In Conversation With Nicole Quinn, General Partner at Lightspeed | Why VCs should do field research on consumers

In this episode of the Soaked by Slush podcast, we had the opportunity to host Nicole Quinn, Partner at Lightspeed Ventures. As an investor, Nicole is a master at working with founders, brands, and end-customers. Her impressive background in both investing and entrepreneurship has garnered her a wealth of experience and knowledge – especially when it comes to consumer brands. Nicole’s unique style of working with founders certainly makes her ideas worth a(n intriguing) listen.

Expect to learn:

• Do founders need to have a “run through walls”-attitude?
• How VCs should support their portfolio’s founders and the problem with the "founder hero"-myth
• Why Nicole doesn’t want to invest only in the “bubble of Silicon Valley”
• Why is speaking to customers central to investors as well?
• Why companies should focus on niche markets first

01:25 Introduction to Nicole

05:55 Important things in successful founders

09:00 The importance of the founding team’s obsession

13:10 Talking to customers and apps on Nicole’s home screen.

16:38 When founders believe they have product-market fit too early

18:45 People don’t want to hear bad things about their companies

19:33 Problem of founder ‘hero mindset’ – can grit get too toxic?

23:14 Philosophy of relation-building with founders

26:06 What do founders usually worry about too much?

29:34 Starting niche first

33:38 Would founders experience from first building something smaller before building something that scales

36:14 The importance of listening

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