Ep 036 - Yoni Rechtman, Principal at Slow Ventures

This conversation forced me to rethink my understanding of venture. 🤯

Yoni Rechtman, Principal at Slow Ventures, brings a keen eye and deep insight to the world of VC. In episode 036 of New to Venture, Yoni and I navigate between the nitty gritty and big-picture dynamics of the industry. His thoughtful approach and deep understanding of the game we play are on full display as he tackles some burning questions I’ve been dying to ask. This one was a blast.

My key takeaways:

1️⃣ Venture isn’t overly complicated. At its core, VC is about finding really awesome people with really awesome ideas and giving them money. If they’re right, they all can go on a nice vacation. Every firm has a different strategy that they deploy, but the nature of their work is always going to be the same.

2️⃣ Just because a deal is competitive doesn’t mean it's a good company. In fact, it could even be a negative signal. If a lot of VCs can understand an idea, many others can too, which usually indicates a super competitive category.

3️⃣ Mega VC funds and small VC funds play different games. Mega 5 billion dollar funds have to deploy $1.5B a year. They are in the business of deploying capital not parsing.

4️⃣ Study the history of startups, markets, and venture capital. It’ll help you understand what a good business looks like and whether it is the right time to invest. Understanding history is an important part to using pattern recognition the right way.

5️⃣ Think beyond the game – consider the meta game. It’s not just about who’s good and who’s not; it’s about understanding the deeper incentives at play. Who is structurally incentivized to collaborate with you? Why and how would someone work with you? Answering these questions are the first step to building the right founder and VC networks.

Timestamps:

(00:00) - Introductions

(01:55) - Yoni’s X profile picture + Strategic Online A**hole Theory

(06:22) - Slow Ventures’ approach to content

(09:26) - Competitive fundraises

(12:11) - Legible and illegible companies

(18:47) - Founder referral flywheels

(22:13) - Yoni’s origin stories

(27:17) - Best practices for thinking like a VC

(33:39) - What makes a Slow investor + apprenticeship model

(37:50) - Ceremonial final Qs