Scott Sherman has worked with 500+ fund managers in his career.

From his days at Blackstone to today at Mesa Lane Capital, he’s seen what makes a GP rise - and what makes them crash.

Here’s the kicker: most VC fund managers don’t fail because they can’t invest.

They fail because they forget they’re also running a business.

In this episode, Scott breaks down:

• The #1 mistake new GPs make in Fund I
• Why trust and integrity matter more than big-name logos
• How the best GPs structure their firms from day one
• The operational “unsexy stuff” that sets the top 1% apart
• Why emerging managers can still deliver the best returns in venture

If you’re raising a fund - or thinking about it - this episode is your roadmap.

👉 Connect with me on LinkedIn and let me know how you’re applying Scott’s tips: linkedin.com/in/shaneraymartin

Most startup CEOs are spreading themselves too thin - too many channels, too many customer types, too many offers.

On top of that: THEY DON'T ASK FOR THE BUSINESS.

That’s the $10M mistake.

In this episode, I share the Rule of One:

• One Channel – go where your buyers actually live.
• One Customer – focus on the person with pain and budget.
• One Offer – make it so good they feel silly saying no.

When you simplify, you multiply.

This is your fastest path to revenue.

👉 If this hit home, let’s connect on LinkedIn. I’d love to hear what you’re working on and how you’re applying the Rule of One.

God bless, go get 'em! 

Chris Rizik has done what most VCs only dream of.

He’s invested in 60 VC funds supporting 800+ startups while reshaping the entire Midwest startup ecosystem.

In this episode, Shane sits down with Chris — NVCA Venture Vanguard Award winner, Michigan VC Hall of Fame inductee, and Managing Partner of Renaissance VC — to share the mindset and strategies that made him one of the most respected voices in venture capital.

✅ What you’ll learn:

• The #1 trait Chris looks for in a GP before investing
• Why democratizing venture capital leads to stronger returns
• The toughest lessons every VC must learn (and how to know when to walk away)
• How specialized funds can outperform mega-funds in the AI era
• What today’s GPs must do to stand out

If you’re a tech founder, fund manager, or investor, this conversation is packed with wisdom you won’t find in any pitch deck.

🎧 Hosted by Shane Ray Martin — Investor at B Ventures Group, the world’s first PeaceTech VC fund, LinkedIn Top Voice in Negotiation, and Certified Peace Mediator — helping founders grow both peace and profit.

👉 Message and connect with Shane: linkedin.com/in/shaneraymartin

PS - On October 1st, Chris is hosting UnDemo Day in Detroit, MI! Check out the full details: renvcf.com/undemo-day/

In this awesome episode, you met Devon Coombs — a former homeless 21-year-old who rose to negotiating multi-billion-dollar AI deals at Google.

Devon’s testimony is about resilience. Hard work. Wisdom. Taking action. It’s about breaking generational cycles, finding purpose in adversity, and choosing to make a difference.

You’ll learn:

✅ How Devon went from living in his car to leading at Google
✅ Why billion-dollar deals can’t replace meaning and service
✅ The 3 pillars he uses to measure life beyond outcomes
✅ Practical advice for anyone starting a business in 2025
✅ How to turn setbacks into your stepping stones

Whether you’re an entrepreneur, leader, or someone facing your own battles - Devon’s story will remind you what’s possible. You can book a strategy call with him here. 

🎧 Hosted by Shane Ray Martin — Investor, Author, LinkedIn Top Voice in Negotiation, and Certified Peace Mediator — helping PeaceTech companies scale and raise funding.

👉 Follow Shane: linkedin.com/in/shaneraymartin

For the first time in history, peace might be more profitable than war.

Here are 3 reasons why PeaceTech could become a $100B+ industry and how you can join the movement.

1️⃣ Founders are building tech for peace

Think AI for negotiations, satellite tools for conflict monitoring, and agentic platforms that prevent violence before it starts. These startups are not just ideas — they’re scaling fast in hotspots around the world.

Example: Imagine AI mediates peace talks between nations…it's not impossible! 

2️⃣ Investors are joining 

Family offices, LPs, and advisors worldwide are investing in peace-focused technology — not just defense. This is a brand-new asset class with huge potential for returns and global peace.

3️⃣ The opportunity is open to you

Whether you’re a founder, investor, or leader in your field, you can be part of an ecosystem that’s growing faster than anyone imagined.

If this excites you, let’s connect.

Email me at s@bventuresgroup.com or connect with me on LinkedIn. Together, we can build a world where peace is not just possible — it’s profitable.

Let's do this!

Rosie Bailey has turned haggling into a cutting-edge AI negotiation company - taking lessons from a sneaker market in Istanbul to powering over 1.5M human–machine negotiations with Nibble.

