Investment: Mos: Banking for Students

Deena Shakir

Partner

Lux Capital

On today's episode of Empire, Jason Yanowitz and Santiago Roel Santos are joined by Josh Wolfe, co-founder of Lux Capital. Josh is a true polymath who invests in hard sciences, robotics, nuclear waste and more.  If you wanted a nuclear energy crash course, this is it. Josh discusses where solar and biofuels fell short, how nuclear energy markets function, why nuclear is the sustainable-energy source environmentalist have wanted, and how nuclear is the key to energy security. Nuclear energy is inevitable. Listen to Josh's unique insights to learn why. -- BitMEX is back and better than ever. Sign up for BitmEX's new Spot Exchange for a chance to win a piece of $500,000 in BTC (new users). Learn more about them at https://www.bitmex.com/ -- Follow me and Santiago on Twitter, @JasonYanowitz and @santiagoroel; let us know what you thought of the show! Subscribe to the podcast on Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/4UTePv1CR3APdKOiosR3Iq?si=41bc452345b649f9 Subscribe to the podcast on Apple: https://apple.co/3srZf7M -- Timestamps (00:00) Introduction (01:58) Solar Energy Hype (07:16) Bio Fuels Fell Short (09:40) Energy Density (10:58) The Nuclear Narrative (15:31) Understanding the Uranium Market (18:44) Modular Reactors (19:49) Intro to Nuclear Waste (22:33) Low-Level and High-Level Nuclear Waste (24:11) Russia's Impact on the Nuclear Narrative (28:45) Sponsor Segment (30:01) Adopting Nuclear (33:39) Investing in Nuclear (37:30) China and the Nuclear Advantage (40:51) Cheap Electricity and Jevon's Paradox (44:39) Lux's Investment in Nuclear (48:53) Black Swan Events (52:19) Looking Forward -- Disclaimer: Nothing said on Empire is a recommendation to buy or sell securities or tokens. This podcast is for informational purposes only, and any views expressed by anyone on the show are solely our opinions, not financial advice. Santiago, Jason, and our guests may hold positions in the companies, funds, or projects discussed.

Josh Wolfe

Co-Founder and Managing Partner

Lux Capital

After news broke that meditation app Headspace and on-demand mental health care platform Ginger were merging, we couldn't resist hopping on the mics to do a bonus episode. And, because we were in the mood for hot takes, Natasha and Alex held the conversation on Twitter Spaces. The special guests we had on, who we'll get to down below, did not disappoint. It's a quick show, but the tl;dr is that you want to listen if you're curious why a meditation app would get into therapy, the precedent by Lyra Health and Calm, and how consolidation looks for the sector going forward. Here's who helped us understand and contextualize the news: Lux Capital partner Deena Shakir (who is also coming to Disrupt, incidentally) Chrissy Farr of OMERS Ventures (who you may also know as a former CNBC reporter in the healthech space) 7WireVentures' Alyssa Jaffee (who needs her own podcast because she was shining during the Spaces) And, special shout out to Ginger CEO Russell Glass, who joined the Space but wasn't able to come up on stage due to technical difficulties. Twitter Spaces are fun, but the platform is still a bit nascent so goofs can bedevil live production. However, we managed to get some notes from him via email, so let's take a quick look at those: Glass said that he agreed with "what Chrissy Farr and others said about there simply not being enough therapists in the market today to meet the overwhelming demand," adding that there's "real global need today for what Headspace Health can offer - a scaled, comprehensive platform that can truly democratize mental healthcare." He also doubleclicked on the discussing regarding future "meaningful market consolidation," noting that he expects to see it "especially" happen in "areas that address higher acuity care for severe mental illness.” Make sure you are following the podcast on Twitter so that you catch us when we go live. These are meant to be spontaneous pop up shows, so your best bet is to turn on notifications to never miss our Spaces. Ok that's all. Thanks everyone! Credits: Equity is produced by Theresa Loconsolo with editing by Kell. Bryce Durbin is our Illustrator. We'd also like to thank the audience development team and Henry Pickavet, who manages TechCrunch audio products. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Deena Shakir

