David Hornik, founding partner at Lobby Capital, shares insights from his 25-year journey in the industry. David discusses the evolution of venture capital, the growing importance of relationships over transactions, and his structured yet practical approach to investing. He highlights how liquidity challenges impact founders and early investors. David also shares his take on what makes a startup truly investable and why understanding a problem deeply is more valuable than chasing market trends.In this episode, you’ll learn:[06:14] How venture capital has evolved from a simple early- vs. late-stage VC model to today's fragmented landscape with seed, pre-seed, and late-stage funds[09:57] Entrepreneurship was for misfits in the 90’s; it’s now a top career choice.[19:06] Networking is a key driver for startup connections and investment in venture capital.[26:23] How David evaluates startups[32:21] Common reasons for saying no to a startups[35:07] Why even great VCs miss billion-dollar opportunitiesThe non-profit organization that David is passionate about: Institute of Contemporary Art in San FranciscoAbout David HornikDavid Hornik is the founding partner of Lobby Capital, a Silicon Valley-based venture firm focused on Series A investments. With nearly 25 years in venture capital, he previously spent two decades at August Capital. A seasoned investor, he has backed companies like Fastly, Splunk, and MaintainX. David also created Lobby, a renowned invite-only conference fostering deep founder-investor relationships. In addition to investing, he teaches entrepreneurship at Stanford and Harvard. Known for his relationship-driven approach, he emphasizes market potential, customer validation, and founder expertise when evaluating startups. He and his wife support the Institute of Contemporary Art in San Francisco.About Lobby CapitalLobby Capital is a Silicon Valley-based venture firm founded on decades of experience and a powerful network of entrepreneurs, investors, and industry leaders. Emerging from the renowned Lobby Conference community, the firm takes a people-first, hands-on approach to Series A investing. By providing deep expertise, strategic connections, and dedicated support, Lobby Capital helps founders scale and build transformative companies. With a strong belief that great businesses are built by great people, the firm leverages relationships to drive venture success and long-term impact. Its portfolio companies include Vantage Discovery, Kolena, Apera AI, Ownify, Procyon.ai, Faros AI, The Easy Company, Sprout Labs, Better Trucks, ForeVR Games among others.Subscribe to our podcast and stay tuned for our next episode.

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