In this episode, she shares how trust, humor, and tech are transforming negotiations across industries - from property rentals to telecom renewals to fashion inventory management.

What You’ll Learn:

• Why trust is the foundation of every great negotiation in 2025
• How humor makes AI feel more human and close more deals
• The biggest fears brands have about automated negotiation
• How Nibble increases conversion, reduces churn, and saves time

👉 Hosted by Shane Ray Martin - investor at B Ventures Group, startup advisor, author, peace mediator, and LinkedIn Top Voice in Negotiation.

I really enjoyed this conversation. Rosie’s smart, funny, and years ahead of the curve - and I know you’ll find it fascinating. This space has massive potential. 

👋 Are you a founder called to build for profit and peace?
💼 Are you an investor targeting great returns and care about global peace?

📩 Email Shane: s@bventuresgroup.com

Most CEO's use AI to sell stuff.

These 7 are building tools to stop war before it starts:

🧠 Arvid Bell – Anadyr Horizon
🕊️ Ola Mohajer – Transcend AI
🌍 Adam Boaz – HeadOn
🌱 Tara Gupta – Map Collective
🤝 Shawn Guttman – Didi AI
🌐 Justin E. Lane – CulturePulse
🛠️ Avi Yashchin – Subconscious AI

We brought them together to pitch live to 7 top VCs.

💥 Real-time feedback
👀 315+ registered
🚀 80+ attended
🕊️ All building PeaceTech-tech that prevents conflict. 

Building tech for peace? 
Share your pitch deck s@bventuresgroup.com

Want to join our newsletter?
https://www.bventuresgroup.com/im-in

Want to connect on LinkedIn?
https://www.linkedin.com/company/b-venturesgroup 

Neil Keegan has done it all — from Goldman Sachs to leading a family office, and now co-founding Marlinspike, a VC fund focusing on national security.

In this episode, he shares how dual-use technologies, bold founders, and a “Message to Garcia” mindset are shaping the future. 


What You’ll Learn:

• Why Neil believes we’re in the most dangerous geopolitical era since WWII
• How Marlinspike helps founders get traction across defense and commercial markets
• What “peace through strength” really looks like in venture capital
• Why they back founders with grit, clarity, and the will to win
• How Neil balances being an investor, operator, and proud #girldad of twin daughters


👉 Hosted by Shane Ray Martin — investor at B Ventures Group, startup advisor, author, peace mediator, and LinkedIn Top Voice in Negotiation.  

I really enjoyed this conversation. Neil’s sharp, humble, and I know you will find this conversation to be interesting! 

👋 Are you a founder called to build for profit and peace?
💼 Are you an investor targeting great returns and care about global peace?


📩 Email Shane: s@bventuresgroup.com

Adam Boaz Becker (Habibi) has lived a wild story - from founding startups to joining a war room in Tel Aviv after October 7.

In this episode, he shares how those experiences led him to build HeadOn AI, a platform using AI to help people have real, respectful conversations across divides.

What You’ll Learn:
• Why Adam believes AI could either break democracy or rebuild it
• How he helped reduce 2,000 missing-person cases down to 200 using machine learning
• How Headonai is using real-time AI to map, guide, and elevate conversations between people who disagree
• Why Adam feels a responsibility to build tech that promotes peace

👉 Hosted by Shane Ray Martin — investor, peace mediator, and LinkedIn Top Voice in Negotiation. A guy trying to have fun, find great investments for B Ventures, and be a good friend to founders. 

👋 Are you a founder called to build for profit and peace?
💼 Are you an investor targeting great returns and care about peace?

📩 Email Shane: s@bventuresgroup.com

What if AI could predict war and help prevent it?

In this episode, Shane Ray Martin sits down with Justin E. Lane, co-founder of CulturePulse.

They’re building AI that models entire societies and tests peace deals before they’re signed.

You’ll hear wild stories about working with the UN, building digital twins of conflict zones, and how China is using apps like TikTok to influence the West. Justin breaks it down simply, shares what's coming next in AI, and explains how CulturePulse is shaping the future of conflict prevention.

👉 Hosted by Shane Ray Martin — investor, peace mediator, and LinkedIn Top Voice in Negotiation. A guy trying to have fun, find great investments for B Ventures, and be a good friend to founders. 

👋 Are you a founder called to build for profit and peace?
💼 Are you an investor targeting great returns and care about peace?

📩 Email Shane: s@bventuresgroup.com

Brian Abrams is the kind of human who sees what others don’t.

Years before most people were talking about PeaceTech, he had a vision: what if venture capital could be used to reduce violent conflict and fund peace?

In this episode, Brian returns to share how that idea became B Ventures - a new kind of fund backing startups working to make the world safer. He reflects on what’s happened in the past year, the founders building for peace, and the early sparks that led to building something bigger than any one person.

