Union Square Ventures' Rebecca Kaden on their theme based investing approach, fund sizing for USV, and navigating hot markets

Follow me @samirkaji for my thoughts on the venture market, with a focus on the continued evolution of the VC landscape.This week we have Rebecca Kaden, General Partner at Union Square Ventures, who are with a doubt one of the very best venture firms in the world having backed companies such as Stripe, Twitter, Etsy, LendingClub, and Coinbase.The firm is also very thesis and mission-driven, including investing in the future by addressing issues like the climate crisis. It was founded in 2003 by Fred Wilson and Brad Burnham and currently has $1.9B in AUM.About Rebecca Kaden:Rebecca Kaden is a managing partner at Union Square Ventures. She began her career as a journalist and prior to USV was a General Partner at Maveron, a consumer-focused early-stage fund. She studied English and American Literature at Harvard and received her MBA from Stanford.A word from our sponsor:Invest in innovation. Allocate is a digital platform that enables investors of all types to invest and manage private alternatives within the technology sector.Despite the enormous growth of the private markets and the rapid increase of retail demand for private alternatives, investing in the highest quality private assets within the innovation sector remains inaccessible and opaque.With Allocate, wealth advisors, banks, family offices, and other qualified investors can have a streamlined way to responsibly invest in the highest quality technology centered private alternatives.Go to allocate.co to find out more and please sign up to the waitlist to learn more and get early access to the platform.In this episode we discuss:01:13 Rebecca’s journey to becoming a full-time investor from journalism04:15 The skillsets that most translated from journalism to VC06:08 The things she was most looking for when joining a VC firm. 08:45 Construction a true venture investment thesis12:45 What thesis-driven investing means in practice, and the application for it when evaluating companies. 15:12 The primary benefits of having a defined thesis (but also why it must evolve)18:55 How USV thinks about fund size in today’s market22:09 Why adjusting fund size significantly upward was something they decided against25:47 Why USV has decided to avoid the run faster, chase more mentality in today’s market27:49 Why risk management is a critical, but underrated part of VC. 30:03 The adjustments that USV has made in response to the market climate in the last few years33:19 What she thinks has made USV such a great firm over the last two decades36:07 How Rebecca thinks about generational succession, and how to get it right39:02 How USV avoids a deferential culture and how new partners find their voices42:17 the most transformational career advice Rebecca has receivedI’d love to know what you took away from this conversation with Rebecca. 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

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