Seed-stage Investing with Mu Ventures' GP, Gary Benerofe
Mu Ventures runs a $10m fund focused on seed and pre-seed rounds. In this episode, we discuss the role of venture capital(VC) in tech, key terms in the VC space, the value VC offers to startups and to end-consumers, and the mechanics of how fundraises work. We also get Mu's investment thesis, Gary's outlook on the fundraising market, and what Gary looks for when evaluating CEOs for his portfolio companies. 00:55: Personal background 03:58: What is a VC? Where do they add value? 07:50: Define key terms - fundraise, GP, LP, due diligence, term sheet, carry, etc etc 15:42: What immediately adjacent spaces are you looking at? Examples of portfolio companies? 19:57: Explain the seed -> IPO pipeline. What are milestones at each tier? 24:38: What do you look for in a founder? 29:05: How does the fundraising market look? What are you expecting for the next 6, 12 months?