This conversation is about trusting your instincts, staying humble, and taking the next right step. Brian saw the opportunity early and is carrying the work forward, building on the efforts of so many who came before.

We talk about:

• Why PeaceTech is investable, not just idealistic
• How one article led to us getting to work together
• What LPs are looking for in this moment
• Lessons from building a venture firm 
• How ecosystems like climate tech evolved—and what peace tech can learn from them

Read more in Business Insider
https://www.businessinsider.com/peace-tech-anadyr-horizon-venture-capital-billion-dollar-industry-2025-6

Read more in Market Watch
https://www.marketwatch.com/story/defense-stocks-gain-from-global-conflict-these-companies-profit-after-wars-end-32cbf367

Read more in VC Journal
https://www.venturecapitaljournal.com/peace-tech-is-a-multibillion-dollar-opportunity-hiding-in-plain-sight/

Connect with Brian Abrams
https://www.linkedin.com/in/btabrams/

Connect with Shane Ray Martin
https://www.linkedin.com/in/shaneraymartin/

Are you a founder or investor called to this work?

Reach out at s@bventuresgroup.com

Lucinity’s CEO Gudmundur Kristjansson joins Shane Ray Martin to share how his company is using AI to clean up compliance and make financial crime investigations way less painful.  

In this episode:

• Why Guðmundur left Big Tech to fix broken bank systems
• How AI is saving banks time, money, and frustration
• What it takes to get lawyers and regulators to trust AI
• The future of AI-powered compliance — and why it’s closer than you think

🎧 Hosted by Shane Ray Martin — investor, LinkedIn Top Voice in Negotiation, and certified peace mediator. 

👉 Follow Shane for bold ideas in AI, peace, and venture capital: linkedin.com/in/shaneraymartin

Alexandre Lazarow isn’t your typical VC.


He’s the author of Out-Innovate, a global venture capitalist, and the founder of Fluent Ventures.
In this episode, we talk about what founders in Nairobi, São Paulo, and Jakarta know that Silicon Valley often misses.


We unpack why the best ideas are coming from unexpected places, how fintech is shaking up the global economy, and what the future of VC looks like beyond the Bay Area.


If you’re building something big outside the bubble, this one’s for you.


Hosted by Shane Ray Martin, investor, author, and certified peace mediator helping founders build, scale, and raise with purpose.

What do national security and venture capital have in common? A lot more than you’d think.

In this episode, Shane Ray Martin sits down with Rebecca Gevalt, Managing Partner at Dcode Capital and former CIA officer, to explore how intelligence training shaped her approach to investing in tech startups.

From decoding risk to spotting innovation before it hits the mainstream, Rebecca reveals how her past in espionage gives her an edge in the startup ecosystem. 

 ✅ What You’ll Learn:

• Why CIA skills are perfect for venture investing
• How to assess risk like an intelligence pro
• Rebecca’s take on the future of defense tech
• What most VCs get wrong about working with government
• How to break into venture capital with a non-traditional background

Hosted by Shane Ray Martin — Investor, Author, LinkedIn Top Voice in Negotiation, and Certified Peace Mediator — helping PeaceTech startups scale and secure funding.

 👉 Follow Shane: linkedin.com/in/shaneraymartin

Welcome to Deal Talk, the podcast where you'll learn how to negotiate faster and smarter. 

Today, you’ll meet Jens Hentschel, founder of FIVIS. He has experience managing hundreds of business relationships as a procurement director, manager, and consultant. Jens knows exactly what it takes for you to create successful, long-lasting partnerships with customers, buyers, and internal stakeholders – not easy to do! 

He’ll walk you through his 5-Step Customer-Centricity Mindset Model, designed to set you up for huge success by seeing negotiations from the customer's perspective. This was developed with a Fortune 50 company and has been transforming negotiations worldwide since 2010.

If you’re ready to take your skills to the next level, connect with Jens and explore his workshops at www.fivis.io/fivis-workshops-and-masterclasses.

Shane Ray Martin hosts the Deal Talk podcast. He's an investor. Ex-Founder. Author of 3 books. LinkedIn Top Voice in Negotiation. Certified peace mediator, ultra marathon runner, commerical-rated pilot, and former suicide hotline volunteer. 

Today, he's based in Washington, D.C., helping PeaceTech companies secure venture funding and scale their impact. 

Follow Shane and get free negotiation tips every week: linkedin.com/in/shaneraymartin

Can you really be honest and transparent in negotiation?

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Welcome to Deal Talk, the show where you learn the art and science of deal-making.

This episode puts YOU in the driver's seat for your next negotiation.

Keld Jensen shares valuable insights and practical advice on what to do before, during, and after your negotiation. 