Partner

Lux Capital

My guests today are Renata Quintini and Roseanne Wincek, co-founders and managing directors of Renegade Partners. Before launching Renegade, Renata and Roseanne were partners at high-profile VC firms, Lux Capital and IVP.    During our conversation, we explore their careers and what led them to launch Renegade. We cover what it means to invest at the “Supercritical Stage” in venture and dive into a variety of topics around this theme. We then discuss their investing philosophies more broadly, covering what best-in-class talent pipelines look like, what quality revenue means to them, and what worries them most in search of businesses with outsized potential returns. I think this episode highlights that even as competition in venture has intensified - the best VC partners can offer more than just capital.  I hope you enjoy my conversation with Renata and Roseanne.   For the full show notes, transcript, and links to the best content to learn more, check out the episode page here.   ------   This episode is brought to you by Tegus. Tegus has built the most extensive primary information platform available for investors.   With Tegus, you can learn everything you’d want to know about a company in an on-demand digital platform. Investors share their expert calls, allowing others to instantly access more than 20,000 calls on Affirm, Teladoc, Roblox, or almost any company of interest. All you have to do is log in. Visit tegus.co/patrick to learn more.   ------   This episode is brought to you by Hall Capital Partners. Hall Capital is always looking for exceptional investment talent at any stage and size, so if you are raising capital or looking for a career change in the San Francisco or New York areas, you should check them out at hallcapital.com or e-mail at invest@hallcapital.com.    ------   Invest Like the Best is a property of Colossus, Inc. For more episodes of Invest Like the Best, visit joincolossus.com/episodes.    Stay up to date on all our podcasts by signing up to Colossus Weekly, our quick dive every Sunday highlighting the top business and investing concepts from our podcasts and the best of what we read that week. Sign up here.   Follow us on Twitter: @patrick_oshag | @JoinColossus   Show Notes [00:03:57] - [First question] - What the process of starting a new investment firm was like [00:05:22] - Why the world needs another venture firm [00:06:48] - The biggest takeaway from Renata's experience at a start-up Venture firm [00:07:51] - The inspiration for Renegade [00:11:48] - The most common mistakes made in the early stages of a company [00:15:14] - Key items to look into first when evaluating companies  [00:18:04] - Internal superpowers: helping a founder use their strengths [00:23:46] - Superforecasting: The Art and Science of Prediction [00:24:04] - What makes a good customer call [00:25:44] - How more than one Operating Partner changes the conversation and reveals more [00:27:59] - How businesses have changed in the past few years [00:30:31] - What companies that have good talent pipelines do to set themselves apart [00:35:36] - Lessons learned from working with Coda and its CEO, Shishir Mehrotra  [00:38:12] - Lessons learned from working with MasterClass [00:41:21] - Differentiating between high and low-quality revenue when evaluating a company [00:47:39] - What scares them about investing in outliers [00:51:07] - Improvements made as investors and catalysts for those changes [00:53:48] - Building an organization that will disrupt itself [00:56:43] - The kindest thing anyone has ever done for them

Renata Quintini

Partner

Lux CapitalRenegade Partners

Roseanne Wincek

Investor

Renegade PartnersIVP

Josh Wolfe, the co-founder of Lux Capital, joins Scott to discuss his thoughts on the tech regulations coming out of China, and how investors should be thinking about them. He also discusses the sectors he’s keeping tabs on, including space and the metaverse, and the ones that he thinks are over and underhyped. Follow Josh on Twitter, @wolfejosh. Scott opens by having a conversation with Pascal Gauthier, the CEO of Ledger. Ledger is building a hardware wallet for crypto assets — and full disclosure — Scott’s an investor. Pascal explains the technology and shares his thoughts on the crypto space. Follow Pascal on Twitter, @_pgauthier. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Josh Wolfe

