Venture Unlocked: The playbook for venture capital managers

Follow me @samirkaji for my thoughts on the venture market, with a focus on the continued evolution of the VC landscape.
Welcome back to another episode of Venture Unlocked, the podcast that takes you behind the scenes of the business of venture capital.
In this episode, I’m joined by three deep tech investors and friends of the show, Nate Williams, Sunil Nagaraj, and Guy Perelmuter, for a roundtable on the state of deep tech and the changing venture landscape. We dig into what deep tech really means today, why it’s suddenly attracting so much capital, and how economics, government tailwinds, and AI as a “killer app” have pulled these once niche technologies into the mainstream. We also explore the growing concentration of capital in a handful of hyperscale winners, the tension between consensus vs. non-consensus investing, and what all of this means for emerging managers, LPs, and founders operating at the zero-to-one stage.
Thanks for listening to another episode of Venture Unlocked. I hope you enjoyed this conversation with Nate, Sunil, and Guy. If you’d like to get Venture Unlocked content straight to your inbox, go to ventureunlocked.substack.com and sign up, or head over to Apple Podcasts or Spotify and subscribe. Thanks again for listening.
Nate Williams is the Founder and Managing Partner of DeepTech seed firm UNION (Union Labs, Union Peak VC funds) and formerly served as an Entrepreneur-in-Residence (EIR) at Kleiner Perkins focusing on vertical “Physical AI” opportunities across Climate/Resilience, PropTech, and Mobility. Nate has made over 40 early-stage investments, including Urban Sky, Butlr, Antimatter (acquired by Databricks), Proxy (acquired by Oura), Ruby Robotics (acquired by Intuitive Surgical) and Klue (acquired by Medtronic). Before transitioning to full-time VC, Nate built a track record as a hands-on operator with senior leadership roles across startup, growth, and turnaround stages, culminating in successful exits for 4Home (to Motorola, 2010), Motorola Mobility (to Google, 2012), Motorola Home (to ARRIS, 2013), and August Home (to Assa Abloy, 2017). Earlier in his career, Nate was an Analyst in the Digital Home Group at Intel Corp. Nate holds an MBA from UCLA Anderson School of Management and a Bachelor’s degree in Comms from the University of Connecticut.
Sunil Nagaraj is the Founder and Managing Partner of Ubiquity Ventures, a seed-stage venture firm investing in “software beyond the screen,” including robotics, AI, industrial automation, and frontier technologies. Prior to founding Ubiquity, Sunil spent over a decade at Bessemer Venture Partners, where he invested in companies across cloud computing, developer tools, and emerging technologies. He is widely recognized for his early conviction in deep tech and infrastructure-driven innovation before it became mainstream in venture capital.
Guy Perelmuter is the Founder and Managing Partner of GRIDS Capital, a venture firm focused on deep tech, AI, and advanced industrial technologies. With a background spanning engineering, technology, and investing, Guy has built his career around backing highly technical founders tackling complex global problems. He is known for his insights into the convergence of AI, infrastructure, and industrial transformation, as well as his emphasis on technical depth and long-term value creation in venture investing.
Timestamps:
Topics in this conversation include:
* Definition of Deep Tech by Technical Prowess and Advanced Engineering (2:51)
* Hardcore Technology, Difficulty to Build, and Hardware Misconceptions (3:51)
* Drivers Of Deep Tech Tailwinds: Maturing Technologies and Government Push (6:12)
* Excess Investor Interest After SpaceX and Other Breakout Successes (9:18)
* Historical Analogy to Electrification and AI as New Infrastructure Layer (14:43)
* Need For Specialized Deep Tech Expertise and New VC Org Structures (19:36)
* Schizophrenic Risk-on Behavior and King-making of Consensus Winners (22:08)
* Why Normal M and A and IPO Outcomes Still Matter For Smaller Funds (26:53)
* Fund Proliferation, New Managers, and What Will Prove Transient (28:49)
* Access Capital, Hollywood-ization of Venture, and Coming Bust Risks (33:34)
* Consensus Growth Obsession, 10x Expectations, and Metric Distortions (38:02)
* How Seed Managers Adapt and Curate Downstream Capital for Portfolios (41:01)
* Founder-led Investor Selection and Power Shifting To Specialist Seed GPs (44:53)
* Myths About VC Impact, Trend Surfing, and Overstated GP Influence (48:18)
* Final Thoughts and Takeaways (53:11)
Follow me @SamirKaji and give me your insights and questions with the hashtag #ventureunlocked. If you’d like to be considered as a guest or have someone you’d like to hear from (GP or LP), drop me a direct message on X.


