The Sure Shot Entrepreneur

Ben Metcalfe is the founder of Monochrome Capital - a Silicon Valley-based venture capital firm that invests in early-stage software and AI-driven startups. Ben, a passionate technology geek, shares lessons from his unconventional but insightful career journey - from building websites in the mid-90s as a teenager, getting his first job as a software engineer at 18 without a college degree, and co-founding world-famous companies like WP Engine...

Mark Fernandes is a managing partner at Sierra ventures - a Silicon Valley based venture capital firm focused on early-stage emerging technology companies. Mark invests in cloud infrastructure, security software, digital health, and data & analytics. He shares relatable lessons from his professional journey from software engineering to investment banking to startup investing. He also offers insights into his philosophy for startup success - prioritize cash, team, and momentum.

Matthew Jones is a managing director at Anthemis, a London-based venture capital firm focused on insurance and risk related technologies. Matthew shares Anthemis’ thesis-driven insurtech investment approach, and the things that excite him the most in the first call with founders. He also explains why it’s difficult to uncover opportunities in insurance if the team lacks someone with a deep understanding of the industry.

Katie Shea is the co-founder and managing partner at Divergent Capital - a venture capital firm that invests in cutting-edge technologies and scientific innovations. Katie grew up in a family where everyone around her ran businesses. While in college, she co-founded a manufacturing company, which she bootstrapped to millions of dollars in annual revenue and profitability before selling it in 2013...

Tim McLoughlin is a partner at Cofounders Capital - an early stage venture capital firm investing in B2B software startups in and around North Carolina. Tim gathered extensive entrepreneurial experience from founding and running startups. He is passionate about helping disciplined and tenacious founders to build dream companies...

Kush Shrivastava is an active angel investor who has been in Silicon Valley for more than a decade. He's worked at large companies, built several companies from the ground up, and invested in many startups. While candidly sharing how he makes investments, he gives authentic stories including some failure stories often not talked about.

Ramneek Gupta is the founder of PruVen Capital, a Palo Alto-based multi-stage venture capital firm that supports leading entrepreneurs from garage to IPO. Ramneek is keen on achieving both strategic and financial returns for the startups in which he invests. He shares relatable insights for entrepreneurial success based on his experience investing in the fintech, insurtech, health tech, real estate tech, and enterprise IT areas.

Satya Patel is the founder and partner at Homebrew - a Silicon Valley-based venture capital firm that invests in startups with big-impact. Satya has a strong operating background spanning product innovation and leadership at Google and Twitter. Now, he prides himself in being a hands-on early-stage investor. He works side by side with founders to build excellent teams, products, and the companies that they envision.

Sunil Nagaraj is the founder and managing partner at Ubiquity ventures, a Silicon Valley-based seed-stage venture capital firm that invests in smart hardware and machine intelligence startups. Sunil talks about how real-world physical problems are transformed into software solutions. He looks for founders with a combination of deep technical knowledge and precise contact with the first prospective customer.

Mika Salmi is a managing partner at European venture capital firm Lakestar. He has been a serial entrepreneur, a successful angel investor, and now a venture capital investor. Mika invests in early-stage startups in the media, gaming, and consumer sectors. He’s known for building or bringing to market globally recognized brands, talent and products.