Show notes
Follow me @samirkaji for my thoughts on the venture market, with a focus on the continued evolution of the VC landscape.Today I’m thrilled to bring you my conversation with Alexis Ohanian, founder of stage-agnostic firm Seven Seven Six, which was founded in 2020 and has over $750MM in AUM today. Many know Alexis from his experience as co-founding both Reddit and later Initialized Capital. There are so many interesting components of the firm’s model, including their Cerebro platform, which is the in-house technology they use to drive values to founders and limited partners. They are also exploring the intersection of VC and social media, launching their Titan Program to help those with strong platforms become investors.Alexis and Seven Seven Six have also been at the forefront of investing in underrepresented entrepreneurs and communities with their Seven Seven Six Foundation and other initiatives.About Alexis Ohanian:Alexis is an investor and founder. He has invested in ten decacorns and 25 unicorns, including Coinbase, Gusto, Hubspot, Patreon, and Deel. He was a member of the initial cohort at YC with his startup Reddit, and he co-founded Initialized Capital with Garry Tan. He’s the founder of the Seven Seven Six Foundation and is a proud father.Our sponsors:At Brex, we build financial software and services to help startups scale faster. We understand that founders need to focus on building, not banking. So we’ve reimagined traditional financial systems to enable greater speed and productivity — no matter where founders and their teams are working.We offer a smart corporate card, business account, and mobile app that are easy to use from day one. No manuals needed here. Within minutes, you can deposit funds, send free wires and ACH worldwide, separate investor funds from operating expenses, earn great rewards, automate expenses, and more. Everything we do at Brex is to help founders spend less time managing expenses and reporting on your runway — and more time building your business.Get started at brex.com/ventureSydecar is on a mission to enable anyone to be a capital allocator by creating tools built specifically for today’s venture investor. Their powerful software removes the headache of organizing private investments — so that you can focus on making deals, not spreadsheets.Whether you’re syndicating your first or fiftieth deal, Sydecar acts as your silent operating partner, handling all back office functions in a single place. Sydecar always has your back, so that you never have to worry about chasing subscription docs, lost wires, or late K-1s.Visit our website to learn more and join the waitlist for Sydecar’s limited beta. In this episode we discuss:03:36 Why Alexis still lists being a waiter at Pizza Hut on his LinkedIn07:52 Why being customer-focused and EQ is so important in business09:28 Lessons Alexis has learned as a VC and why he decided to start Seven Seven Six16:52 How technology works as an edge to Seven Seven Six’s investing26:13 What founders really want from VC’s today, and why the venture landscape has complete shifted30:42 What the early focus has been at Seven Seven Six33:52 Their focus on being intentional on the type of LPs they admit40:47 How Seven Seven Six’s Titan Program is an alternative to scouts, and represents the new era of investing48:41 The power of ownership and investors having a voice and following on Social Media51:35 The best advice he’s ever received in his careerI’d love to know what you took away from this conversation with Alexis. Follow me @SamirKaji and give me your insights and questions with the hashtag #ventureunlocked. If you’d like to be considered as a guest or have someone you’d like to hear from (GP or LP), drop me a direct message on Twitter.Podcast Production support provided by Agent Bee Agency This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit ventureunlocked.substack.com