Co-Founder and Managing Partner

Lux Capital

Pascal Gauthier

CEO

Ledger

My guests today are Josh Wolfe and Tony Thomas, better known as T2. Josh is the co-founder and General Partner at Lux Capital. T2 is now a venture partner alongside Josh at Lux Capital, after serving for almost 40 years in the US military and becoming a 4-star general and the 11th Commander of US Special Operations Command. Our conversation focuses on the technology frontier in defense as well as the geopolitical threats that the US faces. We talk about everything from semiconductors and autonomous weapons systems to the moral dimensions of investing in defense technology. I hope you enjoy this fascinating conversation with Josh Wolfe and Tony Thomas.   For the full show notes, transcript, and links to mentioned content, check out the episode page here. ------ This episode is brought to you by Tegus. Tegus has built the most extensive primary information platform available for investors.   With Tegus, you can learn everything you’d want to know about a company in an on-demand digital platform. Investors share their expert calls, allowing others to instantly access more than 10,000 calls on Affirm, Teladoc, Roblox, or almost any company of interest. All you have to do is log in. Visit tegus.co/patrick to learn more. ------ This episode is brought to you by MIT Investment Management Company – also known as MITIMCo, the endowment office of MIT. MITIMCo seeks to find people who are focused on achieving exceptional long-term investment returns, partner with these firms early, and stick around for the very long term. MITIMCo doesn’t care how small, new, or un-institutional your firm is if you have the potential to generate amazing results that support MIT’s pursuit of world-class education, cutting-edge research, and groundbreaking innovation.   Despite their willingness to invest early, they do not ask for GP economics and they commit their initial capital for ten years.     Visit www.mitimco.org and their new emerging managers page to learn more. ------ Invest Like the Best is a property of Colossus, Inc. For more episodes of Invest Like the Best, visit joincolossus.com/episodes.  Stay up to date on all our podcasts by signing up to Colossus Weekly, our quick dive every Sunday highlighting the top business and investing concepts from our podcasts and the best of what we read that week. Sign up here.   Follow us on Twitter: @patrick_oshag | @JoinColossus   Show Notes [00:03:46] - [First question] - Overview of Tony Thomas’s career [00:06:36] - His focus on the information wars and truthiness [00:08:50] - How Josh and Tony met [00:12:27] - Experiencing the slow pace of technology growth within the Department of Defense [00:15:51] - History of businesses selling to and engaging with the government [00:23:52] - Consensus of the threats we face today  [00:28:55] - Most important competitive frontier today  [00:35:09] - The lessening of kinetic warfare [00:46:51] - State of the drone technology and industry  [00:52:56] - Mapping the arctic and the geopolitical ramifications [00:54:31] - The frontier of space  [00:59:26] - What shouldn’t be unmanned technology  [01:02:31] - The cutting edge of simulation technology  [01:06:50] - The most important thing to know about the future of semiconductors [01:11:36] - The moral lens of working with and investing in defense companies [01:20:53] - Traits of the most exceptional soldiers he’s served with [01:23:53] - Kindest thing anyone has done for Tony

Josh Wolfe

Co-Founder and Managing Partner

Lux Capital

Tony Thomas

Venture Partner

Lux Capital

My guest this week is Josh Wolfe, co-founder and managing partner at Lux Capital. I had Josh on the podcast last year which was one of the most popular episodes in the shows history. This is a continuation of our ongoing conversation about investing in the frontiers of technology. My favorite thing about Josh and the way that he invests is the mosaic that he and his team at Lux are constantly building to understand the world and where new companies may fit in. We cover a crazy variety of topics from business model innovation, roles of a CEO, the military, the death of privacy, and arrows of human progress. Please enjoy round two with Josh Wolfe. For more episodes go to InvestorFieldGuide.com/podcast. Sign up for the book club, where you’ll get a full investor curriculum and then 3-4 suggestions every month at InvestorFieldGuide.com/bookclub. Follow Patrick on Twitter at @patrick_oshag Show Notes 1:22 - (First Question) –Ability to tackle massive scale problems 4:05 – Key roles of leaders and his checklist for evaluating them 5:55 – Common traits among founders that make them incredible storytellers and leaders 10:22 – The concept of ill-liquidity 14:53 – Thoughts on the types of companies going public 16:41 – Most innovative business models 19:14 - Advice for LP’s 23:51 – Common devil             24:01 – The True Believer: Thoughts on the Nature of Mass Movements 25:09 – Big internal debates at his firm, starting with price discipline 28:45 – The value debate internally 33:34 – CRISPR from an investment standpoint 36:50 – Edge cases they are looking at 46:52 – How they target ideas in a single concept             50:01 – The Coast of Utopia: Voyage, Shipwreck, Salvage 51:04 – New theses that they chase 56:31 – Recent adventure with special operations guys Learn More For more episodes go to InvestorFieldGuide.com/podcast.  Sign up for the book club, where you’ll get a full investor curriculum and then 3-4 suggestions every month at InvestorFieldGuide.com/bookclub Follow Patrick on twitter at @patrick_oshag