This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit ventureunlocked.substack.com

Follow me @samirkaji for my thoughts on the venture market, with a focus on the continued evolution of the VC landscape.
Welcome back to another episode of Venture Unlocked, the podcast that takes you behind the scenes of the business of venture capital.
In this episode, I sit down with Lior Susan from Eclipse to explore his journey from building companies in the physical world to founding and scaling a unique venture firm. We discuss the importance of high-conviction investing, assembling elite teams from operator backgrounds, and staying adaptable in a rapidly shifting market shaped by technology and AI. Lior shares lessons on discipline, honesty, and the realities of venture investing, offering actionable insights for anyone interested in building resilient companies or understanding what it takes to succeed in today’s venture landscape.
Thanks for listening to another episode of Venture Unlocked. We hope you enjoyed our conversation with Lior. If you’d like to get Venture Unlocked content straight to your inbox, go to ventureunlocked.substack.com and sign up, or go to Apple Podcasts or Spotify and subscribe. Thanks again for listening.
About Lior Susan
Lior Susan is the founder and managing partner of Eclipse, a venture capital firm focused on backing entrepreneurs who are building companies to transform physical industries. He began his career as a co-founder of Intucell, a software-defined networking startup that was acquired by Cisco in 2012. After that, he led the hardware investment platform Lab IX at Flextronics, deploying capital across energy storage, additive manufacturing, robotics, and wireless infrastructure. In 2015, Lior launched Eclipse to invest in startups transforming critical industries like manufacturing, logistics, supply chain, transportation, energy, and on. He draws on experience as an operator, investor, and former Israeli special forces serviceman to support founders tackling complex, real-world problems.
Eclipse is a firm headquartered in Palo Alto (with a New York presence) that partners with entrepreneurs building category-defining companies in physical industries. The firm builds and invests in companies at all stages, combining hardware, software, and systems to modernize “bits and atoms.” Since its founding in 2015, Eclipse has built and backed over 100 companies and helped accelerate startups like Bedrock, VulcanForms, True Anomaly, and Cerebras — companies driving innovation in construction, digital manufacturing infrastructure, defense capabilities, and AI infrastructure.
During the conversation, we discussed:
* Lior’s Career Path and Founding Eclipse (3:38)
* Reflecting on the Fund’s Origins and Initial Fundraising (6:46)
* Adjusting Firm Size and Strategy as Opportunities Grow (9:49)
* High-Conviction, High-Ownership Investment Approach (12:45)
* Decision-Making Process and Team Dynamics (14:57)
* Patterns Among Founders of Large Companies (17:27)
* The Evolution of Eclipse’s Value Proposition (20:23)
* Operator-to-Investor Transitions and Internal Training (24:49)
* Market Shifts and Macro Changes in Venture Capital (27:07)
* Exit Challenges, IPOs, and Long-Term Private Markets (30:27)
* Alignment Between LPs and Managers Around Exits (33:44)
* Lior’s Investment Lessons and Reflections on Power Law (35:17)
* Thoughts on Deglobalization and Future Predictions (36:32)
I’d love to know what you took away from this conversation with Lior. Follow me @SamirKaji and give me your insights and questions with the hashtag #ventureunlocked. If you’d like to be considered as a guest or have someone you’d like to hear from (GP or LP), drop me a direct message on X.


This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit ventureunlocked.substack.com

