Andrew Xu and Daniel Aboul-Hassan speak with Miranda Wang (@mirandaywwang) from Novoloop!
Novoloop is an advanced upcycling company that invents sustainable ways to convert end-of-life plastic into specialty materials.
(0:30) - Introduction
(1:00) - Where did the idea for Novoloop come from?
(2:45) - Key Novoloop moments while in college
(6:34) - Challenges while fundraising as a startup in a less-common industry
(9:04) - Most surprising lesson learned since co-founding Novoloop
(11:06) - What makes the Novoloop team special?
(15:08) - Co-founder dynamics (Miranda and her co-founder, Jeanny Yao, started Novoloop together in high school!!)
(18:47) - At what point did Miranda decide to raise a Series A?
(21:51) - What does Novoloop look in board members?
(22:57) - Andrew tells a funny joke
(23:34) - Miranda's must-visit botanical garden spots & more
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Get in touch with Miranda!
Website: novoloop.com
Twitter: @mirandaywwang
Jonathan Chang is a XIR at Brex, where he works with startups and venture funds. He's also the founder of GenZScouts, a startup sourcing platform and quarterly fellowship for college students to leverage their networks and identify burgeoning startups.
He previously worked in data and analytics roles at NBC and Yumi, as well as numerous venture and investing roles at Lionsgate, Ground Up Ventures, and Global Silicon Valley.
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To get in touch with Jonathan, shoot him an email at jchang@brex.com
Andrew Xu and Daniel Aboul-Hassan speak with Connor McEwen (@connormcewen) from Uniswap Labs!
Uniswap allows people to swap, earn, and build on the leading decentralized crypto trading protocol.
(0:32) - Introduction
(1:22) - What led Connor to join Dorm Room Fund
(2:52) - Deciding whether or not take a gap year during college
(4:24) - Important lessons learned from returning to school
(6:11) - Experience launching makeBU
(8:48) - Being on the engineering side & what people on the Business and Engineering sides can learn from each other
(10:55) - How Connor approached joining a large company vs. startup
(14:20) - Is Connor a Bitcoin millionaire?
(14:30) - Connor's funny story about mining Bitcoin
(15:31) - How to land an engineering role at an attractive startup
(18:10) - 2013 startups vs. 2022 startups
(20:06) - Hottest Web3 take
(21:43) - How should engineers working at early-stage startups view fundraising?
(23:31) - Staying up to date in the crypto space
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Get in touch with Connor!
Twitter: @connormcewen
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/cmcewen/
Josh Belinsky is the co-founder of Slate Milk, a venture back CPG company based out of Boston. Slate creates high protein, low sugar, lactose free canned beverages marketed toward adults. The DTC milk brand has raised raised over $7 million to date and is available in over 3500 stores nationwide.
Josh was previously part of the founding team at HqO, as well as a Business Development Executive at New Grounds Food before co-founding the brand with his partner Manny Lubin.
On this episode, Souhail talks to Josh about his upbringing, time at Northeastern, founding the company, appearing on Shark Tank, and much more.
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Andrew Xu and Daniel Aboul-Hassan speak with Ansh Nanda (@anshnanda_) from Un1Feed!
Un1Feed allows users to retake ownership of their social media feed.
(0:32) - Introduction
(1:00) - Ansh's background
(1:49) - How a cold-email led to funding from Paul English (co-founder of Kayak) for Ansh's nonprofit, You Change Earth
(2:58) - How Ansh got free tickets to the Duke vs. UNC basketball game
(4:18) - Favorite Duke Basketball moment
(4:56) - Ansh's involvement with Dorm Room Fund (DRF)
(6:44) - How his DRF experience impacted his paradigm as a founder
(9:46) - Why Ansh turned down a Google internship
(11:20) - What is Un1Feed?
(12:11) - How Ansh came up with the idea for Un1Feed
(14:00) - Will Facebook copy Un1Feed?