Josh Wolfe

Co-Founder and Managing Partner

Lux Capital

Long-time listeners will have heard me joke before that this podcast should really be called “this is who are you up against.” I’ve been waiting for the right episode to deploy the joke as a title, and this week we have it.  The joke is meant to convey how incredibly impressive these people are who we get to hear from every week. My guest this week is Josh Wolfe, a founding and managing partner at Lux Capital in New York City. Lux is a venture capital firm, but a highly unique one. They’ve spent more time in hard sciences and interesting nooks and crannies of the market than the typical VC firm. Some of investing is zero sum: my outperformance is someone else’s underperformance. Sometimes, though, investing is positive sum. The combination of capital, ideas, people, drive, and raw energy leads to amazing new things.  I think the best investing and best investors of the future will be more collaborative than competitive. After finishing with Josh, I couldn’t stop thinking “god, do I want to be involved with whatever he’s doing, if only just to learn.”  This conversation made me rethink my joke “this is who are you up against.” Now I won’t think of it as a zero-sum joke, but instead as a reminder: this is the kind of person who is out there. You better find your niche, and still be the absolute best you can within that niche.   Please enjoy this killer conversation with Josh Wolfe. We cover just about everything.  For more episodes go to InvestorFieldGuide.com/podcast. Sign up for the book club, where you’ll get a full investor curriculum and then 3-4 suggestions every month at InvestorFieldGuide.com/bookclub. Follow Patrick on Twitter at @patrick_oshag   Links Referenced Investing in Biofuels or Biofools? Ali Hamed podcast Alex Moazed podcast Andy Rachleff podcast Popplet @wolfejosh   Books Referenced Modern Monopolies: What It Takes to Dominate the 21st Century Economy   World After Capital   Show Notes 2:35 – (First Question) – Lux Capital and the kind of investments they have made over the years  5:42 – The formation of the investment philosophy for Lux  9:52 – Investment philosophy 100-0-100 (ambition, arrogance, intellectual humility)  10:40 – How Josh manages his time and attention 12:53 – Investing in Biofuels or Biofools?  13:29 – Obsession with nuclear  18:28 – Focus on autonomous vehicles  21:02 – How all of these gambles are viewed by Josh’s investors  22:56 – Tattoo technology 24:20 – Ali Hamed podcast  24:36 – How Josh evaluates people when considering early stage investments 24:45 – Alex Moazed podcast 24:49 – Modern Monopolies: What It Takes to Dominate the 21st Century Economy  29:50 – Memorable experience investing in a founder  30:44 – The idea of thesis driven approach to private investment    30:56 – Andy Rachleff podcast   32:38 – Crazy thesis – understanding the emotional needs of our pets  38:03 – Josh’s learning process through these theses 38:34 – Popplet 45:49 – Investors that Josh has learned the most from 47:37 – Josh’s comfort investing outside of his usual asset class 49:03 – @wolfejosh 50:56 – What is the thinking with the short strategy at Lux 52:31 – SpaceX vs Tesla, good business vs bad business 53:42 – How Josh approaches the quality of a business 54:15 – World After Capital 55:16 – How does Josh evaluate competitive advantage 56:45 – Where are we in the venture capital landscape 1:01:42 – How does his outlook on venture capital affect the way Lux is run 1:02:48 – Thoughts on cryptocurrency 1:07:22 – What is the most memorable conversation Josh has ever had 1:09:34 – What is Josh’s objective function in life 1:12:43 – Are there people that Josh disagrees with but deeply respects 1:13:32 – Kindest thing anyone has ever done for Josh  Learn More For more episodes go to InvestorFieldGuide.com/podcast.  Sign up for the book club, where you’ll get a full investor curriculum and then 3-4 suggestions every month at InvestorFieldGuide.com/bookclub Follow Patrick on twitter at @patrick_oshag

