Sheel Tyle - The Future of Venture Capital - [Invest Like the Best, EP.70]

My guest this week is Sheel Tyle, who at just 26 years old has already had a successful career in venture capital. His most recent stint was as the co-head of the seed investing business at NEA, the largest venture capital firm in the world, where Sheel was also a partner. Now, Sheel has set off on his own, setting up his own firm called Amplo and having recently raised a $100M venture fund where he is the sole general partner. He aims to invest with young, mission driven entrepreneurs with a global focus. As you can tell from this resume, which also includes a degree from Stanford and a law degree from Harvard, this is one ambitious guy. There are several aspects of this conversation that will really stick with me, specifically his points on networking and the smartest decision that he’s seen entrepreneurs make. I also loved our discussion of some of the same trends we explored last week with Chris Dixon—topics like drones, automated cars, and blockchain, where Sheel often has a different take than the consensus. Please enjoy my conversation on Africa, entrepreneurship, venture capital trends, technology, and more with Sheel Tyle. For more episodes go to InvestorFieldGuide.com/podcast. Sign up for the book club, where you’ll get a full investor curriculum and then 3-4 suggestions every month at InvestorFieldGuide.com/bookclub. Follow Patrick on Twitter at @patrick_oshag Books Referenced Originals: How Non-Conformists Move the World Links Referenced Andela OneConcern Andy Rachleff Podcast Episode Mark43 TechCrunch VentureBeat Bill Draper (author) Show Notes 2:20 - (First Question) Sheel’s upbringing and how it shaped his interest in Africa 4:43 – The outlook for Africa 6:10 – Primary differences in valuations and momentum in Africa vs opportunities in other places which Sheel conveys through the story of Andela 10:45 – The perspective returns of venture capital investments 15:16 – Does the hyperfroth in ICO’s serve as a threat to traditional venture capital 17:53 – Where Sheel falls on the importance of networking in terms of his venture capital interests 20:38 – The stronger impact of a smaller, more tight-knit network 22:46 – Sheel’s feelings on driverless cars and the timeline for this sector 27:17 – What are the positive side effects of driverless cars taking over 29:01 – What is the best way to invest in driverless cars from a venture capital standpoint 31:30 – Sheel’s overrated/underrated take on different technology spaces 31:30 – VR/AR 32:21 – Blockchain 32:54 – Machine learning/AI 33:41 – Drones 34:53 – Other categories that we should be thinking about 36:54 – OneConcern 38:21 – Should entrepreneurs be raising more money over future liquidity concerns of the venture capital markets 39:40 – What are the places that Sheel can help a founder in the early stage formation of the company 40:02 – Andy Rachleff Podcast Episode 42:53 – What does the breakdown of domestic vs international investments potentially look like in fund 1 for Sheel 44:53 – Sheel’s most memorable travel experience 47:34 – what is the best decision Sheel saw a founder make 48:10 – Mark43 50:31 – Resources for people interested in venture capital 51:06 – TechCrunch 51:07 – VentureBeat 51:17 – Bill Draper (author) 51:25 – Originals: How Non-Conformists Move the World Learn More For more episodes go to InvestorFieldGuide.com/podcast. Sign up for the book club, where you’ll get a full investor curriculum and then 3-4 suggestions every month at InvestorFieldGuide.com/bookclub Follow Patrick on twitter at @patrick_oshag