Red Bike Capital

Fun LP/GP dinner last night. There's undeniably a new vibe in the VC ecosystem- you can feel the positive energy. Love that it takes our SF friends Cindy Bi and Jenny He to bring together all these NYC Emerging Managers and LPs IRL. Spicy takes and candid conversations about about AI competitive moats, family values, ways emerging managers differentiate (Red Bike Capital we’re hyper focused on helping founders land first enterprise clients), expectations of an opening in the IPO window, and what FO are excited about. And we all ate waaay too much churrasco! (Trace Cohen ?? ) Favorite quote of the night? Me: "How do you think about competitive moat in AI?" Ben Parr: "If my co-founder can build your product in a weekend, there is no moat." Thanks Charlie Stephens and great to hang out Arash Ferdowsi Keith Ryu Ashley Mayer Christine Keung Kelly Han Joel Palathinkal, Ph.D

Seed Stage Summit 2024 Rho X Andrew Yeung was a blast- 100 seed-stage founders together for a day of fireside chats, discussions, and networking. Honered to be included in the lineup among some incredible speakers: ? Dennis Crowley (Co-founder of Foursquare) ? Russ Heddleston (Co-founder of Dropbox DocSend) ? Lindsay Kaplan (Co-founder of Chief) ? iqram magdon-ismail (Co-founder of Venmo) ? Alexa von Tobel (Founder of Inspired Capital) ? Aakash Shah (Founder of Wyndly (YC W21) ? Eve Halimi (Co-founder of Alinea Invest) ? Max Kolysh (Founder of Dover) Our panel was on the Y Combinator experience with Eve, Aakash and Max- lessons learned, what it takes to get into YC, what it means in the long term. My favorite question “What would you tell yourself at the beginning of your founder journey?”: -> No one is coming to save you. No head of growth, no BDR, no new consultant is going to have the silver bullet- you need to figure out your business. -> Have appreciation for the journey- and the stamina it takes to navigate all of the of ups and downs. You will feel the ups and the downs more intensely as a founder. Nothing is ever as good * or as bad* as it initially seems. -> Be sure you want to commit to the idea you're building for- it takes waaay longer than you think it will. Don't be tempted to pivot into something that you don't want to do- you will be stuck. Thank you Christina C. for the great pics, Amy Chen Jesse Middleton Jacob Solano Justin Wolz Rashida Bobb Red Bike Capital Herman Goihman

I have a confession - I go to a lot of conferences, some are focused on the verticals we invest in, some on fundraising, GPs and LPs - but Equal Ventures Summit is one of my personal faves. Why? Sitting in a room with some of my favorite emerging managers, hearing candid war-stories from those that have been there and done that. What are the opportunities, what are the pitfalls as you build your fund? What would you tell yourself to think about when you started? Hint: Focus on DPI and portfolio construction, this is a game of outliers, relationships and patience. There is a low key generosity of successful managers and best in class LPs that want us emerging managers to succeed- all in the same room- that makes it special. As Aileen Lee said: We all want to keep early stage VC collaborative and fun (and highly profitable for our LPs). Thank you Rick Zullo and team for an amazing day. I was having so much fun I forgot to take any pics with my peeps but great to hang with so many friends, investors and more Ben Zises Jessica Peltz-Zatulove Jennifer Tegan Fernando Montejo Ashlie Tyler Samara Mejia Hernandez Nathan Killebrew Michael Cardamone Zuri Michan Elizabeth "Beezer" Clarkson Chris Farmer Satya Patel Lisa Cawley, CFA Jesús Argüelles Charles Hudson Mike Smith Semil Shah Scott Belsky Daniel Dehrey Atul Rustgi Melissa Richlen David York Mike Maples, Jr Sarah Hinkfuss Dan Stolar Adam Bain Ali Afridi Simeon Iheagwam Cat Middleton Sumeet Shah Patrick Murphy Erica Duignan Minnihan Meghan Cross Shayna Harris Hunter McCrossin Ethan Sun, CFA Heather Hartnett Raida Daouk El Jisr