Josh Wolfe

Co-Founder and Managing Partner

Lux Capital

Sam Arbesman is the Scientist-In-Residence @ Lux Capital, the fund that supports scientists and entrepreneurs who pursue counter-conventional solutions to the most vexing puzzles of our time, the more ambitious the project, the better. Sam works with companies and founders that recognize the future happens at the boundaries of science and technology infusing computation into everything from biology to manufacturing.Sam's scientific research has been published in everything from the Wall Street Journal to The New York Times and The Atlantic. Sam is also the author of the award-winning The Half-Life of Facts and the new book Overcomplicated: Technology at the Limits of Comprehension. In Today's Episode You Will Learn: 1.) How Sam made his move from being a best-selling author to Scientist in Residence for Lux Capital? As Scientist in Residence, what does Sam do on a day-to-day basis? 2.) What does Sam mean when he says that startups need to embrace "radical interdisciplinarity"? What really is "radical interdisciplinarity"? What are the benefits it brings to an organisation? Does this go contra the importance of specialisation? 3.) How does Sam view the partnership between man and machine? Why does Sam believe we will see computational creativity in a way never seen before? How does Sam view the societal barriers to the embracing of this partnership? 4.) How does Sam view the promise of analogizing in the face of such complex systems? How does Sam assess the perils of such analogies? Does Sam believe that VCs of today are equipped to invest in such complex systems? What must they remember? Items Mentioned In Today's Show: Sam's Fave Book: The Baroque Cycle by Neal Stephenson, The Three Body Problem Sam's Fave Blog: Marginal Revolution As always you can follow Harry, The Twenty Minute VC and Sam on Twitter here! Likewise, you can follow Harry on Snapchat here for mojito madness and all things 20VC. Lattice is the #1 performance management solution for growing companies. With Lattice, it's easy to launch 360 performance review cycles as often as you want. And you also get a continuous feedback system with OKR goal tracking, real-time feedback, and 1-on-1 meetings to make sure employees get feedback between reviews. Find out why the likes of CoinBase, PlanGrid, Birchbox and WePay trust Lattice as their performance management solution by heading over to lattice.com to start investing in your people. That's Lattice.com. Recurly, the company powering subscription success, with Recurly's enterprise-class subscription management platform providing rapid time-to-value without requiring massive integration effort and expense and they have the ability to not only increase revenue by 7% but also reduce the all-important churn rate. That is why thousands of customers from Twitch to HubSpot to CBS Interactive trust Recurly as their subscription management platform. Check them out on recurly.com that really is a must.

