On today’s Tank Talk we have Jonathan Tower, renowned venture capitalist and author of a recent piece on the Series A gap in VC.

Jonathan’s Background: Jonathan Tower is the Managing Partner at Catapult, a cross-border venture capital platform which specializes in investing in emerging tech hubs outside Silicon Valley. Jonathan has deployed more than $220mm in more than 50 companies across three core investment themes: consumer (ecommerce, marketplaces), enterprise (software, services) and frontier technologies (AI/data/robotics, etc).

Jonathan's investments include early bets in Jet.com (acquired by Walmart for $3.5 Billion), Dollar Shave Club (acquired by Unilever for $1 Billion), Freshly (acquired by Nestle for $1.5 Billion), and many other companies that have gone on to become market leaders.

Jonathan began his venture career with Gabriel Venture Partners and, more recently, was a Managing Director at TriplePoint Capital and a Managing Director at Hercules Capital. Previously, he was CEO at two successful software companies, an M&A investment banker, and a management consultant with Accenture and Braxton Associates.

In this episode we discuss:

01:17 Why seed investors grown over the last decade

04:35 What Series B and C funds are in for with the influx of capital into earlier stages

06:41 Concerns with the current trends

08:10 How the flood of capital misallocates funds to secondary players and real estate

11:18 Recruiting competition in this market

14:53 How Seed and A series has evolved in the last few years

16:16 The YC effect on startups and investors

19:03 How the concentration of follow-on deals can distort funds

21:05 What is the metric that startups should aim for to attract investors

23:01 Should seed investors evolve in later later stage

26:11 The right way to evolve to keep your LPs

27:34 Why start a new firm

30:53 How the pandemic has affirmed his investment thesis

32:09 What the Catapult pitch was to LPs

34:17 Advice to emerging managers raising their first fund

38:11 The ingredients for creating a successful tech ecosystem

41:57 How remote is affecting new tech ecosystem

44:04 The long term vision for Catapult

Books Jonathan recommends:Meditation by Marcus AureliusSkin In The Game Akim TalebThe Messy Middle: Finding Your Way Through the Hardest and Most Crucial Part of Any Bold Venture by Scott Belsky

Follow Matt Cohen and Tank Talks here!

Podcast production support provided by Agentbee.Agency

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

Jonathan Tower on the Series A Gap in VC and growing start-up ecosystems

Tank Talks By Ripple Ventures

Jonathan Tower on the Series A Gap in VC and growing start-up ecosystems