Follow me @samirkaji for my thoughts on the venture market, with a focus on the continued evolution of the VC landscape.
Welcome back to another episode of Venture Unlocked, the podcast that takes you behind the scenes of the business of venture capital.
Today, I sat down with Rob Go, Co-Founder and Partner at NextView, to discuss the shift in seed-stage investing and what seed funds need to consider to remain viable. The conversation was sparked by a series of Posts Rob wrote, the first of which was called a Crisis Moment in Seed. We spent a lot of time talking about what inspired the post and how seed managers should adapt to the shifted market. For anyone investing at seed, this is a must listen as Rob shared so many insightful views.
Thanks for listening to another episode of Venture Unlocked. We hope you enjoyed our conversation with Rob. If you’d like to get Venture Unlocked content straight to your inbox, go to ventureunlocked.substack.com and sign up, or go to Apple Podcasts or Spotify and subscribe. Thanks again for listening
About Rob Go
Rob Go is the co-founder and partner of NextView Ventures, a thematic seed-stage venture capital firm focused on investing in founders solving meaningful problems for everyday people. Before launching NextView, Rob was a venture capitalist at Spark Capital, where he focused on the intersection of media, technology, and entertainment.
Earlier in his career, Rob led the “Finding” business unit at eBay, where he helped design and launch over 20 products that transformed the platform’s search and merchandising experience. He also worked in strategy consulting at The Parthenon Group, focusing on consumer and retail industries, and held product management roles at Fidelity Investments and BzzAgent.
Rob holds a B.S. in Economics from Duke University and an MBA from Harvard Business School. Beyond venture, he’s a founding member of Highrock Church in Brookline, MA, and a dedicated husband and father who values family and faith as deeply as entrepreneurship.
NextView Ventures is an early-stage venture capital firm founded in 2010, with offices in New York, Boston, and San Francisco. They focus on seed-stage investments, typically ranging from around $250K to $4M, in companies building consumer, fintech, digital health, and B2B SaaS solutions that reshape what they call the everyday economy The firm has backed a number of notable companies, including ThredUp, Grove Collaborative, WHOOP, and TripleLift, all of which have achieved significant exits or growth milestones. Their hands-on, founder-first approach and thematic focus have helped them build a strong track record in seed investing.
During the conversation, we discussed:
* The Venture Landscape’s Evolution Since 2011 (3:27)
* The Entry of Accelerators Like YC and Mega Funds (6:21)
* The Role of YC’s Offer Structure in the Seed Market (9:14)
* Mega Funds and the Influence of the Power Law (12:21)
* AI’s Market Impact and Opportunities for Seed Investors (15:18)
* Defensibility and Differentiation in AI Applications (18:17)
* The Importance of Distinct Strategies for Seed Funds (21:37)
* Super Compounder Versus Classic Venture Approaches (24:26)
* Adjusting Capital Allocation for Non-Consensus Companies (27:26)
* The Role of Optionality in Navigating Downstream Capital (30:35)
* NextView’s Tactical Shift Toward Data and AI Tools (33:27)
* Lessons on Discipline, Dogmatism, and Missed Opportunities (36:22)
I’d love to know what you took away from this conversation with Rob. Follow me @SamirKaji and give me your insights and questions with the hashtag #ventureunlocked. If you’d like to be considered as a guest or have someone you’d like to hear from (GP or LP), drop me a direct message on X.


This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit ventureunlocked.substack.com

Follow me @samirkaji for my thoughts on the venture market, with a focus on the continued evolution of the VC landscape.
Welcome back to another episode of Venture Unlocked, the podcast that takes you behind the scenes of the business of venture capital.
In this episode, I had the pleasure of speaking with Mercedes Bent about her fascinating journey from a tech-driven upbringing to becoming a leading venture capitalist. We discussed how her unique background informs her investment philosophy and the importance of originality and non-consensus thinking in today’s VC landscape. Our conversation also covered the challenges and opportunities in consumer technology, the transformative impact of AI, and strategies for portfolio construction. One of my key takeaways was the critical role of intuition in identifying exceptional founders, as well as the value of building compounding networks and staying ahead of platform shifts. It was an insightful discussion that offered practical lessons for anyone interested in the future of venture capital. We hope you enjoy the conversation.
Thanks for listening to another episode of Venture Unlocked. We hope you enjoyed our conversation with Mercedes. If you’d like to get Venture Unlocked content straight to your inbox, go to ventureunlocked.substack.com and sign up, or go to Apple Podcasts or Spotify and subscribe. Thanks again for listening
About Mercedes Bent
Mercedes Bent is a Venture Partner at Lightspeed Venture Partners and Co-Founder of venture firm Premise. At Lightspeed, she focused on early-stage investments in consumer, fintech, multicultural markets, and Latin America. She began her career at the Federal Reserve and Goldman Sachs before moving into the education technology sector with General Assembly. At General Assembly, she helped expand one of the company’s key product lines from $2M to $100M in revenue over four years. She joined Lightspeed in 2019 after developing a strong investment perspective in areas such as edtech, VR, and multicultural consumer products. At Lightspeed, she has invested in and worked with companies including Stori, Honeylove, Forage, Magic Eden, Outschool, and Flink. She has also been recognized in industry publications for her contributions to venture capital and efforts to broaden access to entrepreneurship.
Lightspeed Venture Partners, founded in 2000, is a global venture capital firm managing over $25 billion in assets with offices across the U.S., Europe, Israel, India, and Southeast Asia. The firm invests from seed to growth stage across enterprise, consumer, fintech, healthcare, and emerging tech. Over the years, Lightspeed has backed more than 500 companies, including Snap, MuleSoft, Affirm, Carta, and Anthropic, and has been part of notable exits like AppDynamics and Nest. With a strong record of helping founders scale and succeed, Lightspeed is recognized as a leading partner for building category-defining companies.
During the conversation, we discussed:
* Mercedes’s Background, Upbringing, and Early Career (1:45)
* How Background Informed Firm Values/Culture (4:19)
* The Gap in Consumer Technology Investing & Identifying Founders (8:40)
* Non-Consensus Investing in Early Stage VC (10:01)
* Startup Mentality and KPIs in Fund Management (15:06)
* Sourcing vs. Winning Seed Deals – What Matters? (16:19)
* Seed Manager vs. Large Fund Business Models (21:21)
* Gifted TVPI vs. Earned TVPI, Portfolio Philosophy (26:22)
* Consumer Sector’s VC Downturn & New Tech Cycles (32:21)
* The AI Consumer Technology Wave & Opportunity (35:33)
* Identifying Product-Market Pull and Early Leading Indicators (37:08)
* Shifts in Distribution Channels in AI (40:09)
* Future-casting, Platform Shifts, and AI Companions (43:50)
* Lessons from Years in VC & Trusting Intuition (44:27)
* Final Thoughts and Takeaways (47:46)
I’d love to know what you took away from this conversation with Mercedes. Follow me @SamirKaji and give me your insights and questions with the hashtag #venture unlocked. If you’d like to be considered as a guest or have someone you’d like to hear from (GP or LP), drop me a direct message on X.