Sam Arbesman

Scientist-in-Residence

Lux Capital

Renata Quintini is a Partner @ Lux Capital, one of the leaders in the rise of deep tech investing supporting scientists and entrepreneurs providing solutions to the most vexing puzzles of our time, the more ambitious the project, the better. Before Lux, Renata was a partner at Felicis Ventures, where she worked with the likes of Cruise, Dollar Shave Club, Rigetti Computing and Bonobos, just to name a few. Prior to VC, Renata was an investment manager at Stanford University's endowment, which invests in dozens of private equity and venture capital funds. In Today's Episode You Will Learn: 1.) How Renata made her way from LP in venture with Stanford University to dominating seed VC with Felicis to now leading the deep tech investing charge with Lux Capital? 2.) How does the mentality shift from making the move of LP with Stanford to VC with Felicis and Lux? How does Renata believe being an LP made her a better VC? How has what it takes to be a successful emerging manager changed over the last 5-10 years? 3.) What are the 7 rules that Renata gives to all startups at the start of their journey to ensure they do not implode? Where do startups most often falter, from Renata's perspective? How have the requirements and demands of founders changed recently? 4.) How does Renata look to approach every investment opportunity, mentality wise? Why does Renata believe this stance is optimal over the alternative? What are the caveats that must be placed on this to ensure for realism also? 5.) What makes Renata believe that we are seeing the humanisation of technology? How does this affect how deep tech will be designed moving forward? How does this affect how technology truly interacts and integrates with consumer behaviour? Items Mentioned In Today's Show: Renata's Fave Book: Daring Greatly Renata's Most Recent Investment: Common Networks As always you can follow Harry, The Twenty Minute VC and Renata on Twitter here! Likewise, you can follow Harry on Snapchat here for mojito madness and all things 20VC. WePay helps online platforms increase revenue through integrated payments processing, helping platforms offer ROI-positive integrated payments to their users – within their UX and without taking on fraud & regulatory exposure. WePay also offers award-winning support and can even work with your team thru Slack or Zendesk. Get the payments revenue you want, without getting bogged down every time a user has a payments question. Simply visit wepay.com/harry PipeDrive is the Sales CRM and pipeline management software to use, with the primary view being the pipeline a clear visual interface that prompts you to take action, remain organized and stay in control of a complex sales process. This is why sales pros and deal makers love it (my words, not Pipedrive's). Plus it easily lets you find the stats you need and is fully customizable. Even better, you can signup for free on here it really is a must.

Renata Quintini

Partner

Lux CapitalRenegade Partners

Josh Wolfe is the Co-Founder and Managing Partner @ Lux Capital, the fund that supports scientists and entrepreneurs who pursue counter-conventional solutions to the most vexing puzzles of our time, the more ambitious the project, the better. Josh is a founding investor and board member with Bill Gates in Kymeta, making cutting-edge antennas for high-speed global satellite and space communications. In 2008 Josh co-founded and funded Kurion, the company was among the first responders to the Fukushima disaster. In February 2016, Veolia acquired Kurion for nearly $400 million—more than 40 times Lux's total investment. In Today's Episode You Will Learn: 1.) How did Josh make his way into VC from the science lab? What was it about venture that got Josh hooked? 2.) How does Josh view the rise of thematic investing? Why does Josh believe there are a lot of tourist VCs who are going to lose a lot of money? 3.) Investing in such frontier technologies, how does Josh view market creation? How does Josh look to build a thesis and a methodology when investing in a company without an existing market? 4.) What is the inflection point for Josh for when heavy science and R&D becomes investable? What is that tipping point where science becomes commercialized? 5.) Does Josh get concerned that with such heavy IP and corporations not investing in R&D that this is a market for acquihires? What are the pros and cons of this shortened liquidity cycles? Items Mentioned In Today's Show: Josh's Fave Book: Sapiens Josh's Fave Blog: Media Redefined Josh's Most Recent Investment: Recursion Pharmaceuticals As always you can follow Harry, The Twenty Minute VC and Josh on Twitter here! Likewise, you can follow Harry on Snapchat here for mojito madness and all things 20VC. Eight is a sleep innovation company. With their latest product, the Eight Smart Mattress, being a bed that literally tells you how well you slept last night, paired with an intelligent sensor cover that measures the quality of your sleep and delivers a daily sleep report. In order to bring you the best product, Eight used anonymized sleep data and feedback from over 10,000 people, to understand which materials and types of mattresses give customers the best sleep resulting in their unique blend of four responsive and high-density foam layers plus one layer of proprietary technology that helps people track and improve their sleep. You can check it out on Eightsleep.com – and if you use the code 20VC you will get a whopping 20% discount! FullContact provides the ability to organize your contacts, gain rich insights into them and therefore build deep relationships. With features like automatically identifying and merging duplicate contacts to the ability to snap a photo of a business card and FullContact will transcribe them for you, so no more lost and loose business cards at events. It is with these features just being the tip of the iceberg, FullContact really is the best all in one solution for contact management and you can check them out on fullcontact.com.

Josh Wolfe

Co-Founder and Managing Partner

Lux Capital