ANGEL: Threshold VC’s Emily Melton on market distortion, healthcare investing & culture | E1693
Emily Melton joins Molly to discuss her early days in venture and what she learned while working at DFJ (1:30). Then, they talk about the barriers that healthcare imposes on entrepreneurship (17:22), building a diverse culture within venture capital (29:53), market distortions, and how to optimize for a down market (38:42).
(0:00) Molly kicks off the show
(1:30) Getting started in Venture Capital
(8:12) LinkedIn Jobs - Go to https://linkedIn.com/angel and post your first job for free
(9:38) Learnings from working at DFJ
(17:22) Healthcare being a barrier to entrepreneurship
(20:11) Prenuvo - Get $300 off at http://prenuvo.com/twist
(21:41) Threshold Ventures’ fund mechanics
(26:15) Investing in Tia: Healthcare solutions for woman
(29:53) Building culture
(37:45) Pilot - Get 20% off the first 6 months at https://pilot.com/twist
(38:42) Optimizing for a down market
(52:13) What’s next?
FOLLOW Emily: https://twitter.com/emelton
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20VC: Why You Should Not Invest From Patterns, Why No Good Business Was Built As An Analogy Of Another & Why The Rise Of The 'Celebrity Investor' Is Concerning with Emily Melton, Partner @ DFJ
Emily Melton is partner at DFJ, where she focuses on consumer and mobile technology, as well as healthcare technologies and marketplaces. Emily has made investments in the likes of BetterUp, Elation Health, Livongo, Redfin, Shift, and Wellframe. Early in Emily's career, she sourced investments in Box (NYSE: BOX), Meebo (Google), Kudo (Google), RichRelevance, and Flux (MTV Networks). She was also an advisor to Pulse Network (LinkedIn), Healthtap, and Poshmark.
In Today's Episode You Will Learn:
1.) How Emily made her way into the wonderful world of VC following her meeting with Tim Draper?
2.) How does Emily view the importance of pattern recognition? Why does Emily believe that you should not invest from patterns? What is the difference between a pattern and an investing fad?
3.) Why does Emily hate analogies? Why does she believe it is simplistic thinking? How can this be mitigated for startup founders in describing their company?
4.) How does Emily view the portfolio approach to risk in venture? What questions need to be asked to determine the potential outcome of the business?
5.) Why does Emily get concerned by the rise of the 'celebrity investor'? How can investors build their brand in the proliferated world of early stage startup investing?
Items Mentioned In Today's Show:
Emily's Fave Book: Mindset by Carol Dweck, A Theory of Justice by John Rawls
Emily's Most Recent Investment: BetterUp
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