LinkedIn Top Voices 2017: Venture Capital & Entrepreneurship

The 10 must-know professionals weighing in on everything from tech's gender crisis to the funding market for venture capital.

Nearly 1,000 posts are shared in the LinkedIn feed every minute. With that in mind, finding the right voices to follow — particularly in startupland — can be challenging. That’s why we did the work for you.

To figure out who is writing about entrepreneurship and venture capital best, we've sifted through the data, using a combination of data and editorial signals designed to capture the voices making a mark in their industries. This includes taking a hard look at engagement, specifically the likes, comments and shares across each member’s articles, posts and videos. We also factored in growth of followers tied to publishing activity and the number of times the writer had been featured in editorial channels, a signal of high-quality content. And to make sure that not all our Top Voices are saying the exact same thing about a given industry, we also emphasize diversity of topics and voices.

The writers below stood out because of their willingness to take on the stories that matter most this year in the world of startups and venture capital. From President Trump’s immigration policies to tech’s gender crisis to the implications of Amazon buying Whole Foods, these investors and founders sunk their teeth into meaty topics and made us all smarter in the process.

Here are the Top Voices in venture capital and entrepreneurship this year:

Niko Bonatsos | Managing Director, General Catalyst

What he talks about: Bonatsos fittingly describes his own writing using a hashtag: #vclogic. He writes primarily on “idiosyncratic nature of the venture capital industry.” Investors take themselves too seriously sometimes, Bonatsos thinks. His articles and posts on LinkedIn force his peers to examine how extravagant their lives can sometimes be. 

Favorite conversation starter: “Don’t believe your own hype,” which made both founders and investors realize how ridiculous some of the “vanity metrics” used to describe startup success can become. Both parties are fond of throwing out phrases like “our app has 5 million downloads.” Turns out, without context, that metric means absolutely nothing, Bonatsos says.

What he’s watching in 2018: “The brave new worlds of mobile-first AR and crypto/blockchain.”

See more by Niko Bonatsos.

Hans Tung | Managing Partner, GGV Capital

What he talks about: Splitting his time between San Francisco and Beijing, Tung focuses on the technology sector in both markets and writes specifically on the retail industry in the U.S. and China.

Favorite conversation starter: “What is new retail” served as a primer on a well-established concept in China that is just now getting traction in the U.S. The article explores the trend of e-commerce giants now taking their sales back offline (think Amazon buying Whole Foods) and what that means for the future of retail.

Best book he's read this year: “Hillbilly Elegy” by J.D. Vance

See more by Hans Tung.

Alexander Taussig | Partner, Lightspeed Ventures

What he talks about: A partner at consumer-focused venture capital firm Lightspeed, Taussig talks about the intersection of tech, popular culture and finance. He is “obsessed with data,” and prides himself on separating the signal from the noise through his writing.

Favorite conversation starter: “What will Amazon do with Whole Foods,” which outlined all the advantages that Amazon now has after buying the grocery story chain. While Whole Foods is just a tiny player in the grocery store market, holding on to just 2% of the $16 billion pie, Taussig shows his readers exactly why the acquisition was a good move.

One thing not on his LinkedIn profile: He is an avid singer, running two a cappella groups, performing in rock bands and even playing lead roles in a couple of operas.

See more by Alexander Taussig.

William Altman | Intelligence Analyst, CB Insights

Natan Reddy | Intelligence Analyst, CB Insights

Kerry Wu | Lead Auto and Mobility Analyst, CB Insights

What they write about: The trio is part of a larger team at CB Insights that collectively shares daily on LinkedIn about the most compelling trends across the private sector. Analysts Altman, Reddy and Wu drill into their platform’s impressive database of VC-focused metrics and produce research on the top trends in cybersecurity, consumer goods and auto tech, respectively. With the three analysts ranking so close together in terms of engagement this year on LinkedIn, we opted to honor them together.

Their favorite conversation starters: Altman is proud of “The United States of Unicorns: Every U.S. company worth $1B+ in one map,” and with good reason -- it brought in more than 160,000 readers. Reddy published “7 startups using A.I., satellites, and data science to transform the maritime logistics industry,” which highlighted how different startups are using tech to improve shipping, and Wu wrote a three-part “Google strategy teardown” to point out all the fallacies across Alphabet’s sprawling business units.

One thing not on their LinkedIn profiles: Altman is a blue-belt in Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu, and Reddy loves to draw.

See more by William Altman, Natan Reddy and Kerry Wu.

Jake Saper | Investor, Emergence Capital

What he talks about: Focused primarily on B2B tech startups, Saper covers everything from the tactical tips that help founders to startup ideas he would love to fund.