I had the honor of representing our firm Red Bike Capital at the Latino Venture Capital Summit at The White House alongside a group of incredible leaders. We discussed how to increase the participation of Latinos in the Venture Capital ecosystem, including options for the creation of a Fund of Funds targeting Latino led Venture Funds. Thank you Director Tom Perez, Taylor Wright and Janis Bowdler for facilitating the conversation, and to all the Administration officials for participating. Justina Gallegos, Stacie Olivares, Bailey DeVries, Carolina Ferrerosa Young, Ph.D., Michael H., Tonantzin Carmona, Andrea M. O'Neal, Vincent Cordero., Robert Aguilar, Pete Amaro, Milton Berlinksi, Noramay Cadena, Jorge M. Calderon, Adela Cepeda, Marcelo Claure, Vincent Cordero, Lister Delgado, Lili Gangas, Marcos Gonzalez, Alejandro Guerrero, Gerald Kierce-Iturrioz, Roman Leal, CFA, Luciano Mancini, Laura I. Maydón, Lorenzo Mendez, CFA, Senofer Mendoza, Adrian Mendoza, Celina Apostolo Merrill, Danny Navarro, Jaime Rodriguez, Dr. Mariela Salas, Francisco Sanchez, Elian Savodivker, Arturo Sneider, Tom Soto, Antonio Tijerino, Nina Vaca, José Luis Silva Vázquez, Beto Pallares, Noramay Cadena, Rachel ten Brink. Thank you Josean Fernandez, CAIA for the invitation to this great event!

Man I love a good tactical conversation on conversion rate optimization and how to crush BFCM! One of the key differentiations of Red Bike Capital is that we're experienced founders and operators. While your value as an investor increases as you get more "investing reps", your operating insight starts deprecate the longer you're not actually doing the work. It's one of the reasons we prioritize understanding the latest Growth and Revenue trends and yesterday Q4 Commerce Conference delivered. Thank you Troy Osinoff and awesome job Nik Sharma Mc'ing. It was super tactical and actionable so excited to share: -> Harley Finkelstein: We're in the early days of ecommerce- there is a ton of room to grow. Newness and innovation are key to ecommerce. Data from our Shopify ecosystem is your competitive advantage -> Sandra Campos: the pressure of quarterly results in public companies is real. Hyper focus on customers and identify issues- even when it's painful (e.g. they missed a shipment for a key medicine for a dog) -> Ezra Firestone’s consumers see right through transactional relationships- build your conversion models to build trust first, conversion next -> Ryan Babenzien, Aaron Nosbisch, Stuart Leitch don't forget authentic customer relationships and offline channels, take a hard look at your true CAC on Facebook (fully baked- Facebook is notorious for taking credit for sales they didn't drive). TV is top of the funnel- but those “I’m a founder and I had X and this is why I made this product” still work Tatari. Podcasts need to be approached programmatically- you won’t get ROI from 1 spot but if you have enough reach and frequency they can do really well. ->Daniel Winer,HexClad Cookware story telling is everything "We are cookware for Badasses" combined a unique technology with celebrity power/ value of a global celebrity like Gordon Ramsey when you launch internationally. Power of a hyper curated distribution strategy (Costco/Amazon/DTC) Costco is cool! Connecting with your customer online AND offline is critical Kait Stephens -> @Sid Malhotra on growth of Snap Inc.- worth a try? -> Jen Gray routine economy = perfect products for subscription. Think about when in the flow you convert purchasser to subscriber- needs to make sense to the consumer -> Dan Pantelo super tactical tips on ads - do less and do it well, don't forget your landing page- invest in making it convert and don't forget to be super clear in what you're selling, if you have a banner make sure it has a link -> Keith Rabois leveraging OpenStore infrastructure to drive value - look at shared pain points among brands and build solutions- including new OpenDesk AI powered customer service (opening for all brands). Election year = channels will be very expensive (specialy swing states) Go forth and good luck in BFCM! Herman Goihman Leo Voloshin Julia Gudish Krieger

