20VC: BoxGroup's David Tisch on Whether Concentrated Investing At Seed Works, Do Founders Really Want Direct Feedback and Is It Good For Them & Why Consumer Social Is Interesting Again
The Twenty Minute VC (20VC): Venture Capital | Startup Funding | The Pitch
The Twenty Minute VC
4.4 • 637 Ratings
🗓️ 2 December 2019
⏱️ 39 minutes
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Summary
David Tisch is the Founder & Managing Partner @ BoxGroup, one of the leading early-stage firms in NYC with a portfolio that includes the likes of Flexport, RigUp, Ro, Glossier, Clearbit, PillPack and Plaid, to name a few. Recently they raised their first external capital with 2 separate vehicles totalling over $160m. David is also Professor and Head of Startup Studio @ Cornell Tech. Prior to BoxGroup, he was Managing Director of Techstars NYC and before that was an Executive Vice President @ KGB.
In Today’s Episode You Will Learn:
1.) How David made his way into the world of early-stage investing? How he made the transition from prolific angel investor to raising $160m+ in external capital? Why did David feel now was the right time to raise external funding after 10 years of self-funding? How has taking on external capital changed his investing mindset?
2.) Many suggest that "concentrated seed investing does not work", how does David think about and assess portfolio construction? May others also suggest that, "seed investors are not company builders", does David agree with that? Does David believe investors can change the trajectory of a company? Where can they help the most? Where do many think they help but they actually do not?
3.) Why does David believe that founders do not speak openly about bad experiences with VCs? What have been David's biggest lessons on the right way to turn down an opportunity? Do founders really want direct and honest feedback? Is it actually damaging to give it to them? Why? How does David approach this?
4.) Why does David believe "consumer social is interesting again"? Why was it not interesting for a while? How does that mean David is approaching the category? What does David mean when he says, "for the first time ever there is no channel to arbitrage on the internet"? Is David concerned by the state of CACs today? How much attention does David pay to CAC/LTV in the early days? What are the key signals?
Items Mentioned In Today’s Show:
David’s Fave TV Show: Survivor
As always you can follow Harry, The Twenty Minute VC and David on Twitter here!
Transcript
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| 0:00.0 | We are back on the 20 minute VC and it would be awesome to show you behind the scenes of how we really |
| 0:03.8 | make the shows and you can do that on Instagram at H. Stebbings, 1996 with two Bs. However, to the |
| 0:08.9 | episode today and this one is particularly special for me as we had this guest on the show five years ago |
| 0:14.0 | as one of our very first 10 guests on the show. We've now done over 2,000 VC interviews, |
| 0:18.9 | if you can believe it, and their journey since has been incredible to see. |
| 0:22.1 | And so with that, I'm very, very happy to welcome back to the show, David Tish, found and |
| 0:26.1 | managing partner at Box Group, one of the leading early stage firms in New York, with a portfolio |
| 0:30.4 | that includes the likes of Flexport, Rig Up, Roe, Glossier, Clearbit, Pill, Pack and Plaid, |
| 0:35.9 | just to name a few. Recently, they raised their first external capital with two separate vehicles totaling over |
| 0:41.1 | $160 million. |
| 0:42.8 | David is also the professor and head of startup studio at Cornell Tech. |
| 0:46.5 | And prior to Box Group, he was managing director of Tech Stars New York, and before that |
| 0:50.4 | was an executive vice president at KGB. |
| 0:52.5 | I'd also want to say huge thank you to the wonderful |
| 0:54.5 | Zach at Roe for providing some fantastic questions suggestions today. Zach, I really do appreciate that. |
| 0:59.9 | But before we dive into the show today, I'm sure you've heard about it, but my word, this is a product I love, |
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| 1:18.6 | hundreds of billions of dollars of equity, and Carter now offers fund admin, so you can see |
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| 1:28.1 | in the background, go to Carter.com forward slash 20 VC to get 10% off. And speaking of companies that |
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