This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit ventureunlocked.substack.com

Follow me @samirkaji for my thoughts on the venture market, with a focus on the continued evolution of the VC landscape.
Welcome back to another episode of Venture Unlocked, the podcast that takes you behind the scenes of the business of venture capital.
In this episode, I had the pleasure of speaking with Alex Robinson, CEO and Co-Founder of Juniper Square. We talked about the evolution of private markets and the transformative role of technology and AI in fund administration. We also discussed the inefficiencies that inspired Juniper Square’s founding, the challenges of scaling operations for both institutional and individual investors, and the ongoing push for greater transparency between GPs and LPs. Alex shared insights on how AI is set to revolutionize knowledge work in the industry, streamline workflows, and enhance the investor experience. Key takeaways include the critical importance of embracing technology to drive efficiency, the growing impact of AI on fund management, and the need for adaptability as the private markets continue to evolve.
Thanks for listening to another episode of Venture Unlocked. We hope you enjoyed our conversation with Alex. If you’d like to get Venture Unlocked content straight to your inbox, go to ventureunlocked.substack.com and sign up, or go to Apple Podcasts or Spotify and subscribe. Thanks again for listening
Bio of Guest:
Alex Robinson is the CEO and Co-Founder of Juniper Square, a leading investment management software platform transforming private markets. With a background in engineering and business, Alex previously held product and leadership roles at top technology firms, including Microsoft and Boston Consulting Group. His own experience as a limited partner inspired the creation of Juniper Square in 2014, aiming to modernize and simplify the private investment process. Under his leadership, the company has grown to serve over 2,500 GPs and over 600,000 LPs, managing tens of thousands of investment funds. Alex is recognized as a driving force behind digitizing private markets and expanding investor access through innovation and transparency.
Juniper Square is a leading investment management platform designed to streamline operations for private equity, real estate, and venture capital firms. The platform helps General Partners (GPs) manage fundraising, investor reporting, and fund administration through intuitive, data-rich software. Since its founding in 2014, Juniper Square has become a trusted partner to over 2,500 GPs and supports more than 600,000 Limited Partners (LPs) across more than 40,000 investment funds. By replacing outdated systems with modern, transparent tools, Juniper Square is transforming how private markets operate and expanding access for investors worldwide.
Timestamps:
In this episode, we discuss:
* Founding Motivation for Juniper Square (2:00)
* Early Focus on Real Estate and LP Trends (6:13)
* Complexity and Lack of Standardization in Private Markets (11:40)
* Impact of Technology on LP Experience (15:34)
* Transparency Evolution in Private Markets (19:15)
* Differences Across Asset Classes and Regulation (23:15)
* Strategic Decisions and Market Surprises (26:09)
* Bundling and the Future of Wealth Channel Access (30:43)
* AI’s Impact on Private Markets and Fund Operations (33:44)
* The GP of 2030: AI and Capital Formation (37:49)
* AI and Labor Market Disintermediation (42:07)
* Future Vision and Company Outlook (44:07)
* Final Thoughts and Takeaways (47:07)
I’d love to know what you took away from this conversation with Alex. Follow me @SamirKaji and give me your insights and questions with the hashtag #venture unlocked. If you’d like to be considered as a guest or have someone you’d like to hear from (GP or LP), drop me a direct message on X.


This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit ventureunlocked.substack.com