Garuda Ventures

Last week Arpan and I, together with our friends Sarah and Somrat at Recall Capital, hosted an event to kick off the Fall alongside founders, food and drink. I had the pleasure of moderating a panel discussion with some close friends and active Series A investors, Anish Acharya at Andreessen Horowitz, Sara Ittelson at Accel, and Alexander Niehenke at Scale Venture Partners to get their thoughts on the market today and how founders should look to "cross the Series A chasm". Some key takeaways from our discussion for founders out there: - ?? There is optimism in the market: It's not all doom and gloom, good deals are still getting funded, everyone is excited about what products are being built. The big question for investors is opportunity cost - ?? Build relationships early: If you can, choose three to five investors you would be thrilled to have lead the round and, assuming mutual interest, get to know them over time - ?? The “texture” of the numbers matter more than the numbers themselves: How you articulate your numbers and their quality to help investors appreciate what they represent about the potential of your business is critical - ?? It’s not all AI, but you should be talking about it: You don't need to be AI-native to get funded, but you need to know how AI will impact your business and market For a full recap on what it takes to raise your A, including a few tips on how to run better process, click the link below!

It's been busy here Garuda Ventures - check out our August 2024 Newsletter! https://lnkd.in/gphV_CNV ? 2 new investments: ???B2B2C alts-as-a-service infrastructure that allows any platform to embed private investments natively into its own customer experience quickly and easily ???The AI discovery and promoted search platform for e-commerce ? Announcing our podcast,?Brick by Brick!?Over the last 15+ years we have been fortunate to build a large network of seasoned founders, operators, and investors, each with unique insights, learnings, and untold stories from the trenches. We thought we would put that network to work and?launched?our podcast,?Brick by Brick, where we learn how successful startups were really built, directly from the people who built them. If you’re startup curious, running an early stage company yourself, or considering joining a company as an early employee, this pod’s for you! Find us on YouTube, Spotify, or Apple. ??Q2 Travels! We were on the road again in Q2, with a chance to meet with the community in LA, Boston, and Missouri. Special thanks to all of you who came out to see us. We're incredibly grateful for our growing Garuda community! ? Our portfolio is always hiring - check out https://jobs.garuda.vc/ for more ? Exciting portfolio news from Airbase, Amperon, A Parent Media Co. Inc. (APMC), FlexPoint and Rebel Space Technologies Click the link to the newsletter in the comments below to learn more! #preseed #seed #garudaventures #vc

Our next Brick by Brick episode has dropped, with Ben Sabrin from Weaviate!

Check out our next episode of Brick by Brick, with Andrew Peterson of Signal Sciences and Aviso Ventures!

Do early startup employees make better founders? As Dropbox employee #1, former founder, and advisor/investor, Aston Motes knows a thing or two about building and founding companies. I asked him this question on the Brick by Brick podcast. His answer may surprise you! ?? to the full episode in the comments. #brickbybrick

We’re excited to launch a new initiative here at Garuda Ventures - “Brick by Brick”, a podcast about how startups are really built, from the people who built them. Rishi Taparia and I have been partnering in various ways with startups for a long time. The early days of startups are hard. It can feel like chaos every day, you feel like you’re swimming upstream, and it’s just you and a small band of believers. It’s unglamorous, it’s blocking and tackling, and it’s not for the faint of heart. Brick by Brick will share stories from the trenches from people who have gone through it before - early employees, founders, early investors. And we’ll learn lessons, insights, and tactics that we hope will help you build and grow your companies. Read more below, and follow the links in the comments to subscribe! #brickbybrick #garudaventures https://lnkd.in/gRNQHF-F