(17:00) - Challenge of competing with Facebook and other tech giants
(19:13) - Downside of working at a big tech company
(19:31) - Upside of working at Un1Feed (email Ansh if interested!)
(20:30) - Closing remarks
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Get in touch with Ansh!
Twitter: @anshnanda_
Email: ansh@un1feed.com
Website: https://www.un1feed.com/
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/anshnanda/
This week, Souhail talks to Alice Ma from Mad Realities about her story and previous experience with the Female Founder Track.
Alice Ma is a Co-Founder of Mad Realities, a crypto based media company aiming to bring interactivity and innovation to media and content consumption.
Alice previously co-founded Archer, a social venture making data more accessible. She also played an instrumental rise in helping launch ConstitutionDAO, a decentralized autonomous organization that aimed to raised money to buy the U.S Constitution, but ultimately came short.
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For more information on the Female Founder Track, check out https://linktr.ee/dormroomfund
This week, Souhail talks to Chloe Lopez-Lee and David Dellal from Dorm Room Fund's PhD Founder Track.
Chloe Lopez-Lee is a Neuroscience PhD candidate at Cornell University and a Managing Investment Partner at Dorm Room Fund.
David Dellal is an NSF PhD Graduate Fellow at Yale University, Forbes 30 under 30, and CEO/Co-Founder at Floe, a cleantech startup. He is also a Managing Investment Partner at Dorm Room Fund.
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For more information on the PhD track, check out https://linktr.ee/dormroomfund
Andrew Xu and Daniel Aboul-Hassan speak with Iris Liu, Mia Krishnamurthy & Tori Orr from Dorm Room Fund's Female Investor Track (FIT)!
(1:17) - Mia's background and importance of FIT
(2:03) - Iris's background and importance of FIT
(2:50) - Tori's background and importance of FIT
(4:16) - What to expect from FIT
(6:33) - Details about the FIT community and benefits of the cohort size
(8:57) - How to make your story stand out
(10:32) - How students with no venture experience can showcase their interest
(12:08) - How to get the most of out the FIT program
(13:45) - Details about time commitment
(14:33) - What makes FIT special and unique from the other DRF Diversity Tracks
(16:13) - Final thoughts from Iris
(16:51) - How to get in touch
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Have more questions about the Female Investor Track?
Email: fit@dormroomfund.com
Andrew Xu and Daniel Aboul-Hassan speak with Ivan Zhao and Nika Duan from Dorm Room Fund's PRISM Investor Track!
(0:48) - Ivan's background and importance of PRISM
(4:11) - Nika's background and importance of PRISM
(6:51) - What makes PRISM special and unique from the other DRF Diversity Tracks
(9:19) - PRISM's cohort size
(9:52) - Community fostered during PRISM
(12:10) - How to get the most of out the program and time commitment
(13:12) - How to get your story to shine through in the application
(15:25) - How applicants can stay engaged with PRISM & VC beyond program
(16:37) - Nika's advice to applicants and helpful tips
(18:10) - Ivan's wall of love of people who reached out about PRISM's impact
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Have more questions about the PRISM Investor Track?
Email: prism@dormroomfund.com
Andrew Xu and Daniel Aboul-Hassan speak with Daniel Applewhite, Mea-Lynn Wong, Tori Orr, & Zakaria Gedi from Dorm Room Fund's Blueprint Investor Track!
(0:48) - Mea-Lynn's background and importance of Blueprint
(2:57) - Tori's background and importance of Blueprint
(4:35) - Zakaria's background and importance of Blueprint
(5:53) - Daniel's background and importance of Blueprint
(8:48) - What makes Blueprint special and unique from the other DRF Diversity Tracks
(12:17) - Details about the Blueprint community and benefits of the cohort size
(16:32) - How to get the most of out the Blueprint program and time commitment
(22:10) - Daniel's advice to applicants and helpful tips
(23:10) - Tori's advice to applicants and helpful tips
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Have more questions about the Blueprint Investor Track?
