Decoding the VC Psyche

#sxsw #DecodingVC

Over the past few years, Venture Capitalists have become micro-celebrities, with public profiles that often exponentially eclipse the entrepreneurs they back. Many struggling entrepreneurs religiously read certain VCs blogs and studiously follow them on Twitter. But what really makes VCs tick? Why do they invest in certain seemingly absurd companies but not others? How can you exploit common VC psychological traits to your advantage in the fundraising process? And how can you quickly discern a douchebag and/or moronic VC from one who is worth engaging with?
Through a combination of real life case studies, amusing anecdotes from the Speaker's experiences as both an entrepreneur and VC, and a "Rap Genius"-like decoding of some well-known VC blog posts, this session will pull back the veil on the Venture Capitalist's psyche and give you an actionable framework for better dealing with these "Emperors" of the tech world (Hint: More often than not, the Emperor has no clothes)

Presenters

Geoff Lewis

Partner

Founders Fund

Geoff Lewis is a Principal of Founders Fund, a stage and sector agnostic venture capital firm with over $1B in assets under management. Since joining the firm in 2012, he has led Founders Fund's investments in Lyft, Oyster, Hampton Creek Foods, Upstart Network, Editorially, and 2 companies currently operating in stealth. Previously, Geoff served as the Co-Founder & Chief Executive Officer of Topguest, a loyalty software startup that counted companies such as United Airlines and Hilton Worldwide as clients. Topguest was acquired in an 8 figure transaction 18 months after Geoff founded the company. In addition to serving as a Member of the Board of Directors at Lyft and Oyster, Geoff advises numerous startups and is regular commentator on technology trends for CNBC, Bloomberg, and an occasional guest contributor to TechCrunch. Geoff's 2013 SXSW session "The Art of the Acquisition" was so well-received that he was asked to deliver the talk in 5 different cities around the world.