Learn more about Keld Jensen: keldjensen.com
Order his new book Elements of Negotiation: keldjensen.com/elements-of-negotiation

--- 

Shane Ray Martin hosts the Deal Talk podcast. He's an Investor. Ex-Founder. Author of 3 books. LinkedIn Top Voice in Negotiation. Certified peace mediator, ultra marathon runner, commerical-rated pilot, and former suicide hotline volunteer.

Today, he's based in Washington, D.C., helping PeaceTech companies secure venture funding and scale their impact.

Follow Shane to get free negotiation tips every week: linkedin.com/in/shaneraymartin

What does it take to make peace possible? 

--- 

Welcome to Deal Talk, the show where you learn the art and science of deal-making.

Alex has 20 years of leadership experience in politics, advocacy, and philanthropic organizations. Executive Director at Peace and Security Funders Group. Prior to joining PSFG in 2013, Alex was Executive Director of the Connect U.S. Fund, a donors’ collaborative focused on incentivizing collaboration as a tool to meet today’s global challenges.

While a Director at the Ploughshares Fund, Alex founded the Fissile Materials Working Group, a coalition that she grew to 80 U.S. and international organizations providing action-oriented policy solutions to combat nuclear terrorism.

Learn more about Alex: https://www.linkedin.com/in/alexandra-toma-7aa6593/
Connect with PSFG: https://www.peaceandsecurity.org/

--- 

Shane Ray Martin hosts the Deal Talk podcast. He's an Investor. Ex-Founder. Author of 3 books. LinkedIn Top Voice in Negotiation. Certified peace mediator, ultra marathon runner, commerical-rated pilot, and former suicide hotline volunteer.

Today, he's based in Washington, D.C., helping PeaceTech companies secure venture funding and scale their impact.

Follow Shane to get free negotiation tips every week: linkedin.com/in/shaneraymartin

90 days done.

Here's every stat from my time at B Ventures :)

𝐓𝐨𝐭𝐚𝐥 𝐌𝐞𝐞𝐭𝐢𝐧𝐠𝐬: 𝟏𝟓𝟐

Investors: 19
Founders: 47
All Others: 86

Way more than I imagined!

How?

𝐏𝐞𝐫𝐬𝐨𝐧𝐚𝐥 𝐎𝐮𝐭𝐫𝐞𝐚𝐜𝐡
Conferences: 7
Cold Emails Sent: 142
Open Rate: 67%
Reply Rate: 8%
DMs: 50+

𝐏𝐨𝐬𝐭𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐂𝐨𝐧𝐭𝐞𝐧𝐭
Podcasts Episodes: 11
LinkedIn Posts: 84
New Subs: 293
Webinars: 1
Videos: 69

𝐄𝐬𝐭𝐢𝐦𝐚𝐭𝐞𝐝 𝐑𝐞𝐚𝐜𝐡 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐈𝐦𝐩𝐚𝐜𝐭
Post Impressions: 530,200+
Reactions: 5,300+
Comments: 1,100+
YouTube Views: 7,400+
Podcasts Downloads: 700+

Still...so much to do, and I'm excited to keep rolling!

• Follow Brian T. Abrams: www.linkedin.com/in/btabrams
• Join the B Ventures Newsletter: www.bventuresgroup.com/im-in
• Follow me on LinkedIn for free weekly negotiation tips: www.linkedin.com/in/shaneraymartin

If you're a founder or know of someone working on a technology contributing to world peace please email me directly at shane@shaneraymartin.com 

What is the future of negotiation? Will it be AI bots only? 

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Before you negotiate next, LISTEN to this! 

Welcome to Deal Talk, the show where you learn the art and science of deal-making.


Shane Ray Martin hosts the Deal Talk podcast. He's an Investor. Ex-Founder. Author of 3 books. LinkedIn Top Voice in Negotiation. Certified peace mediator, ultra marathon runner, commerical-rated pilot, and former suicide hotline volunteer.

Today, he's based in Washington, D.C., helping PeaceTech companies secure venture funding and scale their impact.

Follow Shane to get free negotiation tips every week: linkedin.com/in/shaneraymartin

Connect with Angel: https://www.linkedin.com/in/angeljnt/

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Before your next negotiation, listen to this!

Welcome to Deal Talk, the podcast where you master the art and science of deal-making.

In this episode, join Shane Ray Martin as he sits down with Ayush Garg, CEO of AnswerThis.io, to explore strategies that can transform your negotiation skills and business outcomes.

---

Shane Ray Martin is your host. He's an investor, ex-founder, and author of three books. As a LinkedIn Top Voice in Negotiation, certified peace mediator, ultra-marathon runner, commercial-rated pilot, and former suicide hotline volunteer, Shane brings a wealth of experience to every episode.

Based in Washington, D.C., Shane is dedicated to helping PeaceTech companies secure venture funding and scale their impact.

Follow Shane on LinkedIn for weekly negotiation tips: linkedin.com/in/shaneraymartin