Email: blueprint@dormroomfund.com
Tanthai Pongstein is the founder of Wonderstruck and Godling Design Studios. He previously was a Head of Design for Dorm Room Fund, a founder of Safebox Safe Lockers, and a student at UC Berkeley.
Additionally, Tanthai is the host of Proof of Love, a dating show developed by Web 3 Startup Mad Realities.
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(0:34) - Quick Note
(1:35) - Tanthai's background and going from a 2.5 GPA to UC Berkeley
(5:34) - Safebox and going to a Hackathon
(12:37) - Tanthai's perspective on passion
(21:15) - Drawing rectangles
(22:01) - Favorite Artists
(24:43) - Proof of Love, a Web 3 Show
(27:02) - Finding what makes you happy
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LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/tanthai
Andrew Xu and Daniel Aboul-Hassan speak with Talia Goldberg (@TaliaGold) from Bessemer Venture Partners!
(1:09) - Joining DRF and journey into investing
(2:48) - A memorable moment during her time in DRF
(4:00) - Breaking into venture and the Bessemer analyst program
(6:57) - Career advice for people early in their career
(8:17) - Female mentorship and Talia’s involvement with increasing diversity in VC
(9:45) - Rules that Talia breaks when investing in breakout companies
(10:35) - Bessemer’s investment in Web3 and BessemerDAO
(13:58) - What DRF is incredibly good at and potential initiatives
(16:11) - Areas of personal growth and New Year's Resolutions
(17:57) - Where the best pizza and ice cream shops in the country are
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Get in touch with Talia!
Twitter: @TaliaGold
Website: bvp.com/team/talia-goldberg
LinkedIn: linkedin.com/in/talia-goldberg-a3819431
Adele Li is a growth investor at Redpoint Ventures. She previously worked in private equity roles for Ares Management Corp. Additionally, she was a managing partner at Dorm Room Fund while studying at UPenn.
(1:33) - Adele's upbringing and background
(3:35) - The Harker School
(6:20) - Getting an internship at a family office.
(8:05) - SF's entrepreneurial ecosystem
(11:20) - Joining Dorm Room Fund
(14:30) - Becoming a value-add in VC
(19:00) - What Adele invests in and areas of interest
(22:57) - Why she chose Redpoint
(26:12) - Business/VC blogs, podcasts, and more that she likes
(28:22) - Advice she gives to anyone interested in the industry
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Andrew Xu and Daniel Aboul-Hassan speak with Isabelle Zhou (@isabelle_zhou) from Floodgate!
(1:12) - Launching DRF's Female Founder Track
(3:16) - Why Isabelle worked at an early-stage startup (Nooks) right out of college
(5:31) - How Isabelle defines success and how that definition has evolved
(6:47) - Crazy story while working at Nooks
(9:57) - Female mentorship and working with Ann Miura-Ko
(11:29) - What surprises Isabelle about VC
(12:57) - How Floodgate remains competitive in today's environment
(15:25) - Product-Market fit lessons
(17:52) - An underrated skill crucial for success in VC
(19:21) - The business Isabelle would start tomorrow & favorite her Taylor Swift album
(20:32) - Story from writing personal year-in-review
(22:16) - Decisions that don't seem large at the moment, but have a disproportionate impact
(23:49) - What Isabelle hopes to see happen with DRF
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Get in touch with Isabelle!
Twitter: @isabelle_zhou
Email: isabelle@floodgate.com
LinkedIn: linkedin.com/in/isabellezhou/
Dorm Room Fund is excited to announce the return of the podcast! Subscribe for weekly episode interviews with some of the brightest minds in business, venture, and tech.
This week, Eight Sleep CEO Matteo Franceschetti is back! Souhail talks to him about everything from Eight Sleep's ascension to Formula 1 racing.