AWS Investor Summit focused on how Amazon partners with firms to accelerate portfolio company growth. => Fireside Chat:?A Conversation with?Robert F. Smith,?Vista Founder, Chairman and CEO and Robert L. Greene (Bob) - As you?go deeper in your career tend to go narrow, but critical to expand the apperture. Get narrow and wide - build in different perspectives constantly to derisk - Vista wins: 93% operational improvements/?7% arbitrage. Add value: Talent Product and tech, GTM, Operations - Immediate value of AI: 1-Code assist/code generation 2-Product - gen ai enable products in their?platform. All will be GenAI enabled in some application or another 3-Operational improvement-?communication, engage customers - On Leadership: embrace the evolution + be constantly curious => How AWS Partners with Investors Jasmine Moore ?? Brooks Powlen Amanda Herson Nicole Cardosa Noy Levinson - Value of AWS not just as a partner to help founders build but also in diligence - GenAI value creation strategies- AI is being thrown a lot- it will be easier to build, creating lots of noise, so need killer feature - Many businesses not building own AI but need to use- cost of failure/ hallucination is incredibly high => LP Perspectives:?Navigating the Current Fundraising Landscape Renata Aráuz-DeStefano Jasmine N. Richards, CFA Mina Pacheco Nazemi Kwesi Quaye Karega Butler - What they are looking for in a manager: Not just why are you good at what you do, but why are you the best person in this opportunity and how is it differentiated? (and have you had distributions? ?? ) Can you do it again? Consitency is critical because institutionals are signing up for multiple funds - 4 things that matter: 1)Team - at least 2 are in for the long haul, who are you? Networks, why? 2)Strategy - has to be differentiated, why would the best founders want to sell a piece of their company to you? 3)Performance-?mentioned they never back first time investors (only 1st funds are managers that already learned in another platform- learned on another person's $) 4)Processes - transparency in portfolio. Understand what is the risk? How do you measure and manage it- what can go wrong? - Data room: * Most important- thoroughness, how well prepared, all memos(not just good investments), how thoughtful are you internally? * Rarely see but like- reference list. Not just impressive names but quality of story good + variety across ecosystem: LPAC, co-investors, LPs, service providers. Show performance to plan- understand what’s happening vs just spreadsheet of performance - On opportunity of new managers: Leaders of the future are not leaders in the past- in VC- new funds - 60% of top 10 funds are new funds 1-3, last 5 years - 30% are diverse. Lovely to hang Stephanie Campbell Marion Siboni Kofi Ampadu Brian Hollins Beth Ferreira, Ashley Mayer , Sutian Dong Jennifer Kwan Mandelbaum Kimberley Nixon Thanks Nehemiah Green Zain Gulamali Rich Green Sherry Karamdashti Red Bike Capital

Being part of Y Combinator 9 years ago was transformational for my startup and my journey as a founder (which led to me to become a VC Red Bike Capital). I am asked often about the value of the program and to me, it's very analogous to my MBA experience: it's the value of what you learn during the program (accelerate PMF, advice from incredible people that have actually built something), it's the value of how you exit the program (fundraising, customers, "seal of approval") - but many, many years later, it's the value of the network that still delivers. Thank you Yarden Horwitz for organizing an awesome YC Alumnae event last week (and kudos for creating the ultimate multi-tasking event: networking with incredible founders + getting a manicure!). It is not often that you're in a room where you can have such an immediate connection and candid conversations with a group of incredibly bright individuals who understand your journey. PS: Y Combinator just added a fall cohort! Feel free to ask questions. Thank you Amy Ling Lin for hosting us in your beautiful space. Anja Winikka Madhuri Sharma Erika Hairston Anvisha Pai Sarah Ahmad Isabel Barrera Rachel O'Driscoll Natalia Neha Khosla, MD, MSc Kat Ma?alac Jenica Zhong Jennifer Liu

