Entrepreneurs wonder what it’s like to be a VC. And VCs without an operating background often don’t understand the grit required to turn an idea into a successful business. The best investors have been successful operators first.Today’s guest is one of those. Nick Adams founded Differential Ventures in 2017 to invest in B2B, data-first seed-stage companies. Since then, Nick and the team have invested in an impressive group of companies including Private AI, Ocrolus, and Agnostiq.Before Differential, Nick helped grow companies like OPower and RAGE Frameworks in sales, marketing, and product leadership roles. Today we get to learn about how to innovate and grow a startup when the product is a venture fund.Listen and learn...How being an investor and entrepreneur are similarThe most outrageous pitch Nick has heard... and how it involved pornHow being a baseball player trained Nick to be a venture capitalistNick's advice for what to do after closing a big sales dealWhere there are opportunities for generative AI entrepreneurs to get fundedHow AI is being used to design circuit boardsNick's most recent investment... and what made him decide to write the checkWhat Nick is telling Congress we need to do to regulate AIReferences in this episode...Why generative AI is desperately in need of regulationMetafold, new Differential investmentDan Grunfeld from Lightspeed on AI and the Future of Work

Ask this episode

“What did the council decide on item 42?” — answered with the speaker and the moment.

Transcript

Related