Interplay

What a night to remember! A heartfelt thank you to everyone who made last week’s 2024 Interplay Invitational such a huge success! It was amazing to get together with some of our incredible Interplay ecosystem members and fellow startup/venture community peers in one place. Located at Five Iron Golf in NYC, we enjoyed the masterful work of NYC staple Katz's Delicatessen, a friendly "Closest?to the Pin" golf competition,?and even a surprise pop-up magic performance. It was an electric atmosphere! Events like these are an important reminder of how much stronger we are together - investors, founders, and friends all convening to connect, share ideas, and simply enjoy one another’s company. Here's to building relationships that go far beyond business. A special shoutout and thanks to our incredible sponsors -?UBS,?Juniper Square,?Newmark, and?Starrlight Advisory?- for their support and partnership. #Interplay?#VentureCapital #startups #NYCventure #Innovation?#KatzsDeli?#FiveIronGolf #InnovationEcosystem?#Networking?#Collaboration

In this week's podcast, Phuong Ireland and I break down the most common seed-stage valuation methods including the Investor Target Ownership approach, the Berkus Method, and the increasingly popular SAFE note. We're also highlighting key founder pitfalls, such as over-inflating valuations or underpricing their startups, and explain how investor demand influences the equation. As always, appreciate you joining me on the pod, Phuong Ireland! https://lnkd.in/e9vwPHTG

In her latest blog post, VC Senior Associate?Caroline Elliott?explores the $500b+ overstock industry, specifically the opportunity for innovation in the beauty and personal care sector. While companies like?Ghost?and?Max Retail have gone a long way in supporting an effective circular economy for the apparel sector, the same innovation has not yet happened in the $446b beauty and personal care industry.??? If you'd like to learn more or are currently building in this space, please reach out to our team.

We’re thrilled to welcome?INKZUP -?a game-changing studio management platform that’s revolutionizing the tattoo industry - to the Interplay?Incubator! Founded by Anitra D., INKZUP automates and streamlines tattoo business operations helping studios?increase revenue, simplify bookings, manage payments, and supercharge marketing?all in one place. Tattoo artists should focus on their craft, not admin work. With INKZUP they can do just that. We couldn’t be more excited to support Anitra D. and the team on this journey!

Big time congrats to Justpoint - an Interplay Ventures portfolio company - for their feature in The Wall Street Journal highlighting their groundbreaking work using AI to uncover dangerous drugs. As investors, we’re proud to support Justpoint as they push to improve patient safety and revolutionize the legal and healthcare industries. It’s a beautiful thing when we get to help founders improve the world. Huge kudos to Victor Bornstein, PhD, Oleksandr Zakharchuk, and the rest of the team for pushing the boundaries of what's possible.

On this week’s episode, I chat with Kass Lazerow and Michael Lazerow, a powerhouse entrepreneurial duo known for building and exiting multiple companies, including Golf.com and Buddy Media (which was acquired by Salesforce for $745 million). The conversation dives into their unique dynamic as a husband-and-wife co-founding team, their entrepreneurial journey spanning decades, and their latest venture—writing "Shoveling $h!t: A Love Story" a brutally honest book about the highs and lows of entrepreneurship. https://lnkd.in/em3H9jit

I have some big news to share! Our company,?Justpoint,?just raised $95M to fight the hidden epidemic of toxic exposure using AI. This mission is personal—my uncle got sick when an open-pit mine polluted his drinking water, and, like most of us, I have even closer relatives who have battled cancer after exposure to toxic consumer goods. Every year, hidden toxins contribute to 36% of cancers, 79% of heart attacks, and 90% of liver damage. Regulatory gaps leave us vulnerable to carcinogens and forever chemicals, addictive opioids, and more. And even when harms are uncovered, most victims end up without compensation or a way to pay for their medical bills. We founded Justpoint to fix this broken system. We help people understand what's safe and what's not; let them seek compensation for the harm done to them, their families, and our communities; and deter companies from producing these harmful substances in the first place. Justpoint’s approach uses a unique blend of science, legal strategy, and proprietary AI models that analyze billions of medical data points and detect harmful substances long before regulatory bodies act. We're currently validating 15 drugs potentially causing significant harm not yet addressed by the FDA, and are building a network to hold those responsible accountable. We also support law firms with technology that makes it easier and more efficient for them to intake, retain, and advocate for patients. What can you do? Sign up [link in the comments] for access to our upcoming product that identifies harmful substances you might be exposed to. A huge thank you to everyone who has supported us so far. We wouldn't have built this technology without your support: Wayne Hu and Sooah Cho (SignalFire; Series A lead); Ryan Morgan (Crossbeam Venture Partners); Lee J., Scott Banister, Justin Mares, Arielle Zuckerberg (Long Journey Ventures); Mike Silva, Rafael Costa (Across Capital); Vivek Garipalli; Mike Rogers (Interplay); Eric Ong (Lightbank); Brett Martin, Chris Habachy (Charge Ventures); Katie Shea (Divergent Capital), Mani Honigstein (Honeystone Ventures), John Lee (JAZZ Venture Partners), Richard Deulofeut-Manzur (Trust Ventures), Ryan Hoover, Vedika Jain (Weekend Fund), and many others. #ConsumerProtection #CancerAwareness? #AIforGood

We’re out of alpha and launching BizDefender Pro in beta. I’d love your help. I’m looking for US-based small business owners interested in fraud surveillance and prevention. *This month only*, I’m asking trusted friends and friends-of-friends to test out our flagship offering for free in exchange for feedback. This is not a public offer! I’m excited to move fast and I want to reward early adopters that help: if you are, or know of, a candidate, get them enrolled in BizDefender Pro for free for a limited time!

Is a sector-focused VC fund better than a generalist one? Let’s look at the data. For years, I’ve heard the rule of thumb that sector-focused funds outperform generalist funds in venture capital. The narrative makes sense: focus brings specialization, and specialization should theoretically drive better performance. But is that belief rooted in data—or just a compelling story? After analyzing the performance of 426 mature US-based early-stage VC funds launched between 2000 and 2014 and comparing sector-focused and generalist strategies, here’s what we uncovered: - Generalist funds delivered higher returns (TVPI of 2.5x vs. 2.1x for sector-focused funds). - Generalist funds survived for more vintages (average ~4 vs. ~2). - Generalist software funds raised larger first vintages (average ~$97M vs. ~$44M). Dive into the report to review the full findings: https://lnkd.in/dkJHW7HD

This week we got the Interplay team together to celebrate the new year. In these moments, we see what is most important to our business, our people. It is an exceptional group of individuals driven by a shared commitment to elevate Interplay to new heights year after year. Not only were we able to catch up and enjoy each other's company, we also celebrated the core values that drive our business: Integrity, Humility, and Grit. Congratulations to our 2024 Winners: Eric Broad, Miho Common, and Andrew L.! As we look toward 2025, our team is excited to continue architecting the future together. We are committed to supporting founders, investing in high-growth startups, and continue leveraging our comprehensive startup ecosystem to foster innovation and drive success. A big thank you to Resident Hospitality who hosted us with an amazing menu and space, and a special thank you to McKella Nordquist and Sydney Brown for making it all happen. Mark Peter Davis, Kevin W. Tung, Phuong Ireland, Will Richardson, Stacy Berlin Greco, G. Brandon Levy, Alexander S. White, Miho Common, Kate Kelly, Jason Kirby, Ritu Khanna, Ray Koh, Eric Broad, Caroline Elliott, Shaun Walker, Erik Schreter, Andrew L., Christian Mark, Chris Zhang, Carolyne Newman, Mike Rogers, Alexander Jordan