New York still has an underdog mentality in VC and Tech- but has so much to offer, and has grown leaps and bounds since I started as a founder in 2014. Love how even Office of Mayor-Elect Eric Adams has a bit of a chip on his shoulder- we all want to prove this is the best city in the world. Kevin Ryan did a great job interviewing Mayor Eric Adams at the New York Tech Town Hall covering a broad range of topics from AI in schools, to housing affordability and safety for tech workers, to the migrant crisis, to the radicalization of youth, to the Mayor's enemy #1 (rats!). Some key thoughts for tech/VC: => Challenge with government is they make key decisions for the tech community, yet few have experience in business, tech or VC => NY is the best city for Tech-our diversity is our secret weapon- different backgrounds, different industry experiences, different perspectives will help solve large global problems => NYC is #1 City for new college grads and young tech professionals (ahead of SF) but need to keep it affordable and safe, and importantly, keep on building the ecosystem so top tech workers feel they can build their careers here => Excitement for #AI- innovation will not wait for your comfort but there is little expertise in government. Opportunity for tech leaders to create a turnkey plan and present to the Mayor The question I did not get to ask (as a proud mom of 2 NYC public school students) was about how Specialized Schools and G&T Programs are being supported by the Mayor. I firmly believe that if we want to support the next generation of tech workers, we need to prioritize teaching STEM and advanced math in our schools. I was a big fan of the last time we had an entrepreneur as mayor- just saying Kevin Ryan ?? Tanya Beja Desiree Almodovar Thomas Mallak Elana Berkowitz Skylar Dorosin Brinda Ganguly ?Andrea Turner Moffitt New York City Office of Technology & Innovation Kathryn S. Wylde Partnership for New York City Tech:NYC

The Lead Summit brings together the sharpest minds in commerce and feels like a family reunion (Sam Wils). Key learnings: Trends in VC Investments in Retail Technology Scott Friend Bain Capital Partners Will Decker: * Market is extremely tough- no traction = no raise. Great time to be an early stage founder, by the time you are ready to scale the market will be different- put your head down & build. For co's later stage there are fewer growth deals- best companies are not raising capital in a bad market but at some point will have to * Ecommerce enablement still has great investment opportunities such as retail media and ESG (specially for consumer apparel) * AI is a robust tech enabler (like mobile and cloud were)- bigger, faster more interesting applications that you could not do before. -> "Easy and tactical" AI opps - internal tech and customer support, external customer service -> "Harder/ strategic"- higher value- existing processes with disparate data sources- eg duty and tariffs, a merchandising co pilot- use pricing markdowns allocations, marketing spend optimization with new techniques Innovation Priorities for Leading Brands Noam Paransky Stacey Shulman * Enterprise co's challenges around innovation: How do you bring ideas to life? With speed and at scale. Idea management (groups over fight which idea get tested) vs Cool kid club (separate labs) both have challenges * Launch is a milestone but not the destination-?need to keep velocity Navigating the Risks and Challenges of Using AI Models Deborah Weinswig 韋葆蘭 * Great perspective on the challenges of AI for large retail companies. Lots of excitement and potential but also proceeding with caution * Large models are scary for enterprise- fear of data leaks, liabilities, etc Effective Innovation Pipeline to Keep up with the Competition Sallie Jian, Pano Anthos Matthew Mueller * Value of relationships-?those are the most effective-?even if?it’s?slow. The key to enterprise sales is: 1) Have a real problem to solve, 2) propose a change to solve it 3) the acceptance piece- relationships are key * Make sure you're building something people want. Solutions need to be: 1) high impact 2) high ROI and 3) low lift * You?can’t?educate a corporate-?you?don’t?have enough money and time to convince them to solve what?you’re?fixing so if they don't get it, move on either to other teams within the corporation or other companies Always a pleasure to hang out with the impressive PortCo founder Kait Stephens. Great to see old friends and new IRL Drew Marconi Henry Davis William Thayer Trevor Sumner Sophie Frères (née Spethmann) Oren Paran Nick Reasner David Polinchock Michael Nogen Doug Weich Pano Anthos Sallie Jian Deborah Weinswig 韋葆蘭 Nate Rosen Dipti Desai Andrew Forman Sarah Davidson Joshua Rockoff Lindsay Lightman Sourabh Sharma Vlad Malanin AJAY BAM Adi Ronen Dara Golush Jacquelyn De Jesu Center Avani Oswal Tiffany Johnson Derric Haynie Jon Gettinger Mo (Mohamad) Afshar