Favorite conversation starter: “How tech is disrupting American society (and what we need to do about it),” which got more than 100,000 views and nearly 200 comments on LinkedIn. “After writing the piece, I got to know Venture for America, a wonderful organization that’s working to address regional economic disparities. Six months after the article, we invested in Guru, a Philadelphia-based company that employs a number of Venture for America Fellows. It's a small start toward building vibrant tech centers outside the classic hubs but is influenced by the debate this article sparked,” he tells LinkedIn.

Where he does his best writing: Locked inside his office listening to Weezer’s Pinkerton album at a “reasonable volume.”

See more by Jake Saper.

Marcela Sapone | Co-Founder & CEO, Hello Alfred

What she talks about: The co-founder of on-demand errand app Hello Alfred, Sapone is interested in hospitality, technology and retail. Her articles provide a unique look into what it’s like to build a consumer startup from the ground up in a very crowded space. 

Favorite conversation starter: “A practice that successful leaders have kept for over 300 years,” which uses the analogy of captaining a ship and running a startup. The article runs through some practical tenets of shipping that can be practically applied in the startup world.

Favorite books this year: “Shoe Dog,” by Phil Knight and “The River of Consciousness,” by Oliver Sacks

See more by Marcela Sapone.

Mary Spio | Founder, CEEK VR

What she talks about: From inclusive innovation and diversity to virtual reality and blockchain, Spio talks about the issues that are impacting the tech industry the most. “My objective is inspiring positive change and helping companies think of practical and effective ways to integrate transformative technology for business advantage,” she tells LinkedIn.

Favorite conversation starter: “Key business lessons from Mr. Trump’s unlikely win: Never underestimate the power of the underdog,” which she believes helped people handle “one of the biggest upsets of the year.” Spio adds: “Many people were appreciative of my honesty and courage to give a voice to their private thoughts.”

Where she does her best writing: In bed

See more by Mary Spio.

Steve Case | Chairman & CEO, Revolution

What he talks about: The co-founder and former CEO of AOL, Case has turned his attention to entrepreneurship since joining the world of venture capital. Case is most interested in writing about ways that we can even the playing field for entrepreneurs across the country to give more founders the opportunities to start world-changing businesses.

Favorite conversation starter: “We need to reimagine entrepreneurialism to drive the country forward,” which focuses on how to incentivize business leaders to prioritize long-term thinking. “Today, there is too much focus on the short term, such as quarterly returns, and not enough on the long term, including making the investments necessary for a bright future,” Case tells LinkedIn.

One thing not on his LinkedIn profile: He enjoys traveling the country with his wife on the open road via their Airstream.

See more by Steve Case.

Sunny Dhillon | Partner, Signia Venture Partners

What he talks about: After co-founding an early mobile startup in 2011, Dhillon tends to focus his writing on the challenges faced by entrepreneurs and operators. “Most of my writing has been more or less aimed at boosting transparency into how we make a sound investment decision,” says Dhillon, who shares about everything from how to approach investors to augmented reality to machine intelligence.

Favorite conversation starter: “Coming to America just got easier: Immigration & entrepreneurship,” which was important for Dhillon to write as a British citizen and a U.S. permanent resident. Outlining his own experience navigating the challenging U.S. immigration system, Dhillon received more than 20,000 views on his article at a time of political uncertainty on the topic.

Where he does his best writing: “With ‘90s hip hop blasting in my headphones, a cup of jasmine green tea by my side, and a place where I can sit and be still for an hour,” he tells LinkedIn.

See more by Sunny Dhillon.

Debbie Sterling | Founder & CEO, Goldieblox

What she talks about: As the founder of toy startup Goldieblox, Sterling documents her experiences as a female entrepreneur, CEO and new mom in the primarily male-dominated industry of children’s toys and media. Her sweet spots include gender equality, equal pay and female employment.

Favorite conversation starter: “An open letter to James Damore,” which took issue with the ex-Google engineer’s manifesto that women are inherently less interested in technology. “After it was published on LinkedIn, it got picked up by Fortune, Girlboss, and was tweeted out by many influential people, which leads me to believe James most likely read it, which was my goal,” she tells LinkedIn.

?How she gets her best ideas: Sterling is fond of going into what she calls “reflection mode,” where she doesn’t look at any of her devices and allows herself to really think.

See more by Debbie Sterling.

You’ve read about the Top Voices in venture capital and startups this year. Now, check out the #LinkedInTopVoices in tech, finance, education and more.

[The list reflects publishing activity over a 12-month period, from November 2016 to November 2017, and as with all LinkedIn Lists, we excluded LinkedIn and Microsoft employees from consideration.]