Eight Sleep is currently used by pro athletes and top performers across multiple industries and was recognized as one of TIME's "Best Inventions" in 2018 and 2019, was named one of Fast Company's "Most Innovative Companies" in 2018, and has raised over $150M in funding from leading investors, including Founders Fund, Softbank, Khosla Ventures, Y Combinator, Valor Equity Partners, General Catalyst, Naval Ravikant, and Patrick Collison.
Prior to Eight, Matteo co-founded and led GIR (acquired in 2014) and Global Investment (acquired 2011).
Matteo holds multiple patents in tech and health, is a Member of the Forbes Technology Council, and graduated magna cum laude with a Law degree from University of Ferrara.
(1:24) - What Matteo's sleep schedule looks like
(3:20) - Matteo's Background and Upbringing
(4:40) - Eight Sleep's role alongside other Health Tech
(5:12) - What Eight Sleep can do
(6:27) - The Motivation for starting Eight Sleep
(8:28) - Eight Sleep's Vision
(11:46) - Y Combinator's impact on the business
(12:15) - Working with his wife
(13:40) - The ideal Eight Sleep employee
(15:26) - Celebrity Endorsements and meeting Mike Tyson
(16:47) - Matteo's love for F1
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Office Hours with Dorm Room Fund is back! Subscribe for weekly episode interviews with some of the brightest minds in business, venture, and tech.
This week, Souhail talks to Shawn Xu, a partner at On Deck and Forbes 30 under 30. Shawn previously worked at Square, Bessemer Venture Partners, and Dorm Room Fund. He was also an investor at Floodgate, where he worked under Mike Maples.
(1:42) - Shawn's background and upbringing
(3:20) - How to stand out in VC
(5:50) - Why Shawn loves venture
(8:05) - Policy work and political background
(11:10) - The limits of policy experimentation
(14:30) - Biggest misconceptions about being a VC
(19:00) - The positives of being a VC before starting a company
(22:35) - Meeting the President and then the Vice President the next day
(24:52) - Meeting Quincy Jones
(26:20) - What a successful career looks like to Shawn
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Tej Singh and Daniel Bessenov interview Atish Davda, the Co-founder and CEO of EquityZen, a marketplace that connects shareholders of private companies (e.g. investors, employees, etc.) with accredited investors seeking to invest in those pre-IPO companies, like Airbnb, Postmates, Reddit, Airtable, Barstool Sports, Grab, Nextdoor, UiPath, Instacart, Flexport, and others.
Tej Singh and Adele Li interview Sarah Thompson, the CEO of Droga5. Droga5, one of the most renowned ad agencies, was founded in 2006 and has been recognized as Agency of the Year more than twenty times since 2007 by different publications. Its clients include Amazon, BMW MINI, Chase, COVERGIRL, Essentia, Harley Davidson, Heineken, The Hershey Company, IHOP, Johnsonville, Kraft-Heinz, LVMH, Mattress Firm, Pernod Ricard, Prudential, Sprint, The New York Times, Thorne, Under Armour and United Rentals.
Tej Singh and Cindy Zhang Lucy Deland, a Partner at Inspired Capital, which was founded in 2019 with an inaugural $200M fund. It is one of the biggest debut funds out of New York and an especially significant raise for a female-founded firm. Prior to this, Lucy was the COO at Paperless Post, a site that allows users to design digital invitations, announcements, and correspondence that are as beautiful as custom printed stationery, with the efficiency of web-based communication.
Tej Singh interviews Jen Batchelor, the Co-Founder & CEO of Kin Euphorics, the first of a newly invented category of functional beverages called euphorics.
More about Kin: “Kin believes in a night where social isn’t sinful, and self-care doesn’t stop at sunset. It didn’t exist at the bar, so we turned to ancient remedy and modern alchemy to create euphorics: an adult beverage made from nourishing nootropics, balancing adaptogens, and replenishing botanics that opens the mind, calms the body, and connects the spirit.”