We’re excited to launch a new initiative here at Garuda Ventures, the Brick by Brick podcast, where we learn about how startups are really built directly from the people who built them! Arpan and I have been working for and with startups for a long time. In my 15 years of working with startups, I have found the stories of early company heroics and the lessons they convey — the engineer who fixed bugs right up to the biggest sales demo in the company’s history, the lobby-squatting at a customer’s office waiting to ‘run into’ the decision maker, the fundraise that closed when the company had 6 weeks of cash left — to be the most informative and interesting. But in the sea of great startup content, these stories and their heroes, early employees, are often left untold and unsung. We want to share more of those stories with you. Read more below, and follow the links in the comments to subscribe! #brickbybrick #garudaventures

Check out the latest news from us here Garuda Ventures and our portfolio companies, in our Q1 Newsletter! (Link in first comment) New Investments: ?? AI-powered observability and security for modern air and space operations ? Security GRC (governance, risk, and compliance) at the speed of DevOps ?? AI-native software for freight forwarders designed to boost their top line, deliver better customer experiences, and digitize real-time global trade data Annual Meeting: We were grateful to host our AGM on a beautiful San Francisco afternoon, gathering our LPs and founders to share an update on the market, our progress as a firm, and the forward momentum in our portfolio. We also had the chance to sit down with the inimitable Ho Nam of Altos Ventures, who shared lessons learned from almost 30 years building Altos. In the Media: Rishi Taparia was a guest on the?CLIMB Podcast?hosted by Jay Kapoor, Co-founder of VSC Ventures. He and Jay had a great discussion about building companies, raising a fund, valuations and AI. Give it a listen! Rishi was also featured in a Venture Capital Journal profile (link in comments) Portfolio news: Exciting updates, launches, and milestones from portfolio companies Amperon Arena dataroomHQ FlexPoint Metaview Noyo Paragon Click the link to the newsletter in the comments below to learn more!

Check out the latest news from us here Garuda Ventures and our portfolio companies, in our Q1 Newsletter! (Link in first comment) New Investments: ?? AI-powered observability and security for modern air and space operations ? Security GRC (governance, risk, and compliance) at the speed of DevOps ?? AI-native software for freight forwarders designed to boost their top line, deliver better customer experiences, and digitize real-time global trade data Annual Meeting: We were grateful to host our AGM on a beautiful San Francisco afternoon, gathering our LPs and founders to share an update on the market, our progress as a firm, and the forward momentum in our portfolio. We also had the chance to sit down with the inimitable Ho Nam of Altos Ventures, who shared lessons learned from almost 30 years building Altos. In the Media: Rishi Taparia was a guest on the?CLIMB Podcast?hosted by Jay Kapoor, Co-founder of VSC Ventures. He and Jay had a great discussion about building companies, raising a fund, valuations and AI. Give it a listen! Rishi was also featured in a Venture Capital Journal profile (link in comments) Portfolio news: Exciting updates, launches, and milestones from portfolio companies Amperon Arena dataroomHQ FlexPoint Metaview Noyo Paragon Click the link to the newsletter in the comments below to learn more!

Our February 2024 Newsletter is out! Click below to dig in. https://lnkd.in/enkmgfcV ? 5 new investments: ?? Helping households access financial benefits ??? AI-driven conversion rate optimization ?? Bot defense and security for E-Commerce ?? A faster cheaper, cross-border B2B payment network ?? AI-Powered B2B marketing platform ? Celebration!?We celebrated the closing of our?$31M debut institutional fund?with the Garuda Community at our Fall Fête ?? Listen Up:?Rishi Taparia was a guest on the?Venture Voices podcast?hosted by Richard Kerby, Co-founder of Equal Ventures, and on the?Seed to Harvest podcast?hosted by Paige Finn Doherty, Co-founder of Behind Genius Ventures. Give each a listen to learn more about Garuda’s origin story, how we raised our debut institutional fund, what we look for when we partner with founders, and more! ? Our portfolio is always hiring - check out?https://jobs.garuda.vc/?for more ? Exciting portfolio news from?Airbase,?Dr. Treat, OpsHelm, Inc., Paragon,?Stitchflow and more! #preseed?#seed?#garudaventures?#vc